I survived the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

April 30, 2014

'Nuff said! 

Z is for Zest - 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

April 30, 2014

2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 26

Z is for Zest

Welcome to the last day of 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge! It’s been great fun again this year, albeit hard work. I come to the last day of the challenge buoyed that I’ve completed it again, but also looking forward to a bit of a blogging break. 

I appreciate meeting so many new people. Each one brings something to my life even if it’s just a fleeting comment on the blog. It’s still a connection to someone else’s world and that’s the point of all. 

This year, 2014, I’ve been blogging about My Rural Life. It’s sort of like Walton’s Mountain meets the big city. It’s my life and the forces that come together to make my unique world. 

Yes, I’ve tossed in a little book promo each day because writing is a huge part of who I am. I can’t blog if I cut out part of my life.

I want to thank each and every one of you for spending this special month with me. I hope you’ve enjoyed the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge as much as I have. Thank you all so much! 

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Zest: a noun

1. lively excitement : a feeling of enjoyment and enthusiasm

2. a lively quality that increases enjoyment, excitement, or energy

3. small pieces of the skin of a lemon, orange, or lime that are used to flavor food

A new acquaintance once asked me if my zest for life was sincere. My reply was that yes, considering the alternative, it was.  A deeper friendship with this person never developed, which is a shame. When we encounter each other she always asks if I’m still “so perky.” I doubt those who’ve known me for years ever refer to me as “perky.”

But I do enjoy my rural life. The small things around me are a source of enjoyment, and often of wonder. Every year I eagerly await the first green tips of the bulbs breaking ground. It’s a ‘wow’ moment when I realize the mountain has taken on a reddish blush as the maples prepare to bring forth their leaves. I feel the energy of the changing seasons on a molecular level. It’s who I am.

My grandfather died at age 95 and he lived every day until he was 94 ½ with a zest for life. He was born on the cusp of WWI and lived through WWII and the Great Depression. He buried his wife, his parents and all his siblings. And yet, until his eyesight failed, this man lived every day and looked forward to tomorrow. This was my shining example of having a zest for life. I hope I learned well the lessons he taught.

I wish for all of you reading this that you also may have a zest for life. I wish that you experience joy, no matter how small, no matter what source, in every day of your life. My hope for you is that you can nurture that joy and grow it into a zest that adds flavor to all your days and to all your endeavors.

Thanks for sharing the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge with me.

KC Kendricks 

Y is for Yard Sale

April 29, 2014

2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 25

Y is for Yard Sale

I’ve had a great time getting this far and must confess I’m quite pleased to be on the verge of completing my fourth year of doing the challenge. This year, 2014, I’ve been blogging about My Rural Life. It’s sort of like Walton’s Mountain meets the big city. It’s my life and the forces that come together to make my unique world. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge as much as I have. And remember - tomorrow is the last day, so check back!

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Step into the Way Back Machine with me for a moment. The year is 1977. Early summer. I’m driving my 1969 Camaro through town as a girlfriend and I head for the new shopping mall. We pass a large, hand-painted sign that declares YARD SALe for the world to see. Yes, that’s a small e since they ran out of room on the piece of plyboard. My friend and I agreed someone didn’t plan their sign very well and then we pondered the meaning - what the heck is a ‘yard sale’?  Being 1977, this was something new to us.

We rounded the next bend and there it was - the yard sale. These people had tables scattered all over their front yard. Clothing hung on ropes suspended between the pillars of their front porch. Naturally, we stopped and shopped. I remember getting no less than four cassettes of popular music for a dollar but not much else. I recall this because at that time 8-tracks were the thing and finding cassettes was difficult. No Amazon in those days.

Anyway, my friend and I decided we should have our own yard sale and her yard was in town and on a busy residential corner. We invited a third pal to join us, picked a Saturday, and prayed for good weather. I raided my belongings, my mother and grandmother tossed in a few things they wanted to get rid of, and off I went.

We had a blast. I made about $70, which in 1977 dollars was almost a week’s wages. I didn’t have a lot left to take home, either. None of us did. We agreed we’d love to do it again, but we lacked enough “stuff” to make it a success.

