kate rothwell

I'm too busy admiring the make-up jobs on The Walking Dead. Seriously, except for the make-up, the zombies are dull, dull, dull, and if I never see another spurting head wound from some human character using a pen/knife/axe/pieceofglass on a zombie character, I'll be happy. Zombies are deadly killing machines, and deadly boring. The scenes of them huddled around some dead thing gnawing on bits--I'm past that too. I watch and wonder what the zombie-actors are munching down. Jello? Rubber? As constant horrible threats, sure, sure, the WD need to be there. But as actual footage--naw. So why am I watching this if I'm not a gore-hound?  hey, good lookin' I want to see which way Daryl goes (I'm turning into a Daryl fan), to find out if Rick will kill more people, to watch Lori die because man, she's annoying. Although at least the women are less loser-iffic in the second season. I swear the writers of that show started out writing like a bunch of misogyn...

Warning, dog stupidity and grossness to follow. I woke up about 6 Christmas morning to the sound of dogs hurking. Two dogs, one after the other, hucka-hucka-hucka blarrrrrrrgh. After I cleaned up and let them back into the house, they drank and drank--way too much water, hurked again and then cheered up. Their bellies seemed too full though. I wondered if maybe there was some extra food involved. I wandered the house, trying to figure out what they'd gotten into. I gave up, sat down to drink my coffee. bad barfing dog poses next to the scene of the crime And then I noticed what they'd been up to last night. They'd unearthed last of the basil, left the dirt on the floor. Far more dramatic: the 4 year old poinsettia had gone from leafy to totally bare. Aha. Good thing it's actually not poisonous. Here's what it does do to dogs: after the hurking water-gulping period there follows the nastiest, stinkiest farts ever. Followed by horrible stinky loose feces...

ONE   I'm listening to The Cat's Table by Michael O[look up the rest of his name later, but there's a "j" and several "aa's" in there] It's a lovely book so far, even though it hasn't gripped me the way books sometimes do. That means that when I accidentally bonk the player and it skips backward, I don't fast-forward. I'll just listen to the section again. I'm not in a hurry to get to the end.  TWO   I'm starting a list of words and phrases that I would eliminate if I were given the Word Wand: Check your privilege, Mom (I'm not sure what it means but I hear it too often) Fur-baby and furever home Cis-privilege Cis-anything come to that. THREE   It hasn't been 2 weeks yet, but the whole Newtown thing is fading from the conversation. I have no idea what the solution should be -- fewer guns out in the world seems obvious, although how that happens, less obvious.  I only hope the public's will to figure out real...

The why of Pedro's question is easy to understand. Sandy Hook Elementary looks like our kids' schools. Those kids look like ours. It could be us looking like our guts had been yanked out. The why isn't enough though--the message is important. Sharing a status from  Pedro Francisco (actually I'm sharing his wife's status, but she quoted him.)  "This is an honest question. There is something I want to understand more deeply. I think the answer unlocks a key to humanity but I don't have the answer. Consider these two events: 1. Adam Lanza walks into a school in Connecticut and kills 26 innocent people, most of them children. 2. Staff Sargent Robert Bales walks into a home in Afghanistan and kills 16 innocent people, most of them children. The Connecticut killings rightly cause shock, empathy and sympathy for all of the innocent people, living and dead, who are victims of the event. Media provides 24/7 coverage of every aspect of the crime, in...

