Shiny Things week of February 8th

So what’s distracting me this week?

1. Conference! On Tuesday, I preserved through Romance Writers of America’s perpetually overwhelmed servers to register for the National Conference which is in NYC this year!

2. Even though it’s like my twentieth year of going to the conference, I always meet new people, and learn something new (or something I knew, but forgot.) This year, I may not be flying to conference though because we may be moving.😳

Moving should be easy at my age, but with life up in the air, I’m pretty overhwelmed.

3. Still, after a few days of panicking, I got back to work and am currently am on Chapter Twenty-Five of revsions to Her Sexy Beast (The Chimera Chronicles 6) I can’t believe I’m finishing up the sixth book in the series! I only have one more brother to go.

Here’s a snippet from today. Remember it’s a work in progress and will be edited.

<<

He glanced at Thalia. The look in her eyes told him she could also hear the intruders. Neither one of them flinched when the heavy knock came, but Thalia’s eyes flared red, revealing her tension and he felt his dragon surge again. Clearly, it gained power from his emotions. He breathed deeply, trying to stay calm.

Thalia sighed. “I’m going to drop the barriers and open the door. Can you stay human?”

He nodded, hoping it wasn’t a lie. >>

Coming May 2019 from Soul Mate Publishing!

4. Meanwhile, I looked around at everybody’s shiny, pretty FB covers and logos and decided to get to work on some of my own. Below, is my new banner. Unfortunately, when I downloaded it to my FB page it looks all dark and murky. Nothing like technology to make you feel like an idiot.

5. Puppies! It’s Basenji puppy season. That means a trip to my breeder’s house to play with the babies. Puppy breath! Little pink feet! Ears that can’t decide whether to stand up straight or flop over. Snuggles and licks and nips and hair pulling. Basenji puppies are too cute!

What shiny things are distracting you this week?

Fear and NaNoWriMo

Since it’s NaNoWriMo, I’m going to share a writing struggle.

Every one of the Chimera Chronicles was inspired by something.
1. In Like a Lion has heavy the Pretender overtones.

2. Entity Mine was inspired by an episode of Discovery channel’s old A Haunting.

3. The Lion’s Share is inspired by an episode of Supernatural called Nightshifter.

 

4. Lion’s Prey in inspired by a Supernatural episode called Jus en Bello.

5. The Dragon’s Flame is a treasure hunt book.

I’m working on book 6 now, draft title Her Sexy Beast, and as you might guess, it’s centered on a Beauty Beast theme.

Oddly, I actually find it harder to write the parts that most closely mirror the original story. This morning I separated Sofia from Roan as called for in the plot of BATB, now I have to maneuver through the rest within the confines of the Chimera Chronicles mythology. I’m procrastinating. “I have to write a FB post!” Better check in on Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter, post to my blog, etc. It’s important to me that I do this well, and I fear my best will not be good enough.

It’s not the first time I’ve mentioned my persistent self-doubt, but I think it’s important to recognize that these issues don’t just turn to ash like traditional vampires in sunlight after being faced. It can help to acknowledge the problem, but it doesn’t cure it.

Fear is often a motivator (though, I believe most steps taken as a result of fear are usually in the wrong direction). But for me it’s always been more of a roadblock.

Are you working on NaNoWriMo? Or just waiting eagerly for the fruit of us madly typing writers?

Is fear holding you back from something?

I’d love to hear! (Selfishly, it make me feel less alone)😊

Karin

Denver!

 

If you’re in Denver this weekend, stop by The RWA Literacy Autographing and say helllo to me (and hundreds of other authors)!

 

https://www.rwa.org/Literacy.org 

 

RWA National Conference requires the proper armor, pedicure, new shoes and dress.

 

Meanwhile at home…ugh, dusty…

Shiny Things 6/14/2018

Summer! The kids are off all-day school, though one is retaking a course in summer school. 🙄

Ranger is doing very well! We thought we might lose him in December, but adding enzymes to his food has restored his weight and I hope he’ll soon be totally off prednisone.

We took a family trip for our twentieth wedding anniversary and cruised to Alaska in the week before summer school started.

it was amazing! I gained ten pounds I didn’t need. We saw whales and glaciers and ate fresh caught crab. 

The first pic is Crab.

Second is Juneau from the top of the tram way.

Then we have some pix from the narrow gauge railroad in Skagway. It travels up through Canada (no customs so you can’t get off) then goes back. They have bathrooms in each car and it was fun and comfortable. My phone camera doesn’t do it justice. It is straight up mountain porn. 😜

After that are are pix from the ship of the glaciers. You can see how much they have shrunk.

I enjoyed  every moment! Fresh, hot pizza made in front of your face. Afternoon tea. Fine dining, talented entertainers. The jet-lag when we came back was hard (at one point it’s four hours ahead). It was cold (surprise! 🤓) and the wrong time of year for the Northern lights, but so gorgeous.

I’ve also been busy finishing up the work of my male/Male romance author alter ego Gage Lively. 

If you’re wondering who Kosei Press is, it’s me. This is my Indie project. Not many people read across genres, but this will be out in a few weeks (it’s at the formatters), so if you enjoy M/M romance please keep a look out!

