Kimberly Nee's Blog, page 3
September 6, 2013
I'll be the first person to admit that I'm the last person to elbow in on any sort of trend. I had a flip phone when everyone else was getting a BlackBerry. When I finally got around to a BlackBerry, everyone was on their iPhone 4. By the time I discovered MySpace, Facebook was the place to be and by the time I got there... well... you get the picture.
I manage to keep up a personal FB page and an author one. I handle this blog (for better or for worse.) I tweet (semi) regularly. I sometimes even update my website. But other than that, I'm pretty lost when it comes to social media. What is Linkedin? Tumblr? Cripes, there are probably twenty other things like these out there that I'm equally clueless about.
And that brings me to Pinterest. I once had a Pinterest account (it was opened by someone else, using my gmail address and according to Pinterest, that was just a mistake caused by an email address error. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. The fact of the matter remains that I closed the account down because it wasn't mine to begin with.)
But, I see a LOT of people seem to love Pinterest. A. Lot. Of people. So I thought maybe it's time to slither out from under my rock and see what it's about. I looked at the site, but you can't really see anything without logging in, so I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and create an account with them. I'm curious to see what it's about. So, if anyone out there has any hints, tips, suggestions, etc., let me know. Maybe I'll see you there. :D
I manage to keep up a personal FB page and an author one. I handle this blog (for better or for worse.) I tweet (semi) regularly. I sometimes even update my website. But other than that, I'm pretty lost when it comes to social media. What is Linkedin? Tumblr? Cripes, there are probably twenty other things like these out there that I'm equally clueless about.
And that brings me to Pinterest. I once had a Pinterest account (it was opened by someone else, using my gmail address and according to Pinterest, that was just a mistake caused by an email address error. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. The fact of the matter remains that I closed the account down because it wasn't mine to begin with.)
But, I see a LOT of people seem to love Pinterest. A. Lot. Of people. So I thought maybe it's time to slither out from under my rock and see what it's about. I looked at the site, but you can't really see anything without logging in, so I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and create an account with them. I'm curious to see what it's about. So, if anyone out there has any hints, tips, suggestions, etc., let me know. Maybe I'll see you there. :D
August 30, 2013
Just Popping In
Hey there, remember me?
It's been a while, hasn't it? Almost three months. I think that might be the longest I've been away from blogging since I started way back so many moons ago. Part of me has missed it, but I have to admit, part of me hasn't. To be honest, it's been nice, not having to worry about it, not having to think of topics to blog about (and especially trying to come up with ones I've never blogged about before. I've been here since 2006, so that's a long time.)
I've kept busy this summer. After my mother's funeral, we went down the shore for several long weekends. One of my husband's cousins was married at the beginning of August, so it was nice to get together for a happy reason. My brother and I have been dealing with Mom's estate and getting those matters settled, which is a lot of fun, let me tell you. And the rest of the time? I've just been hanging with the kidlets and trying to get lost in their world. The weather has been weird this summer. A lot of rain. A massive heat wave back in July. And then it actually got cold. I mean, open the windows and pull up the blankets at night kind of cold. Perfect for me. If every summer was cool like this one, it'd become my favorite season.
A few days after my mother's funeral, I got a tattoo on my right wrist. It's my third one (both ankles are done as well) and I'm planning on getting another one sometime in the next few weeks. It's simple but awesome, as far as I'm concerned.
I've also been working. I'd finished a first draft of my next Sebastiano book just days before my mother died. I let everything go for a few weeks, just because it was too much to deal with, but about a month after the funeral, I started thinking about it. So that's how I knew it was time to dive back in. Since then, I've revised that as well as another book that had just been gathering dust in my office. I've got a new project forming in my mind, so when these are done and out the door, I'll be working on new words.
I should have some cover art to share soon - just waiting for the final ok. Stolen Promise will be out sometime in October (I have to double check.) I'll post the cover as soon as I can, along with the release date.
