K.M. Updike's Blog, page 6

I Believe Impossible Things | Mundane Monday

Sometimes I forget that I believe in magic.
Sometimes I forget that I believe in impossible things . . .
I think this does something to you.

When you forget that there really is room in the wide space of this world to believe in the wild, the unpredictable, the fantasy, the sheer impossibility of something, a little piece of you just hardens.

And when the chance to believe in those things comes around again you just sort of . . . miss it. When something impossible shows itself to you, you just don't even try to believe it. Shrug it off, it's impossible. Right?

But what if it were possible? What if in some crazy impossible far off thought it were possible? Just that thought "what if . . . " is enough.

Doesn't it just sound so deliciously dangerous to you? So unfamiliar and unsafe and just so amazingly contrary to everything you've ever been taught, heard in school or learned from the hard knocks?

When you wake up to a dreary world in a dreary life, maybe it's just because you're sick of being safe? Safe is overrated. And the most unsafe place to be safe in? Your mind.

Here's my impossible things.

1. I can fly

2. When you can't sleep you're awake in someone else's dreams

3. The moon is in love with the sun

4. That all music is a memory of a forgotten or never heard of place

5. All the times you thought you heard someone calling you were actually voices calling you to another world

6. A Man died and lived to tell about it

What are your impossible things?

5 Inspiring Things For Your Weekend

Everyone's got a little lemon. Even a puppy. But you can either lay in a slump of confusion and hurt . . . or you can take on the lemon with full force!

Just a little majestic music. Good for those days when you can't seem to get your feet off the ground.

How about those Stool Pigeons?

A slide and a few friends can make anybody's day.

'Cause it's healthy to cry.
Happy Weekend.
Love, Kayla

6 Things I Wish People Knew About Independent Authors

 
I am quite sure I have yet to live up to my self-appointed title of Self-Published Independent Author. But I keep running into people who ask me what I'm doing these days and I feel like I do not explain myself very well when I tell them I'm a writer. Let alone an independent author

In reality, they see someone leisurely staying at home all the time and not having to worry about getting into the daily grind of a 9 to 5. They only see one thing - Someone sitting around all day, every day, scribbling madly at stories. Ah, the life.

I won't lie, this is what we do. But only about 25% of the time. I get really frustrated when I have to tell people I'm a writer because they must be thinking I have a grand, romantic life. And my life does have some semblance of romance to it, it's just a lot harder than even I thought it would be in the beginning.

Below is a list of things I wish I could tell people about the reality of a writer.

1. We only get to spend two to three hours a day actually writing
If I can get 1,000 words in on my story in two hours my day is made. Some people do get to write all day, and I'm truly happy for them. Some days I don't get to write at all. It's hard just to jump into writing, you have to abide by a process that will melt your resistance and get the creative cauldrons burning. I would love to read a book for two hours before I start writing, but I only get the luxury of a half hour, if that. Some days I have to edit and editing takes awhile, too. It's mentally demanding work.

2. The rest of our day is spent building our platforms
This one is a doozy, and I've yet to come up with a one sentence explanation of this, let alone try to explain it to anyone. But it entails:
Figuring out how to promote and market my book, that will help grow my platformNetworking with other writes, to meet new people and become new friendsWriting blog posts, posting to social media to will help grow my audienceCreating graphics for my blog and social mediaTaking photographsReading books on my craft, literally studyingSharing what I learned in writing blog posts to help other writersRunning Cover Contests, letting people know what I'm doing and that I need their helpReading and implementing books on Self-Publishing and figuring out how they apply to meResearching - everythingGiveaways . . . Each one of these things has a dozen sub categories to their names, it's not just one thing. Keep that in mind.
3. We take care of our health & familiesWe work out. We cook and eat.We walk our pets.We pick up kids from school.Take little brother's to class and Civil Air Patrol.When our spouse, brother, sister, mom, dad, roommate gets home from work we pause in our day to say hello, to ask them how their day was, and listen to them if their stories take longer than five minutes.We socialize with friends on weekends.We do every normal thing you do. We just make our money differently. And it's a daily twelve hour shift sometimes.
4. We're constantly thinking about helping our readers Most of the Self-published authors I know and learn from are constantly doing this. They have courses which range from self-editing to self-publishing to book launching. They are ALWAYS thinking of ways to help other people, readers and writers and professionals alike. And they LOVE it. Independent Authors are rarely ever just fiction authors. They always have something else going, and usually it's non-fiction. As artists, we bring new things into the world, or show people how glorious the old things are by what we write. We love to write, but if our writing doesn't help or inspire someone else, it's useless to us. 
5. We're running a businessWe really are. Independent authors are running a business. It's how they stay alive, how they thrive. They've chosen not to go through a big publishing house or an agent. They've used the hundreds of thousands of resources and freelancers out there, made possible by the Internet, and they've gone into business for themselves, doing what they love. They are entrepreneurs. And they're pretty brave.
Me, I don't feel brave. I haven't even begun to do some of the things the big self-publishers have done. I'm still feeling my way through this strange, new, terrifying, wonderful territory.
6. We want to be equal with youI don't want to be more or less. I want us to be equal. Because we are equal. And no one can tell us different. There is no one job better or worse than the other. If you are working, if you are contributing to the whole, then we are equal. 'Nough said.

