Kimberly A. Bettes's Blog, page 11

I vs. Me…Again

I’ve posted on this subject once before, but I’m still baffled by the amount of people who don’t know when to say I and when to say me. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, this is a world full of rareroads and Wal-Marts, where people are full of good ideals, and some of them live in Massatushetts. It doesn’t really seem like people try anymore to use their words properly. Except for the handful of people who actually DO try, and just get it wrong. Maybe they don’t know. Maybe the only part of English class they remember is the part where you have to put yourself last, as in my brother and I. But that’s only half of it.

Worse than hearing someone say I when they should’ve said me isn’t nearly as bad when it’s just a regular person. But when it’s a WRITER, someone who should know better, it makes me want to claw their face. I can’t help it. I have violent tendencies brought on by idiocy.

Let me begin by saying this to those who misuse the two words: I recognize that you’re trying to do better. I really do. I recognize your efforts and I thank you for trying to be proper and intelligent. Now that I’ve said that, let me say this: stop screwing it up! In your efforts (however valiant they may be) to appear more intelligent, the misuse of the words makes you appear less intelligent. It’s true.

Now you’re probably wondering, “But, Kim, how do we know when to use which word?” It’s a good question with a simple answer.

Many people think it’s always the other person’s name and then I. But that’s not true. Well, the part about putting yourself last is true, but it’s not always I. So how do you know when to use I and when to use Me? Simple. Take out the other person’s name and see if it makes sense. For example:

This is a picture of Joe and I.

If we take out ‘Joe and’, it says:

This is a picture of I.

Sounds pretty stupid, doesn’t it? That’s because it is.

This is a picture of Joe and me.

Without ‘Joe and’, it reads:

This is a picture of me.

Let’s take a test. See if you can get these correct:

1) Would you like to go to the store with Tim and I?

2) Sit here and take a break with Suzie and me.

How’d you do? Think you nailed it? I hope you did. Here it is. The first one is wrong. Without Tim and, I’m asking if you would like to go to the store with I. That makes me sound like a gibberish-speaking fool, which would be fine if I was teaching a class on how to speak gibberish like a fool.

So how about the second one? That one is correct. Take out Suzie and and it makes perfect sense. I’m telling you to sit here and take a break with me. I’m now fit to mingle in society.

See how simple that is? Now that you know, you can use the two words properly. And if you don’t, you have no excuse, and I won’t overlook it again. I’ll hunt you down and be the I‘s out of you. I’ll make you a character in one of my stories and torture the daylights out of you. I’ll start a petition to have you removed from society. I’ll spearhead a campaign to see that you’re shunned by your peers and families. You may think that’s a good thing now, but after months – even years – of isolation, you’ll begin to see the error of your ways. Then, you’ll think to yourself, “I wish someone was here with me.” Because if you think, “I wish someone was here with I,” I’ll put out the hit on you and we’ll call it a day.

Now go forth, good people. Go forth and spread the wisdom I have shared with you. Work it into a conversation. But don’t screw it up. And if you do, don’t m

A Friend of a Friend Told Me with Kimberly A. Bettes

For those of you who didn’t catch this post, it’s the story behind my story “The Kindness of Strangers”, which appears in the anthology LEGENDS OF URBAN HORROR: A FRIEND OF A FRIEND TOLD ME. This link will transport you through space and time over to The Sirens Song so you can read all about it.

A Friend of a Friend Told Me with Kimberly A. Bettes.

Tools of the Trade

Every trade has its tools. I know this because I’ve seen people using them as they worked. I’ve seen mechanics turning wrenches, seen carpenters using saws. That’s right. I’ve been around.

So what are the tools of a writer’s trade?

Well back in the day, the tools of the trade were few and simple. Quill pen and parchment paper. If you want to go back even farther, you had chisels and stone. Even farther back, you had a pigment and oil mixture and cave walls. But today, the tools are far more complicated. You’d think they would’ve grown simpler over time, wouldn’t you? And I suppose the tools are simpler. That is, if you want to write with an ink pen and paper. A Bic ball point is more advanced than a quill pen. And a Mead 5 Subject is better than parchment paper. But no one writes that way these days. Well, okay. There are a few writers still holding onto that method. But not many.

