I'm guest blogging at Vicki Batman's blog today, answering questions about my writing journey and about Desperate Choices.
One visitor to the site who leaves a comment will receive a copy of Desperate Choices.
This is my first guest blog, so please drop by and leave a comment.
www.vickibatman.blogspot.com
Till next time,
Kathy
Friday, August 27, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Before and After
This will be a quick blog to answer a question. Yes, I'm still losing weight. To the left is a current photo taken about 8 weeks ago. To the right is a photo from about 3 years ago. See any difference?
To date I've lost about 135 lbs. No, I didn't have any surgery, no quick fixes. It's taken me 2 years to get to this point. Of course, I still have more to lose; hopefully, I can get back and stay on track. My goal right now is to lose another 30 lbs before the end of the year. Keep your fingers (and toes) crossed that I can do it. In total, I'd like to lose another 65 lbs or so, which would be a total weight loss of 200 lbs.
Truthfully, it's hard to believe I ever let myself get that big, and God Willing, I'll never be that big again. But its a daily choice, deciding what to eat and what to stay away from. Old habits, even after 2 years, are hard to fight.
On the writing front, I'm still plugging away at my suspense novella which I hope to have finished by the end of this month. So, I'll close out the blog, so I can get back to writing.
Till next time,
Kathy
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
An Excerpt from Desperate Choices
This will be a quick blog post tonight. So many things are happening in e-publishing right now, it's enough to make your head spin. I'm sure in the long run, this will ultimately be a good thing for both publishing houses and authors. Its just this transition time that can be ultra-scary.
So, here's a short excerpt from Desperate Choices, which releases on September 27, 2010. I hope you like it.
Even though it was late afternoon, in her mind’s eye it was twilight. The dusky time between day and night where everything fades to shades of gray, black and white. She extended her extrasensory flow, hearing nothing except the normal sounds of nature. Crickets chirped, mosquitoes buzzed, an occasional bird lifted in flight. The normal sounds of a Louisiana evening.
Things began coalescing into definition. She stood alongside a motorbike. The motor wasn’t running.
She let her psychic senses run free. In the distance, she heard an engine. Its growl grew louder as it approached. A vehicle pulled to the side of the road a short distance ahead of where she stood beside the bike.
“Theresa,” Max interrupted. Never opening her eyes, she raised her finger to her mouth, motioning for quiet.
She concentrated on the vehicle, but as hard as she tried, it wouldn’t come into a clear image. She could only determine it was a light color and large. Focus, she whispered in her mind. Go deeper. Bring it into focus.
A sudden jolt broke her concentration. Her neck snapped back, jarring her from the vision and back into reality. Theresa stared up at Max’s face inches from hers, so close she could feel the warmth of his breath. His grasp on her shoulders felt firm yet insistent.
“Theresa.” A hint of anxiety filled Max’s normally placid voice. “Theresa. Snap out of it.”
“What’s wrong, Max?”
“What’s wrong? You were standing there, barely breathing, shaking like a leaf, and you ask me ‘What’s wrong?’” Max’s hold on her eased and she watched him run a hand across his eyes. “What the hell just happened?”
The vision vanished, faded away like mist evaporating. Nothing left but the daylight surrounding her and Max. She handed him the phone and managed to stagger a couple of steps, resting her hip against the hood of the car.
Her body trembled, exhaustion enveloping her like a heavy cloak. This was one of the reasons she hated this kind of reading. It wiped her out, leaving her emotionally and physically drained.
“There’s not a lot I can tell you, Max. I saw the bike at the side of the road. Right there.” She pointed. “It wasn’t running. I couldn’t tell why not. I didn’t get the impression there was anything mechanically wrong, but…”
She took a few steps away from the car and glanced toward the woods. They were dense, thick and mysterious, yet no sense of danger emanated from them. Sunlight poured through the few leaves, wiping away all trace of the twilight hues from her vision.
“Another vehicle pulled over there.” She gestured toward the road again, indicating an area about twenty feet beyond where his car was parked. “It was large, light in color. Maybe white or a light yellow or tan, I couldn’t tell. It stopped. I sensed a brief moment of fear, but just as quickly it was gone. Tommy felt relief. He didn’t seem afraid. He seemed thankful, maybe even happy.”
Theresa looked up into Max’s eyes for the first time since the vision ended and met his gray-eyed gaze.
“Max, whoever took Tommy wasn’t a stranger. It was somebody he knew.”
Copyright 2010 Kathy Ivan
Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A.
Till next time,
Kathy
So, here's a short excerpt from Desperate Choices, which releases on September 27, 2010. I hope you like it.
Even though it was late afternoon, in her mind’s eye it was twilight. The dusky time between day and night where everything fades to shades of gray, black and white. She extended her extrasensory flow, hearing nothing except the normal sounds of nature. Crickets chirped, mosquitoes buzzed, an occasional bird lifted in flight. The normal sounds of a Louisiana evening.
Things began coalescing into definition. She stood alongside a motorbike. The motor wasn’t running.