The writer does not have a better or worse life than you. It is equally hard and equally enjoyable. I will say that if the writer loves being a writer and they get to do what they love every single day, no matter how hard it is, they have a slight edge on everyone else. But the Independent Author is not better than you, nor are they less than you because their job looks starkly different than yours. They get up in the morning same as you, they go to work in the morning same as you, they create things for the world, same as you. They are a cog and a gear in the rolling life of this world, contributing their part to society, same as you.

So next time you're talking to a writer, any writer, remember they're not just sitting there all day dreaming up lovely things to write about. They're working. They're troubling over their problems, their income, their bills, their books, their marketing, their business. They're doing lots more than they've gotten credit for.

Let's chat! What are some troubles you've run into during your journey as an independent author?

Planting Faith | Mundane Monday

Those who keep a garden are endowed with extraordinary faith.
To plant a seed and believe that God will grow it into a blossoming plant is faith of the greatest kind.




And what if we're all gardeners in our own ways?
One small kindness here, an act of love there.
Just little seeds planted can grow into something large and wonderful.
Planting seeds can change lives.
Grow your garden with the diverse seeds of an extraordinary life.

Love, Kayla

5 Inspiring Things for Your Weekend

http://thirteenth-elf.tumblr.com/post/141977227456/lsleofskye-magic-creek

God is just that amazing.

Anyone want to move to Australia with me?
Let's jump over to Tazmania. Have you heard of Tree Change Dolls?Let's make a play date?


Buzz and the dandelions. Guaranteed to make you laugh.



Humans are amazing.
Who knew a piano could be a whole orchestra?

Wishing you a week full of smiles and love.
Love, Kayla

It's Okay to Be You | Mundane Monday

I need to know its okay to be myself.

I need this a lot.
I need to pin point every single thing I don't like about myself, every feeling, every tendency, every fear, every grotesque moment where I pretend I'm an Extrovert and go a little bit crazy, every word I say--and I just need to root out the bad stuff and tell myself never to do it again, but to the things that are just me--I need to tell myself that it's okay.




When I'm shy and awkward in front of new people--it's okay. They're probably just as shy and awkward, and what if they're scared of you?
When I'm playing a game with a room full of competitive people and I just feel like sitting in a corner and telling everyone to be nice to each other--it's okay. They like being competitive, and if it doesn't hurt their feelings, let them be them. And it's not bad you're not competitive. There's a room full of people who are, so you can just be you without throwing the world out of balance.
When I just want to be alone for like two seconds--its okay. Heaven forbid you should stick yourself in the muck and mire of people and the world when you don't want to. It's okay to want to be alone sometimes.


When I'm around really trendy, fashionable, smart girls, and I'm still wearing overalls and braids, and feel like I'm fourteen, and really dumb--it's okay. You got the overalls 'cause you loved them, and you braid your hair 'cause they're you, and that doesn't make you fourteen and dumb, it's makes you YOU. And everyone is smarter than everybody else in different ways.  
When you feel really inadequate because you can't do something as well as somebody else--it's okay. Write down a list of things you love to do and the things you CAN do well.
When you'd rather just head up stream when everyone else is heading down stream, it's okay.

When you're following your dreams and everyone really doesn't understand why you'd rather live your dreams instead of make it rich with a fashionable degree, it's okay. Doing what you love, doing what gives back to the world in amazing and quiet ways, is more you than you could ever be.

