Newsletter

March 28, 2021 Newsletter

3/28/2021

I've been trying to figure out how to explain not releasing a new book for three years and even worse, not finishing the one I started exactly three years ago today. The photo above is a big part of the reason--we decided to move out of Healdsburg about the time I opened the file to write DARK STRANGER, and it took us months to find the place we finally settled in, a beautiful piece of property in the old gold rush era town of Georgetown in the heart of California's Mother Lode.

So, I had a title and a story idea when I opened the file, but then we started making trips across the state to look for a new home, and the file was set aside. I had spent the previous years concentrating on my romantic suspense stories for St. Martin's Press, then wrote Dark Captive, the sixth book in the Spirit Wild series, and then started the next one. All would have gone well, except we got serious about selling our house in Healdsburg and shopping for a new one "somewhere special," which took longer than expected. We'd sold our house and still had nowhere to go when we found the place where we live now. It's beautiful, though the picture of the forest above is how it looked long after my husband started clearing out undergrowth, dead branches, fallen trees and all the other stuff that meant you couldn't see the forest for the trees...

When I finally settled down, my office was as organized as it was going to get at that point, and I went back to the few pages I'd managed to write and realized they were absolutely awful, but I finally pinpointed what was wrong. It took awhile before I realized two things: first, I no longer had Anton Cheval sitting over my shoulder and whispering the story in my ear, and because I was trying to write without Anton, I'd lost my voice. He's always been my secret weapon with the Chanku books, the pushy muse that is the reason I even started writing Spirit Wild in the first place, and the fact that I'd lost my "voice," the rhythm of my own writing that makes it quintessentially me, meant I sounded flat and foreign. I wasn't sure how to fix things. I knew I had to get Anton back and figured he'd help me find my voice.

So I went back to some of my older stories and read them. The first Wolf Tales (and damn but I want to edit that thing!) and a few of the Sexy Beast novellas, and then I reread Dark Captive since that's the lead in for this new book. And once I'd spent a couple of months immersing myself in all things Chanku, Anton was back, and so was my voice.

Then, about the time I got really serious about writing the story, I had some health issues when the arthritis in my hands and wrists made it difficult to type, and of course there was a pandemic. That should have actually helped, but we lived in a beautiful place with hiking trails and wildlife and it kept pulling me outside.

I don't even remember what day it was when I looked back through all the openings I'd written--and discarded--for this book, and decided to start fresh once again. The difference was, this time I was ready. I lost a year in there and still thought I'd started it sometime after we moved here, but it wasn't until I'd finished the book a couple of days ago and was getting ready to send it to my beta readers that I checked the "open file" date. That's when I realized I'd started it three years ago. After years of writing four to six books a year, it was pretty humiliating to see that I'd essentially lost track of the time I'd spent with this story.

It's not like my other books--this one is about the second generation of the original pack, now the Chanku Nation, going out in search of Berserkers--bred as the warrior class in the time when the early Chanku were still comfortably living on their home planet long before it died and they had to escape to other worlds. Berserkers are Chanku born as animals and unable to shift, and yet well aware of their humanity. It wasn't until the discovery of Asha in Dark Captive that the modern Chanku fully realized that Berserkers existed in greater numbers than imagined, that they could be held in zoos and cages, bought and sold illegally by criminals trading in endangered predators, or even in large animal parks where their true identity was hidden by their animal's inability to communicate just who and what they were.

In Dark Stranger you'll meet a number of new characters, all rescued over a very short period of time, but each with their own stories and drama.

African lions and snow leopards, Bengal tigers and cheetahs, all of them living with the hope that their generation will finally be the one that is found, that once they have the "magic grasses," they will know their true selves, be able to shift, and mate the partners they've loved for so long.

The book is finally with my beta readers, and I'm planning a contest over the next week where I can hopefully lure you back to the world of the Chanku. I think my characters have just about had it with me, but in many ways, I also think I needed this time off. After working at a frantic pace between 2005 and 2018, I was well and truly burned out. This past three years has given me time to settle into our new home, spend time with my husband without a deadline hanging over our every minute, and learn to enjoy what I've loved doing for so long--writing stories and making stuff up.

Once this book is done and set free, I plan to get busy working on the reverted titles that have been unavailable for so long. My first project will be the Dream Catchers series--my erotic S/F releases that came out during the Borders meltdown. The series release was truncated from the beginning and very few books made available to stores, it got absolutely no promotion to speak of, and died on the vine. Personally, it's one of my favorites, so it's first on my list, and since the leading novella is important to the series, I plan to include all three stories, Dream Catchers, Dream Bound, and Dream Unchained as a single release. if there's enough call for it, I'll also bring them out in print.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'll do a contest once I get the "beta-read" manuscript back and have a better idea of when it can be released. I've got some neat stuff for new writers (and I know there are a lot of you among my readers--we all have to start somewhere!) and some really unique little wolf-print earrings that our 15 year old granddaughter makes. They're really very cool!

I'm not able to use my Yahoo groups newsletter notice anymore, so I'd suggest you sign up for the RSS feed on this page so you know when new posts to the newsletter/blog come out. I'm still working on bringing my website up to date, and hopefully it won't take me as long as it took to write the damned book!

Take care, I hope you've all made it through the pandemic safely, and always remember to find time to read.

Kate

May 2019 Newsletter

5/2/2019

At least one of those dudes in the top shot is the daddy, but they're not talking. No, the guys are all hanging out together in our pond while Mama corrals ten baby ducklings. Not all of them got in this next photo, but they hatched today and hit the pond, pigging out on bugs and driving Mama crazy. Can you imagine corralling ten little day-old babies
that can swim--really, really fast?
Nope. Me, neither.

Now that I've got the big news posted, I'm posting bigger news. Kensington is running a sale on the ebooks of my Wolf Tales novels and novellas. All the novels from Wolf Tales VII through Wolf Tales 12 are currently .99, and the sale will run until June 2, so if you've always wanted to fill in some empty spots in the second half of the series, or quit buying the series after Wolf Tales VI, you can fill in the rest and find out what all happened. I've got excerpts of all of them here on the website.