She let her psychic senses run free. In the distance, she heard an engine. Its growl grew louder as it approached. A vehicle pulled to the side of the road a short distance ahead of where she stood beside the bike.
“Theresa,” Max interrupted. Never opening her eyes, she raised her finger to her mouth, motioning for quiet.
She concentrated on the vehicle, but as hard as she tried, it wouldn’t come into a clear image. She could only determine it was a light color and large. Focus, she whispered in her mind. Go deeper. Bring it into focus.
A sudden jolt broke her concentration. Her neck snapped back, jarring her from the vision and back into reality. Theresa stared up at Max’s face inches from hers, so close she could feel the warmth of his breath. His grasp on her shoulders felt firm yet insistent.
“Theresa.” A hint of anxiety filled Max’s normally placid voice. “Theresa. Snap out of it.”
“What’s wrong, Max?”
“What’s wrong? You were standing there, barely breathing, shaking like a leaf, and you ask me ‘What’s wrong?’” Max’s hold on her eased and she watched him run a hand across his eyes. “What the hell just happened?”
The vision vanished, faded away like mist evaporating. Nothing left but the daylight surrounding her and Max. She handed him the phone and managed to stagger a couple of steps, resting her hip against the hood of the car.
Her body trembled, exhaustion enveloping her like a heavy cloak. This was one of the reasons she hated this kind of reading. It wiped her out, leaving her emotionally and physically drained.
“There’s not a lot I can tell you, Max. I saw the bike at the side of the road. Right there.” She pointed. “It wasn’t running. I couldn’t tell why not. I didn’t get the impression there was anything mechanically wrong, but…”
She took a few steps away from the car and glanced toward the woods. They were dense, thick and mysterious, yet no sense of danger emanated from them. Sunlight poured through the few leaves, wiping away all trace of the twilight hues from her vision.
“Another vehicle pulled over there.” She gestured toward the road again, indicating an area about twenty feet beyond where his car was parked. “It was large, light in color. Maybe white or a light yellow or tan, I couldn’t tell. It stopped. I sensed a brief moment of fear, but just as quickly it was gone. Tommy felt relief. He didn’t seem afraid. He seemed thankful, maybe even happy.”
Theresa looked up into Max’s eyes for the first time since the vision ended and met his gray-eyed gaze.
“Max, whoever took Tommy wasn’t a stranger. It was somebody he knew.”
Copyright 2010 Kathy Ivan
Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A.
Till next time,
Kathy
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Facebook and quick updates
Well, I've finally joined the social networking age with a bang. First I've started blogging, gotten a web site and now I've started a facebook page (Kathy Ivan). So hopefully I'll start getting friends and being friended. Is friended a word, anyway? Plus I tweet (meaning I'm on twitter.)
I'm working on my current work in progress, did several more pages today. This will probably be a shorter, possibly novella length story. At least that's the plan. Let's see if I can keep it to that length. It may end up longer. Every time I say it's going to be a shorter story, then, bam, here come the words and pretty soon it's way past novella length.
Thanks for all the people who commented on the cover for Desperate Choices here on the blog or via e-mail. I truly appreciate your kind words, even though I didn't do the art work! Believe me, there's not an artistic bone in my body. My creative outlet is with words.
I'm trying very hard to banish the procrastination gene that seems to run rampant in my. Progressing a little bit every day, because time management is not my friend. I can become obsessed in doing one thing to the exclusion of everything else. But, I'm trying.
Okay, will try to post more soon.
Till next time,
Kathy
I'm working on my current work in progress, did several more pages today. This will probably be a shorter, possibly novella length story. At least that's the plan. Let's see if I can keep it to that length. It may end up longer. Every time I say it's going to be a shorter story, then, bam, here come the words and pretty soon it's way past novella length.
Thanks for all the people who commented on the cover for Desperate Choices here on the blog or via e-mail. I truly appreciate your kind words, even though I didn't do the art work! Believe me, there's not an artistic bone in my body. My creative outlet is with words.
I'm trying very hard to banish the procrastination gene that seems to run rampant in my. Progressing a little bit every day, because time management is not my friend. I can become obsessed in doing one thing to the exclusion of everything else. But, I'm trying.
Okay, will try to post more soon.
Till next time,
Kathy
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Uncooperative characters and new cover art
Time sure has been flying by recently. The writing is going slow right now. My hero in the current WIP is so not wanting to cooperate with me. He beat me over the head, wanting his story told, and now he's pretty much shut up and is digging in his heels. Apparently he doesn't like the storyline that I thought would work for him. Okay, I'm listening. Tell me another story.
Oh, I also got the final version of my cover for Desperate Choices today. It is absolutely gorgeous. I've sent the .jpg to my web mistress to be added to my site (www.kathyivan.com), and as soon as it's up, I'll post here so you can see it along with the back cover copy.
I've also attached it at the beginning of this blog. Carina's art department did an outstanding job; the mood and the tone are spot on and I'm very, very happy with the end result.
This has to be a quick drive-by blog tonight, as I want to get a few minutes of writing in. Tonight was an exercise/gym night so getting a later start than I wanted but still some writing is better than a blank pain.
Till next time,
Kathy
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