And that's been that. It's been a long three months and I'm glad the summer is just about over. Hopefully, I'll be back on a regular basis soon,and for everyone who commented on my mom (both here, and on my FB page(s)) thank you. It meant a lot to read your kind words.
It's been a while, hasn't it? Almost three months. I think that might be the longest I've been away from blogging since I started way back so many moons ago. Part of me has missed it, but I have to admit, part of me hasn't. To be honest, it's been nice, not having to worry about it, not having to think of topics to blog about (and especially trying to come up with ones I've never blogged about before. I've been here since 2006, so that's a long time.)
I've kept busy this summer. After my mother's funeral, we went down the shore for several long weekends. One of my husband's cousins was married at the beginning of August, so it was nice to get together for a happy reason. My brother and I have been dealing with Mom's estate and getting those matters settled, which is a lot of fun, let me tell you. And the rest of the time? I've just been hanging with the kidlets and trying to get lost in their world. The weather has been weird this summer. A lot of rain. A massive heat wave back in July. And then it actually got cold. I mean, open the windows and pull up the blankets at night kind of cold. Perfect for me. If every summer was cool like this one, it'd become my favorite season.
A few days after my mother's funeral, I got a tattoo on my right wrist. It's my third one (both ankles are done as well) and I'm planning on getting another one sometime in the next few weeks. It's simple but awesome, as far as I'm concerned.
I've also been working. I'd finished a first draft of my next Sebastiano book just days before my mother died. I let everything go for a few weeks, just because it was too much to deal with, but about a month after the funeral, I started thinking about it. So that's how I knew it was time to dive back in. Since then, I've revised that as well as another book that had just been gathering dust in my office. I've got a new project forming in my mind, so when these are done and out the door, I'll be working on new words.
I should have some cover art to share soon - just waiting for the final ok. Stolen Promise will be out sometime in October (I have to double check.) I'll post the cover as soon as I can, along with the release date.
And that's been that. It's been a long three months and I'm glad the summer is just about over. Hopefully, I'll be back on a regular basis soon,and for everyone who commented on my mom (both here, and on my FB page(s)) thank you. It meant a lot to read your kind words.
June 19, 2013
Taking a Break
Some of you already know that my mom has sick for a long time. In July, 2010, she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. On Father's Day, she passed away. She was 67 years old.
I'm going to be taking a break from this blog for a while. Right now, I just don't have the energy to deal with it. I don't know when I will be back, but I will be back eventually.
For now, I'd like to share one of my most favorite memories of my mother - she was my mom, my best friend, and awesome grandmother and a kickass lady and I can't even begin to express how much I'll miss her, or how great a void her death leaves in all of our lives...
One Saturday morning, a few years ago, my mom just showed up at my house and decided I needed a day off. We left the kids with Tom and spent the day touring wineries in Hunterdon County. We tried a LOT of wine. Some was good. Some was not. We argued over who paid for what bottle of wine at each place. She usually won, but I managed to buy at least one bottle for her. When we got home, I realized Tom had gone out and I didn't have my keys. so I spent the rest of that afternoon at her house (actually right around the corner from where we live,) drinking tea and talking about everything. That is one of my favorite memories.
I love you, Mom. I miss you. You fought long and hard and you will always be missed.
Diane C. Holk
April 27, 1946 - June 16, 2013
I'm going to be taking a break from this blog for a while. Right now, I just don't have the energy to deal with it. I don't know when I will be back, but I will be back eventually.
For now, I'd like to share one of my most favorite memories of my mother - she was my mom, my best friend, and awesome grandmother and a kickass lady and I can't even begin to express how much I'll miss her, or how great a void her death leaves in all of our lives...
One Saturday morning, a few years ago, my mom just showed up at my house and decided I needed a day off. We left the kids with Tom and spent the day touring wineries in Hunterdon County. We tried a LOT of wine. Some was good. Some was not. We argued over who paid for what bottle of wine at each place. She usually won, but I managed to buy at least one bottle for her. When we got home, I realized Tom had gone out and I didn't have my keys. so I spent the rest of that afternoon at her house (actually right around the corner from where we live,) drinking tea and talking about everything. That is one of my favorite memories.