After more false starts than I want to admit, I've finally got a handle on Dark Stranger. This "discovery period" has taken me longer than usual--instead of counting my time in days, it's more like months, and I've probably thrown away the equivalent of half a book from false starts, but I think I've finally got a decent start on it. I'm paying for the time away from writing, and while I know I needed it, it's making it tough to get back into my normal flow. It took me forever to figure out why Sofia, the maned wolf and Santiago's mate, was afraid to shift. Once she explained it, her hesitation finally made sense, but she needs to get her butt in gear because the team is ready to go after the captured predators--untold numbers of them Berserkers caught up in the illicit predator trade--and she and Santi are the ones holding them up.

I'm keeping this short, but I wanted to let you know about the sale, and also to assure you that I'm definitely working on the book. Once I feel as if I've got a chapter that will give you an idea of what's going on, I'll post it as an edit to this newsletter. No contest this month, but time is something I just don't have enough of. At least I can see! My cataract surgery went well, and I finally got glasses, though I'm not real happy with the ones I got at Kaiser. I got my computer glasses and sunglasses at Costco, and they're perfect, but my regular glasses fall off my face if I look down. Not good! Need to go back and see if they can adjust them--again. It's a 40 minute drive, so not a trip I want to take if that's the only reason I'm going!

I've not been doing as much reading as usual, but did just finish a wonderful book by C.C. Hunter aka Christie Craig, called, IN ANOTHER LIFE. I love her YA stories, and this is one of her best yet. Chloe was adopted when she was three, and her life has been idyllic until recently--her parents are divorcing. Dad's had a mid-life crisis and has a girlfriend who's not much older than Chloe, and her mother is barely recovering from breast cancer. Even worse, she and her mom have moved away from the home she's lived in since her adoption, which means she's starting a new school in her senior year. Things look up when she meets Cash Colton--until she learns that the good looking guy she's drawn to believes she is the kidnapped daughter of his foster parents. This one didn't go where I expected it to, and I quite literally could not put it down. I definitely recommend this one, and if you've got teens who love to read, buy this book!

Another book I read, this one last month (I know...one of the months I didn't do a newsletter, but when there's not much news, it's hard to know what to write!) was Robyn Carr's THE VIEW FROM ALAMEDA ISLAND. I am an unabashed fan of Robyn's, and this was another terrific story. In this case, it's a woman who has lived in what everyone thinks is the perfect marriage, but it's been a hellish experience with a cruel and controlling man. When she chooses to walk away, it's a well-planned escape that doesn't go exactly as planned, but again, it was a wonderful book. If you like Robyn's writing as much as I do, you will definitely love this one.

Saving the best for last--I haven't read this one yet, but it's Jayne Ann Krentz writing as Amanda Quick, so I know I'm gonna love it. It's the third in the Burning Cove, California trilogy, and THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, and THE OTHER LADY VANISHES were wonderful. I'm going to steal Jayne's synopsis of this new story--it definitely got my attention, and I love this cover!

An unconventional woman and a man shrouded in mystery walk a tightrope of desire as they race against a killer to find a top secret invention before it’s too late.
Former trapeze artist Amalie Vaughn moved to Burning Cove to reinvent herself, but things are not going well. After spending her entire inheritance on a mansion with the intention of turning it into a bed-and-breakfast, she learns too late that the villa is said to be cursed. When the first guest, Dr. Norman Pickwell, is murdered by his robot invention during a sold-out demonstration, rumors circulate that the curse is real.

In the chaotic aftermath of the spectacle, Amalie watches as a stranger from the audience disappears behind the curtain. When Matthias Jones reappears, he is slipping a gun into a concealed holster. It looks like the gossip that is swirling around him is true—Matthias evidently does have connections to the criminal underworld.

Matthias is on the trail of a groundbreaking prototype cipher machine. He suspects that Pickwell stole the device and planned to sell it. But now Pickwell is dead and the machine has vanished. When Matthias’s investigation leads him to Amalie’s front door, the attraction between them is intense, but she knows it is also dangerous. Amalie and Matthias must decide if they can trust each other and the passion that binds them, because time is running out.

This book releases May 7, and the cover links to Jayne's website with info on the other two stories.

All three of the books I've mentioned tonight are by authors I admire more than you can imagine. Each of them consistently puts out entertaining, beautifully written stories that can take me away from just about everything. If not for the chance to enter their worlds, I don't think I would be able to write. It's such an intense profession, that the opportunity to escape into another writer's world is a gift. All three women--Christie Craig, Robyn Carr, and Jayne Ann Krentz are not only amazingly talented writers, they have become good friends over the years.

Probably the best perk of writing romance is getting to know the talented authors I've fan-girled over for years! I have most of JAK's books going back to her days as Stephanie James writing Silhouette Desires! That's two bookshelves packed two levels deep, from Jayne Ann Krentz to Jayne Castle, to Amanda Quick...and dear old Stephanie!

The thing that amazes me most is that their books are ALWAYS good. I've never read a wall-banger from any these women. Far from it--their books are the ones on my keeper shelves and most of them have tattered pages because I've reread them so many times. And I will admit to something that's probably going to sound really petty--I never, ever loan their books! I used to, many years ago, and then I realized that they didn't always come back and I had to buy them again because someone else had kept MY copy! Totally unforgivable, and I bet there are a lot of you who are just as bad.

On that note, I need to get back to Dark Stranger. Still have another hour of writing time, and Doug will be off on a bike ride tomorrow, so I'll be able to have the house to myself. SO much easier to write when the Lord of the Manor is elsewhere. ;-)

All the best to you, and thank you for being so patient. This is too damned long to go between books. Hopefully I'll get back into my regular writing schedule, and we can forget this little lapse ever occurred. Right? Uh...please?

Take care, be well, and I hope the weather where you live eventually realizes it's spring and snow is not welcome. Nor is rain, or tornadoes, or any other yucky extremes. That's it for now!

Kate

February Contest Winners!

2/26/2019

My apologies for taking so long to choose winners, but I was getting entries up until yesterday and hated to cut it off too soon. I'm serious about clearing out my book stash! I just don't have room to store anything extra, and that explains why I chose seven winners from this contest, even though I had fewer entries than usual.