So we pocketed our money and met up the next weekend to search for more yard sales with bargains on things we might need or want. And what did we find? Some of the very items we’d sold were priced for sale a nickel or dime higher on someone else’s tables.

We still laugh about it.  

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You didn’t really think you’d get away without a brief book promo, did you?

Y is for YOUR WHISPER IN THE DARK


Your Whisper in the Dark is now available at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and other online book sellers.

Book four of the Men of Marionville series. 

KC Kendricks
http://www.kckendricks.com
http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks
http://www.facebook.com/kckendricks

X is for Xs and Os

 April 28, 2014

2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 24

X is for XXX and OOO

Only two days to go until the closing notes sound on the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge! It’s been a lot of work but I’m very pleased to complete the challenge for a fourth time. And I will complete it. Why would I quit now?

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Ah, the letter X. It’s a challenging entry for the A to Z blogger. I fear originality may suffer when almost two thousand bloggers take on the daunting X. I’m going with Xs and Os.

If your best friend sends you a birthday card signed with “XXX” and “OOO” you probably know it means she/he is sending you “hugs” and “kisses.” My BFF uses it and it always makes me smile. We’ve pals for a long time - since we were in elementary school! When she calls me, my cell phone plays “You’re My Best Friend” by Queen. Using X and O is a common custom today, but did you know its roots are in the Middle Ages?

In those days, Christians would draw a cross on a document to show their sincerity and honesty. They would then kiss the cross to show the document carried their sworn oath. This was quite common as a lot of people didn’t know how to write their name.

Since the O goes with the X we should note the O was used by Jewish immigrants who arrived in the New Country and only spoke Yiddish. Being Jewish, the cross didn’t have the meaning to them, but the sentiment of the O being their sworn promise was the same.

So there you have it. Xs and Os as sincere and honest hugs and kisses. Remember that the next time your best friend sends you a card. It’s a sign of sincerity, faith and honesty, and yes, abiding affection. 

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You didn’t really think you’d get away without a brief book promo, did you?

Newest release - MOON DANCES, book IV in the Sundown saga. Available now at 
www.allromanceebooks.com/product-riverwalk-2004040-145.html 

KC Kendricks
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W is for What You Don't Confess

April 26, 2014

2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 23

W is for What You Don’t Confess

Welcome to the last Saturday of the 2014 A to Z BloggingChallenge. 

This is the fourth year I’ve participated in the A-Z and this year it’s been all about My Rural Life. It’s sort of like Walton’s Mountain meets the big city. It’s my life and the forces that come together to make my unique world. 

Today, since it's a busy Saturday in my world, I'm doing straightforward promotion from a "W" book. What You Don't Confess is the "anchor" book in the Men of Marionville series. It's Dylan's story and Dylan is the character who connects all the characters in the series. 

Just a heads up - the excerpt gets a bit steamy so stop reading here if you think it will upset you. 

_*_*_*_*_

The look on Cassidy’s face when I opened the door was worth the hour of dithering back and forth over what to wear. I’d insisted tonight was a casual dinner, and so finally settled on dark blue jeans, and a turquoise polo-style pullover to bring up the color in my eyes. Apparently I chose well. My suitor looked me up and down, then blinked - several times. I looked past him, gazing at the black Camaro in my driveway. “Nice car, Cass. One of my friends drives that model, too.”

“Um, yeah. The Templeton fellow. He, um, parked beside me today at the luncheon. I did a double-take when I left the restaurant.” Cass’s left eyebrow drifted up as he gave my appearance a slower perusal.

I watched his eyes move down again, then pause midway, then his gaze flicked up to mine. Amused, I wiggled my hips. “The jeans are new, Cass. Do you like them?”

Cass licked his lips, then swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he croaked two syllables. “Uh-huh.”

“Well, come on in.” I stepped back, and motioned him inside. “Would you like something cold to sip until it’s time to go?” I closed the door behind him. He reached for me.

“No. I want this.”

