K.L. Grayson's Blog
September 19, 2014
The Words I'll Carry With Me
So, something happened this week ... something so amazingly wonderful that I can't even really put it into words. People read my book, and they liked it. Some of them didn't just like it, they loved it, they lived it, they devoured it! But that isn't even the amazing part. No, the wonderful part is that these readers have reached out to me to tell me how much they loved it and how it touched them. THAT is what is amazing. I told each of them "thank you", but I feel like that's so insignificant. Those two little words just aren't enough ... they don't fully capture how I feel. Because I'm not just thankful, I'm grateful ... beyond words. How do I tell these readers ... strangers ... how much their kind and encouraging words touched my heart? Because they did ... they touched my heart and tugged at my soul on such a deep level. I'm fully aware that negative reviews are coming down the pike, because everybody gets them, but it's these encouraging words and messages from readers that I will carry with me.
August 29, 2014
When You Wish Upon A Star
So,today I turned 31 ... the big 3-1. I anticipated this to be hard for me because it was not pretty when I turned 30 ... but it wasn't. It wasn't hard at all. I don't really have a reason for that, but maybe ... just maybe it has something to do with me grabbing life by the balls and taking my dreams into my own hands? You think? This morning my daughter asked me what I wished for for my birthday. Her big gray eyes looked into mine and she smiled the sweetest smile. "Do you want a princess bike, Mommy?" she asked. It's amazing how innocent little kids can be. She wanted nothing more than for me to get a princess bike just like hers. Of course I played along "I would love a princess bike, Ava!" She smiled, and we had fun. But, in my head, I realized that this year, I wasn't wishing for anything. Last year I was praying that I wouldn't fall apart when I turned 30. The year before that I was praying for a new car ... This year, nothing. Because this year, the year of my big 3-1 I seem to have everything I could possibly want. I've got an amazing husband, 3 happy and healthy kids, an extremely supportive family and some of the best girlfriends a girl could ever ask for ... Oh, and I'm publishing my first book! Don't want to forget that!
July 2, 2014
He did what... with his what??
Have you ever read a hot sexy scene and thought... "Holy cow... how did they write that?" Well I have . . . and this week I wrote my first "encounter" it was hot, it was sexy, it was . . . odd? Picture this . . . I'm sitting on the couch trying not to pay attention to America's Got Talent on the TV while simultaneously trying to write the "perfect kiss". Well what's a perfect kiss? What if my perfect kiss is different than your perfect kiss? What if I find something sexy, but the reader doesn't. What if I screw it up? This is Harley and Tyson's first kiss... I need it to be perfect! Now lets be honest... I haven't had a "first kiss" in 16 years... that's a damn long time... how the hell am I suppose to remember what I was feeling when my husband, then boyfriend kissed me for the first time? I'm not sure how other authors go about writing these scenes, but here's what I did.
Me: *puts down computer and snuggles up to hubby on the chair* "Honey . . . I need you to kiss me."
Hubby: *smiles* "Okay . . . "
Me: "But it can't be just any kiss, it has to be our first kiss, it has to be a perfect kiss."
Hubby: *stares* "Honey, we've been together for sixteen years. I was sixteen when I kissed you the first time."
Me: "Yeah babe, I know, but I need you to do it again. Come on, this could be fun! Make me hot babe!"
Hubby: *mischievous grin-- Grips my neck gently in his hands, his thumbs lightly grazing my jaw, face slowly descends...
Me: "Stop! I've gotta go write this down!" *jumps up and runs over to laptop, types furiously as husband stares* "Okay babe, got it!"
Hubby: "That's it? We're done? I didn't even kiss you!"
Me: "You didn't have to baby, you're that good!"
Hubby: *smiles to himself*
Hah! It might not have been the most traditional way to spark my writing mind, but I'm in madly in love with my husband and he still gives me goose bumps and he still makes the hair on my neck stand up when he does *that special thing*.
Me: *puts down computer and snuggles up to hubby on the chair* "Honey . . . I need you to kiss me."
Hubby: *smiles* "Okay . . . "
Me: "But it can't be just any kiss, it has to be our first kiss, it has to be a perfect kiss."
Hubby: *stares* "Honey, we've been together for sixteen years. I was sixteen when I kissed you the first time."
Me: "Yeah babe, I know, but I need you to do it again. Come on, this could be fun! Make me hot babe!"
Hubby: *mischievous grin-- Grips my neck gently in his hands, his thumbs lightly grazing my jaw, face slowly descends...
Me: "Stop! I've gotta go write this down!" *jumps up and runs over to laptop, types furiously as husband stares* "Okay babe, got it!"
Hubby: "That's it? We're done? I didn't even kiss you!"
