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Aloha fireflies---

Wow! Does that sound great or what? We are an official community now, with a name and everything. I don't suppose anyone out there is a designer of some kind and what's to come up with a little winged logo? :)

Well, it's Labor Day weekend, and you all know what that means. The kids are headed back to school. I know my son is twenty years old, and I should be far removed from all the emotions that come along with back to school, but I have to admit that it's still the same. My husband and I just took our not-so-little-boy to the airport and said goodbye until Thanksgiving. I have to say, it was still difficult. We had such a wonderful time when he was here. And yet...now I can breathe deeply again and worry less. As the bumper stick says: I can wag more and bark less. You all know what I mean. :) As soon as I finish making sure that he actually cleaned his room...See? Some things never change.

After the airport, we went straight to REI, which is a local sports clothing and equipment store in Seattle. This is a store for real sports enthusiasts; I could tell by the three story climbing wall and the rocky path built in the center of the shoe department to "test" your hiking boots. I used it, too. Not the climbing wall; the foot path. :) I put on the boots and pretended I knew what I was looking for. Fortunately, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, who is a walking goddess, gave me some tips. Mostly it came down to buy lots of cushions.

Once I had my new boots, it was off to the clothing department. As my regular readers know, I'm planning for a trip to Africa. Now, this trip is a GIGANTIC undertaking for me. I mean, really. I haven't been a world traveler for a long time. I've wanted to, been waiting for it, but you know how it is with kids. The big trips become so difficult to pull of. But no more; now we're empty nesters, and Africa here we come. So I ran off to REI to buy...khaki colored clothing that dries fast and repels bugs. I didn't even know you could buy clothing that repels insects. Or frankly, that you would want to. Oh, and you can buy insect repellent that is supposedly "great." But don't put it on your clothing, or it will eat through the fabric. Does this seem wrong to anyone else???

And just for the record--now I know why people come home from Africa with thousands of photos of animals. It's because we all look terrible--no hair dryers, one small carry on bag, khaki nylon clothes that smell vaguely of bug spray, and oh yeah, we'll be sweating. So expect me to come home with lots of animal pictures! Assuming I can take the camera out of the bag, turn it on, get it to my eye, focus, and snap--all before the lion moves on. :) Not a chance...

All of this makes me think of the "dream trip" that all we mothers have. We nurture it for years, secretly plan for it when the kids are gone. Some of you are lucky enough to go before the nest empties out, but I know a lot of you wait...like I did. Anyway, tell me, where you all dream of going.

The upcoming trip has forced me to do what I rarely do: organize my time. Thus, here goes: I'm thinking that in September we'll do a kind of writing how-to series on the blog. I'd like to be really interactive on this, so please, tell me what it is you want to know. I'll try to address all of your questions and give you as much information as I can. So fire away! When you ask your questions, why don't you tell me about where you are in the writing journey also. that way all the fireflies will be able to chime in. I bet you'd all be surprised by how much you can help each other.

In October, I'll be gone and inaccessible (no hair dryers, so no lap tops), so our lovely Kim will be stepping in, so perhaps she'd like to talk to you all about what it's like to begin writing and how hard she worked to sell her first book. (What do you think, Kim?)

And in November...we'll be judging the essays and giving out advance copies of TRUE COLORS. Really, I can't wait for all of you to start reading. It's so different from Firefly. I think you'll love the contrast. And it's set in one of the most beautiful, most secret corners of the Pacific Northwest.

Aloha everyone---

And thanks for being fireflies....

Kristin

Here's the much anticipated wedding photo of
our blog-friend, Lisa!





You are all beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing, Lisa, and thanks for reading True Colors....

aloha,
Kristin

Labels: Reader Photos

Good morning everyone--

Today's post will be short; as you already know, I'm getting ready for my fun girls' week in San Francisco at the writer's conference there. For a slug/recluse like me, there are a LOT of preparations to make. :) Although, since I'm leaving in ten minutes, I hope I'm ready!

Anyway, I wanted to post the above photograph. This week I had the pleasure of talking to the BOOK DIVAS for their monthly book group meeting, and it was so fun. It is really great to meet readers and hear their opinions on my books. Honestly, they often know more than I do. Thanks so much to the Divas for including me in their fun night, and for enjoying Firefly Lane so much, and for sending me this fab photo. Members of the book group are: from top left: Melissa, Dee, Dori, Lori, and Dana. From bottom left: Diana, Elizabeth, and Nicole. Colleen took the picture. I hope I have the names right and everyone is identified correctly. If not, Divas, please let me know. And thanks again. You guys rock!

To everyone else, I promise to come home next week with photos from the city by the Bay.

Aloha and wish me luck--

Kristin

Labels: Book Club Groups

Aloha, friends--

Here we are in the hot, beautiful middle days of summer. Yes, the golden season has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest, and I'm enjoying every single minute of it. Earlier today, I was mapping out my "work plan" for the book I'm currently writing. (It's still top secret: I'm just starting). Anyway, I was in the lounge chair in the sun with my yellow pad and favorite pen. It was absolutely beautiful. I could see the pond in my back yard; there were deer walking through, mingling with our horses in the pasture, and starlings flying overhead. You'll notice how much I was watching the back yard and how little I was actually writing, I know, but how can it be otherwise on such a gorgeous day? In fact, if you check out my photo album on the website, you can see the exact view I was looking at.

But this week, it's not really writing that's on my mind. Next week I'll be going to a big writer's conference. It's a conference I've been attending more or less regularly for almost twenty years. Back then, I was a wide-eyed beginning writer, looking for advice and confidence. I went to every workshop possible and took hundreds of pages of notes. People like LaVyrle Spencer, Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz, Catherine Coulter, and Julie Garwood provided mentorship, advice, encouragement, and information. That's one of the most amazing things about romance writers: they are unfailingly generous with their time and knowledge. Most importantly, it was with this group of women that I learned to believe in the possibility of becoming a writer. I will always thank them for that. These days, the conference has become more social than ever for me. I spend a lot of my time meeting with old friends and making new ones.