I went into his arms willingly, opening my lips to him and letting him coax me into a long, lingering kiss. His tongue licked into mine, enticing me to move closer until our chests and thighs pressed tightly. Back and forth we tasted and tested, moving on the field of a mock battle where we both won. Blood pooled in my groin, and my cock swelled fuller with each rapid beat of my heart. My resolve not to jump into bed with him tonight wavered.

  

_*_*_*_*_

W is for WHAT YOU DON’T CONFESS, book three of the Men of Marionville series. For a longer excerpt and buy links please visit my website at http://www.kckendrick.com/WhatYouDontConfess.html . 

What You Don't Confess is available now at 
Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and other online book sellers.

KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com

V is for Vintage

April 25, 2014

2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 22

V is for Vintage

We’ve reached the last few days of this year’s blogging challenge with only four days to go.  It’s been fun sharing little tidbits of my life and world, all part and parcel of what make me who I am even if the sum doesn’t create the whole. Thanks for visiting my corner of the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge.

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Say the word “vintage” and it will conjure a different image for the person you’re talking with, and, of course, to every individual reading this blog post. Vintage is a matter of age and perspective, not to mention geography. I love the ubiquitous quality of the word. 

For me, “vintage” brings to mind things of the early to mid 1900s and those day-to-day items I remember from my great-grandparent’s and grandparent’s homes.  Vintage can be an old black and white photo or a fringe dress from the Roaring Twenties. It can be a collectible Singer treadle sewing machine or your mother’s wedding dress from the 1950s.  Call something “vintage” and you add a layer of romance to its existence. 

Those things the individual views as vintage frequently improve with age. That’s not a bad thing at all. I think we all need fond memories, and we’re all allowed to chose those that grow more so over time.

I’ve decided vintage items have a definite place in my world. A one hundred year old table with a forty-year-old hand-crocheted doily on it has stories to tell if one just slows down to listen. The table belonged to a great-grandmother and her granddaughter made the doily. Old oak and delicate thread link me to those women.

And they somehow soften the blow of realizing the more years I live, the closer to vintage I become.

KC Kendricks

website: http://www.kckendricks.com

twitter: www.twitter.com/kckendricks

facebook: facebook.com/kckendricks

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You didn’t really think you’d get away without one more brief book promo, did you?

V is VICTORY! The Victory series, that is.  

U is for Unicorn

April 24, 2014

2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 21

U is for Unicorn

We’ve reached the last full week of this year’s blogging challenge with only five days to go! It’s been fun sharing little tidbits of my life and world. They’re all part of me but the sum doesn’t create the whole – I’m more complex than all this. 

And as I enjoy this yearly test of personal resolve, I’m at the point where I’m looking forward to Z and taking a little blogging break (that’ll never happen!).

Thanks for visiting my corner of the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge.

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It all started at a summer carnival. My mother won the very first unicorn I owned. Dad tried but…..

My parents had a lot of fun together. We - my parents, myself and an old boyfriend - went to the carnival for dinner since the church had a food booth and we wanted to support the effort. When we got to the ring toss, the old boyfriend tried to win a stuffed animal for me. He failed. So my father took up the challenge and he didn’t do so well, either. Mom and I were laughing at the men folk and so Dad bought her ten rings and challenged her to do better. She did and I got a stuffed unicorn the size of a border collie.

My unicorn collection grew from there. Not to be outdone, my father would get a unicorn every time my parents went shopping and came across one. I believe it bugged him he couldn’t win a stuffed animal for his little girl. Yes, he was a sweet man.  The last unicorns he got me before he died were a set of four small wall plaques depicting the unicorn in his glade in spring, summer, autumn and winter. They’ve hung on the wall in my bedroom since I was twenty-six and they will always hold their place of honor

Of all the gifts I’ve received in my life, those little plaques are some of the most meaningful. They weren’t expensive. They aren’t fancy or big. What they are is a gift from the heart from a father to his daughter and there’s nothing more special in the world.

  

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You didn’t really think you’d get away without one more brief book promo, did you?  

