Taking Crack to the family reunion

August 17, 2013

Today is the annual family reunion. I'm all showered with some Bath & Body Works Honey Autumn Apple (to smell good for the yellow jackets and other assorted bees), my hair is freshly colored, my legs are shaved - is this too much information? I'll stop.

Every year it's the same old thing. Do I take something? Do I not? I'm an in-law so the planning goes on around me without really including me. That's okay. Let the sisters duel it out. You know of what I speak. Besides, it's their gig. I have my own. Anyway...

I wanted to make a big batch of Crack to take. Really. Crack. We're addicted to the stuff and it's so easy and cheap to make, it's almost a staple at our house. I suggested this to my partner and he gave me "the look." 

"The girls said we should bring two big bags of Doritos. We're taking Doritos."

Okay. Scratch the Crack - for this year. Why? Because like any addict, the man doesn't want to share his Crack. 

Just in case you'd like to make some Crack and see what happens at your house, here's the recipe.

KC Kendricks

_*_*_*_

Trisha Yearwood's Crack

This is incredibly easy to make but be warned - it lives up to it's name - crack. If you make it, you WILL eat it.

You will need:

Saltine crackers - enough to cover a cookie

sheet

1 stick of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup (or the whole freaking bag) of your

favorite chocolate chips

Line the cookie sheet with foil. Spritz it with a butter-flavored cooking spray. Cover with a single layer of saltines, salted side down. (Tip: don't add extra salt)

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add brown sugar, stirring constantly. When the mixture is liquid and bubbly and has turned into caramel, pour it over the crackers, covering each one as evenly as possible.

Put the cookie sheet in a hot oven until the caramel begins to bubble again. WATCH IT CLOSELY! Quickly remove from oven. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. When the chips get really soft, spread the chocolate over the top. Chill, or even freeze a few minutes, to set the chocolate. Break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Don’t bother to freeze it. It won’t last that long. 

Sew what on my tongue?

August 13, 2013

An article on Yahoo today hit my "enough" button. Apparently it is now okay to have hernia mesh surgically sewn onto your tongue to help you lose weight.

I've tried to make my face relax from a horrified grimace but it won't do it.

While I do write a some of these blog entries with my tongue firmly in cheek, this is not one of them.  My tongue is in hiding.

I am not joking. The article is there. Google it because I can't bring myself to add the link and be associated with the article forever and ever google amen.

I'd love to lose, oh, maybe ten pounds, but no way in hell would I entertain the notion of sewing a foreign object onto my tongue.

Can't we just pretend we can't eat much food for a week? Wouldn't that be safer all the way around? Especially when you consider the reaction when you admit to your mother what you've just had done and what it cost?

Sure would be in my world.

KC

The Visitor in the Backyard

August 10, 2013

We’ve had the wettest, coolest summer in many years. I blame myself since this was the year I finally got a little pool in which to relax at the end of the day. I’ve talked about getting one for years and this summer was the time.

It’s not very big at only ten feet in diameter, nor is it deep. Sitting down the water is only shoulder deep but that’s what we wanted. Something just big enough to cool off in with a glass of wine at the end of the day. We’ve invited the neighbors (my cousins) to join us, but so far we’ve not had many evenings without the threat of a thunderstorm in which to fully enjoy the water.

Living out on a mountain as we do, we see a lot of deer. We’ve watched this one particular buck for several years. He had a twin when he was a spike but now it’s only him and his little harem. This year, he’s an eight-point and quite the handsome fellow. Getting good photos of him has proven next to impossible. He didn’t get to be an eight-point by trusting us humans, and the best picture I've managed was through window glass.

He paid a visit one evening it was hot and dry enough to float in the pool. We were just about to get out of the water when a movement caught my eye. We stayed silent and watched him step out of the woods into the backyard and graze his way across and vanish into the trees on the other side. It was a rare gift to be able to observe this beautiful creature when he seemed to be unaware of us.