When I was a kid, a drunk taxi driver killed someone important in our family on December 17. The sudden unexpected death meant Christmas was basically over--not just that year, every year after. Every year after that, our family tended to run away during Christmas--usually we would up and travel to somewhere warm. The tree went up and we'd go through the motions, but I think that was for the little kids. The adults had lost the joy, and by gum, they need the joy and connectedness too.   Not that anyone asked, but I say when someone dies suddenly, tragically, close to a major holiday, don't even bother pretending to celebrate after that. The holiday is done, toast, finished as a time of joy at least for a few years. Run away. Pick another time, in the spring maybe, for the wholesome good family get-togethers, for rebirth celebration, and season of generosity. The kids might not like it, but they're more resilient than the grown-ups. (Although soldiering through and pret...

 anyone who worships a god who kills kids if people don't pray to him, isn't convincing me that this is a god I want in my kids' school   I said that in response to things like this I keep seeing all over the internet: I know I was being simplistic. Although it's clear that any kid reading that message would see this: god's at the door keeping us safe and if we don't pray to him he'll abandon us.  In fact, as someone pointed out, the message is that Huckabee and others are saying that by pushing God out of schools, we reduce the morality and the respect for others out of our schools including the commandments.  That's not as simplistic but it still doesn't work for me. Not at all. I just do not buy that unless you pray to God, you will not develop true morality, a conscience or any true form of humanity. I resent any implication that it is somehow it is unbelievers faults' that children die.  I resent being told that religion wi...

Okay, I got one: Adam Parascandola is a hero. I already appreciated him when I was avoiding work and found this video. but then I found this article about how he helps some of the people he raids . That takes a generous, amazing soul, to see the horrible conditions of the animals and understand the people involved require aid too. And then to be the one to administer that help? Yessiree, hero. from the article: As the director of the shelter's law enforcement efforts, Parascandola befriended a woman while investigating complaints about her petkeeping, Smith recalls. Instead of removing the animals and forgetting about her, Parascandola provided years of support. "He took her grocery shopping, and he picked her up from the hospital and visited her in the hospital until the day she died," Smith says. "He is just that kind of person."

I was going to swear off vampires and werewolves, but our local library seems to have a huge stock of them. Given a choice between Debbie Macomber and a bunch of deadly undeads....well. I suppose I could try reading Schopenhauer, but at the moment I'm trying to escape horrible edits and that means ESCAPE. Dense philosophical writing just doesn't let you float away in someone else's world. Cherie Priest's vampire took some time to get used to. She kills nearly everyone she meets who annoys her, she gets self-righteous and self-deprecating at the same time (it's an interesting skill) and her first person voice is occasionally annoying. But the secondary characters, the ex-SEAL drag queen, the annoying little kids, are what I liked. I read the first book and now I know I'm addicted. Only one book is in the library and so that means I'll be buying Priest lunch -- or if the series is long, dinner.

We had a night out and that doesn't happen very often. From the program: An astrophysicist, a comic book writer, and a kick-ass designer walk into the forum. Bits I took from it: the word "nerd" was used 9 times, mostly by the people introducing the panel. Nerds, nerd-fest. One panelist (Neil G?) said geek, but otherwise they didn't do much about that. They dragged up the usual suspects of Brilliance and Vision, Beethoven, Picasso, Einstein, Newton (kick-ass man!), Stephen Hawking, but they said new things about them so cool. Yes. All righty then! When Neri talked about her thinking, I went into WTF? Huh? mode. The words made sense. The individual sentences worked. They just didn't fit together. Axis? Whu? At the time I decided it was her, and not me. I'm still not sure. BUT! When she talked about what she did...now that was wildly interesting (so was her thinking. even if I didn't follow), and it made sense. Though really, the whole organic grow...

Hey look! All of my Loose Id historicals are only 99 cents !   Ninety-nine cents, $0.99 #LIHistoricalHysteria is the official way to tell you guys this!** THESE NOVELS ARE SO CHEAP, THERE IS NO SYMBOL ON THE KEYBOARD TO MARK HOW CHEAP THEY ARE!  Less than a tiny cup of coffee, less than a single donut (donuts around here, anyway)! Less than a dog's chewie treat! SO CHEAP .... but only until Friday, so act fast. Act now!  Full length, award-winning, fabulous novels -- each for less than a dollar! Question: What could be a better deal for that price?   Answer : nothing! Except maybe a winning lottery ticket...but that's actually a penny more and these books are a surer bet! so ... NOTHING IS BETTER! Here's a full list of the books that are cheap this week. They were in alphabetically order but, because this is my blog, I've pulled mine up to the top of the list: Powder of Love,  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Y5N8LU The Gentleman and the Rog...