I think I can safely speak for the majority of authors when I tell you the current tools of the trade. (I’ve become privy to this information via Facebook photos and tweets.)

First, you have to have a cat. I know. Cats don’t seem to be necessary to the writing process. In fact, they often hinder it. However, most writers have cats, and those cats can be found most any time perched on the lap or laptop of the writer as they do all they can to keep the words from spilling onto the page. They’re devious that way, but seem to be a vital part of it all.

Second, you definitely need a laptop. Or a desktop. Or a tablet. Just some sort of electronic device to speed this thing along. I mean, have you ever tried to write an 80,000 word novel by hand? I have. That’s why I have a laptop. Actually, I have 2 laptops, a desktop, and a tablet. And just in case all those things fail, I have a lot of pens and notebooks.

Which brings me to the third and fourth tools of the trade. A lot of pens and notebooks. I’ve noticed through internet conversations that it’s not just me that collects notebooks and ink pens. Apparently, nearly all writers do. We don’t know why. Most of us have laptops to write, so it doesn’t make sense that we keep an arsenal of ink and paper at our disposal. But we do. Maybe it’s because we know we have to get those words out of us, even if it means a raging case of carpal tunnel. Maybe we’re afraid that the apocalypse will come in the dead of night, taking with it our beloved electricity and rendering our laptops useless. How will we tell future generations our stories? All the cave walls have been taken, so that leaves pen and paper.

The fifth thing all writers need is a place for inspiration. Now I can’t tell you what this place is for other writers, but I can tell you where my place is. Just don’t steal it. I can’t have you draining my spot of ideas. Here it is. My bed. I know. An unlikely place, for sure. But every night when I lie down, no matter how tired I am, my brain comes alive. Thoughts and ideas whirl around with lightning speed. One brilliant idea after another. It’s no wonder it takes me forever to go to sleep. And if I wake in the middle of the night (as I so often do), it starts again. I’m often awake in the middle of the night for hours, thinking of new stories or elaborating on ones I’ve already thought of. It’s not just at night. If I go in there during the day and try to nap, same thing. It’s like a vortex for ideas. So stay off my bed. They’re mine!

There are other tools that writers use that I personally don’t deem necessary. Alcohol, index cards, lucky pajamas, whatever. To each his own.

So what are the tools of your trade?

Review of HELD by I ♥ Bookie Nookie

While perusing the halls of goodreads earlier, I discovered this fantastic review of HELD, and I just had to share it. I love all my reviews, but from time to time one of them will make me smile ear to ear like a fool. Seriously, I can’t stop. You may need to call someone. Feel free to click on the link and go over to this sweet lady’s blog and find out what she thought of the sick things that go on inside my head.

I ♥ Bookie Nookie.

Is It In You?

Today I was watching an interview with Dave Grohl. For those of you who don’t know who Dave Grohl is, he was the drummer for Nirvana and the lead singer of Foo Fighters. If you don’t know who either of those bands are, I can’t help you. Your local DJ might be able to help you. But not me. I don’t have that kind of time. Anyway, he was discussing how he had no training for playing the drums or singing. He said that he believed if you are truly interested in something, you will figure it out. And I couldn’t agree more.

I’ve always said that if you are born to do something, whether it’s paint or sing or play an instrument or write books, then no amount of training is necessary. You don’t need to go to college. You don’t need art school or music lessons. If it’s in you, it’s in you. Sure, you could spend a lot of time and money by taking lessons and classes in order to hone your skill. It won’t hurt. But it isn’t necessary. Most of the great artists in their fields are self-taught. Just as I am.

I didn’t go to college. I had a scholarship and I passed on it to pursue other things. Do I ever wish I would’ve gone? No. Am I doing perfectly fine without a degree? Yes. So how did I learn about writing? I learn through the magic of observation and trial and error. And of course I Google the crap of anything I need to know. Who needs college when you have the Internet?

