kate rothwell

and to celebrate, a link to one of her little movie things. and then there's Mark and the Aliens which mentions cousins and us. Click on the cover to read more. It does seem like we're supposed to give her gifts when it's her birthday instead of the other way around. Too bad.

Have I ever mentioned how lucky I am when it comes to family? I mean my immediate family of course boys, mike. They're the business---and the lights of my life. But I also mean the extended version--siblings, in-laws. It's impossible to do better than the group I lucked into. I love them, like them and even respect them. Have I mentioned this good luck for me? Now I have. Thanks, Fates. I'd say thumbs up and good job for me. And now I will go touch and knock and kick wood to stop those Fates from changing their minds. * * * TWITTER EFFEX Okay. Monday and it's SBD and I have a book coming out fairly soon, like in a couple of weeks. I'd put up a cover but there still isn't one. I'd put up an excerpt, but I'll wait on that. I think about all the things I'm supposed to do about books coming out, make as much noise as possible (hey, a Billy Mays shout out here! That's what we did yesterday instead of a moment of silence. We had moment of noisy bab...

Didn't we just do this last winter? This isn't a bad one that's stopping me from writing for long. But this time I'm writing down the recipe because you never know when you could use a good portion of useless work-stopping attitude. Mix together ONE bulky book with a tough unwieldy plot (possible substition of a thin book with no plot to speak of. Or both.) SEVERAL Characters who suddenly seem familiar because Omigod you just write the same people over and over? Omigod! Why didn't you see that? Sprinkle a full serving of ICWSWS (I can't write sentences worth shit) Mix with a healthy dose of work issues or sheer laziness .... or for more serious cases, actual illness. Add optional family factors and VOILA! A good portion of neurotowriter Mmmmm. Enjoy!

Now you know why it takes so long for her to make a rug. Every few rows she pushes everything down with a little wooden fork thing. Otherwise, it's all done by hand.

I went to Fatima's to pick up a few sox and a rug. I took along a boy's camera to use and maybe it even worked. We shall see. I really want the video of her weaving. Fatima just got back from a trip to Bosnia a couple of weeks ago. Her brother's bones were finally ID'd in a mass grave and she went over for his burial. She and her family paid for the trip. I thought it was one of those things international agencies paid for?

I've only just managed to drag myself out of Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy only to discover THERE ARE THREE MORE. Aw, man. And now I've read the first of those. Honestly, what is it with these authors that think we don't have lives? I have better things to do than get stuck reading their books. Unfortunately, I can't recall what those better things are at the moment. Work. Yes, okay, I'm on it, BD! I promise. I'm not even that fond of Fitz the main character. Okay, maybe I am.

is about Seduction Music. Kind of sad: I have hours of "music to write by" carefully compiled and labeled. (lots of varieties of music, nothing with lyrics) and not a minute of seduction music even mentally labeled. That's what I was attempting when I wrote that. Nope, not coming up with answers. I think I'll give it a miss, turn on some of my regular music and go to work.

my favorite antiromance video. Although really, enough with the gnarls barkley.

keep in mind that I have 3 teenaged boys to eat all this. 2 tablespoons dry yeast -put in about a cup of lukewarm water with 1/4 cup sugar (I use the water in which I cooked the potatoes.) once it starts to bubble (so I know my bulk yeast is still happy) I add: -2 cups warm milk with 2 small cooked potatoes added to it (thoroughly mooshed, as in I usually use that hand held beater on the milk and potatoes) and a tad of white vinegar so it's sort of like buttermilk. -if I remember, non-fat dry milk to add more protein (actually I should add that to the milk because otherwise it stays in little hard particles. I whip it in with a hand held beater. Of course with the vinegar added the milk is more likely to separate but it doesn't seem to affect the bread) - 2 eggs or sometimes 1 egg and a couple of yolks if I'm feeling decadent. -somewhere between 1/4-1/2 cup butter or oil -about 1.5 teaspoons of salt. -other things if I'm feeling in the mood. Almost always some wh...