I just gave away Thank You Mrs. M to a bunch of friends and acquaintances. I didn't beg for reviews, I didn't expect a thank you (they're nice, though) I just gave it away. Want one? I'll give you a copy too. Some books are like that. I like them enough that I don't mind giving them away. When I say "I like them" I'm not talking about the actual book. No, once the book is written, edited, proofed, I'm not foolish enough to reread them. Not the story.. It's the process I enjoyed, so the book itself is a favorite. At the end of the day,** the book owes me nothing, which is a lovely feeling. Why do I like Thank You Mrs M? The story came pretty easily, almost as if a plot fairy was in charge. I got to ask my professor pal Kathy to read it and she did and gave me advice and she liked it. My sister, one of my main beta readers, made great suggestions and the story improved with them. I love it when a tweak transforms something. Using the ...

First: we'll get the inevitable promo out of the way. If you're a member of the huge goodreads m/m group, you can vote on our book to be the BOM (book o' the month). Okay? Good. Thanks! Second: SBD. From twitter -- I'm reading a mystery (not really very mysterious) by Dick Lochte. Guy is an excellent writer. Elegant prose without that Look At Clever ME schtick. An update on that? I got halfway through and didn't finish the book. That's because it was a library book and they vanish from the Kindle on their due day, through the mysterious waves of technology. This time (it's happened before) I didn't have a fit and run to the library to get a hard copy of the book, and I'm not sure why. I appreciated the author's writing. I liked the main character who was flawed but interesting, my fave sort. Maybe the plot failed to grip? Maybe I have ADD this week? I can't remember why I'm not reading that book. another update: I might actually...

Lois McMaster Bujold, I love you. I miss Miles (who shows up only briefly) in the latest book. This one features Ivan Vorpatril, definitely a member of the drones club (or he was until now), but the funny wedding and the silly family with the pirate father. . . .oh, it was lovely. I want to go back and read all the books again. This one has more mentions of favorite characters than actual sightings of them, but Ivan and Tej are worth the time. I always think of old trad regency length Metzger as Heyer meets Wodehouse but I think Bujold wins that award with some clever twists and Douglas Adams thrown in. The only sad I have at the moment is that I'm done. I think Doug Hoffman's is just as fun and just as clever, but I have a feeling I'm supposed to be reading that with the eye for improvement and .... I'm not an editor.

The Psychic and the Sleuth hardcopies showed up at my door yesterday. So I'm running a contest today!** Get your copy early, a month before it appears in stores.         Goodreads Book Giveaway                                       The Psychic and the Sleuth                       by Bonnie Dee                                   Giveaway ends November 12, 2012.                               ...

Think of a scene in a book and write down the main emotion of the main character in the scene.  (Main character probably the one most affected by the action OR the main character of the book, the one with the biggest story arc. This is from a talk he gave that I heard about. I wasn't there so this is a guess.) NOW think about TWO MORE emotions s/he'd be having in that scene.  NOW write the scene with the second emotion firmly in your brain. Do this change o' pace emotion thing at least 8 times in a book.

Me: Lookit! Ha! This is my book's cover! Yay! Husband: What's a bander? Me: See that animal at the bottom? That's a bander, based on a frumious bandersnatch. Husband: Oh. I thought it might be a book about a guy who bands birds. Me: No. Husband: you know. a guy who clamps a little ring around a bird's leg? Me: Not that kind of bander. Husband: A wild bird bander who needs to be tamed and-- Me: No.

now that I have the promo out of the way ( oh, my precious, precious pull quote! ) I can get started rereading romances with storms in them. I'm going to write an article about 'em. I grabbed a stack of books off the shelf--real books and not just the ones on my kindle so now my room is a mess--and it's amazing how many books do have storms that 1. make the h/h lose their way 2. force the h/h to hole up together for a day or a season. 3. cover footprints with snow and make the h/h or villain lose the scent (usually literal scent. I seem to have accumulated a fair number of paranormals) Stuff falling out of clouds is the best deus ex machina ever because it's hardly an unbelievable chariot driving out of the sky. Weather, a writer's best plotty friend.

