Thank You So Much!

Here's a springy bouquet of lilacs from Skagway, Alaska to say thank you! :)

Thank you!

My family and I were so touched and overwhelmed by all the wonderful comments and well wishes for Jess in the Blog Blitz!  I can't thank you enough or fully express how much it meant to both Jess and me.  

Thank you DL Hammons, for starting the Blog Blitz campaign and making people's days just a little brighter.  It really does make a difference.  It reminds me that even a small action can make a huge impact on someone; that we don't have to do something huge and world renown to make a difference.   We can make the world a better place by giving even a little bit of happiness and joy to those around us, those friends, family members, and acquaintances that maybe sometimes we take for granted.  Sometimes I wander around too in my own head and focused on my own day to notice someone else that might need even the smallest pick-me-up. Today I'm going to try to be more conscious of the people I see and take the opportunities I'm given to make their day a little brighter.

Thanks again everyone!  
I hope you are all having a good week.

Kathy :)

Deja Vu Blogfest

I'm participating in DL Hammons Deja Vu Blogfest today.  The idea is to repost a favorite older post from this year that you feel didn't get quite the viewing you'd hoped for.

I thought, hey, "that will be easy," then I started looking at my old posts.  Yikes, what a decision.  Not that they were so amazing I thought they all needed reposting, I wish.  I was a little underwhelmed and I wasn't sure any of them actually deserved being reborn.  Finally, I found one.  It's short and sweet and I thought it exemplified a kind of Christmas-time spirit, so here goes:


From October 17 2014,

No Powers Necessary

Yesterday, I was talking with my 10 year old son about my YA Fantasy novel (in editing phase) as I drove him to his guitar lesson.  He’s an avid reader of YA books so I respect his literary opinion. I explained some of the problems I was having with it.  First, he told me that a few of my ideas were a little too cliche so I might want to change it up a bit. Then he went on to give me his input on the weaponry my characters should be using, one of his favorite aspects of any story.

After a while he thoughtfully added, “Your main characters shouldn’t have magical powers.”

“Why?” I asked, sneaking a glance at him in the back seat.

“Because they shouldn’t have to use magic to be special and save the world.  Anyone can do it.  Everyone is special just by being themselves.”

Wow, I thought, and mentally prayed that he would always be himself.

Hope you enjoyed my Deja Vu post and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Kathy :)

Show the world how special you are by being yourself!

WRiTE Club Deadline

I'm still having a great time driving around Alaska with my family, but I wanted to make sure I helped get the word out on WRiTE Club.  The deadline for submission is midnight on May 31st...tomorrow, so get your writing sample in!

 It's a lot of fun, a great way to get your work critiqued, and it's all anonymous so don't be shy!

For all the details head on over to DL Hammons blog, (he's the genius behind WRiTE Club) and check it out.

My two favorite boys on the beach in Homer Spit, AK

Have a great weekend and don't forget to enter WRiTE Club!

Kathy :)

Jumping Out of My Comfort Zone

I haven’t been around for awhile.  Thank goodness for D.L. Hammons Blitzs which get me visiting and commenting a little bit.  

I’ve been busy reading a lot, writing some, and taking care of Jessica who suffered a concussion almost a month ago now and is just beginning to feel better.  It’s been a challenge keeping her spirits up when she was told she had to rest mind and body completely which meant no computer to write on and no reading.  One day she was in her room and said she was just staring at the ceiling.  :(

What I’m most excited about though, is what I did Saturday.  In my last post, from January, I said one of my goals was to take myself to a new level this year and Saturday was what I was referring to.  

Two months ago my much younger skating friend talked me into entering an adult figure skating competition with her.  It was crazy, I know.  I hadn’t competed in 25 years, but I’m on the ice every day to teach, so I thought maybe it was possible.  

We had lots of fun training together but as last week came to a close and our event neared, I began to worry I was over my head.  My lungs were on fire as I tried to make it through my three minute program and two of the jumps were still giving me trouble.  What had I been thinking?  But I was also excited. I had to concentrate on the things I was good at and enjoy performing.    

Then Saturday was upon us.  I was nervous and I knew I hadn’t trained as much as I should have because of all those other things in life that always manage to create road blocks. I was as ready as I could be at that moment in time and I just had to go for it.  