So Michelle, Debby, Kerry, Denise, Melinda, Mary, and Charles will be receiving signed copies of the books they requested, and in the case of those who said they'd take any of the books, I tried to pick out a good one!

One thing I forgot to mention in my newsletter is that I've posted a lot of my Critter Cam videos on my website for those who don't belong to Facebook...and yes, I do have quite a few readers who aren't active on Facebook, and sometimes I wish I could join them. But if you go to the menu at the top of the page and click on CRITTERCAM1, (or the link in the word!) it will take you to two pages (so far) of videos of the critters wandering around our new digs.

I've got my pre-op appointment for cataract surgery this Thursday, and the operation will be next week. I'm really anxious to get this over with so I can get back to work. My vision is getting worse by the day, and everyone I've talked to who has had the surgery says it really is amazing how much better the world looks!

On a personal note, I lost my older brother this past week. He's been living with cancer for the past year and a half, and has packed so much into the time he and his wife had left together. He was an athlete to the end, an avid runner, hiker, and fisherman. When I was little he was my big brother and I adored him. When I got into high school, my teachers all held me up to his impossible standards, and I didn't like him nearly as much, but then when he graduated from Kings Point Academy while I was in high school and left the keys to his MG Midget with me when he went to sea, he was absolutely the all-time favorite brother once again.

He was a wonderful brother, husband, father, grandfather and uncle, and I will miss his funny texts, his beautiful photos of wildflowers and mushrooms, and the many fish he caught and released, the record of all the things he saw on his many hikes in the beautiful mountains around Portland, OR. I miss just knowing he was there, a link to a past growing farther away every day.

I hope to get the books mailed out tomorrow, but I lost the entire day today with other things that needed doing, so I will do my best, but it may be Thursday before they go out.

Thanks to all of you who entered, and a reminder that when I have a contest entry without an address when I specifically request one, I will delete it. I had a few of those this time, and while I used to let it slide, I really can't anymore, not if I want to get my work done. It's too time consuming to chase you down.

Take care, I hope the weather isn't wearing you down, and creating more problems than it should. Here in California, our snowpack is something like 150% of normal so far this year--the snow at our place finally melted after keeping essentially snowbound for the past couple weeks. Thank goodness we have really nice neighbors who let us park our cars across the road from our driveway, which was blocked until yesterday afternoon.

Spring is coming...the frogs are singing out in the pond and we had fourteen mallard ducks--seven pairs--going through all the courtship rituals that ducks do at this time of year, and that tells me we're in for a change in spite of the snow!

Watch for flowers. They're out there somewhere!

Kate

That's a photo Doug took of Georgetown in the snow one morning before I was even out of bed! It still looks much like it did during the gold rush, I imagine....without the cars!

February 2019 Newsletter

2/17/2019

I keep thinking I'll get back into a regular schedule, but so far I'm failing badly. However, I'm doing it without guilt because Doug and I have been working our ever-lovin' asses off! I'm probably in better shape than I've been in in years, between the pruning, hauling firewood, working on stuff in the house...all the chores that go with moving to a new place.

And then it started snowing. And snowing some more, and it hasn't really stopped since around the end of January. Everyone told us, when we moved here, that it was normal to get a "dusting" of snow every once in a while. However, it appears we got here just in time for a record setting snow season, which, believe me, we're not complaining about. I've posted some of Doug's pictures of Georgetown, where we live now, on my FB page. He got them yesterday morning before I was even out of bed. And if you haven't "liked" my page yet, please do! Facebook loves to remind me when no one has liked it in a while, and then I really feel like a slacker!

Snow means water for a state that has dealt with drought for far too long. The trees are soaking it up--sometimes too much as we've had a few power outages caused by falling trees. We lost a huge limb today off a cedar tree that snapped from the weight of the snow. The snow quit falling for a bit today and Doug and I took a walk in the woods. It's absolutely magical in there--some of the trees are massive and a lot of snow was falling on us because the sun had come out, and it was melting off the branches. The one in the picture is a favorite, just because of its pure mass. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the trunk is about four feet across.

Okay. Taking a break because I'm laughing. About twenty minutes ago Doug came into my office to kiss me goodnight. Than about ten minutes later, I heard him rummaging around in his camera room. It appears the snow stopped falling and the moon came out and there are SHADOWS and LIGHT, and the reflection is AMAZING. It's also about 29° outside right now. I hope he's got the electric blanket turned on because he's gonna need it when he comes in! But speaking of pictures, if you want to see what the little town we have moved to looks like, I just put up a photo album of pictures he took early this morning before the snow plows had even come through town. They're on my author page.

Yep...he's back inside, half frozen. At least I can stop worrying about him out there in the woods in the dark and cold...I'm really good at worrying! Now I can get back to the newsletter...I've got some updates. I've been hoping to have the next book ready to go by April, but I don't think I'll be able to make it. My eyes are a mess and cataract surgery isn't until early March, not that far away, but I've hardly written a word. It's taken me days to get to the point where I could do my newsletter, and I'm not used to having to work in small bits of time.

I have a title! This one is Dark Stranger. May not sound like much, but once I get a title in my head, then it usually starts to come together. I know the book is about the search for more Berserkers caught up in the illegal predator trade, and Santiago and Sofia, the maned wolf Berserkers from Dark Captive will feature, along with Leo and Asha and Remington and Shay. I even know how it ends, but it's the opening and a few of the plot points that aren't coming together for me, and until I have those, I'm unable to get into the flow of the story. No real excuses. I've even got my office somewhat organized and Internet it working most of the time. Please be patient, though I've asked that of you more than I should. Once I get into it, I'll try and post an excerpt once in a while.

I do have a contest this month, though, and I hope it's something you're interested in. During the move, I came across some of my author copies of Wolf Tales VI, VII, VIII, 9 and 10. Also found some copies of Sexy Beast II, III, and IV. There aren't too many, but if you are interested, enter the contest WITH YOUR PHYSICAL MAIL ADDRESS and which book or books you are interested in. If everyone asks for the same book, I want a secondary choice to fall back on.

Now, on to really good books I've read in the past couple of months...Jayne Ann Krentz's third story in her Cutler, Sutter & Salinas trilogy, UNTOUCHABLE. Terrific finish to a truly well done series, with some really nice surprises.

