Kate Lowell's Blog, page 4
February 6, 2016
#RainbowSnippets: Rise of the Alpha Squirrel
Male Ruby-throated Hummingbird (archilochus colubris) in flight with a yellow flower and a colorful background
Alpha Squirrel went to beta readers yesterday–late, yes. Health issues and input from my usual “must add 2000 words at the last minute” brain. But it’s gone and now I get to chew my nails and attempt to distract myself with another work in progress and pre-formatting on the manuscript. Yes, I’m also totally doing stuff out of order, which may come back to bite me. Blame my stupid immune system–I do.
February 1, 2016
Nathan Made It Home!
I got pictures today of our pseudo-Nathan, wearing his bandana, and making friends in his new home.
Here he is, checking out the locals. This one looks like just about the right size to hang around with. And she’s a reader too, which I’m sure Nathan appreciates.
Then there are other locals, who are rather intimidatingly large. (And, lets face it–Nathan gets nervous around carnivores.) Luckily, Stormy doesn’t appear too interested in a fluffy brown squirrel.
We probably shouldn’t say that he minds all carnivores, since he doesn’t seem to bothered by this one. Maybe Mischief just gives off that laidback vibe.
Many thanks to Debra and her daughter for the pictures of Nathan in his new home!
January 30, 2016
This Woman Is Absolutely Spot-On About Writers
I’m crying laughing, but it’s all so true.
#RainbowSnippets: Rise of the Alpha Squirrel
Don’t forget to check out the other marvellous snippets at our Facebook group!
Today’s snippet is courtesy of MC Hana, who told me a story of an encounter she had with a hummingbird, which was subsequently adapted into this story.
“Shhhh. You’ll scare him,” Vince whispered, without taking his eyes off the coffee cup.
“Him? Who?” Nathan looked again, and only then did he notice the tiny green bird sitting on the edge, his long beak buried in the mess of melted cream at the top of the cup.
Nathan leaned forward to get a better look. The hummingbird stopped drinking and turned its head to one side to look back at him, all cocky, as if it was daring him to try to take his coffee back. It fluffed its feathers and shifted on the cup’s rim, like it was making itself comfortable for a long stay. Like it was laying claim to Nathan’s treat.
The amused look in its eyes was familiar. With growing horror, he realized he knew that hummingbird… Oh, no!
January 23, 2016
#Rainbow Snippets: Rise of the Alpha Squirrel
For all my friends in the US. *ducks*
Another tidbit from the sequel to my weresquirrel romance Nuts About You. 
(This goes a line or two beyond the 6 sentence limit, but it sets up next week’s snippet so well… )
Don’t forget to check out the other snippets at our Facebook Group!
It didn’t take long. Vince appeared in the archway that led to the hall, wearing only Nathan’s absolutely favorite pair of shorts, and scratching his belly absently. He opened the refrigerator and retrieved a large measuring cup full of dark, grainy-looking pancake batter.
Vince put the cup on the counter and balled up the plastic wrap that had been keeping it fresh.
“Pancakes,” he called out the window.
Nathan turned his nose up and then, for extra emphasis, spun and gave him the ‘talk to the tail’ treatment. He loved Vince’s pancakes, but he was going to make the man work for the privilege of feeding them to him.
Some clunks and the unmistakable sound of the frying pan being put on the stove almost made him turn around, but he held firm. No more Nutsy. He was going to win that argument or die trying.
Nathan’s been crushing on one of his regular Bulk Mart customers for a while now. In squirrel form, he sits on Vince’s bird feeders, munching on seeds and enjoying the eye candy. Until the day Vince notices him raiding the feeder…
Nathan's afraid to introduce Vince to other shifters. After all, who wouldn't want to steal good-enough-to-lick-all-over Vince? But Fate--and boyfriends--have a way of cracking all your best laid plans.
Find out moreJanuary 22, 2016
Nathan and Vince are Going to France
Okay, maybe not really. But I just signed a contract with Sidh Press to translate Nuts About You into French, and they’re interested in the rest of the series as well.
It will be interesting to see how it turns out. I’m going to try to get them to hire Ana J. Phoenix to do the french cover as well, but we’ll have to see. They may want to differentiate it a bit from the the English version.
(While looking for an image for this post, I stumbled across this website: Water in My Paint Art Gallery. She has some fantastic paintings. You have to see the jackalope!And guys…guys…she has a NERD SQUIRREL! And she’s not expensive at all.)
January 18, 2016
January 17, 2016
We’re Number 1! We’re Number 1!
Nuts About You climbed the Amazon charts today, hitting #1 in the LGBT short reads.
The overall Kindle ranking blew my mind. I don’t think I’ve ever been that high. (Well, not in ranking, yuck yuck. :P)
I had to screenshot this too:
Because eeeeeeeeeeeeee!
I think I might get them framed.
It still amazes me that people like my silly little running gag of a story. I mean, I shoveled every single nut pun I could imagine into it, and a few other really bad ones too. It’s a source of constant surprise that no one’s shown up at my door with torches and pitchforks to take me away as a serial pun abuser. (Not saying it won’t ever happen, just that I’m prepared. Be ready to have cats tossed at you when you show up.) I hope you’ll find that Rise of the Alpha Squirrel and The Wall Nuts continue the fine tradition of on-page bloopers and really bad puns.
Nuts About YouNutty Romances 1Nathan’s been crushing on one of his regular Bulk Mart customers for a while now. In squirrel form, he sits on Vince’s bird feeders, munching on seeds and enjoying the eye candy. Until the day Vince notices him raiding the feeder…
January 16, 2016
#RainbowSnippets: Rise of the Alpha Squirrel
In my last couple of snippets, we met cute, fluffy, nut-obsessed Nathan, and his hot-as-roasted-chestnuts love interest Vince. This snippet comes from the beginning of the sequel, Rise of the Alpha Squirrel. If you’ve read Nuts About You, you know that at the beginning of Alpha Squirrel, Nathan sneaks into Vince’s home and plays a silly squirrely trick on him, and gets caught.
And then Vince commits a terrible crime–he calls Nathan…Nutsy. *gasps of horror*
And Nathan’s going to make him pay.
I’m aiming for a February 21 (or probably the 18th, because I have classes all day Thursday and it keeps me from obsessively clicking reload on the browser) release date for Alpha Squirrel, but you can see the cover now.
He didn’t go far—just out into the yard and up the post of the new birdfeeder seated conveniently outside the kitchen window. Good thing this Nutsy obsession was Vince’s only bad quality, or Nathan might have been tempted to go home. But with Vince, there was a lot more in the ‘good nuts’ pile than the ‘bad nuts’ one, so he stayed.
Didn’t mean he had to be all happy and cheerful though. Disgruntled, he fished out a fat black and gray sunflower seed and gnawed the shell open as he waited.
Check out the rest of the group’s snippets here.
January 15, 2016
It’s Not Squirrelmas Any More, But We Have a Winner!
Debra!
Debra’s very own Nathan has been ordered and should be there in a week or so.
