A few more of my favorite things: wildflowers, country roads, cattails, Victorian shopping, and a swamp.

Congratulations to Tory Michaels & Mary Keith!

They are the lucky winners of an autographed ARC of Enchanting the Lady. Kindly send me an email with your mailing address, ladies, so I can send your prizes. Email kathryne@kathrynekennedy.com

Thanks to all who stopped by and commented. Lovely to hear from you!

Join the fight against cancer! http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2012/ArizonaEvent2012?px=6579279&pg=personal&fr_id=1760

Copied from the Susan G. Komen Fight Against Cancer Website:

 

My daughter Jeanette Fox, fought bravely for 9 long years, never complaining and always trying to make others feel better.  When asked how are you, she would always answer "fine, I am very healthy, just a tad of Cancer". 

 

While under the care of Hospice Of the Valley, she raced to crochet baby blankets for her niece, Leah & new born nephew, Luke.  (she got them completed)  She was busy helping a Hospice worker plan her wedding and another Hospice worker with parenting skills.  The week before her death she typed transcripts for an attorney friend.  Friends said coming to see Jeanette was so uplifting, she made you happy.

Jeanette entered heaven with a broken back, broken rib, broken leg, cancerous liver...5 hip replacements....all under the title of BREAST CANCER. Among her last words to me was "Mom, I will not give up". She brightened my day with her determination and smile. So.....(sister) Connie & I will remember Jeanette as we are "TEAM NET" in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day 60 mile walk. WE WILL NOT GIVE UP.

Please support me as I take an amazing journey in the fight to end breast cancer! The Susan G. Komen 3-Day TM is a 60-mile walk over the course of three days. Net proceeds from the 3-Day are invested in breast cancer research and community programs.  My daughter, Connie & I will be TEAM NET........Our first struggle will be getting all the donation needed to participate in the 3-Day Walk.  We can do this, WE WILL NOT GIVE UP.

http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2012/ArizonaEvent2012?px=6579279&pg=personal&fr_id=1760 

FOR WRITERS: Published Novel Contest: Shooting Star Award for the Epilepsy Foundation

Have a published novel or novella in need of accolades and FREE promotion?  

Want to help a worthy organization in the process?

Enter to win the Book Boost's 

1st Annual Shooting Star Contest!

Who? (it could be YOU!)

Top three winners in EACH category will win the following prizes:

1st place:

• 1 year of Free Promotion at the Book Boost (includes 2 cover ad placements and unlimited monthly guest blog appearances a $50 value)
• A personalized Shooting Star Award Trophy 
• A $25 gift certificate to the online store of your choice
• A Shooting Star graphic for use on your website/blog
• A year's worth of "bragging rights"!

2nd place:

• 6 months of Free Promotion at the Book Boost (includes 1 cover ad placement and unlimited monthly guest blog appearances a $25 value)
• A personalized Shooting Star Award Certificate
• A $15 gift certificate to the online store of your choice
• A Shooting Star graphic for use on your website/blog

3rd place:

• 3 months of Free Promotion at the Book Boost (includes 1 cover ad placement and unlimited monthly guest blog appearances a $15 value)
• A personalized Shooting Star Award Certificate
• A $10 gift certificate to the online store of your choice
• A Shooting Star graphic for use on your website/blog

What?

Rules & Details:

Genres accepted:

• Romance (any sub-genre)
• Paranormal/Fantasy
• Young Adult/Middle Grade (any sub-genre)
• Mystery/Thriller
• Novella (any genre)

1.  A minimum of 10 entries required in each category.  If your 1st category choice is canceled due to lack of entries, your entry will be moved to your 2nd choice category.  If you don't feel that your book falls under a second category, please be advised that no refunds of contest fees will be allowed due to the charitable donation purpose of this event.
2.  No Minimum or Maximum Length is required for your entry (but if your novel is under 40,000 words, we recommend entering it into the Novella category).
3.  All fiction published books are accepted (including self-published or indie published).  We welcome all fiction.  No non-fiction at this time.
4.  You may enter as many individual books as you wish but not the same book in multiple categories. Only one entry per book.
5.  Book must have a copyright date between July 2011 and September 2012.
6.  E-books and/or print books are accepted.  To enter an e-book, simply send the entry attached in PDF format to the e-mail address as provided in the "How to Enter" section below.  To enter a print book, please mail 3 copies to the address as provided in the "How to Enter" section below.
7.  Did we forget a rule or fail to answer your question?  Just ask away in the Comments section below or e-mail us and we will respond promptly.

