Kate Scott's Blog, page 17

Kalinda's Story

I love to read, and write, because I love stories. Everyone has a story to tell. That's what makes this crazy world we live in so interesting. Every Monday, I interview a different person here and share their stories. At first glance, my guests may appear ordinary, but I promise they're not. They're people. And all people are fascinating. We all have a story to tell. 


This week, I'm talking to Kalinda Little. Kalinda is in my critique group and working on a very interesting urban fatacy, about a car nimph. It's as awesome as it sounds. Each week I look forward to hearing what she's written, so I'm excited to have her here with us today. 


Let's get started, Kalinda, describe yourself in 50 words or less.

KL: I'm a strong self made woman, though you wouldn't think it at a glance. I'm only one of the extras, until you earn my loyalty, then I am an unfaltering warrior for your cause. I carry my honor like a shield, dictating the chivalry of my actions.
Me: I love that description, it captures you so well. What do you love most in the world?

KL: Music. I believe music is what makes us more then beasts.

Me: Whales are musical too. Sorry, I'm being contrary today. Music is a wonderful thing and a wonderful answer. What do you fear most?
KL: A friend of mine has a question she likes to ask people. The the story behind it is that she had a nosy friend who would come into her room at all hours. My friend tried putting a sign on the door to keep her out, but it didn't work. So she asked herself ( and later the question became ) what could she put on the sign in order to make the person stop in her tracks. Not something dirty of course but something that would shake the person to their core.

I will answer your question as I answered the sign on the door question.

“They know, they don't care.”

My greatest fear is opening myself to someone, asking for help and being treated as if I don't mater.
Me: That is a very real fear that most people have, and you described it so eloquently. Now I want to know your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?

KL: I am generally a practical person. I've never had a dream I couldn't see coming true. Currently either becoming a published author, to which I'm working on my novel. Or seeing the world, for which I'm saving up.
Me: Obtainable goals are always a good thing. I hope that all of your dreams come true. What is the hardest thing you've ever done?

KL: Last year I found myself in a job where I was being taken advantage of and in a relationship that over the course of two months turned abusive. I broke. Then I pulled myself out of the pit. 
Me: I'm sorry that happened, but I still love your answer. Those two little words "I broke" say so much. Now that we've gotten to know each other, tell me a story. It can be long or short. From your childhood or last week. Funny, sad, or somewhere in between. Just make sure it's yours. What's your story?

KL: When I was little I refused to sound out words. My school put me in a special class for kids who needed help reading. I admit I've never had good spelling, but I didn't need to be in a special class. The books provided at school simply didn't interest me. At home as a bedtime story my mother read Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King. On my own I listened to audiobook copies of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. And I was supposed to be interested in first grade reading material? Still I went to the classes, because they were the teachers and they said to. I think I was pulled out twice a week for three years though honestly I can't remember. I do remember the pointless articles they made me read, all carefully laminated and sorted. I ended up reading the longest hardest ones they had, because I got board when they had me reading the same ones over and over. They had me read them all out loud so they knew I wasn't cheating, somehow memorizing the material, as if they hadn't had me read the same sheets over and over.

I think I was in fourth grade when I finally blew up.

By that point every time they dragged me off to the special room I would try to read as fast as possible, trying to get it done with. They must have had a time limit though because no matter how fast I read, no matter how quickly I finished, they handed me another sheet. There was one sheet about whales that I had to have read a dozen times.

“No,” I said at last, just a child, maybe nine years old, standing up to the teacher who was intimidating then but in retrospect, must have been fairly young herself. Just following the checklist she had been given.

I built up a rant, saying how I had read all the sheets and I didn't need help going through the words and the only confusing letter was Q and that was only the lower case because it was backwards and Q is just a weird letter anyway.

“I don't need to be here.” I finally exclaimed.

They must have been surprised, because up until then I had never spoken up, never gone against a teachers word. I might have sighed and wrinkled my nose but I never failed to take the medicine they spoon fed me.

They let me go back to my class, and they never called me back to that room.

I maintain to this day that Q is a weird letter especially when written lower case. I mean, no other letter needs another letter to make it real.

And I still never sound out words.

Me: Q's are weird, I completely agree. Thanks again for sharing your story, Kalinda.


So what's your story? If you're interested in participating in a future installment of What's Your Story, please leave your contact information in the comments of this post or email me directly at katherine.elliott.scott(at)gmail.