I love you, Mom. I miss you. You fought long and hard and you will always be missed.
Diane C. Holk
April 27, 1946 - June 16, 2013
June 14, 2013
Six Months
Six months ago today, my husband went out to buy our Christmas tree. It was late for us, we usually have the tree the first weekend in December. For some strange reason, I began decorating the house the day after Thanksgiving, which is something I never do. Decorations rarely go up in my house before December 1st. It just doesn't seem right. Maybe my change of heart had to do with the impact of Sandy and getting life back to normal, but the decorations went up early. And we were getting the tree late.
I was upstairs, revising a manuscript, I think, when I picked up my phone and scrolled through Facebook. There were a bunch of posts about a school shooting. Then I saw it was an elementary school.
I put on the news - MSNBC, I think, and there is was - the elementary school had a name.
Sandy Hook.
I can honestly say the only news story that ever impacted me to this great a degree was September 11, 2001. To this day, I still cry over news stories regarding Sandy Hook. I look at those innocent little (and not so little faces) and my heart breaks all over again. I am the mother of a seven year old first grader. I try to put myself into Jackie Barden's shoes, or Nicole Hockley's shoes, or Veronique Pozner's shoes and I cannot hug my son enough when I do. I can't imagine that the pain of losing a child ever gets better. I don't understand how it ever even gets bearable. These families are far stronger than I think I could ever be. I cannot imagine losing my son, never mind losing him to violence because of some deranged nobody who was such a coward that he shot his mother while she slept and chose children as his targets.
And what's just as sad? Our country has done nothing - repeat after me, done nothing to prevent another Sandy Hook, another Aurora, another Columbine, from happening. Our weak-willed Congress does not have the balls to stand up to the NRA and say, "Gun control is NOT gun confiscation." It doesn't impede upon the 2nd Amendment. That amendment promises the rights to bear arms will not be infringed. It doesn't say that right is a free-for-all. It doesn't say there cannot be regulations on ammunition, or weapon size, or whether or not a person should have to submit to a universal background check.
Six months ago, twenty children and six adults lost their lives. It took that nameless, faceless coward less than five minutes to fire off 154 bullets and take those lives.
Think about that -
Less than five minutes.
154 rounds.
26 dead.
Charlotte Bacon, age 6 Daniel Barden, age 7 Olivia Engel, age 6
Josephine Gay, age 7 Ana Marquez-Greene, age 6 Dylan Hockley, age 6
Madeleine Hsu, age 6 Catherine Hubbard, age 6 Chase Kowalski, age 7
Jesse Lewis, age 6 James Mattioli, age 6 Grace McDonnell, age 7
Emilie Parker, age 6 Jack Pinto, age 6 Noah Pozner, age 6
Caroline Previdi, age 6 Jessica Rekos, age 6 Avielle Richman, age 6
Benjamin Wheeler, age 6 Allison Wyatt, age 6
Rachel Davino, age 29
Dawn Hochsprung, age 47
Anne Marie Murphy, age 52
Lauren Rousseau, age 30
Mary Sherlach, age 56
Victoria Soto, age 27
Remember them.
I was upstairs, revising a manuscript, I think, when I picked up my phone and scrolled through Facebook. There were a bunch of posts about a school shooting. Then I saw it was an elementary school.
I put on the news - MSNBC, I think, and there is was - the elementary school had a name.
Sandy Hook.
I can honestly say the only news story that ever impacted me to this great a degree was September 11, 2001. To this day, I still cry over news stories regarding Sandy Hook. I look at those innocent little (and not so little faces) and my heart breaks all over again. I am the mother of a seven year old first grader. I try to put myself into Jackie Barden's shoes, or Nicole Hockley's shoes, or Veronique Pozner's shoes and I cannot hug my son enough when I do. I can't imagine that the pain of losing a child ever gets better. I don't understand how it ever even gets bearable. These families are far stronger than I think I could ever be. I cannot imagine losing my son, never mind losing him to violence because of some deranged nobody who was such a coward that he shot his mother while she slept and chose children as his targets.