Any M/M romance readers or Yaoi Manga lovers out there?

As for Chimera Book 6 draft title Her Sexy Beast (yes, it’s a loose take-off on Beauty and the Beast) I’m several thousand words in and climbing.

It seems increadible that I’m in the penultimate book of the series.

I wish I were a faster writer! I’m eager for the whole series to be out in the world. I may cry though, when I finish (full disclosure, I cried in the theater after the last installment of Harry Potter.)

(I’m not crying—you’re crying!) LOL Anybody else shed tears at the end of their favorite movie or book series?

Hope you’re having a stellar week!

 

Karin

 

Shiny Things April 8th – 14th

Shiny Things April 8th – 14th

The things, good and bad, distracting me this week are:

Shiny Things 3/18/18-3/25/18

What’s distracting me this week?

The olympics were fun and in about a week and a half, it’s time for the World Figureskating championships! I hope I’ll be able to catch some of it, despite the Easter festivities. If you’re a fan, too, here’s the broadcast schedule link World championships

I hope Nathan Chen has a strong performance!

On a more personal note, my poor baby basenji (ok, he’s five) has an autoimmune disease and has been sick, but after much tinkering with his meds and food, he’s now gained back three pounds!

Here’s Ranger on the bottom with my vizsla, Lali. Unfortunately, you can also see the seal on my double pane windows are shot, but oh, well.😜

In other news, I dyed my whole bathroom blue. Actually, I dyed my hair blue, but apparently I can’t be trusted with hair dye.

Not the greatest picture of me, but you can sort of see the blue (and not just where I stained my hairline).

Ok, — writing. I’ve been writing a ton since the new year. I semi-finished a m/m novella (I need beta readers!) You may wonder why all of a sudden I’ve diverged from heterosexual PNR. (Or maybe you didn’t, but I’ll tell you anyway) I got big into Yaoi manga like this 

And The Dragon’s Flame (now out in paperback!) trickled out of my brain at a glacial pace, so I wanted to just write for fun to get back to my old pace.

I’m planning on self-publishing the m/m and I need beta readers, so drop me an email if you’re interested. (Karin@shahs.com)

blurb: College Freshman Seiichi Seigo is at the end of his rope. Suddenly orphaned, he’s grieving and one paycheck away from homelessness. When his best friend sprains his ankle, he begs Seiichi to take over as a personal assistant for his older brother, 26 year-old prodigy director Kei Karasawa. Things seem to be looking up. Seiichi has room and board and an interesting job that allows him to stay in school. There’s only one problem. The sexy, magnetic Kei, who seems to hate him, arouses feelings Seiichi never felt for his high school girlfriends or for anyone for that matter.
Can he stop himself from falling for his new boss?

As for The Chimera Chronicles book 6, I solemnly swear I am up to no…I mean, I’ve got a little written and I will turn all my attention back to it once I get my short projects completed. Look for a sort of Beauty and the Beast theme. (But with secret underground fight rings and circuses)

How’s your week shaping up? Gonna dye your hair a weird color? How are your animals? Planning to watch the world championships? Easter preparations? I’d love to hear!

All the best!

Karin

 

Shiny Things week of 12/10 — 12/16/2017

Shiny Things week of Dec 10-16, 2017

 

I haven’t been regular on my blog for quite a while, so I’m hoping to change that.

What’s distracting me this week.

Netflix: I’ve been getting notifications about all the cool and awesome shows coming this month and I haven’t even watched the second season of Stranger Things or The Punisher yet!
On my radar Trollhunters (Yes, it’s a cartoon, but I watch Anime and Disney movies, so it’s right up my alley), Ash v. Evil Dead, and the Magician season 2 just to name a few.

Ice Skating: I’m a cord cutter, but with the Winter Olympics coming up, I’ve got my antenna all set up so I can watch NBC. I was disappointed with the short coverage of the Grande Prix Final, but happy to see it at all. I’m excited to watch the National Championships in January!

 

My dogs: Lali the vizsla is always distracting as she is a Velcro dog and has a very loud bark, but she’s soft and sweet and huggable. I’m worried about Ranger the basenji tho’. He seems to be losing weight, despite acting normal in every way, so I have a vet visit schedule for Tuesday.

 

Christmas: My daughter is sure there’s a competition going on in the neighborhood for most decorations (one we are losing) She lead the charge to add more lights and another couple projectors and claims we might have made third place. (There are 17 houses in our neighborhood) Personally, I think we’re maybe 5th, but I won’t burst, her bubble.
She also has a concert Wednesday night which her school is charging admission for. This is supposed to be in lieu of a fundraiser and since “fundraiser” is the “f” word to me, I guess I’m okay with it.😀

Find the “unseasonal” item

My release: December 13 marks my seventh release for Soul Mate!
The Dragon’s Flame is Book 5 in the ch8era Chronicles series.
Each book stands alone (although reading in order enhances the experience) and I hope this latest in the series will please my readers!

 

read blurb here   

Hope you have a very shiny week!

Karin