Me: "You didn't have to baby, you're that good!"
Hubby: *smiles to himself*
Hah! It might not have been the most traditional way to spark my writing mind, but I'm in madly in love with my husband and he still gives me goose bumps and he still makes the hair on my neck stand up when he does *that special thing*.
June 17, 2014
Sleep? Remind me again what that is . . .
Six months ago I decided that it was time to do something that I love and that's write. I love to write. Writing has always been a passion of mine. It's sort of hard to explain but writing is kind of like breathing . . . I know, that's a bit dramatic, but for me it's the truth. If I go too long without writing I start to feel like I'm going to explode and the only thing that will save me is to release all of my tension in the form of words and stories.
So here's my story in a nutshell. Bear with me here, I'll make it fast. I wish my story was something really cool and exotic, but it's not. It's the same story that I'm sure every mother and wife has lived through at some point in time. I have three very beautiful and wonderful children and I have a husband that I absolutely adore. Now this may sound cliché, but somewhere in the past five years I lost "Kirby", I lost me! And it was terrifying. I was playing the part of mother, wife, sister, daughter, aunt, chef, chauffer, entertainer, boo boo kisser etc. etc. etc., all while working a full time job. I know, I know, boo hoo, dry my tears blah blah blah. But if you've never "lost" youself then you don't really understand what it feels like. Anyway, back on track . . . I voiced my concerns to my husband and he said "Kirby, you need to something you love, do something for you. And don't do something that's related to me or the kids." So I sat down and I started writing, which is what I've always done and I had an AH HAH moment! Seriously . . . it was a cue-the-marching-band kind of moment! I decided to lengthen one of my short stories into a full length novel, and somewhere along the way I decided that my ultimate goal would be self publication. So basically, that's what puts me here . . . in front of my computer furiously typing away to relieve my brain of the jumbled mess of words that are begging to be let out.
Unfortunately for me, the words keep flowing and my mind keeps racing but my eyes just keep wanting to close. Damn eyes! I knew they couldn't be trusted!
So apparently, deciding to publish a book and actually having to finish said book can lead to some severe writer's block . . . who would've thought?
Last night I was sitting in front of a white screen that said "Chapter 15" and the cursor was just sitting there blinking at me and I thought "What the hell is wrong with me? This is just writing, and I love to write! It doesn't matter if it's good, I can always go back and change it, but I just NEED to write!" So I started typing and believe it or not I found my words again, or maybe they found me. And thank God for that because I really felt like I was being suffocated!
So here I am tonight, obviously writing on this blog instead of my book because, well, it just felt like something I wanted to do and that's what this journey is about. Right? Doing something for me . . .something I want to do?!
So here's my story in a nutshell. Bear with me here, I'll make it fast. I wish my story was something really cool and exotic, but it's not. It's the same story that I'm sure every mother and wife has lived through at some point in time. I have three very beautiful and wonderful children and I have a husband that I absolutely adore. Now this may sound cliché, but somewhere in the past five years I lost "Kirby", I lost me! And it was terrifying. I was playing the part of mother, wife, sister, daughter, aunt, chef, chauffer, entertainer, boo boo kisser etc. etc. etc., all while working a full time job. I know, I know, boo hoo, dry my tears blah blah blah. But if you've never "lost" youself then you don't really understand what it feels like. Anyway, back on track . . . I voiced my concerns to my husband and he said "Kirby, you need to something you love, do something for you. And don't do something that's related to me or the kids." So I sat down and I started writing, which is what I've always done and I had an AH HAH moment! Seriously . . . it was a cue-the-marching-band kind of moment! I decided to lengthen one of my short stories into a full length novel, and somewhere along the way I decided that my ultimate goal would be self publication. So basically, that's what puts me here . . . in front of my computer furiously typing away to relieve my brain of the jumbled mess of words that are begging to be let out.
Unfortunately for me, the words keep flowing and my mind keeps racing but my eyes just keep wanting to close. Damn eyes! I knew they couldn't be trusted!
So apparently, deciding to publish a book and actually having to finish said book can lead to some severe writer's block . . . who would've thought?
Last night I was sitting in front of a white screen that said "Chapter 15" and the cursor was just sitting there blinking at me and I thought "What the hell is wrong with me? This is just writing, and I love to write! It doesn't matter if it's good, I can always go back and change it, but I just NEED to write!" So I started typing and believe it or not I found my words again, or maybe they found me. And thank God for that because I really felt like I was being suffocated!
So here I am tonight, obviously writing on this blog instead of my book because, well, it just felt like something I wanted to do and that's what this journey is about. Right? Doing something for me . . .something I want to do?!