And what's just as sad? Our country has done nothing - repeat after me, done nothing to prevent another Sandy Hook, another Aurora, another Columbine, from happening. Our weak-willed Congress does not have the balls to stand up to the NRA and say, "Gun control is NOT gun confiscation." It doesn't impede upon the 2nd Amendment. That amendment promises the rights to bear arms will not be infringed. It doesn't say that right is a free-for-all. It doesn't say there cannot be regulations on ammunition, or weapon size, or whether or not a person should have to submit to a universal background check.
Six months ago, twenty children and six adults lost their lives. It took that nameless, faceless coward less than five minutes to fire off 154 bullets and take those lives.
Think about that -
Less than five minutes.
154 rounds.
26 dead.
Charlotte Bacon, age 6 Daniel Barden, age 7 Olivia Engel, age 6
Josephine Gay, age 7 Ana Marquez-Greene, age 6 Dylan Hockley, age 6
Madeleine Hsu, age 6 Catherine Hubbard, age 6 Chase Kowalski, age 7
Jesse Lewis, age 6 James Mattioli, age 6 Grace McDonnell, age 7
Emilie Parker, age 6 Jack Pinto, age 6 Noah Pozner, age 6
Caroline Previdi, age 6 Jessica Rekos, age 6 Avielle Richman, age 6
Benjamin Wheeler, age 6 Allison Wyatt, age 6
Rachel Davino, age 29
Dawn Hochsprung, age 47
Anne Marie Murphy, age 52
Lauren Rousseau, age 30
Mary Sherlach, age 56
Victoria Soto, age 27
Remember them.
June 12, 2013
The Cardinal
At the end of March, we took a family vacation to visit my inlaws in Florida. The weather was beautiful, the flights there and back were relatively uneventful, all was wonderful.
The Tuesday after we returned, my husband and I were sitting in the kitchen, savoring the peace and quiet (the kids had gone back to school,) when there came this tapping at the kitchen window. taptaptap.
Just like that. Not really loud, but not exactly quiet. Then it came again,
taptaptap.
I got up and looked, and saw a cardinal on the bird feeder that straddles our property with the one next door. Now, mind you, in the nearly six years we've lived here, that bird feeder has not been filled. I just never really thought about filling it. I like to watch the birds - cardinals have always been one of my favorite birds. But I just paid very little attention to the feeder. Until...
taptaptap.
The bird started getting persistent. So I thought I'd be nice and go out and get birdseed and the cardinal would stop taptaptap-ing on the window. I fill the hopper (didn't even know it was a hopper until I looked at the back of the birdseed bag) and thought, "Okay. No more tapping."
Dear God, was I wrong.
I don't know if the bird thought my plants (that had been there for a while) were a nest and I was a rival bird, or what, but that crazy bird kept tapping, almost nonstop, for days.
taptaptap. taptaptap. taptaptap.taptaptap.taptaptap.taptaptap.taptaptap.taptaptap.taptaptap.
My badass cardinal
AUGH!
I was afraid the damn thing would kill itself on the glass. A Facebook friend suggested taping pictures of owls to the windows, so I went tearing through the Girl's collection of Ranger Rick magazines, searching in vain for pictures of owls.
No owls. But apparently cardinals are terrified of walruses. Yes, I taped a picture of a walrus to the outside of the window.
Problem solved.
She still taps on the window once every morning and I refill the bird feeder every week, so I like to think she's just saying good morning, or thank you. (She and her husband are at this feeder all the time and I've been trying to get a picture of them together, because they feed each other.)
Since I've been filling the feeder, we've had all sorts of birds hanging around it. Some I've managed to get pictures of, like the rose-breasted woodpecker...