"Readers are sure to love this impressive latest offering from Dee and Devon." That sentence alone is worth a celebratory cup of coffee. From Romantic times: Four Stars!  THE PSYCHIC AND THE SLEUTH by Bonnie Dee, Summer Devon Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy, Psychic, Paranormal Romance Sensuality: SCORCHER RT Rating Readers are sure to love this impressive latest offering from Dee and Devon. In Victorian England, loving another man is more scandalous than being a murderer , so Robert has always kept his proclivities a deep secret. But the gently disarming Oliver is an enticement he can’t resist. A deep mystery, a family scandal and a passion that can’t be denied, painted with lyrical language, all elevate this novel a step above the usual. Inspector Robert Court was never happy with the execution of the rag-and-bones man who was charged with murdering his cousin. Something wasn’t right, but his superiors wouldn’t let him pursue it. Instead, ...

I don't believe that changing my facebook status for an hour will help solve any of the world's problems, and I know for sure that my blog won't either. But I don't discount the power of words en masse. Anyone who visits the internet knows it can be a vicious place. You're here; you know. People can be scary, especially when they're filled with that burning venom, especially when a group does a piles-on with that gleeful hatred. So maybe a group of people who've piled on for the opposite reason--to create a soothing blanket--can put out the fires, at least on occasion. Enough with the bad metaphors.   Go to Mandy's place if you want to learn more.   I'm coming back on the 19th with a couple of my bullying experiences. Heck, we've all lived through them. I expect even (or perhaps especially?) bullies have too. Defining the action can help stop the next incident. Talking about it helps to heal the past. Tell me about yours.

I found a box of books from Samhain on my front porch--it's the same book, over and over, Unnatural Calamities.  I read everything on my Kindle these days. I don't make any money from print books. Given a choice, I'd rather not have my books go into print. And yet...and yet. It's still cool to hold a real book. I'm not over my print addiction.  This one even has a nice cover. (I was mostly embarrassed when Irrational Arousal showed up on my porch). The back cover is nice too. It's red on white. Yum. I'm fond of this book--this is the story that has every romance trope I could imagine in it-- so I'll keep at least one copy for me. Linda picked one up, flipped it open and said, "hey, look a typo." It was a "joke" ha ha ha. We both agreed that we never ever look in books because we do not want to see those things. No, no. I brought it into work (Barnes and Noble--we sit in the cafe and type, so I'm not talking real work). I...

The ads on the side of my pages are getting more and more specific. I do a search on back pain (ow. yes, it's getting better, but ow.) and suddenly I see all these back stores advertised for days and days afterwards. I'm doing an experiment to see if the same thing will happen with buzz words in this blog. Dog training wine tasting pillow bedding black skirt tools, screwdriver junk removal jello desserts accidental death nylon rope Corpse removal, coffins, casket

1. yup, this is the goofy one. I had such good time writing a short contemporary for the m/m group , I wrote another novella. This one's called Game On and it's about a bright but stuffy lawyer and an adult who acts as like a teenager. * * * Grant knows his fellow lawyers think of him as a calm but distant person. At the moment he’s unusually furious: some guy has been swimming in his pool. Ned visits pools to jump-start his creativity. When one homeowner flips out, Ned's apologetic--and intrigued. When they meet again, Ned decides he has to convince Grant he’s not trying to ruin his life and career, and that the attraction of opposites can be very good...very, very good. * * * Anyway, Game On is cheap--99 cents. It's a novella, although reading it will take longer than drinking a cup of coffee so you get a far better deal than you would at Starbucks or even Dunkin Donuts. (I'm convinced that comparing coffee to books is legit. Both ...