Kate Collins's Blog, page 233

Back to the basement

by Julie


Here we go... the final shots of the basement project.

After numerous trips to Goodwill, many hours spent cleaning, rearranging, cleaning again, we finally have our basement!

I'm thrilled with the way it turned out. Absolutely ecstatic.


Here are a bunch of before, during, and after photos.





















We haven't decorated it yet - No pictures on the walls, no knick-knacks on the tables (though, truth be told, I'm not much of a knick-knack fan), but it's just about done.

I'd like to put some sort of window covering up, but haven't quite decided on that yet.










This somewhat long, very empty wall --->
(note all the pictures we've yet to hang) will feature family artwork. And we hope to get a ping pong table to fill the space very soon.







This smaller area is the first part you see at the bottom of the stairs. There's no natural light in this section, unfortunately. But we had to have storage, which is hidden behind that door.



And, of course, we built more bookshelves! Not nearly enough, of course. But coupled with the ones we have upstairs, I think we'll be safe for another month at least.





Check out the coffee table. We found it at an antique store. Love it! So 60s. We call it the gaudy table and it doesn't match style-wise with anything else in the house, but we couldn't pass it up.





Anyway, there's the finished basement.
What do you think?

Happy News Day

by Deb Baker/Hannah Reed

I am sick, sick, sick of so much sad and disturbing news, so today I am delivering only happy news, all courtesy of buzzfeed.com. Click on the caption for more information.


Mother of the year 

 Cats That Just Need You to Leave Them Alone
 Parents are Basically Just Little Children





HAVE A HAPPY DAY!

Here We Go. . .uh, Snow, Again!

by Maggie Sefton


Well, that blizzard two weeks ago may have been a bust, but last week we got a Real Colorado snowstorm. Not a blizzard, but thanks to Winter Storms Xerces and Yogi, we had three days of snow, accumulating TWO feet in Fort Collins, over that in Denver suburbs, and four feet in the High Country.  Yay!!   So this photo actually is more accurate for this post.

Now, our snowpack is almost completely back to normal.  That's important because the mountain snowpack is how we get our water in the West.  The mountain snowpack melts in May and flows into our mountain streams and rivers then into our reservoirs.  And it provides lots of recreational opportunities, like white water rafting and the dangerous and challenging kayaking.  Our Cache La Poudre River which flows out of the gorgeous Natural Wilderness canyon of the same name on the northern edge of our city is classified as a Class 5 Kayaking river (6 being the most dangerous).  

Those wonderful snow days last week allowed a lot of us to hunker in and let it storm.  That suited me fine, because
I'm busily writing #12 in the Kelly Flynn mysteries which is due in June and will be published in June of 2014.  So I was happy to stay inside and write.  And the sunny balmy days following melted ALL THAT SNOW by Sunday.  Honest.  Of course, this week we've got another snowstorm.  Started on Monday and continues into Tuesday.  Is this Winter Storm Zeke?  We've run out of alphabet, but who knows if we've run out of storms.  :)

By the way. . . #11 in the Kelly Flynn Mysteries, CLOSE KNIT KILLER, will be released this June.  More on that in the upcoming weeks.

Is Grief an Adjustment Disorder?

by Kate Collins

I'm appalled.

Apparently, grieving over the loss of my husband qualifies me to be labeled as having an "Adjustment Disorder." 

Seriously! That's what it says in the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) diagnostic "bible" – the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders – which will soon be released.

Here are the qualifications:

"Following the death of a close family member or close friend, the individual experiences on more days than not intense yearning or longing for the deceased, intense sorrow and emotional pain, or preoccupation with the deceased or the circumstances of the death for at least 12 months (or 6 months for children). The person may also display difficulty accepting the death, intense anger over the loss, a diminished sense of self, a feeling that life is empty, or difficulty planning for the future or engaging in activities or relationships."

Hello! I went through at least 12 months of that. Those are normal reactions to the death of a loved one. Ask anyone who has gone through it, or anyone who leads a grief support group.

But you see, if grief is normal, then a psychiatrist can’t prescribe a drug for it.

Considering that close to 2.5 million Americans die each year, and the number of people experiencing grief as a result of those deaths is far higher than that, a lot of money can be made from pushing drugs for grief.

Of course there are people who sink into a dangerous depression and may need something to boost their mood temporarily, but that’s not the majority. The loss of someone you love hurts like hell. You can’t dull your senses with drugs to get over it because you don’t get over losing someone close to you. You just learn to move through it and go on. That scar over your heart isn’t going to disappear because a psychiatrist gives you an anti-depressant. Everyone has to deal with grief sooner or later and the longer it’s delayed, the more that person’s life is stuck in a holding pattern.