Be unapologetically you.
But be the kind of you that changes the world in unapologetically wonderful ways.

Happy Monday.

Love, Kayla

Did you see this? It's my new weekend thing.
5 Inspiring Things to light up your weekend with smiles.
There's bluegrass dancing, elephants and amazing plants that show you how to bloom where you're planted.

Let's chat! What's your favorite thing about yourself?

NEW 5 Things I'm Inspired by This Week (1944 wedding, elephants, amazing trees, happy dogs, and bluegrass clog dancing)

So after a few months of trying my inspired 5, I'm thinking I'm going to narrow it down just a little bit.

Instead of products, we're going to go a little deeper. Things that are truly inspirational, things that make you cry, and encourage you. Things that make you feel so not alone sometimes. Things I hope will help uplift you and help us all open our eyes wide to the beauty still around us.

Just a few pretty, happy things for you this weekend . . . 


Just a little bliss from way back when.


This video just about does it. I want an elephant.

http://chasingmyhat.tumblr.com/post/141342946229Blooming where you are planted. Uncommon beauty."The way you live your ordinary days is what adds up to your one extraordinary life." Ann Voskamp

It's taking joy in the little things that counts.

Just a little something to encourage you to get up and dance a little more often.

A happy weekend to you all. Remember there's always beauty coming.
Love, Kayla

Christmas in March (A Gift For You Today)

Happy Monday, everyone! As promised, I've something extra special for you today since I botched up Mundane Monday last week.

On Facebook, I asked you all to help me choose a cover for a short story I was doing. You chose this happy winner . . .


Summary 
Can something as small and insignificant as a sled really change the lives of a few insignificant boys for Christmas? 
If you loved Dickens' A Christmas Carol you'll adore this short Christmas story about kindness, innocence, and love.

I'm so, so honored that I'm able to offer this free of charge. It was a huge blessing to me when I wrote it and it just makes my heart soar that I'm able to share it with you!

Perhaps We Can Have Christmas in March?
You can download The Boys of Holly Street  HERE.  Or, if you want it sent directly to your email inbox for easier access from all devices, sign-up HERE.

Christmas doesn't come but once a year. We hear that a lot.
Maybe I'm just a little bit crazy about Christmas, and a little too stuck on tradition and the childhood magic of it, but I'm sure one for believing that Christmas doesn't come just once a year.
Christmas is be lived through every year.
Yeah, and it's hard and kind of false to live "a holly, jolly" life with mistletoe and a big belly laugh. But I'm not for false joys.
I'm for the real kind of giving from a heart that is thankful.
From a life that is lived in love.
From eyes that find the good.
From hands that share the beauty.
This is Christmas all year round.
Happy Christmas in March, everyone.

Love, Kayla

Apology & My Favorite Fantasies

I'm sorry I missed Mundane Monday this week. I was not prepared for the whirlwind weekend or Daylight Saving Time. I am chastising myself harshly. Next week, I will be better and I will have something extra special for you.

If you go through my list of books on Goodreads the majority of the books you'll find will be Historical Fiction. Because that's just my one true love. But as I have said before I have a frustrating fascination with fantasies. And Sci-Fi. More emphasis on fantasy.

I have helpfully compiled a list of ones I think you should read. Yes, they're all YA. I will let you know if I ever get into adult Fantasy and Sci-Fi.

The Queen's Thief Series, Megan Whalen Turner
I think even adults would enjoy these immensely. The boy is a rascal, but an intelligent rascal. They're fraught with political intrigue, wit, mind games, and Gen is a fascinating, flawed character you shake your head at, but root for anyway. I was beyond delighted when I discovered this series. For me, I think this was the beginning of leaving child-like written stories behind, they really opened up a new world I hadn't stepped into yet.

The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
Forever my favorites. These will always be on the list because I have been steeped in these stories from the very beginning. I can remember Daddy reading The Magician's Nephew to us out loud and butchering the accent. The Horse and His Boy is a very close second to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, because for this girl, British children during WWII cannot be beaten. They are a world I was destined to live in, and a world I cannot live without. Thank you, C.S. Lewis

The Ascendance Trilogy, Jennifer A. Nielsen
The Ascendance Trilogy also had a hand in broadening my imagination where fantasies were concerned. Sage charmed me hog-eyed. They're a very easy read, aimed at 6-8 graders, but adventurous and exciting all the same, and definitely deserve a place here. They may not be for everyone, but Sage is another one of those dear, courageous, young boys who've been hurt too much for their boy-shaped hearts.

