New cover and title reveal: Once in October

September 20, 2024

The death of a loved one is never easy. It drags at the soul. I thought I'd find solace in writing, but I rushed to it which had the opposite effect. I needed time that I didn't give myself. 

I'm writing again, slowly, and it feels a lot better. The words don't come easy in every session, but they do come. I'm relieved. 

It started with December Promise, which was followed by Hot August Comes, September Morning, and July Heat. It occurred to me I'm off to a good start in creating a collection of by the month stories. Currently, I'm working on an October piece that I hope I can finish and publish before the end of October. It's difficult to refrain from stressing about it, but it will be as it will be. This is the year I need to give myself a pass on many things.

With that said, I did get a cover made! 

This story is set in Centerville as is Bored, Stroked, and Blueprinted, Memphis, and July Heat. Central to the Centerville stories is a muscle car garage and much like the Marionville collection features the characters in previous stories. Yes, I like to build my own little communities and play in them. 

Being a classic/muscle car enthusiast, the Centerville collection gives me a chance to show a piece of American automotive history, too. 

I have working titles for February, March, and April, and I need to flip a coin and decide which May and June titles work best. That likely won't happen until I've started writing those stories and the characters speak to me about it. I've wracked my brain for a November title and I'm betting that will be the last of the collection to come to life. Not all of these planned stories will be set in Centerville. At least, I don't think they will. It's a writer's prerogative to change her/his mind. 

And the car in this story? It's a 1970 Ford Torino, my first husband's car. I remember that car with more fondness than I do the man. Go figure. 

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KC Kendricks
My home on the web- Between the Keys: 
http://kckendricks.blogspot.com
Visit my bookshelf at: 
https://kckendricks.blogspot.com/p/bookshelf.html

Social media links:

twitter.com/kckendricks

pinterest.com/kckendricks/boards

instagram.com/kc_kendricks

facebook.com/kckendricks

Snips and clips on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@KCKendricks

Life through the eyes of my black Lab, Greenbrier Smokey Deuce: deucesday.blogspot.com

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

KC Kendricks, Between the Keys, contemporary gay romance, m/m romance, GLBT romance, Kindle romance novels, series romance, Ford Torino, October, writers on writing, a writer's life

The Roses of October

October 12, 2022

Having time to write is a fine thing. I'm grateful for it. Being able to work on a story for an entire morning, or afternoon is incredible after so many years of only writing in the evenings or weekends. But becoming a full-time writer is fraught with distractions beyond a day job. Some days there are roses. 

The roses of October are in full bloom and they are breathtaking! I took a quick walkabout the yard this morning and they stopped me in my tracks. 

I paused to enjoy them, take a few photos, and give thanks I'm home to see them. In years past, I'd come home from work and not give them a glance. Life is better now. 

The roses of October. How glorious! 

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 KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com
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_3.html

Social media links:

twitter.com/kckendricks

pinterest.com/kckendricks/boards

instagram.com/kc_kendricks

facebook.com/kckendricks

Life through the eyes of my black Lab, Greenbrier Smokey Deuce: deucesday.blogspot.com

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

Snips and clips on my YouTube channel: KC Kendricks Between the Keys

KC Kendricks, Between the Keys, roses, October, contemporary gay romance, m/m romance, work, day job, full-time job, retirement, country living, simple country pleasures, a writer's life

The end of another summer (IWSG)

September 7, 2016

Why does the name of the ninth month of the year have its roots in "sept" or "seven"?

Authors ask themselves questions like that all the time. It's our curse, and our blessing. We who write become repositories of vast amounts of useless information. We get curious and go look up why the ninth month of the year is known by September. It won't save the world and we won't lose ten pounds, but we still have a need to know once the question forms.

It turns out September comes from the Latin septem, or seven. The Roman calendar had only ten months and, you guessed it, Septem was the seventh month. Mystery solved. (Until the curious ask when the calendar changed. In 45 BC, okay?)

Be it the seventh month, or the ninth, September has historically been a busy TCOB (taking care of business) writing month for me. Summer may be ending, but I'm beginning. September is my month of planning. And yes, planning counts as writing time in my world.

Part of that is due to what goes on at the day job. There, too, we are planning. I'm obsessed with budgets and calendars in September, and I think the mindset carries over. I keep a list of title ideas and in September I check the list and see what is possible.

I set up folders for those titles that speak to me. I write character bios and story blurbs. I look for inspirational photos. This year, the inspirational photo search will be more focused. I'll be looking for cover stock. And as I piece together the ideas, the most important thing is happening. Somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of my brain, the story is starting to cook.

The best stories I've written, and the easiest ones to write, are the stories I've allowed to have a proper simmering time.

This does NOT mean I'm going to let the stories cook forever. I need to be more diligent than ever to keep my head in the game and keep writing. As freeing as the lack of a publisher deadline is, it's in my best interest to try to set one for myself and attempt to meet it. Nonetheless, 2016 will go down in the annals as one weird-ass writing year, and not at all what I planned in 2015. 

Not. At. All. 

And while this is the Insecure Writer's Support Group, I'm secure enough to know writing isn't a science. Sometimes going with the flow of your life is the best option. Or the only option. I think writers on the whole get too caught up in the desire to "write something every day" they put a lot of undue pressure on themselves. I didn't learn that over night, but I learned it, and it's made my writing life easier. 

So that's what you'll find me doing this September. Planning and going with the flow of my life. Enjoying the last days of summer and looking forward to the magic month of October. 

KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com
www.twitter.com/kckendricks


In the mood for a mystery/private investigator/FBI agent story? Check out the Amethyst Cove series. Ian and Rick are waiting.