Want to really get scared? In this new “bible” grief isn’t all that they’re labeling as needing drugs. Consider these “diseases”:•       Do you shop too much? You might have Compulsive Shopping Disorder.•       Do you have a difficult time with multiplication? You could be suffering from Dyscalculia.•       Spending too much time at the gym? You'd better see someone for your Bigorexia or Muscle Dysmorphia.•       And my favorite—are your terrified by the number 13? You could have Triskaidekaphobia!
  I’m just hoping there isn’t a disease for not being able to do algebra.

Have a happy week.

Contest!

by Leann

Did the title get your attention? I hope so! I've paired up with three terrific cozy mystery writers to offer the April Showers contest. In our warped mystery-writing minds, April Showers don't bring May flowers - they bring murder weapons!


This contest is really all about getting "likes" for our facebook pages. When you go to my author page, click on the blue "April Showers" button. But the Cozy Chicks could use more "likes" as well. This is one way we get information to readers about all sorts of things--like signings, new releases and chances to win things and to get little prizes the Cozy Chicks give away on a regular basis.

So, here are some Facebook addresses to "like" or "friend." The first four have the current contest links, the rest belong to the Cozy Chicks.

Me: https://www.facebook.com/authorleannsweeney?ref=tn_tnmn
Miranda James: https://www.facebook.com/mirandajamesauthor?fref=ts
Kate Carlisle: https://www.facebook.com/KateCarlisleBooks?fref=ts
Laura Bradford: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Laura-Bradford/316744455035472?fref=ts

And the Cozy Chicks--who often have fun stuff and contests on their pages: https://www.facebook.com/CozyChicksauthors

Kate Collins: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kate-Collins/49648459004?fref=ts

Maggie Sefton: https://www.facebook.com/maggieseftonauthor?fref=ts

Deb Baker aka Hannah Reed: https://www.facebook.com/hannah.reed?fref=ts

Lorraine Bartlett aka L.L. Bartlett aka Lorna Barrett aka Tonya Thomas: https://www.facebook.com/L.L.Bartlett.author?fref=ts
http://www.facebook.com/LorraineBartlett.author
http://www.facebook.com/LornaBarrett.author
http://www.facebook.com/TonyaThomasAuthor
http://www.facebook.com/TheJeffResnickMysteries

Julie Hyzy: https://www.facebook.com/JulieHyzyAuthor?fref=ts

Heather Webber aka Heather Blake: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherWebberBooks?fref=ts
https://www.facebook.com/HeatherBlakeBooks?fref=ts

Ellery Adams aka Jennifer Stanley: https://www.facebook.com/ellery.adams?fref=ts

Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone. It will be better because two terrorists are being taken care of--in different ways, but no longer a threat. That is great news!

The Call Back

By Heather
Something strange has been happening lately. Sometimes, after hanging up the telephone, it calls me right back.
Woo-woo, right?
I thought so. I spent days trying to figure it out. It always seemed to happen when I checked voice mail messages or when I used an automated voice system (do real people answer phones at big companies anymore?).
Anyway, I'd hang up, then the phone would ring. I'd pick it up, say hello, and it would be the automated system telling me to push some sort of button or other.
What????
So I'd hang up again and it would finally stay hung up.
Strange. Very strange.
This went on for weeks before I finally tried to discover what was going on. I turned to the usual place I go when I can't figure something out: Google. "Phone rings after hanging up."
2,140,000 hits.
Yeah, apparently I'm not the only one who's experienced this phenomenon.
Only, it wasn't a phenomenon at all.
It was operator error.
See, I was in the habit of depressing the little button on the phone to hang up (we still have a corded phone in the kitchen) and then putting it back on its receiver. Which is the signal that tells the call waiting system to switch between calls...so when I hung up with one call, it called me back from the other call (the original).
Who knew? Color me techo-unsavvy. I've never even used call waiting before.
So, I've changed my habit of not hanging up twice and the problem seems to be fixed. But for a while there...woo-woo.
Am I the only one who's techno-unsavvy? Any stories to share with me?

Thinking outside the box ... and in another genre

by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett

Writers don't always write what our biggest audiences want or expect us to write.  But sometimes characters step forward and DEMAND us to tell their story.

That happened to me last year when I wrote about Amanda Shelton in Tales of Telenia: THRESHOLD.  I was so afraid that my readers wouldn't accept the story that I published it under a pseudonym.

And then I wrote another one.  (Tales of Telenia:  JOURNEY.)