What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk.  Head over to Jaime's page for links to find out what's up with everyone else. Here's What's Up with me.
What I'm Reading
I recently beta read one of my writing friends books, and now I'm diving into another writer friends manuscript. I love beta reading. I actually think I'm a lot better at finding plot problems in other peoples writing than I am at actually fixing the problems in my own writing. So I always find beta reading fun. And when the writing is as great as the stuff I've recently been reading, it's even more of a treat. The one downside is that the stuff I'm currently reading hasn't been published, so I can't tell you to read it, yet.
What I'm Writing
Very little. It's November, which means NaNo. I thought about doing NaNo this year, but then quickly decided against it. Back in October, I told myself I'd use the NaNo hype to inspire me to do NaNoReMo and finish revising my current WIP (that I'm supposed to be revising) this month. But it's been November for almost a week already, and I haven't made any new progress. I really do need to finish revising this book though. So hopefully the rest of November will go better and I'll actually get some work done.
What Inspires Me Right Now

I have ARCs! They finally arived earlier this week. Aren't they pretty. Counting to D doesn't come out until February 11th, but the advanced copies are here. Seeing my name in print on a physical book like this is so exciting. I'm actually an author now, not just an aspiring author. This is very exciting, and should be very inspiring too. So why haven't I finished my revisions for my next book yet?
What Else I've Been Up To
I really haven't done anything else all that exciting. But getting ARC's is so exciting, I'm going to talk about it some more. I still have a few copies that are currently unclaimed, so if any of you want to read/review Counting to D let me know. I'm looking for people who regularely review books, not just people that want to read it. So if you're only a reader, you'll have to wait until February like everyone else.
So What's Up With You?

Jossie's Story

I love to read, and write, because I love stories. Everyone has a story to tell. That's what makes this crazy world we live in so interesting. Every Monday, I interview a different person here and share their stories. At first glance, my guests may appear ordinary, but I promise they're not. They're people. And all people are fascinating. We all have a story to tell. 




This week, I'm talking to Jossie Solheim. Jossie is a fellow writer/blogger. I've gotten to know her through What's Up Wednesday, and I'm thrilled that she agreed to drop by today so I could get to know her even better. 


Let's get started, Jossie, describe yourself in 50 words or less.

JS: I'm a wife, mother, and writer. Living in Cornwall, by far the best place to live in the whole of the UK; not that I’m biased or anything. I’m bubbly, ditzy, forgetful, and fun, just like Dori. I can speak whale, too. Whaoooo!
Me: I love how much of your personality came across in those 43 words. So, what do you love most in the world?


JS: My beautiful son, Kye. He’s a little monster one minute and a real sweetie the next.
Me: He sounds like quite the lovable handful. What do you fear most?

JS: Being abandoned in a pitch black room, full of creepy china dolls; where, at random intervals, the light flashes on, only to reveal that the dolls, with their big, freaky, staring eyes have moved. Yikes! It makes me want to run and hide, just thinking about it.
Me: Um, that was specific. You didn't go to any haunted houses filled with China dolls at Halloween did you? Thankfully, it's now November and you hopefully wont be encountering any more creepy dolls. Now I want to know your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?


JS: Owning a beautiful, small holding, in the middle of nowhere. Imagine the peace and tranquility. My dogs would have loads of space to run and play; the hubby would have plenty of sheds and barns for all his junk, and my son would be able to have a huge tree house and lots of space to build forts, race go-karts and just be a kid. It would be heaven. As to what I am doing to achieve this; I’m writing like crazy and hoping to make it as an author. My book, Insane Reno, is already published; so, I’m one step closer to making my dreams come true.
Me: I too often dream about living out in the country, for all the same reasons. Sadly, commuting distances keep me tied to the city. Thankfully, people can write from anywhere, so making it as an author is a key part of that dream we share. Good luck, I hope you get there. I hope we both do. What is the hardest thing you've ever done?

JS: Letting go of the dead weight in my life; people and things that just weren’t good for me anymore. It was easy to acknowledge the fact that I needed to let go, but so hard to actually do it. Still, I’m so glad I did. I feel like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders and life feels a lot less stressful for it.
Me: That does sound hard. Especially letting go of the people. Now that we've gotten to know each other, tell me a story. It can be long or short. From your childhood or last week. Funny, sad, or somewhere in between. Just make sure it's yours. What's your story?

JS: Well, looking back at my biggest fear, above; I thought I might share with you a story that follows in that vein. My husband and I had gone to stay at his mother’s house, as she needed us to look after her cat, Felix, while she was away. One night, my husband headed off to his friend’s house to play some poker, leaving me alone in the house; only I didn’t feel all that alone. In the living room of his mother’s house, right next to the TV, was the creepiest doll ever. This life size doll stood facing the wall, so all you could see was its back. It looked like a real little girl from behind; however, I knew that, should that beastly little thing turn around, there would be no face, not anything; just a flat surface. As a result, I spent the whole night staring at the doll; adamant that if I took my eyes of it for only a second, it would have turned around, revealing its horrifically flat side. I freaked myself out, so badly, that when hubby returned, I begged him to take the doll and lock it away, somewhere, until his mum returned and we could safely leave. I’ll never understand how anyone could want such horribly creepy things in their homes. Each to their own, I guess.
Me: Wow, thanks for sharing. I feel like I should have posted your story last week for Halloween. But the first week of November is close enough.

So what's your story? If you're interested in participating in a future installment of What's Your Story, please leave your contact information in the comments of this post or email me directly at katherine.elliott.scott(at)gmail.