U is for…………well, you DO get to skate on the promo today because for U, I got nothing! 

KC Kendricks
website: www.kckendricks.com

T is for Tea Time - 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

April 23, 2014

2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 20

T is for Tea Time

We’ve reached the last full week of this year’s blogging challenge – and only a week to go! As much as I enjoy this yearly test of personal resolve, I’m at the point where I’m eager to get to Z and take a little blogging break (as if such a thing were possible!).

Thanks for visiting my corner of the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge.

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If there’s anything I envy about the Brits, it’s concept of afternoon tea. I love the idea of slowing down for a few minutes in the afternoon and taking a break. It would be a pure indulgence to have a place in the town where I work where I could go after work and before I go home to unwind with a friend and have a cup, or glass, of tea.

It feels a little un-American to say that. After work I should exercise. I should do volunteer work. I should have a second job. I should participate in a sport. I should write a letter to Congress and lobby for my special interest group. We Americans don’t have time to waste on something as inconsequential as TEA.

The hell I don’t.

Between my responsibilities on the job and those at home I SHOULD take a few moments to relax every day. Maybe it should involve tea and scones or maybe, in the summer, the occasional Dairy Queen Blizzard. Maybe I could even go for iced tea and an apple. It doesn’t matter what the snack is, what matters is that I take the time to relax and collect my thoughts.

Does the notion feel like a guilty indulgence? On the surface it sure does. But I think it’s a small thing that could benefit my life in big ways. So here’s to Tea Time done my way. A few minutes of relaxation and quiet that is a gift - from me to me. I feel better already.

KC Kendricks

website: www.kckendricks.com

blog: http://kckendricks.blogspot.com

http://twitter.com/kckendricks

  

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You didn’t really think you’d get away without one more brief

book promo, did you?

T is also for TAMING TRITON, the second book in the Southern Cross series. For more information please visit my website at http://www.kckendricks.com/TamingTriton.html

Taming Triton is available at Amazon at

www.amazon.com/Taming-Triton-Southern-Cross-Book-ebook/dp/B01FJ389AU?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc

S is for Seasons

April 22, 2014

2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 19

S is for Seasons

We’ve reached the last full week of this year’s blogging challenge and as much as I enjoy this yearly test of personal resolve, I’m at the point where I’m eager to get to Z and take a little blogging break. Thanks for visiting my corner of the 2014 A to Z Blogging.

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Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NRSV)

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

**

This passage from Ecclesiastes is one of the most beautiful in the Bible. In very simplistic terms it assures me that my life is unfolding as it should. But am I truly able to embrace all my seasons and walk through them with confidence?  

When I first sat down to write, I didn’t realize I was beginning a new and long-lasting season. Nor did I know there would be smaller seasons within my time to write, that there would be times the words did not come. I liken it to a winter whose beauty is better experienced from a distance. I’m now in a new spring and find I’m excited about writing again. I needed the rest of winter to prepare. That it corresponds with the meteorological season is pure coincidence.

Today’s picture is a wonderful work called Season of the Wolf by Graeme Stevenson. It’s held a place of honor on the wall in my den for well over twenty years and I never tire of looking at it. Through the layers of many seasons, the wolves do not hesitate to run forward. They don’t worry about what may happen as they leap toward spring even though the winter wolf is always with them. The winter wolf looks as eager, as intent on his journey, as the spring wolf. There is a wild and abiding joy about them.

And then there is the wise-eyed fellow in the corner. He looks at me and challenges me to cast aside doubt and live as fearlessly as they do. I look forward to that season.

KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com
http://kckendricks.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/kckendricks

Brief promo time! S is also for Seducing Light. I've always loved this cover. Learn more about the story at http://www.kckendricks.com/SeducingLight.html

Seducing Light is available at Amazon. 

R is for Rain

April 21, 2014

2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 18

R is for Rain

We’ve reached the last full week of this year’s blogging challenge and as much as I enjoy this yearly test of personal resolve, I confess I’m looking forward to Z so I can get back to work on a story I want to finish. I like blogging but that story is screaming to be completed. Thanks for visiting my corner of the 2014 A to Z Blogging  2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge.

