I make art with words and paint

I will go to my first art fair this week and I'm really excited!  (Corks&Hops, Crestline.)

I hope to not just sell my books and art, but to meet fellow artists/art lovers, authors/book worms and the like. The cool thing about a global world via the internet, and a local artisan's festival, is that creators get to meet their customers which is amazing!

I will be signing my books there for purchase (first come first serve, or else you'll have to order via Amazon) and will also have paintings for sale.

Yep, I "do art", too.

Here is a preview!  (Prices t.b.a.)

Read-a-Thon

I have read 14 books so far this year, of my goal of 20...guess I'm going past my goal!

My most recent book purchase is by Isabel Allende who got me into the "literatura fantastica" genre (magical realism, I think?) which is still a favorite genre. I also enjoy family sagas so Allende's work is always a favorite.

What are you all reading?

Book Review Vikki Kestell Stealthy Steps

I must learn from Vikki Kestell. Must.

Let me back up. I downloaded a set of free Christian Fiction books called, Inspired, on my kindle and Stealthy Steps by Vikki Kestell was one of the books  included (Inspired can be found here, Stealthy steps here) .

I like sci-fi and this book is sci-fi BUT- BUT I am beyond picky about sci-fi and maybe find 1/1000 sci-fi books that pique my interest, therefore I don't "admit" I like sci-fi. I don't like fantasy, and dystopian fiction has become less The Stand and more Hunger Games which isn't my thing...sigh...I miss good dystopian lit.

Related to this, do NOT misspell Vikki Kestell's name unless you are in for a surprise. No offense to Vikki Kestrell, a near-name doppleganger, but I doubt those looking for Christian Fiction with a sci-fi twist are into lesbian goblin erotica.

Anyway, whew! Back to Vikke Kestell, K-e-s-t-e-l-l, and her amazing work!

Ok so I don't want to give away any clues, but the story line follows the main character, Gemma, as she ends up in some secret governmental-sciene type conspiracy theory with a suspenseful little bit sprinkled in.  Just my kind of story!

Gemma is an ordinary girl with a tragic past and an amazing personality - er- inner dialogue. The story is written succinctly yet with a narration/voice of Gemma's stream of consciousness, a witty, humorous, thoughtful, brave -yet- doubting character.

Really, the whole "must" thing at the beginning of my post is because of Vikki Kestell's character, Gemma. Her (Kestell's) art of characterization is ah-maz-ing. My characters seem so flat in comparison.

So the story follows the vague hint of storyline I gave and of course has other well-written characters and intrigue and page-turning awesomeness. So much so, that, I bought her second book in the series.

Let me let you in on a secret. I'm a cheapskate and very indecisive and hesitant, so I will consider purchasing a book for a long time. First I think about it for a day or two and give up. Then I look for deals and wait and wait and wait so long I forget I want the book, until I poser upon it in one of my wish lists,  in which I usually repeat the process before finally buying it.

Same thing goes for makeup, clothing, really anything  aside from food or travel, by the way.

Well, I bought the second book  in the series the very moment I finished Stealthy Steps.

Head on over and check out my links way up where I mumbled about here and here, and browse the book summary to find out far more than I ever let on to, and go buy the book!

Book Review

A book review I got. for We're Only Human ...but the reviewer doesn't have an amazon or goodreads account so here it is..


There is no coincidence...
Life is like a box of chocolates You never know what your gonna get- Forest Gump
A page turner! A Treasure of the Soul!  
~Janice Thomas

Interview: c'mon over and participate!

I am being interviewed by am Amazon group this week , May 7-12. Please virtually drop on by and feel free to join the discussions at Link to interview is here on Amazon

I'm Appearing in Public

Ok, I often appear in public, grocery shopping and the like...but I got my first "gig" I guess you could say.

I've prayed and prayed about it. As a struggling writer (c'mon book purchases and reviews, c'mon already) I want to get my word out there, literally and figuratively. Being an indie writer means you aren't media-famous like Jackie Collins or whomever. You sit and wait and that's about it.

But enough whining.

