It's been an interesting week

January 30, 2016

First off, we've already chopped through a month in 2016. I don't feel like I accomplished much.

It fucking snowed. Thirty inches at my place. The problem with a snow day is you have to shovel snow instead of write prose. I'm soooo glad we invested in the John Deere. I'm also grateful the old Chevy Silverado is a beast in the snow. They don't make 'em like that anymore which is why we still have it. 

We had to call the paramedics to get my mother. THEY had to use the snowblower themselves to get her out her driveway to the ambulance. They were not pleased. I'm not pleased either because everyone I called to clear her driveway refused the job. I'm putting that word out on them. They all have facebook pages.  

Now I get to "hound" my mother every day to take her medications. Let the games begin. 

Next time they predict a big snow, she's coming here with me whether she likes it or not. And believe me it will be "not." Too bad.


When Amber Quill announced its closing, I subbed one of my favorite stories to Loose Id and they've accepted it. This is a good thing. I may even grind out a sequel for them. 

With Amber Quill closing, a lot of books are at a deep discount.  

Donut House Nutty Caramel coffee (K-cup) is really good! I need another box.

Yep. It's been an interesting week. With any luck, Next week will be smooth sailing. I think I've earned it. Now back to the work-in-progress! 

KC Kendricks
My home on the web- Between the Keys: http://kckendricks.blogspot.com
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My country life at Holly Tree Manor

Fly By Night by KC Kendricks (MSS 125)

January 23, 2016

**Updated 4/2/21 - the My Sexy Saturday blog hop has closed.**

Happy snowy Saturday! If you live on the east coast, from the Carolinas to Boston, I feel your pain! But we can still celebrate the snow with My Sexy Saturday. This week, I'm doing something I rarely do by posting seven sexy paragraphs from an upcoming release, Fly By Night.

Fly By Night is the fifth book in the Sundown saga, Sundown being my sexy smart, albeit bratty, shapeshifter. In this excerpt, Fallon is teasing Sundown with a new word. Sundown then applies it to Fallon's office assistant.

Enjoy!

_*_*_*_*_

“I don’t want that to happen, either. I rather like having you all to myself. It makes me feel a little hinky when I think of another Chal's essence being inside your head when we made love.” I opened the passenger door for him as he glared at me.

“Hinky. Hinky. Why do you do this to me? Tell me what is this hinky? Tell me now!”

I slid behind the steering wheel and stuck the key in the ignition switch. “It means something is not quite right, bordering on the unreliable. Or maybe a person is acting a little suspicious. Cops use the word instead of saying we’ve got a sixth sense about something. We say it’s got a hinky feel. Do you understand?”

I started the car and put it in gear as he mulled it over. He didn’t speak until we reached the precinct house.

“Yes. Mon-tee. I have a hinky feeling about Mon-tee.”

“I’ve got that same feeling about shapeshifters, babe.” I grinned at him. “I’ve never encountered anything hinkier.”

He flung his hands up. “Oh, we are finished with this word, Fallon Roxbury. I don’t believe it is a real word and I will confirm this suspicion with Sergeant Mack. He will not misinform me if I have an honest question. Why are you laughing?” 

_*_*_*_*_

More about FLY BY NIGHT:

Lieutenant Fallon Roxbury has a few secrets. His lover Sundown is a shapeshifter, and his entire Clan is under Fallon’s protection. He can usually handle the job but the universe has conspired to align a few unusual events. A body was found at the old rail yard where the shapeshifters once had a village, the clan’s nestlings are about to mature, and his lover and his police partner are suddenly behaving like best friends.

When the clan elders confirm the identity of the murderer, Fallon has more trouble. The suspect is one of the city commissioners and the evidence points to him killing more than once. It’s up to Fallon to find legally admissible evidence to connect his cold case to the more recent murder. He’ll need some specialized help for that, the kind only Sundown can provide.

Bit by bit Fallon gathers evidence, not only about the murders, but about the secrets Sundown has kept. It’s a sobering reminder that looks can be deceiving, and the shapeshifter he shares his life with isn’t human. 

The Sundown saga in order is:

The Back Stairs
Beneath Dark Stars
River Walk
Moon Dances
Fly By Night

Please visit www.kckendricks.com for more info and excerpts from the Sundown saga.

You can check out all the My Sexy Saturday blogs using the list below.