Taryn's Story

I love to read, and write, because I love stories. Everyone has a story to tell. That's what makes this crazy world we live in so interesting. Every Monday, I interview a different person here and share their stories. At first glance, my guests may appear ordinary, but I promise they're not. They're people. And all people are fascinating. We all have a story to tell. 

This week, I'm talking to Taryn Albright. Taryn was one of my beta readers for Counting to D and I'm thrilled to have her here today. 

Let's get started, Taryn, describe yourself in 50 words or less.

TA: College senior, nationally ranked swimmer, YA writer represented by Molly Ker Hawn, freelance editor at The Girl with the Green Pen and founder of Teen Eyes Editorial, and lover of Paleo food.
Me: I've always been impressed by how much you are able to accomplish and that short description definitely shows how much you have going on. So, what do you love most in the world?

TA: My baby sister. She's actually 18, so not so much a baby, but she's my favorite person, and I love that we can share a love for stories.
Me: My brother is now one of my closest friends but when I was in college I don't think either of us would have listed the other at the top of our love list. It's wonderful that you have such a close bond with your sister. So what do you fear most?

TA: Not sure I've lived enough to answer this well, but the truth is that I hate failing. I've been lucky enough to find things I do well early in life, but that has hindered me because I am not sure how to fail publically. 
Me: Learning how to graciously lose is a lesson nobody wants to learn. I think most people fear failure regardless of their age or experience. Hopefully, you'll never have to endure to epic of a failure. When life's many little failures do come your way, just try to remember that you your gaining important life experiences that you can include in a future book. Now I want to know your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?

TA: Again, having not graduated and started "real" life makes this difficult to answer. Right now my dream is to have a stable life doing what I love, and I think I'm well on my way because of the experience I have in the publishing industry.
Me: I've only read one of your past novels and I think you were like 19 when you wrote it, and you only worked on it for like a week before sending it to me. Even then I could tell that you could do better, but you had a great start, a really great start! And you seem to have a great start at life too. The easiest way to grow up with a long list of unfullfilled dreams is to never strive for anything and you are definitely grasping for your dreams already. You'll get to them, and then you'll dream up some more. It won't always be easy though. What is the hardest thing you've ever done?

TA: Finally, an easy one! Quitting swimming. I spent 13 years as a competitive swimmer. At one point, I was ranked fourth in the nation. It defined me particularly from age nine until age seventeen, but as publishing began to take over my life, I had to learn that I was human underneath the swimmer-façade.
Me: Fourth in the nation is amazing. Giving that up must have been really hard. But it's clear you are passionate about writing and publishing, so at least you were giving up one love for another. Now that we've gotten to know each other, tell me a story. It can be long or short. From your childhood or last week. Funny, sad, or somewhere in between. Just make sure it's yours. What's your story?

TA: Freshman year, I dated this guy. He cheated on me with this girl. Now he's engaged to this girl--and this year she's my next door neighbor. I'd be amused to see this as a new adult, but it's too close for me to write.
Me: That would be a good new adult story. In only a few simple sentences, I was completely drawn in. I definitely understand why you don't want to write about it right now though. Maybe those events will work their way into a project years from now when the wounds have been healed. Regardless, thank you for sharing your story with me today.


So what's your story? If you're interested in participating in a future installment of What's Your Story, please leave your contact information in the comments of this post or email me directly at katherine.elliott.scott(at)gmail.

Tonja's Story

I love to read, and write, because I love stories. Everyone has a story to tell. That's what makes this crazy world we live in so interesting. Every Monday, I interview a different person here and share their stories. At first glance, my guests may appear ordinary, but I promise they're not. They're people. And all people are fascinating. We all have a story to tell. 



This week, I'm talking to Tonja Drecker. Tonja is a fellow writer/blogger. I've gotten to know her through What's Up Wednesday, and I'm thrilled that she agreed to drop by today so I could get to know her even better. 