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“Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain…pitter patter pitter patter…”

Generally speaking, I like rain. There’s something about waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain on the roof that is pleasing. It’s the sound, of course, but it’s also a primitive reaction to being warm and sheltered.

My home is quite modest, as the photo attests, and if we get heavy rains the water puddles in spots. Being on the side of very big hill, which is a small mountain, rain can be a tricky thing. There’s several hundred feet of elevation above me and it all drains my way. You wouldn’t think flooding would be a problem on the side of a mountain, would you? Surprise!  The good news is it continues to drain straight through my property and on down a few more hundred feet to the bottom of the hill and into the creeks.

I welcome the rain that nourishes the ground. I watch the deer graze in the back yard seemingly oblivious to their wet coats. They shake every now and again, but it’s the youngsters who give them away. They prance and dance in the rain, kicking up their little hooves, hopping along, looking joyous. If being wet truly bothered them, why do they look so happy?

In the spring, I’ve been known to throw on an old raincoat, grab an umbrella, and head out for a walk through the wet woods. (If the deer can take it, so can I.) The woods take on a different life in the rain. It may look gray and brown but you can almost see and smell the abundant life that surrounds you, poised for action. It’s like the trees are in communion with the earth and for those few moments as you walk by, they include you in their ancient ritual of yearly rebirth.

And just as wonderful as a walk in the rain is arriving home and warming up with a cup of coffee in the small sunroom at the far end of my house - and watching the rain.

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You didn’t really think you’d get away 

 without a brief book promo, did you?

R is also for RIVER WALK.  

For more information please visit my website at 
www.kckendricks.com/RiverWalk.html

Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/River-Walk-Sundown-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B01F7LMN8S

iTunes

itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1098576743

Barnes and Noble/Nook

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/river-walk-kc-kendricks/1113758621?ean=2940153172361

Kobo

www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/river-walk-1

KC Kendricks
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Q is for Quiet

April 19, 2014

2014 A to Z Blog Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 17

Q is for Quiet

Winter, spring and summer can have the fog. It’s lovely autumn that claims the mist.

I took this photo one misty Saturday morning in late September. I’d been outside on the patio, wrapped in a light blanket, long enough to drink a cup of coffee. It was QUIET. The birds weren’t even singing as if they, too, enjoyed the silence. No wind rustled the leaves as two deer walked silently through the backyard, wraiths in the mist.

Without a sound to disturb the perfect quiet, the sun rose over the mountain ridge and light streamed through the trees. The birds began to sing and the perfect quiet became a lovely memory to share.

 KC Kendricks

Website: http://www.kckendricks.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks

Blog: http://kckendricks.blogspot.com

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/kckendricks

Mailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/betweenthekeys

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kckendricks

P is for Peeper Frogs

April 18, 2014

2014 A to Z Blog Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 16

P is for Peeper Frogs

We’re almost through the third week of the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge. Everything is going good on my end. I’m keeping up with the schedule. By now, day sixteen, the blogs are mostly written and I’ve even prescheduled tomorrow’s  post so we can go play, weather permitting.  

So thanks for coming with me this month and joining in the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge.

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What do you hear when you step outside after dark?

In the country, the sounds change with the seasons. Summer brings the sounds of noisy insects like cicadas and katydids, and the eerie bark of foxes. Autumn is the time when the little screech owls make their presence known as their calls join the rustling leaves. Winter’s sound is that of the cold wind whipping through the trees. And spring brings the chirping song of the tiny peeper frog.

It’s amazing such a tiny creature can create such a riotous cacophony of sound. They begin to sing as soon as whatever signal brings them out of their winter hibernation. One night, if you’re lucky, you’ll hear one or two crystal voices. Pause to enjoy it because the next time you hear the peepers, the sound will fill the night with such a din that identifying an individual voice is impossible.

In all my years I’ve not seen one of the nocturnal peepers. I don’t guess I ever will since I don’t plan to go out into the woods at night to locate their colony. (I'll leave that to the folks who took the picture.) But every year I step outside and listen because when the peepers sing, I know it is truly spring.