I think one of the things I love most about JAK's books is just how wonderfully re-readable they are. I love nothing more than to pick up an old favorite and get swept right back up in the story, one I may have read years earlier. Her books are just that good. Link to the book will take you to her website and buy links.

Another one I've just finished but have yet to review is the second in C.C.Hunter's The Mortician's Daughter YA series, TWO FEET UNDER. Loved the first one, really loved the second one, hate the cliffhanger because I WANT TO KNOW NOW. But, I've also learned that, with this author's books, the wait is always worth it.

I know that C.C. Hunter is NOT a young adult, but damn does she nail this age group perfectly. (I've got 13 and 15 year old granddaughters and a 17 year old grandson, so I think I know whereof I speak...)

Riley, the story's protagonist, is a teen with an unusual talent--not only does she see dead people, it's her task to help them cross over, but she's never had the spirit of a convicted criminal need her help before. Except helping him will also help save the life of a child. The convict was killed in a prison fight just before he was to give part of his liver for his daughter's life-saving transplant. Finding his brother, a notorious gang leader who might be the only possible match left will take Riley to some terrifying and dangerous places. There are even more complications that will keep you glued to this story, but read them in order.

I also want to mention one other author I discovered on BookBub. I do love that site! Her name is Winter Renshaw and her writing is just wonderful. I'm currently reading the fourth book of hers, after starting with RECKLESS, HEARTLESS and PRICELESS. Currently reading PRICKED. It's a bit different than the others, but I've not really had time to get into it. I've got reviews up on the first two and hope to get to the third one once I get a bit more caught up here. The links in the titles above will take you to all her books.

That's about it for now. The sun is out here and it's COLD! Doug just said he's dug the car out of the snow, so no more excuses! We have to go to the grocery store after lunch, and then I'm hoping to get some more work done on the book once I get back. Wish me luck!

I wish you well--I hope you're doing okay with the extremes of weather we've been having across the country. And try really hard to find some time to read. I know that's what keeps me going when I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the world around me.

All the best,

Kate

December winners have been chosen!

12/17/2018

Congratulations to the six winners who had a choice of DARK WOLF, DARK CAPTIVE, or HOW TO WRITE HOT SEX! Stacy from Nevada will get a copy of DARK CAPTIVE, Jamie S. from somewhere (I need your address!) will receive DARK WOLF, Jo from Arizona also wants DARK WOLF, Gillian, from Canada, I think--please send me your address asap--will get a copy of HOW TO WRITE HOT SEX, Maria from Pennsylvania also will get a copy of HOW TO WRITE HOT SEX, and Teresa from WV will get a copy of DARK WOLF.

I realize I usually toss entries without the address, but in this case I neglected to ask for said address, so I'm being a bit more forgiving this time--since I definitely screwed up! The thing is, it's been a while since I've done a contest, and I was out of practice...that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

I hope to have these in tomorrow's mail, so please, if I've asked for an address from you, send it as soon as you can.

Today was tough...I ended up donating 8 boxes of books to the local library and the attached used book store, some of them books I've had for years, but there just wasn't any way I could fit all of them into my new office. It's much smaller, not as much room for shelves, but it's always hard to part with books. Of course, I continue to buy more, so it's not like I'm doing without, but a lot of them were old favorites that I'll miss just seeing on my shelves. I'm also going to be giving away a lot of my older copies of books I've written, as I can only keep just so many of those! Watch for more contests in the future.

Happy holidays to all of you, and my very best wishes for a wonderful new year. I hope you stay safe and healthy, and don't forget to find some quiet time to read. Holidays can be so hectic, so it's even more important to steal a bit of time away from all the chaos to recharge and refresh. What better way than a quiet corner and a good book!

Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
Kate

December 2018 Newsletter

12/8/2018

I know...I'm sorry. I missed last month entirely, but I hope to make it up to you this month with a contest. For those of you who write, I'll be giving away a couple of copies of HOW TO WRITE HOT SEX, edited by Shoshanna Evers with articles from twelve of us who write the hot stuff, about how we do what we do, and how you can do it, too.

And for those of you readers who still like that print book (I'm one of them!) I've got a print copy of the reissue of Dark Wolf and one of Dark Captive, so when you enter, be sure and tell me which book you'd like a chance to win.

If you've been following me a bit on Facebook, you'll know that we've moved across California from the little wine country town of Healdsburg, to the even smaller gold rush community of Georgetown. This really is a beautiful little spot, and I do mean little. We live on one of the main streets in town on a little over six acres, and when we walk up our driveway, we're in town. We can walk to the post office and the shops on Main Street, to the library and some really good restaurants. There's a wonderful hotel a block away--and it's haunted! Check out the American River Inn. It's just as pretty as the pictures! The grocery store is less than a mile away, and we have just about everything we need here in the beautiful mountains of an area they call the Divide.

Georgetown sits at a little over 2600 feet on a ridge of mountains that divide two forks of the American River. That means the only way to get here is to go down into a canyon and back up the other side, either on the middle fork or the south fork of the river. The forest is just gorgeous--on our property there's cedar, fir, pine, dogwood, oak, alder madrone and an old orchard with apples, pears, and a fuyu persimmon tree that we've discovered is quite popular with foxes, raccoons, and bears. Yes...bears. BIG FAT BEARS. Probably fat because they're eating all our persimmons. So yes, we are finally back in the country and loving it. That photo above is one Doug took of a madrone tree in the woods behind the house. It's very dark under the trees, but just as he walked by a sunbeam hit the tree and the bark absolutely glows.

When we first arrived, we couldn't get Internet, so I've been mostly off the grid since mid September. Since everyone around us had Comcast, we never considered the fact that we might not be able to get it at our house. Unfortunately, the only response that we got for the first two months we were here is that it was impossible. We tried using hotspots with our phones, then bought a Jetpack, which is a portable hotspot, but that wasn't much better. In the meantime, I continued to bug Comcast and so did my spouse, who finally got hold of a very nice woman who put us in touch with the man who actually makes the decisions about whether or not service is possible. The thing is, our long driveway puts us just out of reach for optimum service.