Of course, a few mornings later I called him everything except beautiful when I woke to discover he’d eaten all - as in every last, freakin’ one - of the August lilies on the terrace. One or two I’d forgiven him, but all of them? Get the gun, Pa.

Buck paid us another visit this morning. He was in the yard when I opened the door for the dog to go out and take care of his outdoor activities. Those two play a game. The old dog rushes from the house, barking, and Buck stands there and deer-laughs at him until the dog gets about ten feet from him then Buck makes a leap onto the stone fence and deer-laughs at my poor old dog a bit more. He knows the dog is now too old to climb the fence.

Come next year, if Buck makes it through hunting season again, he might get surprise. I just might have a younger, faster “wolf” on the premises. Who’ll be laughing then, big fella?

KC Kendricks

Cover up! Kentucky 98 Proof

July 27, 2013

***Updated March 7, 2019***

I finally got around to updating the cover for Kentucky 98 Proof. This is the third cover the book has had and it's the best so far. Not one to rest on my laurels, I'll keep working on my Photoshop skills. The third time might be the charm, but the fourth one could be magic. I won't know until I get there. - KC

***

It was worth the wait. The cover is finally finished for Kentucky 98 Proof, due out around August 18, 2013.  This might become my fave book cover, too! 

The cover blurb for Kentucky 98 Proof:

Victor Carter knows his grandfather only from a handful of black and white photographs, so his surprise when the man’s will is read is genuine. What’s he going to do with seventy acres on the side of a Kentucky mountain? More importantly, how’s he going to survive living there for a year to satisfy the conditions of the will so he can sell the property? Even worse, it’s not like the hills of Kentucky are teeming with gay companionship.

Boone Mosely is Kentucky-born and bred with a proud family heritage he can trace back to his home state’s founding. Following in his uncle’s footsteps, Boone’s in his second term as sheriff of Four Points. He takes the job seriously and doesn’t suffer fools - or crime - in his town.

When city slicker Victor Carter arrives on Shepherd Mountain, Boone knows he’s got a whole new brand of trouble to deal with. And this time, the badge isn’t going to help him at all.

*_*_*

Kentucky 98 Proof

Contemporary gay romance

Available at 

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01E7JEXJ8

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01E7JEXJ8

Amazon CA:  https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01E7JEXJ8

iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1098677948

Barnes & Noble/Nook

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kentucky-98-proof-kc-kendricks/1117193113?ean=2940153237954

Rakuten/Kobo: www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/kentucky-98-proof-1

Universal link to additional booksellers: https://books2read.com/u/bp8BXb

Kentucky 98 Proof webpage: 

https://kckendricks.blogspot.com/p/kentucky-98-proof-by-kc-kendricks.html

_*_*_*_*_

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:

twitter.com/kckendricks

facebook.com/kckendricks

pinterest.com/kckendricks/boards

instagram.com/kc_kendricks

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

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

Thursday morning ramble

July 25, 2013

I realized this morning I'm closing in on my 400th blog entry and I wondered if I should do something special to celebrate the occasion. The thought was short-lived as I'm not the sort who thinks every little mundane thing needs a party.

It's not like blogging is hard work. I truly enjoy it. It's sort of thinking out loud with my fingers. I type and whatever is on my mind comes into focus.

Currently, I'm just surfacing after a few weeks of intense writing. I've got several projects on the go and I need to get at least one of them finished and off my list. Couple that with summer and my desire to relax and enjoy my backyard, well, the writer is putting far too much stress on herself. But then, don't we all do that in different ways?

With a desk full of things to "handle" today, I needed to step back and take a breath this morning. It's worked pretty well in that I'm able to envision my desk completely cleared off when I walk out the door at four this afternoon.

So have a great day, everyone. I've got to get to work now :)

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

Never satisfied

July 11, 2013

It's happened again. I'm changing the look of my website. I've lost count of what incarnation this is. Six? Seven? Twelve? I really don't know.

The last time I redid it, I loved the colorful rainbow I found. It's so bright and full of action and life I had to use it. After doing most of the pages it turned out that it didn't quite fit my vision, but I went with it. One must sometimes move back to priorities and I had a couple of deadlines to meet.