Friends tell me this is a rose-breasted woodpecker
He had a buddy, but we haven't seen her in a while
And a gorgeous red-winged blackbird that I haven't been able to catch on film. We also get various sparrows, blackbirds, blue jays.
Oh, and one very industrious squirrel who is determined to figure out how to get to the food without shutting the hopper or falling off the feeder. He hasn't gotten it yet, and he's almost as much fun to watch as the birds...
Resting. And plotting
More resting. More plotting.
Maybe this will work
ITCHY! (sorry about the pink. It's the reflection of my iPhone case)
He's nothing if not determined.
So now I have plenty of entertainment outside as well. When writer's block hits, you know where I'll be...
June 11, 2013
Happy Tuesday!
I'm trying to get back into the swing of blogging - both writing my own posts and reading others. I have a blog list, but a lot of the people on it no longer seem to blog as often as they used to (gee, who does that sound like???) So, if anyone has any suggestions for interesting blogs (and they don't have to be writing-related, either,) let me know? Kthnxbai.
It's been a hectic few weeks in my house - since I got back into writing. I took quite a bit of time off, just to revise projects that had been sitting on my desk for months. I got tired of looking at the stacks of manuscripts, and the mess in general, and so I decided to tackle those. And, to be honest, I really just didn't have anything to write about. No plot bunnies appealed to me. For a while, I thought I might be done writing in general. I don't know if every writer hits that wall at one time or another, but when I hit it, and I thought I might be finished, I really didn't care very much, either. And that kind of surprised me, because I can't really remember any time when I didn't want to write.
That's when I figured taking some time off might be the best thing. No pressure. No stress. No deadlines.
Of course, it meant no new books and no new sales, either. But even that didn't really bother me.
Well, in that time, I redid my kids' bathroom, took care of some other things in my personal life that needed dealing with, heard back on some outstanding submissions (good news and bad news) and then, wouldn't you know it? Last week, I actually had the urge to write. The story that was nagging me was one I'd begun in February - the next Sebastiano book. The story had stalled about halfway through, so I'd put it aside to work on something else.
I picked it up last week, edited what I'd written and you know what? I knew how the story needed to go. Since last Wednesday, I've written nearly 40k words. Woot! I'm hoping to finish this book up sometime later this week (or if real life sees otherwise, early next week.) And from there? I plan on diving into my next project (just not sure if it'll be my long-dreamed-of-writing cowboy book or something else.) With any luck, creativity will breed creativity. :D
It's been a hectic few weeks in my house - since I got back into writing. I took quite a bit of time off, just to revise projects that had been sitting on my desk for months. I got tired of looking at the stacks of manuscripts, and the mess in general, and so I decided to tackle those. And, to be honest, I really just didn't have anything to write about. No plot bunnies appealed to me. For a while, I thought I might be done writing in general. I don't know if every writer hits that wall at one time or another, but when I hit it, and I thought I might be finished, I really didn't care very much, either. And that kind of surprised me, because I can't really remember any time when I didn't want to write.
That's when I figured taking some time off might be the best thing. No pressure. No stress. No deadlines.
Of course, it meant no new books and no new sales, either. But even that didn't really bother me.
Well, in that time, I redid my kids' bathroom, took care of some other things in my personal life that needed dealing with, heard back on some outstanding submissions (good news and bad news) and then, wouldn't you know it? Last week, I actually had the urge to write. The story that was nagging me was one I'd begun in February - the next Sebastiano book. The story had stalled about halfway through, so I'd put it aside to work on something else.
I picked it up last week, edited what I'd written and you know what? I knew how the story needed to go. Since last Wednesday, I've written nearly 40k words. Woot! I'm hoping to finish this book up sometime later this week (or if real life sees otherwise, early next week.) And from there? I plan on diving into my next project (just not sure if it'll be my long-dreamed-of-writing cowboy book or something else.) With any luck, creativity will breed creativity. :D
June 10, 2013
Hi there!
**waves**
Hi there. It's been a while, but here I am. How're you doin'?
I'm good, thanks. Busy, but busy is good. Busy keeps me out of trouble. For the most part.