My point (yes, there was one) is that if it’s in you, then it’s in you. You don’t need no fancy book learnin’. And just as I believe that to be true, I also believe that you can’t be taught the arts. Sure, you can go to college or take classes to learn how to structure a sentence, how to punctuate, and all that jazz. You can learn the mechanics of writing, but if you don’t have it in you to write a good story, then all the training in the world won’t make you a writer. An editor maybe, but not a writer. Writing – as with all the arts – comes from within. You can’t teach inspiration. You simply can’t teach talent. You can only hone it.

I’m a Goalie

Somehow I’ve found myself in the second month of a new year. I’m not sure how that happened. After all, it was just February 2012. Or for that matter, it feels like only yesterday I was tight-rolling my jeans, rocking the flannel shirts, and teasing my hair along with everyone else living in the ’90s. My point is, time really flies.

As you know, most people make resolutions for a new year, nearly all of which are abandoned by now. I’ve never made resolutions. I’ve always felt that if I want to make a change in my life, I just do it. No announcements. No need to wait until the start of the year. Whenever, wherever, I just do it.

I do enjoy setting goals for myself regarding my work. For example, in 2011 I told myself that I would write a book over the summer. It was going so well, I changed that goal to writing 2 books over the summer. Then I got cocky and decided if I could write 2, why not set the goal for 3 books. So I changed my goal (while still working on the first novel), and told myself I was going to write 3 books in 3 months. I wrote 2. Even though I didn’t meet my goal of 3, I surpassed my original goal of 1 and met my second goal of 2. And bonus, they’re my best 2 novels to date.

So here I am, in 2013, with a new set of goals. On the agenda is 4 books for this year. I plan to spend the first half of the year writing like a maniac. Then I’ll spend the last half of the year editing, polishing, and preparing them for publication. I would like them to be released sometime around October. If all goes well, it’ll happen. But if all goes according to my goal history, it’ll only happen for 3 of them. But hey, I’ll take it.

I’m often told I put too much pressure on myself. I expect too much. That may be true. But even when I don’t meet the goals I set for myself, I’m okay with it. I never feel like I let myself down. If I set my goal for 4 books and only write 3, I’m still very happy with what I accomplished. But I do feel that in order to see what I’m capable of, I need to set the bar just a little too high. If I manage to meet my goal of 4 books this year, next year I’ll set the goal for 5. I know what you’re thinking, but I’m not insane. (Ask any of the other people living in my head and they’ll tell you how sane I am.) I know that most authors turn out 1 book a year (some not even that). But I will continue to push myself harder, doing my very best to be as productive as possible in as little time as possible (without becoming one of those assembly line authors who basically write the exact same story over and over again, just slapping a new title on it and calling it a new book). That’s what makes us better. Pushing ourselves. Setting goals and doing our very best to reach them. I can’t help it. I’m a goalie.

Interview with author Hope Walker

I wanted to interview a fabulous new author, Hope Walker. Convincing her only took three hours of pleading, another hour of begging, and two bottles of wine. I’m not going to count the box of chocolates since by the time I gave it to her, it was half empty. Anyway, the important thing is she agreed, so I kicked some bodies out of the way and made room for her to sit down and tell us all about her world.

Hello, Hope.

Thank you so much for inviting me for this interview, Kimberly! I’m glad the bodies are in the basement, and your knitting needles are put away, replaced with a pad of paper and ink pen instead.

Where were you born and where do you call home?

I was born in what was once a lovely little town called Everett, Washington. It’s located just 20 miles north of Seattle. I was pretty much born and raised there until 2006 when my husband and I packed our daughter and belongings up in a moving truck and moved to Ellensburg, which is located in central Washington.

Unfortunately we were hit with the downfall of the housing market and my husband lost his job, which resulted in us losing our home. We came back to Everett with our pride hurt and feeling as if it was the end, especially when we had to move into my parents’ basement. But everything has a way of coming around, and we found ourselves with an opportunity to become care-takers of a 10 acre farm just a little further northeast of Everett. This place is magical in  its countryside beauty. It easily became the backdrop to Ink Slinger.

What do you do when you are not writing?