I still have deadlines to meet, but it's been bugging me. I still love the stylized rainbow, but I'm tired of the black background, especially since I figured out why the website didn't load properly on Chrome with the previous red background. (It's still best viewed using IE for some reason.) I'm going to have to do the work to revamp the site a little bit at a time, but that's the way it goes. I started on one of the "back" pages last night and I think it's going to be fine.

If you want to check it out, please visit the FAQ page at KCKendricks.

Have a great day!

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

Port.....or Starboard

July 8, 2013

The world is full of interesting and fun facts that don't do a thing to bring about world peace or to end world hunger. Nonetheless, we like them. Our brains are like little sponges and we suck up these tidbits because they make us feel smarter.

Wanna know what tidbit of totally useless information I learned recently? Sure you do. You're at Between the Keys so smile! So here it is. From Wikipedia, the reason why only PORT wine from Portugal can be called PORT: 

Port wine (also known as Vinho do Porto, Portuguese pronunciation: [ˌviɲuduˈpoɾtu], Porto, and often simply port) is a Portuguese fortified wine produced exclusively in the Douro Valley in the northern provinces of Portugal.[1] It is typically a sweet, red wine, often served as a dessert wine though it also comes in dry, semi-dry, and white varieties. Fortified wines in the style of port are also produced outside Portugal, most notably in Australia, South Africa, Canada, India, Argentina, and the United States. Under European Union Protected Designation of Origin guidelines, only the product from Portugal may be labelled as port or Porto.[2] In the United States, wines labelled "port" may come from anywhere in the world,[3] while the names "Dão", "Oporto", "Porto", and "Vinho do Porto" have been recognized as foreign, non-generic names for wines originating in Portugal.[4]

Huh. 

We recently stopped by Knob Hall Winery again and got a bottle of their wine made "in the style of port." OMG is it delicious!

So what do they call it since they can't call it "port?" Starboard, of course! 

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

The Family Tree

July 7, 2013

One of the things I wanted to do when I retired from gainful employment, but not from life, was research my family tree. That got a jump start about eighteen months ago thanks to a blunder made by my mother that led to the discovery of a previously unknown cousin. This cousin, being of a generous nature, handed over my maternal grandmother's genealogy. Every new reveal is great fun, well, except for learning someone died from snakebite, etc. Times were hard in the 1800s.

Along with the discoveries comes a different sort of eye-opener, that being the reason behind my lack of knowledge. Apparently very few in my family really cared where we came from. Heck, I'm not even sure they cared where we're going. It's a bit unsettling. Anyway, they didn't feel it necessary to impart some interesting information to myself or my cousins - like how many people we're distantly related to on this mountain and how. It's a bit scary-fascinating.

Thankfully there are places like Ancestry, Rootweb, Find a Grave and others. I really like Find a Grave because it's FREE and there are volunteers all over the USA finding grave sites and photographing monuments and stones to preserve the information before time and weather erode it.

If you're one of the lucky few who have had family members go before you and publish books on part of your family tree, get the books. You may not care but your children may thank you.

Remember - they won't learn this stuff through osmosis, so help them out. They might just thank you one day. 

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

Congrats to John and Scott

July 6, 2013

Congratulations to Captain Jack Harkness and his long-time love Scott Gill on their nuptials! Yep - after twenty years or so, John Barrowman and Scott Gill have tied the knot in sunny California.


I hope the naysayers took notice that the sky did not fall.

And to whomever is in charge of these things - we need more TORCHWOOD!

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

Doors of Time reviewed by Sensual Reads - 5 Stars!

July 3, 2013
**updated October 29, 2019**

Happy 4th of July holiday, everyone! As one of the lucky dogs who have a four-day weekend, I plan to cram as much as possible into the next couple of days. And housecleaning is NOT on my list. Nor is yardwork. It's time to have a little fun and celebrate - responsibly, of course. But before the family funfest begins, I have a wonderful piece of business to take care of!