So, I realized last night that my website wasn't loading right. The background was way too dark and the font was too dark to read against the dark background. It took me a while, but I realized what the problem was. Somehow, on the bottom of the home page, in one of the boxes, I inserted cover art that was beyond huge. How I didn't see it at the time, I'll never know.
No problem. I'll just go in and delete the photo. Problem solved. Right?
You know the answer to that, right?
I can't get the picture to delete. Whatever box I inserted it into must be frozen, because I can't click on the picture, nor can I get anything in the same box to work. Brilliant. This ginormous picture must be locking something up.
An hour later, I slam the laptop shut (well, okay. I didn't actually slam it.) and go up to watch North America on Discovery (if you haven't been watching, you have no idea what you're missing. I love these BBC documentaries) and as I'm watching, I realize that if I change the template, maybe then I can delete the picture. Revert the template back. Boom. Problem solved.
I've been working on getting the third Sebastiano book written (well, actually, it's the fourth. The true third book is sitting in rewrite hell, determined to make me crazy) and I've been trying to make sure I write 3,000 words a day. I want the first draft done by the end of this week because I'm sick of looking at it. So, this morning, before I sit down to write, I figure I'll make the template change and then I'm done.
I make the change, and find a new template that I actually like better than the old one. And while I'm there, I figure I'll update about selling Stolen Promise, and update the copyright notice, yadda yadda yadda. Should take me about twenty minutes. Half hour tops.
HA!
The template problem was the easiest to fix. Change template. Delete photo. Oh, look! It's all done! Yay!
Updates?
Not so much.
It took me an hour and a half to insert the back cover copy from one book into the page. One frickin' book. An hour. And a half. Ninety minutes. For three paragraphs, totaling about ten sentences in all. First it didn't want to center right. Then the font didn't want to italicize where I wanted it italicized (but had not problem doing it where I didn't want it, of course,) and then the font would shrink down and go gray (I don't even know how that happens, to be honest. I've had this problem the entire time I've had this website. Total. Pain.) And to think, all of this is actually an improvement over when I had a web guy (I think I've posted about my awful website guy. You know how bad that had to be, if this fight is an improvement.)
I finally got everything done and the site's updated and all. And once more, I'm debating whether or not I even need a website. I update this blog every few weeks in a slow month. My site was last updated last September. So, I have a decision to make - to keep or to not keep (either way, I'll hold onto my domain name.) Is having a website worth the trouble it takes to maintain it, or is a blog just as good?
Decisions, decisions...
Hi there. It's been a while, but here I am. How're you doin'?
I'm good, thanks. Busy, but busy is good. Busy keeps me out of trouble. For the most part.
So, I realized last night that my website wasn't loading right. The background was way too dark and the font was too dark to read against the dark background. It took me a while, but I realized what the problem was. Somehow, on the bottom of the home page, in one of the boxes, I inserted cover art that was beyond huge. How I didn't see it at the time, I'll never know.
No problem. I'll just go in and delete the photo. Problem solved. Right?
You know the answer to that, right?
I can't get the picture to delete. Whatever box I inserted it into must be frozen, because I can't click on the picture, nor can I get anything in the same box to work. Brilliant. This ginormous picture must be locking something up.
An hour later, I slam the laptop shut (well, okay. I didn't actually slam it.) and go up to watch North America on Discovery (if you haven't been watching, you have no idea what you're missing. I love these BBC documentaries) and as I'm watching, I realize that if I change the template, maybe then I can delete the picture. Revert the template back. Boom. Problem solved.
I've been working on getting the third Sebastiano book written (well, actually, it's the fourth. The true third book is sitting in rewrite hell, determined to make me crazy) and I've been trying to make sure I write 3,000 words a day. I want the first draft done by the end of this week because I'm sick of looking at it. So, this morning, before I sit down to write, I figure I'll make the template change and then I'm done.
