 | 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!
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!
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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.
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!
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 |
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