I prayed about how to "get out there" and kept drawing blanks. My community is small and the nearest independent book store is an hour away; the next closest ones are 1.5 hours without traffic-making them 3 hours away in reality. So people suggested I try art faires and the like, but even then the only one within an hour isn't too pricey to join, but you have to get a handful of permits and jump hoops and red tape and stuff. It was as if I were on a remote island, crewing out "buy my book! Come meet me!" but even the birds were on more populated islands.

Until...

I'm at the grocery store and see a pile of paper by the empty cash register near the carts. I'm never into advertisements or junk mail or anything so it is weird that I gravitate towards the papers.

They are advertising an art and wine festival in my town during summer.

oh-em-gee.

I am full of self-doubt and procrastinate a few days before...
I sign up.

I got "in"! I'm going to be a vendor!

I can network with other local artisans and the like, support my community, hang out, promote my book, chat with fellow bookworms....ippee!

Karen's Globe

My first substantial memory was of the clanking of tin and sweltering heat. I can also vividly remember spider-like green vines tickling me as I spun the globe. I was ecstatic. It was finally my turn to spin-and-choose and my heart was beating fast.

I must have subconsciously recalled seeing the globe spin before. Spinning of the globe was something we’d end up doing for many more years, chasing the globe for something I could never put my finger on. I’m not even certain where we lived before this time, other than I can surmise it was somewhere foreign, given my dad’s remark about not needing to learn a new language in Illinois. I guess I should ask, but it never occurred to me to do so. All I knew is I was born in Florida according to my birth certificate, visited Harry in the desert Southwest, and ended up in Illinois and then some.

I was barely old enough to hop the threshold from Aunty Harry’s trailer to her lopsided tin-and-plastic greenhouse, but I was adamant upon making it over by myself. I was big enough to spin the globe, so I had to be big enough to cross over. The heat and stale smell assaulted my senses as I hopped inside. My dad placed the Bible atop the torn naugahyde stool, giving me just enough height to reach the table and globe. “Go on, Karen,” coaxed my dad. I closed my eyes and said a quick prayer. I licked my lips twice for good luck and touched my hands to the bumpy-smooth surface of the globe, wiggling my elbow out and back in to whirl the globe. My finger trailed in zigzags as the revolutions slowed to a stop.

Dad peered over my shoulder. “Presto Change-oh, we’re…well, no need to learn a new language, but an adventure is an adventure right? Illinois is it, I think Illinois is right there.” He squinted at the globe and nodded. “Well, Karen, it is what it is and meant to be, God willing. We will leave tomorrow, Harry. Thanks for having us.”

Harry’s place was our family epicenter, a place we always returned to, a place as close to what someone might call “home”, a foreign concept to me at that age. Harry had married young and sudden, one of those love at first sight things. He took her for all she had and ended up in prison for fraud, a family story no one spoke of, and now Harry lived where she did, too prideful to dip into the family trust. She was a proud “desert rat aristocrat” who owned “ten acres of luxuriously dead dirt” and a little pond she siphoned illegally off the aqueduct. Dad said Harry was much more “normal” as a child, but never wanted to flaunt the family name or wealth even then. Somehow, something set her “off the deep end, forever”. Perhaps it was her dad’s death or the divorce from her prisoner husband, who knew, as it all happened before I came about. In retrospect, her batty ways were probably just a life-long rebellion against her upbringing.

I don’t know what dad did for a job, he never told us and still refuses to; I imagined as a child that he was a clandestine secret agent, but as a teen I decided he simply lived off the family trust while working such embarrassing jobs as panty liner manufacturer, or stool softener tester. Whatever it is that he did, only he knows, but either his career or trust fund and inheritance allowed him to work from anywhere, doing odd jobs not much more regal than a stool softener tester. However, I did find out what dad did when I overheard a conversation I shouldn’t have, but without and proof, I can still assuredly state I haven’t a clue what dad did aside from odd jobs. While we didn’t live a posh life, his odd jobs couldn’t possibly have supported us the way they did, and like Harry, he refused to dip into the family trust.