Let's get started, Tonja, describe yourself in 50 words or less.
50 words? I’ll try. *deep breath*  I’m married to a wonderful man, mother to 4 terrific children, always doing tons of things at once and often forgetting something. I love to write, sew, garden, play piano, help out where ever I can. I’m spontaneous, future orientated, optimistic, take life relaxed—usually—and am most likely a little crazy.
It sounds like you've got a very full life, no wonder the 50 word limit was a challenge. So, what do you love most in the world?
God. And then my family. But as other things go – mixed coffee drinks, chocolate and a good jasmine tea.
I've never been a big coffee fan, but I fully approve of your love of chocolate. And God and family are alright too. So what do you fear most?I honestly can’t answer this. I don’t know. There’s so many things one could fear might happen, but I figure I’ll take things as they come. . .somehow. 
Fearless? Congratulations, I guess. You could be the heroine in a middle grade adventure story. Now I want to know your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?
Besides becoming a published and established author? I’d love to help out children who haven’t had a great beginning to life. My dream is to found a type of  children ranch, where kids can forget about their lives for a week or two and simply enjoy being children. Of course, it would be awesome to somehow build this out into a help organization to support these children in their daily lives. I know so many kids (not even poor) who could use the extra love.
Oh, I love that dream! When I was a kid I spent all my summers at camp and for a long time I wanted to be a camp director when I grew up. So I definitely understand the wanting to make a safe place where kids can come and just be kids. A ranch sounds like the perfect setting. What is the hardest thing you've ever done?
Giving up life as I knew it, packing all my things into 2 suitcases and one shipping box, and moving overseas to marry a man I only met a few times but was in love with.
It's a good thing you're fearless, because that sounds really scary. I'm glad that it worked out for you, and I hope you nothing but the best in your next adventure. Now that we've gotten to know each other, tell me a story. It can be long or short. From your childhood or last week. Funny, sad, or somewhere in between. Just make sure it's yours. What's your story?When I was a child, our family would spend a month every summer visiting my grandparents’ farm. Since we lived smack-dab in the middle of a big city, it was great to have so much space and freedom to run around and do whatever we wanted. There were cows, chickens, cats – TONS of cats – and an even larger amount of shenanigans. 
One day, my cousin and I decided to go shoot cans in the woods behind the barn with our beebee guns. He said he knew the perfect spot but didn’t mention it was on the neighbor’s property – a very cranky neighbor at that.
We set up our targets along a small dirt field road and took turns shooting the cans off of an old log. We were having so much fun that we didn’t hear the tractor until it turned the bend only about 20 yards away. Five men stood on the full hay wagon on the back and pointed at us. They started hollering something, but I couldn’t understand it over the roaring tractor.
My cousin grabbed my arm and yelled for me to run. He said the men would shoot us because this was their property. I peered back as my cousin pulled me forward, and sure enough, several of the men were holding rifles.
I ran.
Boy, I ran.
My cousin yelled for me to go faster, but I kept tripping over rocks and broken branches. Suddenly, he stopped and swung around – I’ll never forget his wide eyes. A crack echoed through the air, and I dove to the ground.  My face hit the moist dirt and leaves. I remember spitting and trying to wipe it off, but I was already being dragged back to my feet. My cousin didn’t let go of my wrist until we reached my grandfather’s barn.
This is the story as I remember it, but today, I realize that the men weren’t holding rifles. They probably had pitch forks and were on their way to dump the hay into the pasture for the cows. The crack was probably a snapping branch. But at that moment, I was so terrified that the world took on a face of its own.  
I love to remember this experience when I’m trying to figure out how a character will react in a scene - the world is only as a person sees it. Reality warps so easily.
Wow, that's such a great story. I love that your memories haven't changed but you've come to understand that they were false memories as you've gotten older. I expect this experience, and other's on your grandparents farm inspired your ranching dreams.


So what's your story? If you're interested in participating in a future installment of What's Your Story, please leave your contact information in the comments of this post or email me directly at katherine.elliott.scott(at)gmail.

Stephen's Story

I love to read, and write, because I love stories. Everyone has a story to tell. That's what makes this crazy world we live in so interesting. Every Monday, I interview a different person here and share their stories. At first glance, my guests may appear ordinary, but I promise they're not. They're people. And all people are fascinating. We all have a story to tell. 
This week, I'm talking to Stephen Kozeniewski. Stephen is the author of Braineater Jones which is for sale today! How exciting. Thank you Stephen for stopping by to share your story on the day that your story hit the shelves. Normally I ask participants to provide a photo of themselves. But considering the momentous occasion, I think I need two pictures today, one of you and one of your book cover.


Ooo, great cover. But now onto business. Stephen, describe yourself in 50 words or less.

I've always been impressed by how much you are able to accomplish and that short description definitely shows how much you have going on. So, what do you love most in the world?

I am a good work…guy.  A Germanist.  An Iraq War vet.  My day job has always been in the civil service except for a brief period in dental insurance.  In my spare time I’m a horror author and my first book, BRAINEATER JONES just came out.

Congrats again on the book release. But now I want to get a bit more personal. What do you love most in the world?

Hmm…I’m not the sentimental type, so I’m going to say a cheesesteak with fried onions from Jim’s on South Street.

Wow, I've had a few people say chocolate, but you are definitely the first person to answer cheesesteak. So what do you fear most?
I guess since I sort of dodged the last one, I should probably dig into this one.  I would say I’m afraid of being ostracized.  I know that’s not the perfect word for it.  Maybe shunning?  There used to be a practice, I want to say in colonial times, where everyone would just turn their backs on a Scarlet Letter type person and ignore them.  Like, literally just turn their backs and pretend the offender wasn’t there.  We have a modern version, I’m not sure if it’s got a name yet, but you probably know what I mean.  The whole internet instantly deems you persona non grata.  Your career, mighty though it may have been, is toppled.  You become hated.  A joke.  It happened to Paula Deen…Nickelback…Miley Cyrus.  I’m sure between the time I write this and the time it goes up on Kate’s blog it will have happened to someone else.  I’m always sort of afraid I’ll say something stupid and then be ostracized like that.