I make the change, and find a new template that I actually like better than the old one. And while I'm there, I figure I'll update about selling Stolen Promise, and update the copyright notice, yadda yadda yadda. Should take me about twenty minutes. Half hour tops.
HA!
The template problem was the easiest to fix. Change template. Delete photo. Oh, look! It's all done! Yay!
Updates?
Not so much.
It took me an hour and a half to insert the back cover copy from one book into the page. One frickin' book. An hour. And a half. Ninety minutes. For three paragraphs, totaling about ten sentences in all. First it didn't want to center right. Then the font didn't want to italicize where I wanted it italicized (but had not problem doing it where I didn't want it, of course,) and then the font would shrink down and go gray (I don't even know how that happens, to be honest. I've had this problem the entire time I've had this website. Total. Pain.) And to think, all of this is actually an improvement over when I had a web guy (I think I've posted about my awful website guy. You know how bad that had to be, if this fight is an improvement.)
I finally got everything done and the site's updated and all. And once more, I'm debating whether or not I even need a website. I update this blog every few weeks in a slow month. My site was last updated last September. So, I have a decision to make - to keep or to not keep (either way, I'll hold onto my domain name.) Is having a website worth the trouble it takes to maintain it, or is a blog just as good?
Decisions, decisions...
May 18, 2013
Some News!
Hi there! Remember me?
I hope so. It's been a while.
I'm Kim. I'm a writer and a terrible blogger.
It's been too long since my last post, and so here I am. I've come out of lurkdom to share some good news!
I've sold the first book of my historical-fantasy romance, Stolen Promise, to Musa Publishing. I don't have all the details yet, as the contracts were only finalized a week or so ago, but when I do, you know I'll share. :D
It's so nice to remove the "On submission" and change it to "Sold!"
I'm very excited about this book, and the series as a whole. Right now, I'm finished with book two and starting on book three (as soon as I finish up the other two projects on my desk.) The series centers on the royal family of the country of Mordainia and the first two books were a lot of fun to write. These books are a change of pace for me, and give me a chance to explore areas and plots that I can't really do in straight-up historicals.
Stolen Promise began life as a NaNo project a few years ago. It was supposed to be a straight-up historical romance, but somewhere around the middle of November, it went off the tracks and crashed (or so I thought) so I decided to just let my imagination wander and see where it went. The end result was a story that I absolutely fell in love with (after a few revisions and beta reads - a million thanks to Marguerite Butler, who had the thankless task of being the first beta reader) and I just hope everyone else loves it as much as I do. :D
I hope so. It's been a while.
I'm Kim. I'm a writer and a terrible blogger.
It's been too long since my last post, and so here I am. I've come out of lurkdom to share some good news!
I've sold the first book of my historical-fantasy romance, Stolen Promise, to Musa Publishing. I don't have all the details yet, as the contracts were only finalized a week or so ago, but when I do, you know I'll share. :D
It's so nice to remove the "On submission" and change it to "Sold!"
I'm very excited about this book, and the series as a whole. Right now, I'm finished with book two and starting on book three (as soon as I finish up the other two projects on my desk.) The series centers on the royal family of the country of Mordainia and the first two books were a lot of fun to write. These books are a change of pace for me, and give me a chance to explore areas and plots that I can't really do in straight-up historicals.
Stolen Promise began life as a NaNo project a few years ago. It was supposed to be a straight-up historical romance, but somewhere around the middle of November, it went off the tracks and crashed (or so I thought) so I decided to just let my imagination wander and see where it went. The end result was a story that I absolutely fell in love with (after a few revisions and beta reads - a million thanks to Marguerite Butler, who had the thankless task of being the first beta reader) and I just hope everyone else loves it as much as I do. :D
April 22, 2013
Happy Earth Day!
Happy Earth Day!
Yes, I'm still alive.
Someday I may even blog again.
But for now, here's a picture I took on our cruise last summer...
Sunrise as we approached New Jersey.
And one I took in my backyard this winter...
And one of the Boy's foot. Because that's how he rolls...
Yes, I'm still alive.
