Hi, all,

Sorry I haven’t been here for a while. Life has thrown me several curve balls of late. One of them was having my car broken into and my laptop stolen from a shopping center. I’d like to say I had everything on it backed-up and up-to-date but… That wasn’t true. So, because of my rush to meet a deadline, go on a trip, come home and hit the ground running… I’m now trying to make up work I lost. I’m torn between anger at the person responsible for stealing MY hard-earned belongings and that of my daughter’s, and anger with myself for not having my files current. When I titled this Live & Learn, I meant it. As the cop told me:

1) Never leave anything of value in your car (where you’re supposed to leave it when you’re traveling and shopping, I have no idea.

2) It’s that time of year in a bad economy.

And my own bit of advice: BACK UP THOSE FILES!

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and if I don’t make it back here before Christmas, I wish you and your family a happy, joyous, wonderful Christmas.

And if you’re reading this and YOU are the person who stole my laptop, please, do the right thing and at least return the files, no questions asked. I have bills and mortgages and kids to support, too.

Kay

Someone sent an email regarding SECRETS OF A SUMMER NIGHT not being FREE on Amazon as I’d said. SOASN is now up in electronic form and it IS FREE on Smashwords in mobi (Amazon) format. Amazon has a process and things can’t be listed as ‘free’ but they price match so– give it a few days and they will price match the free version. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Also, check out the new contest!

Kay

I returned home from a fabulous conference late last night (ie-this morning). It was my first time attending the Ninc (Novelists, Inc) Conference and I’ll admit what drew me the most was its setting–St. Petersburg Beach, FL. I had never been to that part of Florida before and considering our temps here had dropped considerably in the last few weeks, it was Florida–in October. Isn’t that reason enough to go?

That’s what I thought. So I packed way too many clothes and off I went. I roomed with the fabulous Jeannie Watt, but Super pal Amy Knupp was always close by. There were lots of great authors there, some I’d never heard of before and some I plan to buy now that I’ve met them. The writerly support and friendship was great, and I was able to touch base with friends I usually only see once a year. And the workshops? Oh, my! It was a non-stop line-up of great speakers and presenters. I learned so much about the industry and left the hotel exhausted but recharged and ready to tackle writing all over again. Sometimes you just need to refill the well, and that time on the beach? Those walks where I had sand between my toes and the crash of the waves in my ears? Those went a long, long way in doing just that.

As to sticking to WW, that didn’t happen. I kinda knew it wouldn’t but yeah–it’s a new week. Right? LOL Conference ‘rules’ state that anything ingested at conference is calorie-free. If only that were true!

How was your weekend? Anything exciting happen? And I also wanted to ask, have you read any great books lately??? If so, please recommend!

Kay

Brrrrrrr…. It’s COLD outside. But I won’t complain much because it’s supposed to warm up drastically this weekend. Still, not being a winter person I’m dreaming of a warm, sunny beach. The salty breeze in my hair, suntan lotion on my skin. Sadly that isn’t going to happen but I can dream, right?

What do you dream of when it’s so cold and snowy outside? If you could go anywhere, where would you go? What would you do?

REMINDER: 3 days left in my Surprise Pack Giveaway! Be sure to go to my Contest Page at www.kaystockham.com to enter.

Kay

Just a note to say I’m one of the authors signing at BOOKS BY THE BANKS in Cincinnati at the Duke Energy Center. The signing is Saturday, October 2 from 10AM to 4PM. For more info, please go HERE. I really hope if you’re anywhere near the area you’ll make plans to stop by.

As of 10 PM last night I finished my WIP (work-in-progress). As every writer knows, the first draft is usually just that-the first get-it-down-and-fix-it-later draft. Today I went for a drive with my husband and had Chinese to celebrate.

Which brings me to my blog question::What do you do to celebrate a special occasion?

Kay