I'd never really thought about it, maybe because I'm nowhere near famous. But even on a small scale among ones peers, I see that happen sometimes. And I agree, it would be very scary. Now I want to know your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?

You know what’s tough about this question?  I do have two aspirations in life that I never fulfilled and that I know I never WILL fulfill now.  In 2008 I left the army, which was a pretty easy decision to make, and then in 2012 I made the decision to resign my commission, which was tougher.  It ensured that I can never be called up again for some sort of backdoor draft (which, yes, happened to me in 2010) but it also meant that I could never enter military service again unless I started from scratch.  It’s not that I necessarily ever WANTED to join the reserves or anything, but resigning my commission ensured that I never COULD.  And so with that I closed the door on the two unfulfilled dreams of my military career which were: to be a battery commander and to earn the St. Barbara’s Medal.  The two kind of go hand-in-hand and occur at about the same time in an officer’s career.  Of course, knowing that, if I had achieved those two goals, then who knows if I wouldn’t have then set my eyes on the next big career goal, whatever that might have been.  I guess it’s a perilous slope, so I don’t feel all that bad about it, but there are still times when I say to myself, “You know, you trained for eight, nine years to command a Field Artillery battery and you never did.”  But we’ve all got to make the decisions that are best for our families and health and lifestyles and not necessarily for our egos, so I try not to regret it.

I've left careers before but never the military, so I've always thought I could go back if I wanted to. It must be hard to simply write THE END to a chapter of your life like that, but also exciting. All you can do after that is go forward. What is the hardest thing you've ever done?

This is going to sound weird considering the other experiences I’ve had in life, but working in a phone bank.  My degree is in German and I took a job at a dental insurance company that received claims from overseas so I was excited to be able to actually put my education to use translating documents and talking daily with German dental offices.  What I didn’t know about that job going in, though, was that your performance was not judged by quality but rather by volume.  “Production” was the rather ominous, Orwellian-sounding word they used.  Phone calls had to average 3 minutes, regardless of complexity, and you had to take a certain number per day to reach production.  If I wasn’t logged into my computer account by 8:00 am I was late.  That meant I had to show up at about 7:45 to turn on my computer, put my lunch away, etc.  Logging in at 8:01 was a red mark.  Similarly, if a break was 15 minutes, I had to press a button on the phone indicating that I was going on break, and if I logged back in 16 minutes later, that was a red mark.  If it took me five minutes to walk to the lunch room and back, my lunch was effectively 20 minutes long.  I was allowed to go to the bathroom, but only for a sum total of 45 minutes per week, and if I exceeded my generous weekly allotment, that was a red mark.  I had to be available for phone calls at all times, and yet I also had to document every phone call which meant that I had to effectively document my phone calls at the same time I was taking them.  Which, did I mention meant I was often doing in German?  And, despite the seemingly transitory nature of phone calls, if there was a difficult or complex problem in my queue, there was essentially nothing that my supervisor was willing to do to help.  Most of her responses amounted to, “Figure it out.” 
 
Most of my calls boiled down to one of two things: either being yelled at by irate customers who weren’t happy with their insurance or having to explain the entire insurance system, top-to-bottom, to dull-witted customers or disinterested dental offices.  So half my day was spent in rote recitation and the other half in trying to explain that my hands were tied to someone who was berating me.
 
Eventually I reached a point where I showed up in the morning shivering, pale, white, terrified of the day ahead of me.  When I went home at night, all I could think about was the nightmare calls sitting in my queue, awaiting me in the morning.  I was such a nervous wreck I approached a state close to clinical depression, and I don’t think I’m exaggerating or minimizing mental illness when I say that.  I’m fond of saying, “That that was the worst job I ever had, and I’ve been to Iraq.”

Wow, I'm glad I never worked there. Now that we've gotten to know each other, tell me a story. It can be long or short. From your childhood or last week. Funny, sad, or somewhere in between. Just make sure it's yours. What's your story?
When I was in the army our office building was a former barracks.  The bathrooms were like dorm bathrooms.  And all very old and decrepit.  I’d be surprised if they weren’t Vietnam War era, honestly.  One day I went to the bathroom…you know, number two…and when I was finished I noticed that there was a brown t-shirt wrapped around the pipe.  In the army there’s a brown t-shirt that you wear every day as part of your uniform, and everybody wears it, so when it comes time to seeing rags and refuse, you’ll tend to see that particular t-shirt a lot.  They’re ubiquitous.  I didn’t really think anything of seeing one of those t-shirts wrapped around a sewer pipe.  It probably also had to do with the fact that I probably walked by it two or three times a day.  It was one of those things that you see day-in and day-out until the oddness of it just sort of sinks away and effectively becomes a fnord.