(This year I first heard them on April 11th. Spring is here!)

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You didn’t really think you’d get away without 
a brief book promo, did you?

P is also for POSEIDON’S PLEASURE.  
For more information please visit my website at www.kckendricks.com/PoseidonsPleasure.html .

Poseidon's Pleasure is available at Amazon

www.amazon.com/Poseidons-Pleasure-Southern-Cross-Book-ebook/dp/B01FL599U0?ie=UTF8&ref_=asap_bc

KC Kendricks

Website: http://www.kckendricks.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/kckendricks

O is for the Orange Maple in Fall

April 17, 2014

2014 A to Z Blog Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 16

O is for the Orange Maple in Fall

Welcome to my corner of the A to Z Blogging Challenge. 

This year, 2014, I’ve chosen the theme, “A Rural Life.” I’m so blessed to live in rural America, close to nature. Big cities aren’t that far away by car so I’ve got the best of both worlds. Just like life, this year is turning out to be a mix-up - a wonderful combination of this and that all rolled into one that may seem chaotic on the surface but blends together to create the whole.

*_*_*_*

It’s an old adage we know well - “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Sometimes it’s true. So while it’s barely spring in my corner of the world, I’m giving you a taste of autumn as it has appeared from my front porch for each of the last thirty years.

This beautiful tree is the herald of fall in my yard. It's a little taller and broader now since this picture was taken, but its vivid fall color sets my heart alight with joy every fall.

O is for the Orange Maple that crowns the tiny rise in my front yard.

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You didn’t really think you’d get away without a brief book promo, did you?

O is also for OPEN ROADS. For more information please visit my website at

https://kckendricks.blogspot.com/p/open-roads-by-kc-kendricks.html

KC Kendricks

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N is for Nostalgia

April 16, 2014

2014 A to Z Blog Challenge

Day 15

A Rural Life

N is for Nostalgia

_*_*_*_*_ 

I remember a kinder, gentler time, and I feel very blessed to have those memories. When I was very small, the adults in my family loaded all the kids up in a car caravan and drove over four hours to Ocean City, Maryland. 

No, we didn’t stay in a motel. We pitched tents on the beach somewhere north of the boardwalk. Can you imagine doing that now? They’d probably throw you in jail, but remember, this was a different time. No one blinked an eye at our four-tent camp complete with campfire.

My first encounter with the ocean didn’t go well. My mother couldn’t convince me to get in the water. In fact, it wasn’t until my father put his camera away and carried me into the surf that I agreed with the idea of getting wet with water that “smelled funny.” After he went out far enough for the waves to splash on me, I was fine. Well, until he put me down on the beach and went into the deeper water without me. I understand I screamed about that as only a four-year old can. 

Not too many years later our family vacation car caravan headed for the mountains and Dolly Sods. Again, we simply pitched out tents and no one bothered us. A park ranger did stop and remind us to store our food where the bears couldn’t get it, but that was all. The spouse and I visited Dolly Sods a few years back and it was really cool to find the locations to match the old black and white photos. Now there are designated campsites, too.

I’m sorry my younger cousins won’t know those times. Their vacations are planned out on the Internet and motel rooms booked well in advance of travel. And they have to be. The days of pitching a tent on the beach with no rules and regulations are long gone, and while their memories will be different, I’m sure they’ll be just as meaningful to them.

But I think mine of a simpler time are just a little bit better.

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You didn’t really think you’d get away without one more brief book promo, did you?

N is also for the NETTING NEPTUNE, book one of the Southern Cross series. For more information please visit my website at http://www.kckendricks.com/NettingNeptune.html

Netting Neptune is available at Amazon and other online booksellers.
www.amazon.com/Netting-Neptune-Southern-Cross-Book-ebook/dp/B01FEST0I0

KC Kendricks

Website: http://www.kckendricks.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks

Blog: http://kckendricks.blogspot.com

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/kckendricks

Mailing list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/betweenthekeys

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kckendricks

M is for Magnolia in the A -Z Blogging Challenge

April 15, 2014

2014 A to Z Blog Challenge

Day 13

A Rural Life

M is for Magnolia

We’ve made it to week #3 and the halfway mark of the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge. This is the fourth year I’ve participated in the challenge and this year I’m focusing on A Rural Life. 