where are the black pants? should I go to the RWA conference? What will I get out of it? Will it be worth the necessary drug fog? if I don't have a book out this whole freaking year, why should I bother with the conference? if I don't go to this middle school concert, will my child be scarred forever? Will I? Why do they schedule so many concerts anyway? Who's idea is it to have so freaking many concerts? what's wrong with simultaneous submissions and why do I feel slightly guilty now that I've pushed the submit button? I mean it's not like I didn't warn them about each other, is it? and it's not like they're going to buy the goddamn books anyway, are they? are they? Why is the dog ripping her fur off again? Isn't that new overpriced dog food enough? where the FREAK are those black pants? Why can't the kid wear khakis for the concert? and hey, oh no, where are the black socks? Who'll help me get that black sox song loop out of my head now...

.....or not. Okay so did you happen to notice how a while back I mentioned (but didn't moan, nossirree) that I didn't have a cover and had to use my own glamorized face for an RT ad? I didn't want to be a troublemaker and complain but, jeebus, I couldn't help but notice that publisher was slow coming up with a cover. I felt very professional and restrained because I didn't say a word on any of my loops or even complain to my friends. Or whine at my editor. I'd go over and check the page now and then fume a bit. Yup, the book is listed but where is the freaking cover? What is UP, people? I'd think. But not say because I've been doing this business long enough to know that whiners do not look even remotely professional. Then yesterday I get a terse, polite note from the cover coordinator basically saying, Kate, dude, wtf? Where is our cover request form? Only he was way, way more professional than that. Ah. Well. Oh. My. Um. Yes. Oh you mean tha...

1. My brother's okay. He decided to have a heart attack yesterday. Then he decided to find help before everything went south permanently. He had some serious blockage but they managed to put in all the stuff he needs to have the heart work again properly. Stents. The emails from the other siblings make it sound like he's doing well or at least not scary bad any more. I'd call too but there are too many people bugging him. Poor guy. 2. My email is showing signs of being a real PITA again. People are saying "didn't you get that email?" often enough that I know the email-eating goblins in the system are at it again. If you sent me something and I didn't answer, try again. I 'might not be ignoring you. 3. We picked a lot of strawberries, pounds and pounds and pounds. Now the kitchen smells like strawberries and the little spiders are walking around on the table. Got to love summer.

Poor kid was in a car accident and is going to take some time to recover. I think his slow recovery will be more bearable than that dreary time is for some people because he's got some good resources in his brain. Over the weekends he's stayed with us, that guy had more thoughts crowding through his head (and out his mouth) than most people manage in a lifetime. He's one of the guys I thought of when I wrote this but, still even in his late teens, he hasn't gotten entirely far away from that magic. I hope it comes to his rescue now.

some Romancelandia .... tropes? truths? rules? over at erotic romances. More snarky Kate than sultry Summer, but that's okay, I hope.

I've lost the email address of Toni, the person who wrote me a nice note about Ratcatcher and added "but look at these mistakes you made," and included an easy-to-read list of page numbers and the typos on 'em. I immediately recognized a potential sucker beta reader who's also an excellent proofer. She was someone I could really take advantage of use in my life. She said sure, she'd do it and I started sending out mss for her to read and check. Then a minor disaster struck. I lost her addie in the great Email Disaster Purge of two months ago . Did I mention how much I hate Outlook? Answer = even more than I hate Windows Vista. But no time for tangents. I have to get to work. Yo, if you read this blog, and want to read more manuscripts, please, please, please let me know, Toni!!! And yeah, I'd pay her.

First: You guys and your weather. Naturally I love those weather descriptions in comments. Sheesh. I considered going through some books and finding exquiste descriptions. But I'm lazy. Feel free to post your best weather let me know and I'll link it here. Now: Lame SBD. My family's gone on a zombie kick--actually it's been going on for more than a year. The boys' conversation tends to include mentions of eating brains. The Zombie survival guide is on my husband's list of favorite books. I have yet to read anything other than Sam' Winston's zombie books (which I loved)** The Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem! (Paperback) is on some list of books to read. I made a rule after finishing Seducing Mr. Darcy and Austenland I was by god never reading anything related to Pride and Prejudice again, except maybe, someday, P&P again. But this might be too funny to miss if I find it lying ar...