We weren't concerned with optimum, we just wanted our Internet so we could continue to function as we have for years--online! I mean, we don't even have TV, so the computers are it, but we finally had a technician come out who decided that maybe it wasn't impossible, even though it wouldn't be really strong service, but he managed to make it work and we now have the world back at our fingertips. Except when it's really stormy or cloudy...but we can deal. What we have is definitely better than what we were trying to work with.

As far as writing--I've gotten both Dark Wolf and Dark Moon back up for sale, available in print and ebook, so the entire series is once again available. I've begun rereading Dark Captive to refresh my memory on the characters and plot so I can get to work on the next book in the series. I have an idea what it's about, but I know that rereading the story will get me in the right frame of mind to write the next one. I'll let you know when I get moving on the actual writing, but it won't be until after the holidays.

I'm finally getting my bookcases delivered on Monday (I hope) because my office doesn't really work for me until I've got everything in its place. And this office is much smaller than the last one I had. I've been downsizing offices ever since we lived in Cobb, but the gorgeous surroundings we live in are so worth the smaller office! I did find room for some of my favorite framed book covers -- I like having them up there for those times when I think I'll never come up with another story, as a reminder that I think that way before just about every book I start! And so far the stories have always been there, though the last few years have been a real struggle.

But this is what I've missed, and where I've always found my muse--the quiet of the country and walking in the woods. The first Wolf Tales was written when we lived in Cobb, CA, in a house among the pines. Now we have an entire forest to walk in, and I've found places that are so beautiful that I have no doubt this is where my muse has been hiding. Generally, of course, that muse who whispers in my ear is Anton Cheval. Hard to believe that he started out as a secondary character in one of the early Wolf Tales serial chapters that first came out from Changeling Press in 2004! He's still as much a pain in the butt as ever, but I absolutely adore the man!

Our few acres of forest are really beautiful with trees that are so old they look like they belong in Middle Earth. We can only claim about five feet of creek, but it's really pretty cutting across a small corner at the bottom of the property, and we do have a fairly large pond with ducks and geese. Those trees in the photo above are madrone with shiny red bark and bright green leaves. The close-up at the top of the page gives a better example. Point being, we absolutely love it here and the fact that I'm anxious to get back to writing tells me it was the right decision to make the move. Living in town just sort of sucked all the creativity out of me, and Doug wasn't happy there, either. I'd never experienced writers block until about the second year we were in Healdsburg when I felt as if the houses were closing in on us, and the words just weren't there for me. And even if they don't come back, at least now we're in a really beautiful place to live, but as anxious as I am to get back to it, I have hope! (ever the optimist!!!)

Years ago, when my husband and I were just dating (and not very long after we'd met) we were talking about buying property in the Mother Lode, maybe after I finished college in a few more months, and he said, "Well, if we're going to buy property together, we should probably get married." I said okay, and that was his proposal. It was on Valentine's Day, (entirely by accident, I assure you!) but we were married that May. I got pregnant in the fall, so obviously the move to the gold country was put off for a while. Forty-seven years, to be exact, but you can't say my guy's not a man of his word!

We feel as if we've finally come home.

Reading! I do a lot of that when I'm stressed, and moving is always stressful. I should know ...we've done it often enough! But Ann Christopher came out with two new books, a connected pair that really should be read together, and as always, I really enjoyed both of them. EVERYTHING I HOPED FOR, and EVERYTHING I NEED are terrific. Click on the titles for more about the books

Anyone who has known me for any time at all knows I'm a huge fan of Joey W. Hill. Joey and I go back a LONG way, literally to the dawn of ebooks, and I've loved everything she's written, but her Vampire Queen series will probably always be my favorite. Each book is unique to the beautiful but cruel world she's created. The characters are true to their vampiric nature, but always find love in a world where sexual domination and submission are the norm. Joey's writing is pure poetry, her heroes always darkly beautiful, and I have yet to read any of her books "merely" once! VAMPIRE'S EMBRACE is no exception. I am almost ready to get my books out of boxes, and I'm going to have to go back and reread some of her earlier ones. I always feel that way when I've finished a new book of hers! Click on the title or the cover for info about the book and an excerpt.

Sometimes researching a book idea takes me to strange and wondrous places--hence, my discovery of author JD Chambers. I can't find her website so have linked to the book's page on Amazon, but in my search for a story with a transgender hero I ended up with a book with a non-binary hero--and I absolutely loved it! First of all, I'm not all that familiar with the meaning of non-binary or genderqueer, so I went to Google and this is the simplest explanation I could find: A non-binary person is someone who does not identify as exclusively a man or a woman. In really simple terms, someone who is non-binary might feel like a mix of genders, or like they have no gender at all.

So, with that in mind, the story is just so much fun, but it's also well-written and entertaining as hell, the characters, Mal and Parker are unique and so real that I found myself totally caught up in their story. I still plan to write the transgender story, but this was a wonderful side trip along the way. I definitely recommend this one!

This is the Christmas decoration I put at the head of our driveway. So far, it's about the only decoration I've got up...

And at this point, I think I've rambled on long enough! If you've made it this far, thank you for your patience, and don't forget to enter in the contest entry form in the sidebar. If you're on a phone, the form might be at the very end of the post, but please do NOT put an entry in the comments section. It won't be counted, but it will be deleted.

AND DON'T FORGET YOUR MAILING ADDRESS! (Like I did on the original form...my apologies. It was late!)

Sending you holiday greetings and the very best wishes for a safe and health new year.

I'm supposed to be getting scheduled for cataract surgery after the first of the year, something I'm looking forward to as my vision has gotten progressively worse. Other than that, I'm planning to get a good start on the next book. Need to come up with a title, first!

Take care, be well, and I do hope you find time for a good book and a quiet corner to read it in!

Be well,
Kate

October 22nd, 2018 Newsletter

10/22/2018

Both of these are re-releases of previously published books

I haven't been writing much since the move, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working! Dark Moon is finally up in both print and ebook--the cover photo links to the page here on my site along with a long excerpt. This one, for those of you who know my characters going back to Wolf Tales, is Igmutaka's story. He has always been such fun to write, and it was wonderful to have him finally claim the woman he's loved since before her birth...I know. Sounds kinky, but not when you're an immortal spirit guide. It first released in 2014.