Someday I may even blog again.
But for now, here's a picture I took on our cruise last summer...
Sunrise as we approached New Jersey.
And one I took in my backyard this winter...
And one of the Boy's foot. Because that's how he rolls...
April 5, 2013
Back in the Swing of Things
Well, sort of.
My family and I went on vacation two weeks ago, to visit my husband's family in Florida over Spring Break. It was a wonderful trip (despite the flight down being delayed and very turbulent and the return flight spending half an hour in a holding pattern over Virginia.) The weather was beautiful, if a little cold in the beginning. And by cold, I mean in the sixties kind of cold. The kind of cold that has Floridians running for heavy winter coats while those of us from the North wear short-sleeved tee shirts and say, "Ahhh... it's so warm here!"
We went to Naples, which is on the west coast, along the Gulf. My husband and I spent our honeymoon there, and this was the first time in almost sixteen years we were able to go back (the Girl has spent every Spring Break with her grandparents for a few years now, but this was the first year we thought the Boy could handle such a trip.) I'd forgotten just how beautiful Naples is - and after the long, seemingly endless winter we were having up here in NJ, it was a vacation in itself just to see the brilliant colors of all the blooming flowers and trees. Everything was just so pretty and so alive - a far cry from the yet-to-bloom trees and bushes up home.
The time leading up to the trip was hectic enough, since there were four of us but everything went smoothly. As I said, the flight down was pretty rough - with the drop-the-pit-of-your-stomach kind of turbulence (apparently there was some pretty severe weather through Georgia/Northern Florida and nowhere to go but through it. It reminded me very much of a roller coaster ride.) And considering this was the Boy's first flight, he handled it beautifully. He wasn't so crazy about the landing, but everything else was okay as far as he was concerned.
All in all, it was a relaxing vacation, with time spent on the beach, at the pool, at the Naples Zoo (I got licked by a giraffe while feeding it. Gross, but in a funny way.) We did some shopping, had tea at a wonderful little tea shop, and took the kids to the Children's Museum. We watched some gorgeous sunsets. Drank some terrific wine. And slept like babies every night. It was exactly what a vacation should be.
My family and I went on vacation two weeks ago, to visit my husband's family in Florida over Spring Break. It was a wonderful trip (despite the flight down being delayed and very turbulent and the return flight spending half an hour in a holding pattern over Virginia.) The weather was beautiful, if a little cold in the beginning. And by cold, I mean in the sixties kind of cold. The kind of cold that has Floridians running for heavy winter coats while those of us from the North wear short-sleeved tee shirts and say, "Ahhh... it's so warm here!"
We went to Naples, which is on the west coast, along the Gulf. My husband and I spent our honeymoon there, and this was the first time in almost sixteen years we were able to go back (the Girl has spent every Spring Break with her grandparents for a few years now, but this was the first year we thought the Boy could handle such a trip.) I'd forgotten just how beautiful Naples is - and after the long, seemingly endless winter we were having up here in NJ, it was a vacation in itself just to see the brilliant colors of all the blooming flowers and trees. Everything was just so pretty and so alive - a far cry from the yet-to-bloom trees and bushes up home.
The time leading up to the trip was hectic enough, since there were four of us but everything went smoothly. As I said, the flight down was pretty rough - with the drop-the-pit-of-your-stomach kind of turbulence (apparently there was some pretty severe weather through Georgia/Northern Florida and nowhere to go but through it. It reminded me very much of a roller coaster ride.) And considering this was the Boy's first flight, he handled it beautifully. He wasn't so crazy about the landing, but everything else was okay as far as he was concerned.
All in all, it was a relaxing vacation, with time spent on the beach, at the pool, at the Naples Zoo (I got licked by a giraffe while feeding it. Gross, but in a funny way.) We did some shopping, had tea at a wonderful little tea shop, and took the kids to the Children's Museum. We watched some gorgeous sunsets. Drank some terrific wine. And slept like babies every night. It was exactly what a vacation should be.