The Hunger Games Trilogy, Suzanne Collins
Possibly the only Sci-Fi series I will love. Suzanne Collins' writing, too, blew me away, and I think I read the last two books just so I could soak in the beautiful mystery of it. Another fantastic series adults would love, as well. I love that there is always something deeper beneath the surface. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems, which is so true to life. After the horror of children fighting children in the first book, the series becomes dedicated to destroying the Capital and ending The Hunger Games.

The Giver, Lois Lowry
I was immensely passionate about this book for months after I read it. But I have a hard time recommending it to middle schoolers. It has a very very emotional subject matter, but it also has a very important lesson everyone needs to hear. Lois Lowry's subject matter in all her books contains very deep, emotional lessons even I need reminded of sometimes. The very sensitive person should be wary.

Fantasies With a Good Dose of Historical Fiction-ness
The Scorpio Races, Maggie Stiefvater
So I've probably raved about The Scorpio Races before. I've more than likely raved about Maggie Stiefvater, too. This book fulfilled a hunger for writing, story, people, and setting I did not even know I had. The thing I'm really appreciating about this book at the moment is the names and the characters. Every single person mentioned is so clearly depicted, their names are so entwined with who they are, even if they had no description their names would make up for the lack of it, they are so personified by their names. This book just sings to me every time I read it, right down to Puck's red hair. It edges on Paranormal, so it may not be everyone's forte, but I think this is done very well.


Echo, Pam Munoz Ryan
This book is all about music. A magical harmonica, and three children who's lives are entwined by it. The fantastical side of this story is brilliant and it captured my imagination from the start. Follow the story from Germany and across America during WWII.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick
The thing that makes this book spectacular is Brian Selznick's illustrations, where the words end and the pictures take up the story. It shows the silent movie era from an entirely beautiful and creative way, but there is still an air of fantasy about this story and the magical mechanics of it.

Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbit
It's one of those books that leave you with a wonderful aching sadness. There isn't much more to say about it. Except that it's just a given that it's better than the movie. It reminds me of Anne of Green Gables and Jane of Lantern Hill. Avonlea and all those dear, dear people. But it is still all its own in a way that couldn't be anything else. What would you do with the chance to live forever? Would you take it or follow the circle of time?

Let's talk! Have you read any of these books? What do you think of them?

5 Things I'm Inspired by This Week

It's March! In our house, that means birthday month! So far it's been a very mild, very warm March. I won't lie and say I've been loving the sun. I feel like it's making me grow every time I'm outside. But in our neck of the woods(or prairie) a nice March usually means it will "go out like a lion" and we end up having a snow storm on Mother's Day. I would be happy with just rain.

But on to some happy things . . .

Illusions - Thomas Bergersen

So . . . this history geek is writing a futuristic sci-fi. But don't laugh, I'm really not sure if I like jumping on the band wagon or not. It came upon me quite suddenly and threatened to wring me by the neck if I did not write it. It's the easiest story I've ever written. So far. The title came, the plot came, the characters came, even the soundtrack came. Illusions by Two Steps From Hell is a beautiful album, the track Illusions is a personal favorite for the story at the moment.

McFarland, USA
My family and I have a new favorite sports movie. This story hit so close to home for us. This movie isn't full of excitement or edge-of-seat conflict, but it's a lovely, emotionally connecting story. It's a joy to watch, and I might be a little prejudiced since I grew up watching Friendship's Field and my favorite uncle is Hispanic. It's also based on a true story. Which I love. We want to keep for it always.


New Cover for My Story

This week has been tremendous for my book! I've been so happy with the results of the new cover for TD so far. But more on that later.

Ello 20 oz. Glass Water Bottle

Plastic and metal water bottles always seem to acquire a taste after so many uses, and for me the took the freshness out of the water. This glass bottle on the other hand, I've been using for a long time and the water still tastes delicious after a few hours. 20 oz is perfect because I can finish it off and it gives me a reason to get up, take a break, and refill it. Yes, this one really does belong to Mama, but thank you for the use of it!

Quote

Leadership has never been a strong suit of mine. But this quote helped me see leadership in a different light. Caring is the best kind of leadership.

Let's chat! What is one of your favorite quotes? Post it below!