The other book, Dragons and Dreams, is a compilation of three of my stories that first appeared in The Agency of Extraordinary Mates series from Changeling Press. Island Dreamin' is a short and sassy romance takes the fantasy in dreams to another level altogether. At least the dreams of one particular woman. The other two books within the anthology make up a two-book fantasy series that I really enjoyed writing. I can't recall right now what the inspiration was for this one--I have a feeling it was Margaret Riley, owner of Changeling Press, telling me she wanted a story about the island of Chimera, where magic happens. So I wrote the first one, and it was so much fun, and I really wanted to write more about two of the characters who started out as secondary characters and quickly took over the book, that that's where the second one came from. Together they make a really fun, sexy, and very romantic story. Click on the cover for Dragons and Dreams and it will take you to Changeling Press where you'll find links for both ebook and print at all the regular sellers, (though they usually cost less at Changeling Press)

The big news, though, at least in my world, is that Doug and I have moved. it was sort of a spur of the moment decision that we'd been working up to for quite some time, though it felt like it took us forever to sell our house and find the one we found. We moved to town six years ago to be closer to our daughter and the grandkids, who were a lot younger at the time and we wanted to be there to help out with all the coming and going that three busy kids are doing.

We did our best to adjust, but after living in the country for most of our 46 years of marriage, it was beginning to affect us in too many ways to ignore. In my case, writing was almost impossible and I watched my output go from 3 to 6 books and novellas a year to barely finishing one. I developed an ulcer and felt like crap all the time and one night I came home from my evening walk and said to my beloved and understanding spouse, "What do you think about moving?"

All Doug said was, "Where?" Well, the "where" ended up being the beautiful little gold country town of Georgetown, CA. We're just ten miles from Coloma, where gold was discovered in California so many years ago, and our house is fascinating. I swear it was built in installments, from the old miner's cabin in the front yard to the room in the the house made of stone and brick with walls about 18" thick that has got to be at least a hundred years old. We're still researching the history, at least as much as we can. More was added on in 1964, and more again in 1974, and then it was remodeled before we bought it.

It's modern and comfortable, but Doug and I both spend most of our time in the old room because it just feels right in here.

I love the slate floors and the rock fireplace. The mantel is made of copper, which is really cool, and that gold thing in the middle of the floor is an old ceramic medallion of some sort, depicting gold rush themes.

My office is behind that door, but it's such a mess I'm not showing it to a soul! My beat up recliner didn't make the move, so I'm currently working in my grandmother's old rocker here in the family room.

If you've been following me on Facebook, I hope you've seen the Critter Cams I'm posting. I gave Doug a critter camera for his birthday last summer, and we've been getting all sorts of nightly visitors...including a bear! It comes to eat the fallen apples in the orchard, which has been nice as it's doing a great job of cleaning up old fruit. Besides the orchard, there're about four acres of forest that Doug's been working on, clearing out the brush and deadwood. There's a pond in front and he's been pruning back the cattails, too, so the man has been really busy, but he appears to be loving every minute. We both feel as if we're back in the right kind of country.

I've not had much time for reading. though I just finished Susan Fox's Sail Away With Me. It's the last in her Blue Moon Harbor series, and I haven't been able to put it away. I'm currently reading it for the third time. I'm just sick that she's not going to continue the series--they are all wonderful stories and her writing is fantastic. I honestly think this final book is the best in the series.

Susan deals with the issue of child sexual abuse in a sensitive manner that builds the romance and strengthens the ties between a very shy bookseller and a famous musician. Julian and Iris's story is absolutely perfect. In fact, I'm planning to get back to it when I finish my newsletter!

I need to close this and get some sleep, but wanted to let you know that life is finally getting a bit back to normal, and with luck I'll my office in shape before too long, and then will get my butt in gear and back to writing. We'll have cold winters here, and there's a big fireplace that backs up to my office. I think I know where I'll be spending a lot of my time!

Take care, be well, and I do hope you have time to read a few good books. They really are food for the soul!

Kate

September 19, 2018 Newsletter

9/19/2018

This will be a really brief newsletter but I wanted to let you know that Dark Moon is out--at Amazon, at least. The others will trickle in behind, but this re-release of the third book in my Spirit Wild series will be available for .99 for a week only--which will of course be extended to accommodate those readers who are buying from Nook, Kobo, or iBooks.

This should have been up a few days ago, but Amazon has tightened down on allowing small companies who handle uploads for those of us who are technically challenged, to actually do their job. It's not a bad policy to check and double check who owns the copyright, to be sure that it's not someone trying to rip off an author, which has unfortunately become fairly common in the writing world. We got it all straightened out today. I hope!

Click on the cover for an excerpt. Should take you to the Dark Moon page.

We are seriously into the nuts and bolts of moving. Our house here in Healdsburg is a mess, and the one up in the mountains is calling us. We're doing a lot of "back and forth," but it's a three hour drive on a good day, and has taken well over four hours on those not so good days! Movers will be here next week, and I can't wait to get settled in the new place. Once we're all in, I'll post some pictures, but right now it's rather cluttered, to put it mildly!

I will say that we have found exactly what we wanted. Had a bit of a freakout when Comcast informed us that no, we they could not bring Internet to our house, even though every single house along our street is hooked up and there's even existing cable to the pole in front. I finally quit arguing with them and tried using my phone as a hotspot. It works. I'm no longer freaking out. Much.

I won't be around much for the next couple of weeks as we move and get settled, but I'm going to have a wonderful new office, a bit smaller than the one here, but with a view of trees and blackberry vines and way too many Canadian geese who hang out in the pond out in front and poop all over the place! They're also eating the fallen apples in the orchard. We've got apples and pears and a few other fruit trees--I've seen persimmons and figs, but don't know what else we can grow there at 2700' elevation. We're going to get some snow, which will be fun.

Anyway, for those of you on Kindle who haven't read Dark Moon, it's up and only .99. Print will be out in a few days. In the meantime, I need some sleep, so hope this isn't filled with typos! And if any of you find Dark Moon for sale at the other retailers: Nook, Kobo, and iBooks, please send me the link!