I'm looking forward to all of that. But what's first? You guessed it: fashion. This week I'll be running around like crazy doing all of the things I should do on a regular basis anyway. Things like getting my hair cut, getting my nails done, buying sandals that are actually in style, and putting together outfits that match. Worst of all, I absolutely have to go shopping. Honestly, for a gal like me it's almost overwhelming. I can be seen in old college sweats almost every day. :) But not next week. Next week I'll be dressed to the nines and hanging out with my friends and drinking cocktails with pretty little umbrellas...Woohoo!

When I get back, I'll have lots of photos to download onto the blog (I promise, Kim; I'll really remember to bring my camera this time). But for now, I say you all join me in going "girly" this week. Grab a friend and go for manicures...or sit on your own deck and have a glass of champagne with your best friend. Or just call someone you haven't called for a long time and say hey.

Wish me luck!

Aloha, girls---

Kristin

Hello everyone--

I hope all of you are enjoying this beautiful summer. It took a long time for the sun to get to my little corner of the pacific northwest, but now that's it here, all is forgiven. I guess that attitude is pretty much required if one wants to live here. Lots of physical beauty, great outdoor activities, but you've got to be able to live without sunlight for a good patch of the year.

Once summer comes, though, it's paradise here. I've been running again--outside; not on a treadmill, staring at my laundry room wall--and it's great to get back to it. In fact, running has actually taught me something important about life, and I'd like to pass it on. If some of you have similar life lessons, please share with the group. Anyway, here it is. For all of my adult life, I have been following whatever the latest fitness craze was. I put on the leg warmers and popped in the Jane Fonda tape and did all those moves...then I did aerobics, and jazzercize, and step aerobics, kickboxing, and even tae bo. All of it was great in it's own way. It kept me moving, and as a pretty reclusive writer, it got me out the house on a daily basis. Mostly it allowed me to actually eat food. :) But none of it ever inspired me or taught me anything about myself.

Then last year, my step aerobics classes at the gym started filling up. Summer was coming and everyone started thinking about wearing shorts and t shirts again, so they signed up for classes, and suddenly, if I wanted to stake out a step, I had to be at the class a half an hour early. Now, I manage my time pretty carefully, and an hour for exercise I could manage, with another fifteen minutes of driving there and back; another thirty minutes of standing around, waiting, was too much. Even worse were the days when I'd get there and be turned away.

In desperation, I decided to try running. Well, jogging. Okay, basically it's slower than walking. :) I thought why not? all I need is new shoes. So I bought the shoes and headed out. After all, I was living in Hawaii at the time, and the road in front of my house is flat for about two miles. I thought: I'll just run to the end and back. So I put on my shoes and started out.

I got to the neighbor's house before I was breathing so hard I had to stop. I kid you not. And I thought I was in shape, at least sort of. But I kept going. That day I ran to the neighbor's house, then walked most of the rest of the way. The next day, I ran to the state park, which is about two hundred yards past the neighbors. The day after that I ran to the bend in the road.

You get the point. It took me two months to run to the end of the road and back without stopping, and when I finally made it, I pranced around with my arms in the air, hearing the Rocky theme song playing in my head. By July of that year, I ran in my first 5k race. Now, that's not far (I was beaten by a woman who was probably 70 years old--you go, girl!), but I was really scared to attempt it. I was certain I wouldn't be able to finish or they'd still be waiting for me when it got dark. I did it anyway. And yes, I was one of the last to finish. But I felt great just for trying it.

And that was the start of running teaching me things about myself: like--starting and commiting to a thing is what matters, and even more important, every day when I run, it's so dang hard in the beginning that I want to quit. My mind starts playing tricks on me, telling me I don't need to run the whole way today, or I can stop or slow down if I want. The only thing that keeps me going is the fact that I've done it before. And there's my big life lesson. We all hear about how important it is to believe in ourselves, and that's certainly true, but sometimes believing isn't enough, you have to just gut it out and keep going. Once you've done a thing once, there's no excuse for not doing it again. Experience becomes its own motivator.

Anyway, now I'll step down off my soapbox, except to say that I ran the Fourth of July 5k race this year and beat last year's time by two and half minutes. That doesn't seem like much time--I spent longer than that staring at the deli counter trying to figure out what I want for lunch--but I felt as if I'd triumphed just the same. Yes, I still came in well at the back of the pack, and this year I was beaten by a woman pushing twins in a stroller and several people running with their dogs, but still I felt great. And let's face it: anything in this life that makes us feel proud of ourselves is important.

Now, on to other things. Thanks again to all of you who entered the True Colors contest. I'm starting to hear back from the lucky winners and their comments on the novel have humbled me. I really appreciate every single reader, and I look forward to February, when you all can read it. I also just heard from my editor, who tells me that we'll have final cover art and advance reading copies at the end of the summer, so keep checking back for updates. You'll love the cover! I can't wait to show it to you all. I'm thinking of running another essay contest. The response was so great on the last one. I think it'll be about sisters this time. What do you all think of that?

Finally, I want to plug my good friends who have books out this month. Remember the photos of Jill Marie Landis, Christina Dodd, and me in Hawaii? Well, both of them have books out this month. Check them out! I read Landis' The Homecoming last year, and I have to say, I loved it's message; it's a book with tremendous heart. If I knew how to post a link, I would, but alas, I am not that smart. :) Also, Megan Chance's The Spiritualist is out in trade this month. It's a killer read.

That's all I have for now. Will keep in touch, and you do the same.

aloha,

Kristin