Now, I’ve always been the type, right, wrong or indifferent, to flush the commode with my foot.  Nowadays most bathrooms have those autosensors, so you don’t even have to do it anymore.  But this commode in the story, originating, as I said before, probably from the ‘70s at best, had a handle.  So I stepped away, uniform pants around my ankles, and lifted my boot to give the handle a little tap.

That’s when I found out what the t-shirt had been there for.  As soon as I pressed the handle - admittedly, it was with combat boots, so I couldn’t have been being über-gentle - the whole pipe pulled apart.  Water began gushing out of the wall and flooding the floor.  I stumble out of the stall, pants still around my ankles, looking around, bewildered.

I realized that somebody had set me up.  Not me personally.  But somebody had just passed the buck in an astonishing way.  Somebody else had been in that bathroom, flushed the toilet too hard, maybe even gave it a taste of boot like I had, and the pipe had pulled out of the wall.  But this person, whoever he was, had then had the wherewithal to hold the pipes together, take off his t-shirt, re-secure the pipes with a bit of cloth such that THEY STOPPED LEAKING…and then walked away so it would become S.E.P.

I can’t say I’ve never done something similar.  Like taken all but a swallow of coffee and left it for somebody else to make the next pot.  But this was somebody doing some fairly complex amateur plumbing to get out of telling somebody that he had busted the pipe.  You know how they used to say, “There’s strong…and then there’s army strong?”  Well, this is how I learned that there’s passing the buck…and then there’s army passing the buck.


Thank you for sharing your story, Stephen. And congratulations again on the release of Braineater Jones!


So what's your story? If you're interested in participating in a future installment of What's Your Story, please leave your contact information in the comments of this post or email me directly at katherine.elliott.scott(at)gmail.

What's Up Wednesday - Wordstock Edition

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk.  Head over to Jaime's page for links to find out what's up with everyone else. Here's What's Up with me.

For this week’s What’s Up Wednesday, I’m going to answer the questions in reverse order, because nothing I’ve been up to this week will make any sense until I tell you about Wordstock.
What Else I've Been Doing
Wordstock was last weekend. If you aren’t from Portland, this is the part of the post where I make you super jealous. Wordstock is an annual literary festival that is modeled more like a music festival than a traditional book fair or writing conference. There are a dozen different stages where different authors “perform”, normally in the form of themed panels and Q&A sessions. The festival is open to the public, cost $10 to get into, and is a local fundraiser for k-8 literacy and writing education programs. Out of the 230 authors featured at the festival about 40 of them were YA authors (I’m talking Jessica Brody, Marissa Meyer, Stephanie Perkins, Gayle Forman, MaggieStiefvater, and 35 others). That alone would have been enough to make for a great weekend, but it gets better.
The poets, literary writers and other “old adult” authors may treated the festival like a standard stop on their book tour, but the YA authors decided to make it a party. And their merriment trickled into the crowds, because they all crashed each other’s panels. The very first event I went to on the very first day, I ended up sitting right next to Jessica Brody, who was in the audience taking lots of pictures with her phone and making random fangirl tweets to rattle the authors on stage.
By that night Maggie Stiefvater decided that she needed to moderate a panel that hadn’t even been on the official schedule, she’d just dragged a bunch of random writers up and then asked them highly specific questions like, “WHY? WHY? WHY?” The answers tended to be even less coherent, but very entertaining.
On the last day, while Kevin Emerson was up on stage attempting to talk about his series THE ATLANTEANS somebody noticed that the male model used in his cover art looked a lot like Dan Krokos and the chick had a striking resemblance to Cat Patrick. Clearly, the only thing that could be done was for Dan and Cat to get up on stage and reenact the cover art. Sadly, I didn’t get a picture of it, but I can tell you in addition to writing great YA Sci-Fi, Cat also pulls off pining sultry facial expressions fabulously.

So needless to say, I had a really awesome weekend.
What Inspires Me Right Now
I’ve always been aware that authors are real people. Portland is a standard stop on all the major publisher’s book tours so even when Wordstock isn’t going on there are always signings taking place in local bookstores. I’ve met a lot of authors over the years, and I’ve always found them kind and personable. When given a chance to really talk, they also tend to be a highly entertaining subset of the population.

Maybe it’s because my debut is coming out in February. Or maybe it’s just because several of the presenters at Wordstock this year let their personalities show over the weekend. But next year, I don’t want to be sitting in the audience. I want to be on stage. And this desire has very little to do with the obvious bump it would give to my future book sales. 
More than that, I want to hang out with these people, and talk to them for more than two minutes. I want to be their friend, their colleague. And wanting that may not be truly inspiring but at the very least it’s motivating.
What I'm Writing
I’ve been trying to revise THE EVOLUTION OF EMILY for a while. I have a completed draft, but it needs A LOT of work. Scenes are in the wrong order. I need to introduce whole new characters and subplots and then weave them through the entire story. And for the past month or so, I’ve been feeling so overwhelmed by all the things that I know I need to do that I haven’t really done anything.