Thanks for coming along for the ride in the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge.

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The word magnolia conjures up images of the Deep South. One can easily imagine stately old homes with huge magnolias blooming at the far end of the garden. Nothing says “southern” the way magnolias do.

We had a magnolia tree in the yard where I grew up. The story goes while visiting the southern branch of the family, my grandparents stopped along a country road in Georgia and dug it up. Family in Georgia vowed and declared it wouldn’t grow in the cold winters of western Maryland, but it did. It grew to a majestic seventy feet tall. (Us kids stopping jumping over it and getting our butts smacked when it reached about two feet.)

When I built my house I tried and tried and tried to get a seed from that tree to sprout and grow. Every attempt failed. A dear friend offered to buy me a potted sapling but I explained it wouldn’t be the same.

As with all things, the magnolia died. The strange thing is my grandfather died in March and by July of that same year, without warning, the magnolia died, too. It sort of makes my wonder what magic elixir he used on it to keep it healthy.

I was looking through my photo files and stumbled across a picture of a magnolia bloom. It makes me think history should repeat itself the next time we make a trip to Georgia. I’ll toss a shovel in the trunk, just in case, and see if my stepson can find an empty country road with a very young magnolia tree.

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 You didn’t really think you’d get away without one more brief book promo, did you?

M is also for the MEN OF MARIONVILLE  series. For more information please visit my website at http://www.kckendricks.com/MarionvilleSeries.html

KC Kendricks

L is for Life! (2014 A -Z Blogging Challenge)

April 14, 2014

 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge

A Rural Life

Day 12 

L is for Life!

We’ve made it to week #3 of the 2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge and tomorrow marks the halfway point. This is the fourth year I’ve participated in the challenge and this year I’m focusing on A Rural Life. It’s my life and it’s a darn good one! . 

Will I do a little promo along the way? Sure! Writing is a big part of who I am. I can’t blog if I cut out part of my life, now can I?

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How did we get here? Did the building blocks for life come here from another world? Did we spring into being on the sixth day? Did we evolve? All of the above?

I suspect it’s all of the above. On the risk of upsetting folks on both the right and left of the political spectrum, I think a powerful hand brought all these things together to create life, using what was necessary to create order in a natural realm. It’s easy to imagine this great being looking over the recipe for life and saying, “Okay. I need some comet dust here….and now some protozoa right there….”

Life is a glorious mystery no matter what you believe as an origin story. Or even if your personal philosophy doesn’t include the myths of origin. Life is still a wondrous event to celebrate. 

Here on this wooded hillside it’s easy to see the order in life. Every spring the tips of the maple trees turn red until the entire forest appears to blush. Then the leaves sprout and a wave of green sweeps up the side of the mountain. The color darkens and holds steadfast until late September. Then in ones and twos, the leaves along the high ridges change until autumn claims the mountain in a march of red, yellow and orange soldiers leaving a trail of brown and gray behind until spring once again seizes power. It's amazing to me how nature is every-changing and yet so constant. 

I think we humans need nature's gentle anchor in our lives, ones that can let us move a bit to avoid harm but not get blown too far off course. I like to celebrate life in my stories, not politics that restrain us or doctrines that cause us distress.

We’re all here in this place and in this time - together. Let’s enjoy our lives and the lives of others. We’re all valuable and we all value our lives. If we truly love one another as we love ourselves, the world will be a finer place.

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You didn’t really think you’d get away without a
brief book promo, did you?

L is for LEATHER JACKETS, book six of the Men of Marionville series. For more information please visit my website at kckendricks.com .

LEATHER JACKETS 
Book six of the Men of Marionville series
Contemporary gay romance available now 

Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and other online book sellers. 

KC Kendricks
Website: http://www.kckendricks.com

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