I’d like to say that as soon as I stepped on the ice all my nervousness melted away, but it didn’t. I was determined though, to enjoy each one of my three minutes and show what I could do.

Jumping out of my comfort zone!!

As my music played, time slowed and each movement flowed from my body.  I had time to think about how lucky I was to be there with my kids, husband, and parents cheering me on.  

What a moment.  

During the last minute, I took a deep breath both to calm my excitement and to not pass out during my big finish.

When the last few notes played and I struck my ending pose nothing else mattered.  I had done it!  A huge smile broke across my face as I bowed and skated off.  I knew I hadn’t skated everything perfectly but I landed all my jumps and did everything I had hoped to do.  

The scores didn’t even matter.    

Alyssa, me, Jessica, and my coach

What have you been up to?  Any big news?  A-Z is coming up are you participating?



Kathy :)

Thanks! and Phantom

First of all I would like to thank everyone who stopped by earlier this week to check out Denise Covey's interview.  Everyone had such wonderful comments.  You guys are great!  And thanks Denise, it was lovely getting to know you better! Don't forget to check out her Romantic Friday Writers. 

On to the Phantom

I love Phantom of the Opera!  When it came out 25 years ago, I was enchanted by both the story and the music.  I would listen to the cds over and over again in my room, probably driving my mom bonkers. But she let me do it anyway.  Thanks Mom!

Last night we watched on Netflix the 25th anniversary special of the Phantom at the Royal Albert Hall in London.  It was a spectacular production of the entire musical filmed at a live performance.  The cast was filled with top performers and the sets were fabulous.

If you like Phantom, I highly recommend this version.

*****


 DL Hammons is hosting WRiTE CLUB, but were not supposed to talk about it so go check out his blog for all the info and sign up!


Hope your week is going great!


Kathy :)
     

Origins Blogfest!

What started you on the path to writing?  That's what the Origins Blogfest created by DL Hammons is all about.  It's co-hosted by Alex Cavanaugh, Katie Mills (Creepy Query Girl), and Matthew MacNish (The QQQE).  Check out their blogs for links to other great Origins stories.
Here is mine:

I don't know exactly when it started for me, maybe I was 5 maybe I was 7.  It doesn't really matter, but whenever we took long car rides (almost every weekend to go up North in Michigan), I would stare out the window and make up stories in my head that fit the landscape we were driving through.  I didn't write anything down yet.  They were stored simply in my brain.  

Later on, in fifth grade I had an inspiring teacher who made us use our spelling words to write sentences. I'm not sure if she told us to weave them all into one complete story, but that's what I did.  It was my favorite class.  I came up with some pretty weird stuff.  It's hard to fit in all twenty words ranging from "lint, wallow, comb, heiress, etc" into something that made sense. (I guess it was a great preparation for all the flash fiction in Rachael Harrie's Campaign.) ;)  My favorite yarn from that class was the lint ball that ate the school.

Then my Mom and I started writing picture books together.  We never got any published, but we had so much fun working on them together.  We sat at the kitchen table sharing our imaginations.  We probably did more laughing than actual writing. But the experience was priceless, and I was hooked.  We started going to local writer's conferences. I took a creative writing class in school and then at the local university as a Saturday class.

Everywhere I went, I took a notebook to jot down ideas or write a quick poem. Every scrap of paper, even my college calculus class notes were covered with thoughts, things I noticed, and story snippets. (Maybe that's why I failed Calculus!)

Eventually, I got married had kids and life kind of got crowded with other duties and sadly my writing went on hold.  Then a couple of years ago, I decided I had to make time for writing again.  I started up with picture books because my three kids had given me so many wonderful ideas, but I couldn't quite get them right. So instead I worked on an article for a national magazine and to my surprise it was actually published!

It's my only publishing credit to date, but at least I'm writing every day now and I'm loving it!  I'm also sharing the fun with my daughters Jess from Write Skate Dream and Alyssa from Life Is Good.  Even my 7 year old son Ryan has been inspired to start his own story.

Well that is my Origins story.  I hope you enjoyed it.  I'd love to hear what got you started on this crazy path to crafting stories. And don't forget to check out everyone else's stories too!

Kathy :)