Truth be told, my pseudonym was an abysmal failure.  She couldn't sell enough books to buy me a gallon of milk in any given month.  : ( 

 A female astronaut crashes on a strange planet and is threatened by the archaic inhabitants who demand she relinquish her advanced technology.

So I figured, what the heck, and last week I not only published the old book under my Lorraine Bartlett name, but the new one as well.

Stranded astronaut Amanda Shelton leads the land’s women to self-sufficiency when she ventures to the capital city to face peril and life altering decisions.


You see, whether I write cozy mysteries, psychological suspense, sweet romances, or fantasy lite, I will ALWAYS write character-driven stories.  So the truth is ... if you like Tricia Miles, or Katie Bonner, or Jeff Resnick, you might just like all my other characters ... be it Judi Strub, or Emily Miller, or Leslie Turner ... and a host of others.

If you like the character relationships in my cozy mysteries, I hope you'll give the characters in my other stories a chance.  They all have one thing in common (or at least I hope they do):  heart.

I hope you'll give them all a chance.

And then, London...

by Julie

The last stop on our whirlwind trip to visit Biz was London, where we had just enough time to take in a few sights and get her settled in her dorm/apartment for the second half of the semester. Have I mentioned that the weather was rainy and cold while we were in Europe? Well, in London it was even rainier and colder!


We stayed in a gorgeous hotel about a half mile from Buckingham Palace, and about two blocks from a tube station. Not bad, except there was one corner we always had to turn where the wind was so sharp that it nearly blew off our hoods and made our eyes water. Brutal.

Our first day in London was so cold and rainy, we opted to stay inside our hotel for afternoon tea. This wasn't exactly cheap, but it was wonderful, giving us time to plan the rest of our stay while comfy and warm and enjoying oh-so-delicious
treats.



We did brave the elements one of the days we were there. My husband and I wanted Biz to see the Tower of London, one of our favorites from our last trip. We had time to do that, but not to visit Westminster Abbey, another top spot. The best part of visiting the Tower of London is the free guided tour by the Yeoman Warders. Our guide was charming, funny, and entertaining as he brought history to life for us. Fabulous. Much better than walking around with earplugs, listening to an audioguide.

All too soon it was time for my husband and I to leave our baby and return home. It's tough to leave your kid in an apartment in a foreign country, but I knew that she'd learned her way around the city a little bit, and that helped. Still, I have to admit, I can't wait for her to come home.

That's the trip... hope you've enjoyed the journey. Next week, back to the basement! LOL

Comfort Me With Mac and Cheese

by Deb Baker/Hannah Reed

Trying times such as these send me flying to the kitchen, seeking comfort in...well...comfort food.
And macaroni and cheese is at the very top of my list. Everybody, from the cradle to the grave, loves mac and cheese. So here's how I'm going to make it this time and I'm going to put it in ramekins so nobody eats all the topping:
 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Enough for 4 ramekins

8 ounces dry pasta, cooked according to package instructions and drained
4 T. butter + 1 more for the topping
3 T. flour
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/2 cup of half and half
8 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dry mustard
8 T panko bread crumbs

Preheat the over to 350 degrees
In a medium saucepan, melt 4 T. butter over medium-high heat
Add the flour and whisk until smooth
add milk and half and half, continuing to whisk
bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low
add the cheese and stir until melted and creamy
add salt, pepper, and dry mustard
distribute evenly between ramekins and place a baking sheet underneath in case they overflow

melt 1 T. butter then mix in the crumbs
distribute evenly over the ramekins

bake for 10 - 12 minutes then put under the broiler for a few minutes until the tops are toasty brown.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

What's your favorite comfort food in times of trouble?

Not A Good Day

by Maggie Sefton


I'm sorry, folks.  I just don't feel like writing something entertaining right now.  Tuesday is my  post day for Cozy Chicks Blog.  Since we Chicks like to make sure all of you have our posts available to read at 12:00am of our post day, I always write my post on Monday so it will appear on time at  12:00 am Tuesday.

Considering the terroist bomb attack at the Boston Marathon Monday afternoon, I think you will understand.  Better we spend a few moments sending good thoughts or prayers to the families of the people who were injured or killed.  Right now, a trauma surgeon is on TV talking about the injuries inflicted by the two blasts.  Awful.

As a mother whose youngest daughter is still in Afghanistan on a six-month assignment, believe me I'm counting down the days until she returns.  Meanwhile, she's regularly checking her surroundings.  Being careful can determine whether you stay alive or not.

Send love to your dear ones.   If they're close to you, give them a hug.