All the best to all of you. And for those in the southeast where the weather has gone absolutely crazy, I do hope you're safe and made it through the storm unscathed...and dry. I heard on tonight's news about the amount of rain that's fallen and it's unbelievable!

Take care, be safe, and I hope you've got at least a bit of time to read a good book!

Kate

July 7th, 2018

7/7/2018

I don't think I've ever combined any of my newsletters before, but I don't want to miss what's been happening in my writing life over the past six weeks, because it's been crazy busy...or maybe just flat out crazy. I'm finally getting some of those reverted titles back up for sale. I've gotten a lot of books back--remember, I've been doing this for 20 years now, and many of my older books are coming back to me. That's how good contracts work--when sales slow down with the original publisher, the author can request their rights back, and then re-release them either independently or with another publisher. I've done some of my Wolf Tales books (10, 11, and 12) with Beyond the Page Publishing, a company my agent, Jessica Faust at Bookends Literary Agency, set up to help authors with reverted titles, or new work when, as is my case, the author wants to continue working on a discontinued series. That's what I've been doing with my Spirit Wild books. I recently got the rights back to both DARK WOLF and DARK MOON. DARK WOLF will be coming out next Tuesday--July 10--if everything goes according to plan.

But, I'm doing it differently, from working directly with the cover artist to doing a lot of my own formatting, assisted by a small but very good company called IndieWrites. And Sheri, the extremely smart woman I'm working with, is handling the uploading and detailed formatting, and all of those things that would make me batshit crazy. Without any doubt whatsoever...so wish me luck on this first almost entirely self-published reverted book, which I'm releasing for just .99 for the first week. After that it will go up to $3.99, so if you haven't read it, or if you know anyone who hasn't read it but has maybe read some of the series, please help me spread the word! That .99 won't last long.

But that's not the only project I've been working on. A number of years ago, when I was writing for Ellora's Cave, I did a number of sexy short stories for a couple of their Caveman anthologies. They were fun to write, but not part of any series, just stories that popped into my head and somehow worked. This one was one of my favorites, a truly feel good sexy story that still makes me smile. The cover is linked to an excerpt at Changeling Press. It's about an alien construct, essentially a robot placed on Earth to sexually service traveling space explorers. She's not supposed to have emotions, and certainly should never fall in love with a human man who's been spying on her. I mean, what sane android falls in love with a voyeur?

Obviously, Mira hasn't read the handbook.

Another book coming up, also from Changeling Press, is MORE THAN A HUNCH. This one was part of an anthology at EC and probably is the book that gave me even more notoriety than the first Wolf Tales. There's a very graphic scene that I elected to read aloud at a Romantic Times conference many years ago--sometime after 2002 when the book was written--and I chose this one assuming I'd be reading to a small group of women. Wrong. There were quite a few men in the audience, and the room was so crowded that there were people standing in the back. There were about eight of us doing readings...wish I could remember everyone who was there. Rosemary Laurey was one of the authors, but damned if I can recall others. Maybe Stephanie Burke? Treva Hart? I'll have to ask them. I'll update if I do find out.

We were all Ellora's Cave authors, I think, and everyone read pretty neat scenes, but the closer it got to me, the more I realized that, at this point and with this audience, reading a "first person point of view" oral sex scene which means I'm reading as if I'm the one going down on a guy--to a mixed audience--was probably not one of my smarter moves. The thing is, I could never do anything like that myself, but thank GAWD it's Kate Douglas who goes to these conferences, because she can be one ballsy bitch. And I/she did it. Read it with as much emotion as I could put into it, and before I was done the room was dead quiet except for the sound of men in the audience shifting in their seats.

To this day, when I'm at a conference, absolute strangers will come up to me and say they remember the time...so if any of you were there, I'd love to hear from you. And if you read More Than a Hunch when it comes out (if you haven't already) I can assure you that you'll know exactly what scene I'm talking about! The book is due to release at Changeling Press on July 20, and I think it comes out everywhere else July 27. When it's first listed at CP, it's always marked down, and then prices go up once it hits the other retailers.

There's one other book out there floating around that was in the very first Caveman Anthology, Tales from the Temple, I think. My story is called Barbarian. It's one of my darker tales, written in 2004, and really skirts the line with non-consensual BDSM, but I still like the way it works, and I'm anxious to see it come out again. It's been unavailable for a long time, as far as I know.

Almost forgot! I have rediscovered an author I haven't read for years, and I'd forgotten just how much I love Ann Christopher's writing. I'm always pushing BookBub, right? Well, Ann had a free book up, SINFUL SEDUCTION, and I remembered how much I enjoyed the few stories of hers I'd read. I read it. Couldn't put it down, and ended up buying--and reading the rest of the series.

You know how authors put those little teaser chapters at the end of an ebook? Yeah...I do it too, but after I read the entire Davies Family series, I saw a teaser for a free book in the Journeys End series, and, well. as therapy, it's amazingly effective to read a good book. And lord knows I've needed the therapy! So yes, that's another series to add to my collection.

Then, at the end of one of those books I came across an excerpt for the first book in the Warner Family series. Click on the cover--this one is free, too, as is the first in Journeys End (which I have) and I am convinced that BookBub is like crack for readers. FWIW, I see no reason to consider anIy sort of twelve step program...No, not me!

I've just ordered the final book in the Warner Family--CAMPAIGN FOR SEDUCTION, and then it's going to be time to read the Journeys End stories.

I've also got a beautiful hardcover copy of THE OTHER LADY VANISHES by Amanda Quick sitting next to my workspace, taunting me!

I love these covers, and the first book in this series set in the 1930s, THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, really stuck with me. Click on the cover to go to Jayne Ann Krentz/aka Amanda Quick's website for more about these stories.

On the home front, nothing much is happening. Husband is slowly healing from surgery on his

his left foot, but the house hasn't sold, which is really frustrating. We are so ready to get out of town and back to a rural lifestyle. It's a really cute house in a 55+ community, but the backyard is very small and that's putting people off. It works for me because I don't have a lot of time to garden, and it's filled with ferns and Japanese maples. I love the house--just wish it was in the middle of five or ten acres somewhere!