I’m pretty much a stay at home mom where I not only take care of our 8-year-old daughter, but also a couple other children. They keep me busy. We also have a variety of critters on this here farm! LOL.  We have chickens, ducks, dogs, cats and not that long ago we even had two Scottish Highlander cows. No, they did not become dinner. They were strictly our pets. However, they kept getting out and causing some commotion in our community and we had to give them away to a place that could keep them in better than we were able to. My friends often laugh at me when they hear my stories of the cows and chickens. I was always the city girl. Now I’m the farm girl, and I love it!

I’m also involved in the PTA, helping my daughter in Girl Scouts, and running her soccer team.

Recently I’ve taken up running. I was never a runner, barely a walker other than my last name. My weight was getting out of control and I knew I had to do something to get in control of not only my weight, but my life. I was beginning to lose who I was after losing our home, and doing everything for everybody else. I vowed last year that 2012 would be the year for ME. So I joined Weight Watchers, participated in a program called the Couch to 5K that taught me how to get off my butt and jog. I ran my first 5K in October and I lost 50 lbs in 2012.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

First, I wanted to be a teacher, then a mother, then a writer. I wanted to be all three of those. They seem pretty easy. Go to college, get married, have a baby, write a book. None of it came easy to me.

I couldn’t afford college and after paying for a year out of my pocket, I just couldn’t imagine putting myself in debt any further, so I went to work as an Admitting Representative at the hospital I was born at. I liked my job.

Being a mother should have been easy too. After all, most of my friends were mothers. Teenagers were getting pregnant every time they sneezed or giggled at a boy. So here I was married to my first love, had our own home and we both had decent jobs. I couldn’t get pregnant. My dream of becoming mother was soon going to the curb just as wanting to be a teacher. After hard work, and lots of injections in my stomach and butt, we were blessed to become pregnant through IVF and in July of 2004, I gave birth to my wonderful daughter, Megan, and I became a mother.

Sometimes feeling like a failure, I would get depressed, but then I realized that everything I had, although was not much anymore, we worked hard for. So why couldn’t I still make my dream of becoming a writer come true? God puts people in your life for a reason, and he put someone special in mine that encouraged me and inspired me to follow my dream. Now here I am being interviewed as an author by MY favorite author! Life is pretty good!

Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?

I was always a fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved watching the Little House on the Prairie when I was little, and I loved reading her stories even more. I had always felt that there was a little bit of her in myself. She was so intriguing to me.

When I was older, I loved reading John Steinbeck, My other favorite was Wilson Rawls, who wrote Where the Red Fern Grows.

My love of thrillers, suspense and horror didn’t actually come from books at all. That came from movies. I love movies where I have to close my eyes and wonder if my heart will stop after being scared to death.

My grandmother took my brother and me to see Poltergeist when I was 8 years old. She thought the movie was about something else and had no idea what it really was about. That movie changed the way I looked into mirrors, the way I looked at trees, and it made me always check behind the shower curtain at my grandma’s house. I loved the adrenaline and fear it caused me.

My mother was a Stephen King fan, so watching his movies was always a must in our house. Cujo was one of the first movies I remember being allowed to watch. Oh how I loved it!

Growing up, my stories were always about love and finding love. I never saw myself as a writer of suspense, but I thought since I loved it so much, why not give a go at it.

What does your family think of your writing?

My daughter thinks it’s pretty awesome and wants to read my stories, but I won’t let her yet. She’s still too young for some of the content in my stories. My husband is supportive and is pretty proud of what I’ve accomplished thus far. My mother is beyond proud!

Give us three “Good to Know” facts about you.

One “Good to Know” fact about me is that I’m afraid of failure. I won’t put myself out there, or try something that I could possibly fail at. It was another reason I didn’t continue in college.

Another “Good to Know” fact about me is that I am awful in math. Math scares me. I mean really scares me. I could read a math book and be just as scared as if it was the #1 written horror story of the century. I still count using my fingers. I couldn’t tell you what 5+7 is without counting it on my fingers… The answer is 12. I had to count on my fingers, and I had to do it twice. I guess you could add the fear of math into my first fact of failure. I didn’t want to continue because I didn’t want to take math and fail.