When?

Contest opens for entries on July 1, 2012

Contest closes for entries on October 1, 2012 (entries must be time stamped via e-mail no later than 11:59 p.m. Central time)

Winners announced by December 31, 2012

Where?

As an author, I believe the best judges of our work are "regular readers" as in the book loving folks of my community.  All judges will be local folks from The River Region where I reside.  They will consist of readers, booksellers, and librarians from the tri-county area.

Each entry will be judged by 3 unique judges on a scale from 1 to 10 using the following criteria:

• Cover/Professional Presentation
• Plot
• Character Likeability
• Originality
• Over-all Enjoyment Factor

Why?

After several disturbing medical events, in September 2011, I was officially diagnosed with epilepsy.  As an author, who creates people and worlds within my mind on a daily basis...this diagnosis has proven to be quite a challenge for me.  During the last year, I've met many others who suffer from this condition and I'm inspired to help them.  Men, women, and children of all ages cope with the challenges and many of them need help.  The folks over at The Epilepsy Foundation believe in seizing the moment and celebrating life.  I believe in the same...wish upon a shooting star and we may just find a cure!

So, for the purposes of your entry fees, they'll be donated to this wonderful organization, The Epilepsy Foundation.

All contest prizes are donated by The Book Boost Blog.

How?

Okay, already!  I'm ready to enter...how do I proceed?

Entries accepted electronically and via mail.

To ENTER:  

1.  Send the following information to us at (thebookboost@gmail.com):

• Subject Line:  Shooting Star Contest
• Your name (or pen name that you want announced when you win)
• Your e-mail address
• Your mailing address (for prize winning trophy, of course)
• Your phone number (for winning notification)
• Your payment method (PayPal or check)  If PayPal, please remit $10 per entry to thebookboost@gmail.com and be sure to reference your pen name/e-mail address in the comments section of the payment.  A Buy Now link to make a PayPal payment is located in the right hand column of The Book Boost Blog under Shooting Star Contest Payments.  If via check, please remit $10 per entry to:  The Book Boost, PO Box 680871, Prattville, AL  36068 and be sure to reference your pen name/e-mail address in the Memo section of the check.
• Your 1st choice for entry category (see the "What?" section above for choices)
• Your 2nd choice for entry category (see the "What?" section above for choices)
• The title of your entry (if entering more than one book, please send a separate e-mail for each entry with all of the above information included but you may combine payments into one single payment)
• Your entry method: PDF or Print Book (if PDF, attach a copy to your entry and if print book, send 3 copies of your book to:  The Book Boost, PO Box 680871, Prattville, AL  36068

Any questions?  Contact us at:  thebookboost@gmail.com

We thank you in advance for your help in spreading the word about our contest and for your support!

(NOTE: I COPIED THIS DIRECTLY FROM BOOK BOOST'S BLOG. YOU WILL NEED TO GO TO THEIR PAGE TO MAKE A PAYPAL PAYMENT.)

http://www.thebookboost.blogspot.com/2012/07/published-novel-contest-shooting-star.html

A Sneak Peek at the New Cover for DOUBLE ENCHANTMENT!

Sourcebooks will be re-releasing the second book in the RELICS OF MERLIN series, DOUBLE ENCHANTMENT, next year, but they have already been working on the new cover. Isn't it fabulous? There's a teeny tiny surprise on it for me and my readers! Do you see Trouble??

PAINTING PICTURES WITH WORDS

A reader once told me “You paint pictures with words.” It surprised me, for I had never thought of my writing that way before, and I had to give some thought as to how I managed to do that for her.

So I talked to several of my writer friends, asking them their process. I was amazed to find that we all did it differently (okay, keep in mind, this was years ago when I was still new to even being around other writers). One gal told me she would write during commercials of her favorite TV show. Another other said she wrote while her kids were at ballet or ball practice. Another said she’d hide in her bedroom and bar the door to write. One used a very detailed outline, knowing each step her character would take. Another said she wrote up pages of character charts, outlining the way they would speak, the decisions they would make, the choices that would propel them toward the resolution of the plot.