Once I get caught up on all the reverted books, I plan to get started on the next Spirit Wild story. Have a few ideas rattling around in my brain, but haven't really settled on exactly who's going to be in this next one. I want to do something with my maned wolves, and we still have to get Oliver and Asha mated, so I'm sure something will come to me when I least expect it. Next project, however, is getting DARK MOON back up for sale so I can have the entire Spirit Wild series out there for readers.

If you've been following the Affaire de Coeur cover contest, I think it's still open for voting. Please stop by the Affaire de Coeur website and vote for your favorite authors and their covers. I've got DARK CAPTIVE entered, but if that's not your favorite in the "Almost Kiss" section, please vote for the one you love. I'm just pointing you in their direction!

http://affairedecoeur.com/AlmostKiss.html
http://affairedecoeur.com/HotGuyzPatrol.html
http://affairedecoeur.com/UniquelyYours.html
http://affairedecoeur.com/GorgeousGals.html

We've had a couple of weeks of grandkids and their parents here from Hawaii, and it was wonderful to get all six of them together (three are here in town) because they really have a terrific time together. Ages run from six to sixteen, and they're definitely a lot of fun. Also a reminder that motherhood is for the young! I swear their moms go ninety miles an hour. I vaguely recall doing that when our kids were younger, though I don't think we ever had as much going on as this next generation.

And on that note, it's time to shut this sucker down and get this posted. I'm hoping to do a contest next month whether we move or not. Not sure how or what, but please don't give up on me. And thank you all for hanging in with me during this past year. I'm really hoping to get the next new book out sooner rather than later.

All the best to you. I hope you're not melting in this horrible heat we're having here in the US and Canada. Sounds like it's reaching record temps, especially in the northeast. We hit 105° last week, but it's actually been fairly pleasant the past few days. Tomorrow should be hot, though. Unfortunately!

Take care, be well, and always find time to read a good book!

Kate

May 2018 Newsletter

5/15/2018

Okay...so DARK CAPTIVE has now been out for a full day in both print and digital form, and I can relax...almost. At least I could until I heard from both my editor and my agent regarding NetGalley and reviews, and I figured relaxing wasn't going to happen.

I had no idea there were rules for this part of the biz, but I guess there are, so I have a request for any of you who are reading or planning to read DARK CAPTIVE in the next few days. If you're a reader who would normally post a review even if you don't care for the book (and please, always be honest when you post a review), if you could do it within the first couple of weeks after the book releases, that would really help.

Reviews used to be something we (authors) all looked forward to. We got depressed over the bad ones, (though if the bad reviews make good points for change, I know I take them seriously and, if possible, try to fix what that particular reviewer didn't like) and we madly celebrate the good ones. Whenever possible, where there's a short snippet that translates well for clip on the website, we get that posted asap! Now, though, with so many writers publishing and readers overwhelmed by choices, the only way to sell books is if there are enough reviews to raise the book's ranking on the various online sellers.

I haven't really paid close enough attention to this part of the business--and that's what this is: a business--and I should have been over the years. I absolutely hate asking for reviews, but I guess that's really hurting me in the long run, because people don't even know the books exist unless they follow me online via my newsletter, Facebook, or Twitter. Or, if they go to their favorite bookseller and see what books are trending.

So, that is my request for you if you commonly leave a starred ranking on Goodreads or Amazon or any of the others, that you try and get it posted by the end of May. And to those of you who are part of my street team and get your copies from NetGalley, if you have been rejected for a copy of my book, please send me an email and I will contact my editor and get you added back in. I didn't realize that if you get a free NetGalley copy and don't review or leave any feedback anywhere, your name is purged from our list at some point. And no, I don't know what point that is.

My next project will be getting Dark Wolf proofed and formatted for release, and than Dark Moon so we can get the two Kensington titles back up. That's where the Spirit Wild series began, but I now have the rights back and need to bring them out myself.

On the home front:

Still haven't sold the house, so we're sort of in a holding pattern here with the move. Of course, it didn't help that the day we put ours up for sale, when there was nothing else in town at our price range, about five other homes went on the market at the same price! Hopefully, one of these days something will happen and we can get ourselves settled far away from town.

My husband is finally recovering from his surgery, but it's been a long six months for a really active guy who's been limping around with a cane or relying on a knee scooter to cover any distance. Of course, he can still ride his bike! I think he could be at Death's Door and still ride his bike. And yes, that's a very good thing. Keeps both of us sane. Or as sane as we're able to be!

I'm still dealing with the stomach ulcer issue, but must admit I got the giggles -- and I am NOT a giggler -- when my doctor suggested cutting stress out of my life! I've already cut out alcohol and caffeine, and I'm a hardcore coffee drinker, and you all know how I love my wine! But stress? That IS my life!

He's obviously never been a mom/wife/grandmother/author/cook/nurse/ in the middle of trying to sell her house and move across the state.

On that note, I have to get the house straightened up in case we need to show it, and go back to work on Dark Wolf. I do hope you enjoy Dark Captive. I'm looking forward to the next story following the same thread where the Chanku are actively searching out Berserkers still trapped in their animal forms. There are more out there than they ever realized, all of them waiting for the moment they can taste those almost mythical grasses from the Tibetan plateau and the lower regions of the Himalayas. Taste them and discover the human side they know is hidden within.

Also, I am hoping to get back to contests as soon as we get settled. Right now ALL of my books are packed. Everything. My office is bare and so clean it makes me twitchy. I am NOT a competent housekeeper. If there's a choice between writing and cleaning, I'd rather be in my office. Now, if the choice is writing and gardening or writing and cooking, I'd have to think about it a bit longer.

Take care, be well, and stay safe. Decent weather is not really something we can count on anymore, and I don't want any of you hurt by weather systems that are definitely not welcome where you live.

All the best,
Kate

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I'm a romance author--I really love those happy endings, though I don't mind putting my characters through pure, unadulterated hell before they get there...

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 Newsletter Contest:
Contests are back! I'm not totally settled, but really miss giving things away, so ready or not, I'm going to start slow. International entries are welcome, though I will have to limit International winners to ebooks. Postage costs are just too high. Your addresses will not be shared or sold--I respect your privacy. I will only collect addresses if I am giving away print books. I won't be doing that as much because I've got very few print books left in my stash, but I do have other things!