The last “Good to Know” fact about me is that my stories will always have a bit of me, or someone close to me, in them. There will always be something from my life in each story. One character will be a big version of a small part of me.

How many books have you written?

This is a trick question. I have written many! I have three that are published right now, along with a poem in a book called Quiet Moments. I have two on my computer that are in the revision process, and one that I just started that I am hoping will become my first actual novel. It will be more of a love story, but will still have some elements of suspense, but just in a different way than my other stories. It will be one for my friends who love their “romance” books, which let’s face it, they are just a written form of porn. I love them too, though! I have actually written a complete porno for my husband, and I know I am good at it. It’s just one of my fears I have of putting myself out there with that genre, but give me time.

Which one is your favorite?

Oddly, most would think Ink Slinger, because that was my baby. But I really love Grace’s Secret. I wrote that story really fast to get my name out there, and I didn’t know where it was going to go. When I was done with that short story, I was excited! I read it several times and never got tired of reading it.

Who is your favorite character?

Well, I do have a favorite character, but I can’t say which one as I’m afraid it would give something away in the story. So my second favorite character is Sissy in Co-Dependent. She is a single mother with no self-esteem and just has a thing for a bad boy. I can relate for falling for the bad boy.

Can you tell us about your challenges in getting your first book published?

My challenge was that it was ALL new to me. The formatting was the most daunting to me. I took each challenge as a learning process. It’s teaching me to fail, but to learn from it. That in itself is the challenge for me. It’s the failing. Even if it’s just that the size of my cover failed to load. I wanted to scream several times.

What marketing avenues have you found work best for you?

Right now I am Tweeting, Facebooking, Goodreads, and talking to everyone I know.

Have you written a book you love that has not gained the reviews you expected?

Yes. Ink Slinger has only been out a short time, and I haven’t been getting any reviews on it. My friends all tell me verbally how much they LOVE it, but I can’t seem to get any written reviews.

Are there certain characters you would like to go back to, or is there a theme or idea you’d love to work with?

I want to stick with romance with more sex, but still keep it suspenseful. I like the idea of having a little bit of everything in the book. I wish I could go back and turn Grace’s Secret into a full length book.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?

Being new at this, I’m learning I can’t please everyone. I have had lots of complaints that Grace’s Secret is too short to be called a book. Which is funny because I’ve never called it a book. It’s a short story, but apparently, too short of a story. I had one review saying it was a waste of time, that it was predictable and a cliché. That hurt me really bad.

The best compliment is being called “The New Queen of Twists.” Whoa! That was pretty awesome! That is what I want to write! I love stories that seem so predictable, but they have a little surprise waiting for you. I want to keep that going.

When did you first realize you wanted to write?

It was third grade when I wrote a story and the teacher told my mother that I had an incredible imagination and wanted me to keep writing. I was never good at anything before. Never played sports, and was really shy. So I felt like I finally had something.

Where do you get your ideas?

My ideas come from life. Either from a snippet of a moment I’ve experienced, or a friend’s experience. My new short story, Split, which will be out soon, was inspired by my friend and her husband who decided to move into their cabin in the woods to save money. Even though Split has NOTHING to do with them, that decision they made inspired the beginning to my story.

Do you ever experience the dreaded writer’s block?

Yes! I have a story that is sitting in my computer because I can’t finish it.  I went years without ever writing.

Do you work with an outline, or just write?

I just write.

What is your work schedule like when you’re writing?

I don’t have one. When inspiration hits, I write until I’m either so tired I can’t stay awake, or I’ve hit a spot I need to think about.

Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?

I write with the TV on, sitting on my couch. I love to write at night.

Do you prefer a laptop, desktop, or good old pen and paper?

I use to use pen and paper. I have lots of notebooks with stories. But now I use my laptop.

What is one of the most surprising things you have learned in creating your books?

I’ve learned that I’m not as creative as I once used to be. I used to be good at creating imagery. I have to work a bit more at that now. It doesn’t come as easy as it did when I was younger.