Why am I thinking, now, about that silly globe? Well, I too would end up following in my dad’s footsteps, circumnavigating the world in search of something, what I didn’t know, but it was something I’d found and lost before.

Book Review!

I admit it, I'm awful at book reviews so bare with me.

I don't want my blog to be only about my book so I am working to review other authors as well. I'll add more books and authors soon.

An author who is on my mind is Alana Terry (http://www.alanaterry.com), probably because I got one of her books during a free Kindle promotion and have a sample of one of her books in my queue. I'd download and read it if I could locate my Kindle!

I didn't think I liked suspense novels or Christian novels. Her book, Unplanned, sat in my Kindle queue for months, ignored. I only downloaded it because it was free -for shame, right?

I finally went to read it and wasn't too "into" it at first, likely because it was a whole new genre- make that two new genres- for me.

Oh, things changed. I could identify with the main character, Kennedy, right away. I'd never lived with missionary parents in China, but I'd worked with students from China, and attend a missionary type church. I was transported back to my own days in college, the emotions, the strange roommates, etc.

The pastor in the story reminds me of our "substitute" pastor, so I could easily fit his character into my brain if that makes sense. I like when I can put my finger on a character.

I have donated at our local pregnancy center and would volunteer if I had someone to watch my littles, and helping out a pro-life/pregnancy center, helping mothers, babies, families in need is an issue close to my heart, so again I could envision Unplanned well since it connected in a way to my own life.

I devoured Unplanned in one night and downloaded Paralyzed next and so on and so forth. Ok, I've only read four of her books thus far but I'm trying to space out my reading so I can always have a book or two or three to read of hers.

The books are quick reads and engaging, with good characters and page-turning suspense. Check them out!

Mother's Day Wish

I realized Mother's Day is upon us soon and usually my husband asks what I might like.

Readers.

I want readers, as in, people who buy and read (and hopefully love and review) my book.

Selfish and sad, I know. But hey, ask what I want and I'll say it.

See, I'm not into jewelry, makeup, clothing, wine...

I live a blessed life and have all my needs and many wants met.

I can't make world peace happen....

So...

I want readers. I don't need fame; I don't need to be the next J.K. Rowling or Stephen King, as my fame is not here on earth and anything I do is in His glory..

It's just...I want readers. I always have questions as I read a novel and I want to meet the author and just chat forever. Well now I'm an author and I'd love to reciprocate and tell you all about my novel, my characters, my motivations and influences, my innermost dreams and my walk with Christ. I want to know about you, too.

I feel like God helped me write my novel and so I know He has a purpose for it even if it isn't clear to me yet. I'd love for it to be revealed.

His words, spoken to me and through me, will soon reverberate and resonate and matter...

On a related note, within the next year I will share my testimony at church! Oh, my testimony could be its own book so I had to edit a lot out to make it a soon-to-be brief blurb at church, but I'm excited because I hope my testimony moves someone. God gives us a story  (our testimony) in order to tell it to the world, to testify to His glory and bring more into his loving arms. God saves!

And so...if any fans ever want to share their testimony, I'm all ears, and lucky for you it will be virtual as I turn into a crying mess at every testimony, but they're tears of joy.

The Craft

I love to to art and often get excited if I mix a color just right or paint the perfect wispy cloud.

Same thing for writing.

I just wrote a scene that I hadn't even planned but it just came about. It's a scene I'd love to see in person, a happy-go-lucky Praise God event and now my day is better!

As the Story Turns...

So I have to be vague as to not give away spoilers...

But my second novel is ever-changing!

I began it with the idea that character A and B meet. The story follows the lives of A and B. Simple, right?

But then in introducing character B, I end up introducing character C who was to be a character who was casually mentioned in a paragraph and...now character C's story is taking off.

And sure, character A and B are the main characters but character A is being left in the shadows by the story of character B.

I'd love to write an outline and stick to it, but I've never been able to work with an outline. I let the story progress as it goes. Might this be the wrong way to write? I'm sure it is, but I also think if you write and pray about it and write and pray some more, things can change - and for a reason. Now if only I could discern the reason!