Many thanks to Elise at Sensual Reads ** who has reviewed Doors of Time. I think this is the first time I ever got an email from a reviewer with a "great job" included, and I've been at this writing business for a while now.

Here's what she has to say about Doors of Time in her 5 Star review: 

Time can be reopened as shown in Doors of Time.

Doors of Time by K.C. Kendricks is a fantastic second chance type story.  Emory was able to come out when he was a teen but Calvin’s life was not so easy.  He left Clear River and never came out.  Now back to help his ailing father and the even more ailing Time, Calvin wants a chance only to learn he may keep Emory from grabbing his big break.

You cannot help but fall in love with these two men who want nothing but the best for each other. Neither one is afraid to do whatever is needed to ensure a happy ending. Looking for a great story with a happy ending, a great plot and two wonderful heroes? Look no more, you have found it with Doors of Time by K.C. Kendricks. You will not be disappointed. It is good to the last word.

All I can say is WOW! She really liked it!

*_*_*

Doors of Time is available at
Amazon, iTunes/Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo,
and other online booksellers. 

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

** The review page is no longer active, however, I have the entire review on file. 

July? Seriously? The summertime blues of dealing with people

July 1, 2013

I've been pensive lately as I consider my place in the universe. We've reached the halfway point of 2013 and I'm feeling a little stifled and stymied. That's not like me at all.

Nor is it like me to be discouraged. Is this the "summertime blues" for which there ain't no cure? If so, it's going to prove problematic to treat with the growing chaos of health care "reform" in the United States.

I suppose this funk started with a series of conversations with a woman who thinks she knows everything about everything. I'm sure you know the type. We rarely discuss life and death so in the overall scheme of things it's all fru-fru and just small talk. What I do care about is the lingering toxicity of dealing with her, what being nice on a continuing basis is doing to my state of mind.

The difficult person is something we all deal with from time-to-time. The stresses of a relationship in which we endeavor to create equality and balance with someone who cares little for such things is exhausting. Unless we decide to sever ties, we have to change our internal responses to that person for our own mental and emotional health.

Too often these days we do choose to sever ties. It's the easiest way out of a bad situation and, truthfully, no one should rule it out as a last resort. But isn't there more?

It's hard work to look beneath the surface, to take the time to discover the perspective of the other person and make the effort to understand their motivations and their point of view, but it's a worthwhile process. Sometimes we learn more about ourselves, who we don't want to be, than the other person but doesn't that benefit us? Learning about self comes from both the positive and the negative.

Some people live small lives full of fear and anxiety. As hard as it is, we need to be kind to them. We may be the only beacon of light they have and they fear losing us. The older they are, the greater that fear may become. Being alone at the end of days is a daunting prospect for anyone.

So it's time for me to shake off my dismay and discouragement and embrace a gentler, more loving approach to people I perceive to be greatly unhappy. I can't fix their situation or improve their lot in life, but I can be kind.

It will improve my life, and that is worth the effort.

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

Double Diamonds now available

**Note - Due to Amber Quill Press closing, this title is out of print.**
Double Deuce and Deuce of Diamonds remain available as separate ebooks.

June 23, 2013

I must have missed the publisher's announcement this past week that Double Diamonds is available at Amazon. Not surprising considering my week started with my car getting nailed in the parking lot at work and went downhill from there. I'm amazed I got as much done as I did, but remember that I am woman. Hear me roar in a positive, kick ass, get it done and keep moving forward sort of way. I keep writing every day which is my version of taking a happy pill. And, for me, it works like sunshine!  

So I'll stop rambling and get to the promo - Double Diamonds is now available at Amazon. Yea! Double Diamonds is a single paperback containing the stories Double Deuce and Deuce of Diamonds, the story of Ian Coulter and Rick Mohr.

For more about Ian and Rick, please visit my website at www.kckendricks.com

DOUBLE DEUCE
Contemporary gay romance mystery
available now Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.