Have you ever hated something you wrote?

Yes! Nobody will ever see those.

What is your favorite way to unwind after a long day of writing?

Sleeping and just vegging out in front of the TV.

Will you have a new book coming out soon? If so, what is it about?

YES. I have another short story called Split that I am working on. It’s about a guy who moves his family to a cabin to save money. He quits his truck driving job that he LOVES to be home with his wife because she is not thrilled about living in the cabin, and hates the idea. He comes home one night and his wife and kids are gone suddenly, just vanished. It will have some hard, brutal stuff in it all around.

I’m also writing a new romance/erotica/thriller. This is going to hopefully be a follow-up for my fans of Grace’s Secret. I am hoping it will be my first full length novel.

Now for a little 7/7/7. Not counting the intro or title pages, go to the seventh page in the book you are currently writing, go down to the seventh line, and give us the next seven sentences.

Hurrying back to my truck so I can unload it, I notice another odd thing. The hood of my truck is open. “What the…” I say aloud. “Jack, so not funny son!” I snicker as I call after my son. I know he’s out here somewhere trying to prank me. He’s always doing things like that to me.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers on how to better themselves?

Surround yourself with other writers. Find ones that are just as excited to write as you. They will be the ones to help you and support you the most.

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?

Yes! Of course it is YOU, Kimberly A. Bettes. Reading Rage and then Held really got me thinking that the type of stories I should be writing, are in the style of the ones I love to read the most. I had been reading Twilight and all the vampire books, but it wasn’t until I read Rage and Held that the fire began burning inside me again.

List 3 books you recently read and would recommend?

Twisted, by Kimberly A. Bettes

On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves

Strangers by Barbara Elsborg

If one of your books was made into a movie, what actors would you like to see playing your characters?

I would like to see Paul Walker playing Scott in Ink Slinger. Just because he’s nice to look at!

If you gave one of your characters an opportunity to speak for themselves in this interview, what would they say?

SAVE ME!!!

JUST FOR FUN

What kind of films do you enjoy?

I like thrillers/horror.

What kind of music do you listen to?

I like everything except Jazz, classical and blues.

What television shows are a “must-see” for you?

The Walking Dead and Dance Moms. Love me some zombies and love the reality shows!

How many U.S. states have you visited?

8

How many countries have you visited?

2

Of all the places you’ve traveled, where is your favorite?

That’s a toss up between Florida and Mexico.

What is the longest flight you’ve ever been on?

Probably to Puerta Vallarta. I don’t like to fly, so any flight is a long flight for me.

Describe yourself in five words.

Sarcastic, romantic, mother, shy, afraid

What is your best characteristic?

Being able to make people laugh.

What is your worst characteristic?

My fear of failure.

What is something you have experienced in your life that you would like to go back and experience again?

Meeting my husband when I was 16. Best time ever! I will write a book about it someday!

What is the key to happiness and/or success?

Family, friends, love and communication.

Are you a beach, country, or city person?

Although I live in the country, I love the hot sand between my toes and looking out at beautiful open blue water.

What is your favorite quote of all time?

Winners find a way, Losers find an excuse.

Where can your readers stalk you?

I’m on Facebook , and also twitter .

Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to do this interview. It was a great peek into your world. I hope you had some fun, and good luck on your future endeavors.

You’re very welcome. I enjoyed it! Thank you so much for this opportunity!

 

Ink Slinger definition: slang. n.

A professional writer, or one who edits/proofreads for professional writers.

Anna has aspirations to one day become a writer. Her dream takes a step toward reality when she has the opportunity to edit a book for one of her new favorite authors. But she gets a slow start on it when she notices similarities in the book she’s editing, and the suspicious events that begin plaguing her at home, including a strange neighbor that is meandering around, a lost little boy she finds, and a story that is making her think she’s going crazy. The only way to solve the mystery is for Anna to continue editing the story in hopes to find the key to unlock the nightmare unfolding around her.

 

 

 

This is a short story.