Knowing other methods helped me to understand my own writing process. And that I did it the hard way. Not out of choice, mind you, but just because it was the only way I could tell a story. I do start with a general outline, but the magic for me is in the process itself. In getting to know my characters through the story. In immersing myself in the world and fully visualizing being there. And so I have to have complete focus in order to write.

Many of my friends can teach other writers how to write. Me, I’m not so good at teaching. I just write. And it’s difficult for me to explain exactly how, because it’s such an organic process for me.

In THE LADY OF THE STORM, I wrote a scene involving a magical mountain, and in order to get it on paper, I had to be standing there myself, in that very moment:

   Gray clouds moved over the skies, covering the brief

morning sunshine, but even in that dimness the mountain

of crystal blazed, as if it possessed some inner light.

It sat in the middle of a field of tall grass, the enormous

base of it a cluster of square-shaped stones angling

inward toward the top into four-sided capped spires.

   “Oh, dear,” muttered Cecily.

   A river ran straight to the base of it, and they rode

parallel alongside. Belle snorted at the tall grass that

swished against her belly, the much taller Apollo

eyeing her with a merry gleam as he stepped lightly

over the growth.

   “Do you hear that?” asked Giles.

   Cecily cocked her head. The river gurgled beside

them, the grass rustled in the rising wind of the coming

storm, the leather of their saddles creaked, and from far

away, she could hear the faint sounds of the city. And

between and betwixt those soft noises shivered a song

that she couldn’t quite catch the tune of.

   “It’s the mountain,” she replied. “The crystal is

singing.”

There’s no right or wrong way to write. It’s just whatever works for you. And for me, I don’t have a prayer of getting my reader to see what I’m writing unless I actually can see it myself. And even then, there’s no guarantee that I can connect with everyone’s inner vision.

Until Next Time,

Kathryne

PS. I was just notified that THE LADY OF THE STORM took first place in The Golden Quill contest. I’m honored to be chosen among such talented writers!

FOR WRITERS: GREETINGS FROM A BOOK By Langdon Kennedy

Many of you know that my son is a writer as well, and although all of his stories amaze me, this one I thought was particularly lovely for writers, so sharing it with you today.

Greetings From A Book

By Langdon Kennedy

         Hello. My name's The Adventures of The Silver Wizard, and I am a book. And I'd like to take this time to tell you what it's like to be a book. Bear with me, it will only take a moment.

       Now I suppose I could spend my time complaining. I could talk about the irritation of being left to become dusty. Dust is like dandruff to us. Please dust us from time to time, alright? I could talk about the scars that are tears in our pages. Or the broken spines that are like broken bones. Or perhaps a bent or torn cover that's like having your face mauled. Or perhaps the feeling of isolation under furniture instead of the camaraderie of brothers on a bookshelf? Could I mention the shame of being used to stop a door? But I'm not sure if complaining would do me any good. I'm not sure if you would listen.

          No. I should explain to you the best part of being a book. I should explain to you what being read is like. It is a beautiful experience. It is how we live. A book manifests when it is read into the human mind. The soul of the book enters the soul of the human mind. We live in there. The words in us become. Every concept is born, breathes in a way, until we experience a sort of rush like adrenaline as every part of us is brought to life. When your eyes pull a word from the page into your mind you pull us away from stasis into being. Like waking from a coma into a new life. I suppose it is difficult to explain to you humans the reincarnation that is being read.

       And each time it is different, because each human interprets us differently. And each time we are read, each time the words on our pages are born into a human mind, it is different, and we live an entirely new life. Though the words on our page are the same, that soul of us is the same, we are born again differently in you. Each and every one of you are different parents to us. 

      And even when the same people read us over again we are born differently. It's a magical feeling, really.

      I'm sorry if that rant was a little long, but I took this time to talk to you today to give you a little perspective. And to make sure you're a bit more considerate when you pick up your next book. Oh, and don't skim. It hurts our feelings.

Sincerely,

The Adventures of The Silver Wizard

 

If you enjoyed Langdon's story, you can stop by and leave him a comment here: http://langdonflashfictions.blogspot.com/