DEUCE OF DIAMONDS
available now at 
Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo

KC Kendricks

http://www.kckendricks.com

http://www.twitter.com/kckendricks

http://www.pinterest.com/kckendricks

http://blogspot.com.kckendricks

Accepting responsibility for your actions

June 17, 2013

It started out as any other Monday. I got up, went through my morning routine, drove to work, parked my car in my usual spot, and went inside to take care of business. I didn't get far.

I barely had the computer booted up when our custodian came into my office (a very excitable fellow on a good day and this was not) and said there'd been an accident in the parking lot involving my car.

Excuse me? My car?? My car was parked. I left her sitting in the sun, soaking up the rays, her pristine silver finish glistening with flawless perfection. When I parked her this morning she had not a scratch on her.

Then a woman driving a Ford Explorer somehow backed into my car. She cut across the parking lot and then backed up. And she backed up into the side of my car. Did I mention the lot I park in can accommodate seventy-five cars, but at 8:00 AM only three cars are on the lot? Mine, the custodian’s, and director’s. We’re the early birds - in early and out early.

Three cars in a huge lot and this careless woman can’t avoid them. 

Luckily for me the custodian and the financial director were in the parking lot at the time and saw it happen. Unluckily for her she wasn't able to rabbit out here, which by all reports was her first impulse.

What's wrong with people anyway? You make a careless mistake in your first impulse is to run and hide and try get away with it? Is that really where we’re going in this country?

I don't know why she thought she could run. Why would she want to bother trying to get away? How was this going to ruin HER day?

She's not the one who had to spend several hours on the phone with insurance companies. She's not the one who had to leave work and go to the body shop and get an estimate. She's not the one who had to go to the claims office and process a bunch paperwork. She's not the one who’s going to be driving some shit piece of rental car crap for four days. She simply thanked the police officer and merrily drove away. It's just not right.

I was minding my business. I was legally parked on my employer’s lot. She was on private property that doesn’t belong to her. And now I've lost a morning's work, my car is damaged, and I'm the one inconvenienced all the way around. And the person whose careless inattention caused the accident gets to drive away like nothing ever happened. It's just not right.

Just not right.

KC

A June Wedding

June 8, 2013

Today marks what would have been my parent's 58th wedding anniversary. My parents met when my father's sister married my mother's brother a few years earlier. The wedding was a small, private affair as my mother has never been fond of the "big and splashy" anything. The marriage lasted until my father's death in 1983.

This is one of only five pictures I have of that day. Mom's dress was tea-length with lace overlay and must have been expensive for its time, one of the few store-bought dresses she had up to that point. (Mom was an excellent seamstress in her day and we both dressed well for pennies.)

I wonder what my parents would be like together today. I know I'd no longer be embarrassed by their antics. Being older and hopefully wiser, I look back at them and realize how lucky I was to have parents who chased each other around the house.  How I ended up an only child is a real mystery.

Their future didn't work out as planned on June 8, 1955, but they made the best of the time they had together, and that's a lesson we should all take to heart.

It's 4.5 Nymphs for Deuce of Diamonds

Thanks to Chocolate Minx at Literary Nymphs for her 4.5 Nymph review of Deuce of Diamonds. She gives a short story synopsis and then says, "KC Kendricks has created a splendid as well as an exceptionally enjoyable follow-up to Double Deuce."

Not a lot to work with on the promo circuit, but enough of a snippet to get the job done. I like her review style in that she doesn't use a review to promote herself. A review is supposed to be about the book and this reviewer sticks to business. And that's the highest praise KC will give.

You can read the entire review at: http://literarynymphsreviewsonly.blogspot.com/2013/05/deuce-of-diamonds.html?zx=30eab1e942c3176

And while we're doing a little promo here, Double Deuce and Deuce of Diamonds will be together in a single paperback, Double Diamonds, sometime this summer. I'll give a shout out on Twitter when it's available. Heck, I might even make it over to facebook.



DEUCE OF DIAMONDS
available now at 
Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Kobo

DOUBLE DEUCE
Contemporary gay romance mystery
available now Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.

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