Grace is every man’s dream, with her blonde curly hair, long legs, and her willingness to let them use her and toss her aside. She thrives on it. Her life gets tangled when she falls in love for her first time with Trevor, a man from church who’s dating Grace’s angelic best friend, who also happens to be her sister.

A day at the beach that started out innocently, will change all of their lives forever, and it forces Grace to harbor a secret from the ones that she loves. A short story with an ending you think is predictable, but has a wicked twist you won’t see coming!

 

 

 

When Sissy’s abusive husband leaves her and their son, she is forced to go from a reclusive stay at home mom to a working career woman. Her life now consist of taking care of their ill son, dealing with her overbearing mother, and co-workers at the law firm she works at, who make it clear they don’t want her there.

Sissy Hall is weak, broken, and starving for affection. She needs someone to take care of her.

Her life takes an unexpected turn when her estranged husband shows up after being away for two years, and is insisting on seeing their son.

Asking her boss, a lawyer in the firm for help could be her answer.

Will Sissy be strong, or fall into her co-dependent ways?

Year in Review

Hard to believe it’s already the end of 2012. The older I get, the faster time goes by. When I was a kid, it took forever for Christmas to come. Felt like years. Now, it’s every few months. At least it feels like it’s every few months. So I’ve been thinking about what I’ve done this year. I mean really, what have I done?

I published all of my stories with Amazon at the end of February.

I published all of my novels in paperback form (they had previously only been available in digital format).

Also, I published a collection of poems, a collection of short stories, a novella, and 2 novels.

I submitted 2 short stories to 2 different anthologies, both of which were accepted and published.

At the end of June, I had to put my beloved Himalayan cat down. It was easily one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.

I helped kick-start the writing career of a talented young woman.

I bought a new car.

I honed my knitting skills.

I lost a few family members.

I gained new friends and fans.

I laughed. I cried.

I did a lot of writing. A lot of editing. A lot of cover designing. A lot of work.

So when I feel like another year flew by and I got nothing done, I can look back at these things and realize that I did accomplish something. I was productive. And I hope to be even more productive in 2013, and I certainly hope to drag you all along with me. Kicking and screaming, if need be. But you’re coming with me, and it’s going to be a hell of a ride.

Happy holidays, everyone. Hope you’re all happy and safe.

So tell me, what did you do this year?

 

Legends of Urban Horror: A Friend of a Friend Told Me

Well, folks. It’s here!

We’ve all come across them. The warnings told by a friend of a friend – don’t go in there, I wouldn’t if I were you, did you hear about…? Or perhaps your mind leaps to the cryptozoological realm – creatures barely glimpsed, and yet to be identified. Other spheres of existence – they can’t be real… certainly not until you’ve experienced one!

Maybe the real horror lies in the minds and hearts of others just like you. People with a slightly bent perspective that feed on the fear in others. Twisted souls that would take advantage of the weak, or vulnerable. Those who believe they are doing good for a higher power, or to gain power simply for themselves. Petty vengeance that breathes a life of its own once unleashed.

Whatever your poison, the ten stories in Legends of Urban Horror: A Friend of a Friend Told Me are sure to intrigue, and perhaps bring back fears long forgotten.

Run, don’t look back… or should you?

Contributing Authors include Morgan Bauman, Kimberly A, Bettes, Matthew Borgard, Alex Chase, Austin Fikac, K. Trap Jones, Sean Keller, Lisamarie Lamb, Jon Olson, and C.M. Saunders.

Thanks

All month long, people have been listing things for which they’re thankful. I don’t participate in this. But I am thankful, more so than most. After all, it was only 8 short years ago that I nearly died in a car accident and was a quadriplegic. I have a deeper appreciation for everything – especially the small things that are often overlooked and taken for granted – than most people. But I can sum up everything I’m thankful for in one word.

Life.

Every laugh, every sob. Every smile, every frown. Every tragedy, every triumph. Every fail, every success. The good, the bad. I’m thankful for all of it. And not just in November. Not just on Thanksgiving Day. I am thankful every second of every day with every day breath I take.

And in just a couple of hours, I’m going to be thankful for the wad of delicious turkey breast I will consume with delight. Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day, folks.