So I decided to start over, with a blank page. I’m not completely re-writing the entire book. There will be a lot of cutting and pasting from my old draft. But I’m trying to re-write this thing in chronological order so by the time I get to the end, I’ll have a new draft that is actually workable. I’m currently two chapters into this new version of my story. Two chapters isn’t much. But two good chapters feels a lot better than 30 incoherent ones. 
What I'm Reading

Obviously, it's impossible to attend Wordstock and not walk away with a large to-read pile. Of all the books I picked up this year, I was most excited to read JUST ONE YEAR by Gayle Forman. I actually started it on my train ride home on Saturday only a couple hours after purchasing it. I finished it on Sunday evening and absolutely loved it. 
I’ve been a big Forman fan for years and this book did not disappoint. I will say that it’s a companion book to JUST ONE DAY and if you haven’t read that book you really do need to read it first. Still, I cannot recommend this book enough. It’s told from Willem’s point of view and despite the kissing couple on the cover really isn’t a romance at all. It deals mainly with Willem’s relationship with his parents and struggle to find himself.

Gayle Forman’s books are normally classified as YA mainly because she started writing before NA became an accepted genre. But all of her books have featured characters on the older end of the YA spectrum. Willem is in his early 20’s and this book really should be called New Adult not Young Adult. 
I haven’t read a tone of NA yet, but most of the books that are currently defining the genre seem to be YA romances with slightly older characters and a lot more sex. This book is not that. There is one sex scene in JUST ONE DAY, but JUST ONE YEAR is fairly chased. What it does have is well developed realistic characters with complicated lives who are trying to figure out how to be adults. This book should be defining the New Adult genre. And if more authors write books like this one, a lot of readers are going to start flocking towards NA.
So What's Up With You?

Christian's Story

I love to read, and write, because I love stories. Everyone has a story to tell. That's what makes this crazy world we live in so interesting. Every Monday, I interview a different person here and share their stories. At first glance, my guests may appear ordinary, but I promise they're not. They're people. And all people are fascinating. We all have a story to tell. 


This week, I'm talking to Christian Rhodes. Christian is in my critique group and I'm thrilled that he's agreed to share his story here today. 


Let's get started, Christian, describe yourself in 50 words or less.
I see myself as a people-person and a go-getter.
Those are both good things to be. What do you love most in the world?
God and creativity.
Having done this for a few months now, I'm finding those are the two most common answers. So what do you fear most?Failure in life.
Failure is definitely scary. On the subject of failure, what's your largest unfulfilled dream, and what are you doing to reach it?
According to my wish list, I'd like to be a 3D artist, a Web developer, and a Video Game Art Designer. Hopefully whenever I'm not too busy, I'll be doing some self-teaching on these fields. Maybe even get some online help and resources while I'm at it.
Oh, and I want to be a National bestselling author like C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling. I am working on getting my first book publish. I just need to focus on that book instead of creating multiple ones, lol
Wow, you have quite lofty ambitions. Getting there isn't going to be easy. What is the hardest thing you've ever done?
Going for my Accounting degree. Can an artistic person survive this 4-year long course? Yes, because I was able to finish it (phew).
I think now the question is can an accountant create great art? Good luck! Now that we've gotten to know each other, tell me a story. It can be long or short. From your childhood or last week. Funny, sad, or somewhere in between. Just make sure it's yours. What's your story?
I knew ever since I was a young boy that I was blessed by God with creativity. The funniest moment in my life actually was when I used my creativity to complete an Enron article for my final Accounting course, which I recently completed.
The professor wanted us to write two articles where we take the role of a financial analyst writing 1)  warnings to investors about Enron's projected financial forecast and 2) what went wrong with the company.
I did no such thing. Instead, I wrote a story about how Enron was a Medieval empire and its employees were either the oppressed citizens or the powerful monarch ruling with iron fist and stalwart armies. A friend of mine told me NOT to write such rubbish and handing it to my professor.
I didn't listen. Instead I went with first my faith in God and my guts. The day we received the article, the entire class failed. I believed its average was between 65 to 70%. My friend who discouraged me to write what I wanted got a D. Another one got an F. But me, I got an A.
I couldn't stop laughing. The irony that I did something completely opposite to what my professor and my friend wanted my article to be like, has ended up earning me a well-deserving reward and not biting me in the butt (or it could be because my professor LOVES creativity too).
If it's not for creativity, lots of things would've happened in this world. Example: Look at the planet God created. He's pretty creative! 
So if you love to do something, go for it. Aim high and trust God that you can do anything in life.

Wow, that was a gutsy move, I'm glad it paid off for you.


So what's your story? If you're interested in participating in a future installment of What's Your Story, please leave your contact information in the comments of this post or email me directly at katherine.elliott.scott(at)gmail.