KC Kendricks
http://www.kckendricks.com
www.twtiter.com/kckendricks
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Found: One silver lining

January 16, 2016

I've been quiet thus far in 2016 for a rather unhappy reason. It was announced on January 2 that Amber Quill Press is ceasing operations. With the bulk of my books there, I've been in Photoshop hell scramble mode. The owners did give a three-month notice which is plenty of time to get organized. Is it plenty of time to make forty book covers? If only Photoshop will cooperate!

I am getting better with the software, and some of the covers I'm coming up with are much closer to my vision than the ones the publisher created from the [subjective] Art Form I submitted. I'm pleased with the finished products. I'm debuting them on my website as I get them done. You'll have to click through to the individual book pages to spot them, but I will tell you the ones for Ian Coulter's Amethyst Cove series and the Sundown saga are there. I did the one for Kentucky 98 Proof last night but it may not be loaded depending on what time of day you read this blog. I also suspect, as my skills develop, I'll tweak a few of them. 

There was some pointless wailing and gnashing of teeth with the announcement Amber Quill was closing. For myself, I've been down this road before. There was Silk's Vault - the owner simply absconded and left everyone hanging. Aspen Mountain Press - same thing. Whiskey Creek sold its operation and tried to force authors into an agreement with the new company - just say no. There was the Triskelion debacle and bankruptcy. My alter ego has been around a while. 

As sorry as I am to see AQP close, it's not the end of my world. Amber Quill is the best publisher I've been with, bar none. But I've long thought the publishing industry has a few BIG flaws, the first of which is trying to metaphorically beat authors into submission. The writer is the backbone of the industry and the writer is the one treated like shit. (Please excuse my language.) There's a lot of shade being tossed at Amazon over the rise of indie publishing but I say publishers need to look at themselves. 

Poor contracts, ugly cover art, abusive editors, slow pay, wrong pay, no pay, refusal to respond to emails - all these things pushed authors away from publishing houses and into Amazon's open arms and beyond. 

I already have a revision of rights letter from AQP. I never had a doubt I'd get a proper letter. I don't doubt for a single moment I'll be paid out on all sales. Is that my silver lining? No. This is - I've got the rights back to my stories and with it the chance to stroll down new and interesting avenues. Honing my questionable skills with Photoshop is just the beginning. 

Will it be easy? Parts of it yes, parts of it no. The bottom line, for me, is that I accomplished what I set out to do. Way back in 2003, I wrote a book. Everything good that's come my way since has been icing on the cake. Now I get to bake a new one. 

 KC Kendricks

My home on the web- Between the Keys: 

http://kckendricks.blogspot.com

Visit my bookshelf at: 

https://kckendricks.blogspot.com/p/the-bookshelf-of-kc-kendricks-and-rayne.html

Social media links:

My country life at Holly Tree Manor: hollytreemanor.blogspot.com

Life through the eyes of Greenbrier Smokey Deuce: deucesday.blogspot.com

twitter.com/kckendricks

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IWSG - Letting Go of Worry in the New Year

January 6, 2016

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com

The start of a new year is an exciting time, at least for me. I take a look back at where I’ve been and look ahead to where I’m going. It’s a mixed bag of good and bad. Sometimes the temptation is to rest on my laurels but I know that won’t get me too far. Yet when I look ahead at everything I want to accomplish, it’s easy to get discouraged before I’ve even begun. Case in point - continuing the Men of Marionville series.

If you follow along here at Between the Keys, you already know the plan is to take each book in the series and bounce another story off each one. We can check in with each couple, introduce one of their acquaintances, and give him his own story. That’s eight new stories the writer part of me wants to have finished - now!

I know the task won’t be accomplished in the blink of an eye. And if I look at the mountain of work involved to complete eight stories, it’s easy to get discouraged.

What if I don’t have time? What if a family member needs me to become their caregiver? What if the day job requires more time? What if my health takes a turn in the new year? What if I get a serious case of writer’s block?

I think all writers face those questions in some form. Each of us need to find our way past the worry and the “what ifs” to get to where we want to go. If there’s a New Year’s resolution I’d make it would be to let go of worrying about the “what ifs” and simply write.

If I can do that, the New Year shines with promise.

KC Kendricks

http://www.kckendricks.com

http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks

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