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. 

School days, old days we remember

September 3, 2016

The spousal unit and I often enjoy in-depth discussions. It's true. The man really can do more than grunt. Oh, I'm sorry. That's a politically incorrect statement. We can't man bash any longer. Oh, wait. He's "mine" so I can say that. 

I'm so confused as to what's proper and what's not. Utopia is out and dystopia is in. Humor is out and gloom is in. It's a different world. 

Back in the day, Maryland schools resumed the day after Labor Day. Somewhere along the way, that changed. Gov. Larry Hogan proposed adopting a more traditional schedule for Maryland schools as a way to save upwards of $100 million in the school/education budget, and this became a BAD thing. Soooo I can only assume spending more taxpayer money is in and saving taxpayer money is out. 

Yeah, no shock, that. 

Hogan's proposal led us - me and the hubby - to a discussion of our school days. RC is almost ten years older than me, but our experiences are similar. We rode a school bus and we had to walk to a central spot with all the other kids to get on the bus. There was no stopping every fifty feet for individual curb service - and fuel was a lot cheaper back then. 

Spring break? What the fuck is that? We didn't get a spring break and we weren't scarred for life. 

Snow? Get your ass on the bus and go. If the roads got bad, they sent us home early. 

The music program: my choice was to ignore it since they didn't exactly promote rock 'n roll but RC played lead guitar in various bands for over thirty years. He still won't let me hang his Strat on the wall for decoration, though. 

Gym class. Basketball? Why? Archery? Why? Although now I won't mind being skilled with a weapon that launches a deadly projectile. 'Nuff said on that. 

The exterior doors are locked? Someone is about to get an ass-kicking from the principal and they scurried away to hide. So the janitor locked 'em in. Other than that, the doors were not locked.

Take a gun to school? Are you fucking nuts? What if your father found out you did something that fucking stupid? You're grounded!

We definitely came of age in a different time. We worry about the quality of education the grandsons received. We know how well they did in cross country track, but can they make change without a cash register read-out telling them the amount? Simple things. 

I can't say that RC and I abhor progress because we don't. We each have our own computers, smart phones, and Kindles. (I win because I also have a laptop!) Endless hours are spent sharing neat little apps and tips to make all the toys run better and give more enjoyment. We've embraced Prime videos, Netflix and network apps. Someone even brought home a smart TV recently (my checkbook did not take that hit). 

I love being able to do work at home and email it to myself for later retrieval. And of course, I'm proud to be an e-published author with blogs, facebook, and twitter at my fingertips. I do my own website and I've recently mastered the art of book covers. And I drive a car without a carburetor that still ranks as American Muscle.  

Speaking of art, there's an art-like beauty to the ways life changes from generation to generation. But as the world turns, I feel a sort of sadness, or perhaps melancholy, for those things children today will never know - because we allowed them to slip away. 

And one of those things we allowed to fall away are the sweet hours of the Labor Day weekend. The unofficial end of summer and the last dwindling moments of September's sunlit freedom before school starts again. 

KC Kendricks
www.kckendricks.com

The Passing of September

September 28, 2014

I recall mentioning I thought September would be a busy month. Looking back, I was being a bit naive. The month was busy. It was hectic and I may have brought it on myself. You know the old saying "be careful what you wish for" don't you? I think the universe misunderstood my blog post and thought I needed even more to do. 

This September brought sadness to a day which should have been celebrated. My young cousin passed the day of his second wedding anniversary without his bride, who left this life this past June. There is little any of us can do to ease his grief except stand with him, and this we willingly do. 

We did accomplish much of the outside work. Flower pots and beds are cleared, patio furniture is stored in the shed for the winter, the little pool is rolled up and put away for next year, and a new drainage ditch is dug behind the house. There are two cords of split firewood at the ready. Yes, we did a lot of hard work but looking back it feels more like accomplishment than chore. 

On the writing front..... things have been weird on the writing front. Refer to my statement above about being careful what you wish for. I wanted to spread the KC Kendricks brand, the theory being readers who never heard of me would buy a book and then go looking for my backlist. Sounds reasonable, does it not? So I submitted to the industry acknowledged largest epublisher. Won't do that again... It's been supremely interesting and alarmingly educational. 

The latest installment in Ian Coulter's Amethyst Cove is almost complete. In fact, I should be working on that manuscript right now instead of blogging. (I'm letting my brain rest.) An idea for another story hit me and I banged out about 3K on it while the opening was fresh in my mind. I'm never out of ideas, just time. 

So now I'll leave you with a little promo - Dreams to Sell, book eight of the Men of Marionville series is available. It's a story about a guy who falls for the Realtor who sells him his dream house. I enjoy writing characters who have some maturity about their relationships. 

That's about it on this last Sunday in September 2014. I'm going into the writing cave. It's safe there. See you on the other side! 

KC

http://www.kckendricks.com

http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks

A Busy September Ahead

September 1, 2014

Happy Labor Day 2014 to all! Thanks to everyone who works hard, even on Labor Day, to keep our country strong. 

Quite often September isn't sure if she's coming or going, but we welcome her for what she is as she prepares us for October's splendor.

The end of summer. The beginning of the school year.
The reaping of the harvest. The gathering of seeds for spring. 
The falling of leaves. The planting of grass.
The evening chill. The warmth of first fires. 

September brings a flurry of activity to my world. There's lots of yard work to be done as the deer stand in the woods and watch. It's time to cut or uproot dying flowers, one by one, as the daylight hours shorten. There's all the downed wood to cut, split and stack. Mother Nature provides us with what's needed to heat the house in cold weather but she doesn't give it for free. We must labor for it. 

Our little pool needs to be drained and stored for next year. The hummingbird feeders need to be removed and cleaned in the attempt to hasten the departure of the tiny birds south to warmer climes. I've been outside listening for the screech owls to begin calling but nothing yet. 

On the writing front, September brings a new KC releases: Dreams to Sell. And while this is coming out, my alter ego will begin the process to self-publish some older titles that have been out of print for several years. 

Dreams to Sell - book eight in the Men of Marionville series. Dreams to Sell is available at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and other online book sellers. 

Will this leave me time to actually write? I believe so. With the ousting of the previous CEO, my lot at the day job has improved immeasurably. I find I can function again. It's like a new job at the same desk. Weird and wonderful. 

For the first time, I'm taking this week off. Being at my day job for many years, I get a generous amount of vacation time, but with that said I think taking the days after a Monday holiday off helps maximize that benefit. I realize how fortunate I am with paid vacation and I promise I'll make good use of this time and not squander it.  

KC
http://www.kckendricks.com