I’m Not as Dumb as I Look

In COUNTING TO D, the main character Sam is a really smart kid, who also happens to be illiterate. I know that not all dyslexic people are super geniuses. To be dyslexic, you have to be human first, and all humans are different. So naturally all dyslexics are different too. But I made Sam smart, because I’m smart, and most of the other dyslexic people I know are too.

My brain is different than other peoples. I have a very severe case of dyslexia, coupled with a healthy dose of ADD. I process information in a different way than most people. This could easily be considered a disability. I am disabled. And in COUNTING TO D, Sam is disabled. But she’s not stupid.

In elementary school, I took an IQ test. I think IQ tests are idiotic, and I’m glad people don’t value them as highly now as they used to. But I’ll tell you the number anyway—184. When I was an illiterate little kid that couldn’t figure out her ABCs no matter how hard she tried, I took an intelligence test that claimed I was one in 13 million. I wasn’t just the smartest kid in my class; I was the smartest person in my state.

Clearly, the test was wrong. I’m not that smart. But I’m not that stupid either. I’m just me. I took another IQ test as an adult, just because I was curious. Apparently, I got dumber with age. Now my IQ is only 167. One is 70 thousand is way better, I’m so glad I retook it. Yeah, I know, I’m still not that smart. I’m just a “disabled” chick with a funky brain.

Einstein is the standard example used for super smart. He never took an IQ test, but people that care about things like IQ tests usually estimate his to be about 160. I think the main reason why this number was chosen is so people like me with IQ’s of 184 or 167 or whatever can claim to be smarter than Einstein, which is just pathetic.

People who care about learning disabilities like to claim that Einstein was dyslexic too. I don’t know if he was or not, I never met the guy. But I believe he had a funky brain that set him apart from other people. Maybe he was “disabled” or maybe he was a “genius”, or maybe he was just a guy that worked in a patent office and also liked physics.

Sometimes I wonder if I made the right call in writing Sam as a dyslexic super genius, instead of just a dyslexic average student. But I based a lot of Sam’s character on my own experiences, and I was slapped with the label “prodigy” years before I was labeled “dyslexic”. So Sam’s a smart kid, who can’t read. And at least in the funky world inside my head, that’s totally normal.

What's Up Wednesday

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk.  Head over to Jaime's page for links to find out what's up with everyone else. Here's What's Up with me.
What I'm Reading

This week, I finished reading The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater. I really like all of the characters in this story and am excited to see where the series goes. This series is based upon Welsh mythology (I think). I haven't done any actual research so it's entirely possible that Stiefvater made the entire legend up. But either way, I love that this is an urban fantasy story that is about a unique breed of magic. 
What I'm Writing
Very little. I'm supposed to be editing The Evolution of Emily. I joined a new critique group (in person not online) that meets every week. So I've been submitting a chapter a week to my new team of critters and getting lots of great feedback. I have tons of ideas now about ways to make the story better. But I'm not actually implementing any of them.

I also have a shiny new idea that I'm thinking about pulling out for NaNo this year. So I'm coming up with a new plan for my writing life. I'm going to sort of leave Emily alone for a while and not worry about my lack of revision motivation. I'll keep submitting chapters to my critique group and think about what I need to do with the story each week. But I won't actually do any rewriting right now. Instead, I'll try to start outlining my new project.

Then in November, I'll write this new book. By December, I should have a lot more feedback on The Evolution of Emily and be ready to dive in and do a major rewrite. Once I'm done with that, I'll be ready to revise my NaNo project. At least that's my current plan. Or maybe it's just an attempt to justify not doing my revision right now.
What Inspires Me Right Now
The ARCs are ordered for Counting to D and I should have copies by the end of this week. It feels like that should be super inspiring, but somehow I'm still not getting any writing done. So maybe ARCs aren't all that inspiring. Or more likely, they are seriously distracting. I don't just have a shiny new idea, I have a shiny old idea. The books completely written, yet all of my author thoughts are focused on it so I can't even think about what comes next right now. 
What Else I've Been Up To

I made wine last week. Because that is something that I do. Some of my friends own a small vineyard and we buy grapes from them every year. This passed week, I picked, crushed, and pressed enough grapes to make 25 bottles of pinot gris and 25 bottles of chardonnay. In the past we've also made pinot noir, but this year we decided to skip the reds. Instead my husband pressed a bunch of plums and is going to try and make a plum wine. Although I can't take any credit in that since he did the whole thing while I was off reading The Dream Thieves.

The funny thing is that I'm totally not a drinker. We've made 75 bottles of wine a year for almost a decade now, and I drink maybe two glasses a month. There are a lot of vineyards in this area though and making wine feels like a very fall thing to do. So we have a giant wine rack and an area of our garage dedicating to fermenting grapes.

On the plus side, my husband also loves to fish, and there is nothing better than fresh halibut that's been marinated in chardonnay. Maybe 25 bottles wont be enough. :)

In other unrelated news. I did an interview for my friend Julie's blog. If you want even more fun Kate facts, head over there and check it out.

So What's Up With You?