Jim Morrison was correct

 January 30, 2024

Strange days have found us
Strange days have tracked us down
They're going to destroy
Our casual joys

There are times when it's impossible to write. A week ago yesterday, I called for an ambulance to transport the spousal unit to the hospital. It's been downhill since then. 

I've always been annoyed when I read posts from other authors about the trials and tribulations in their lives. Oh, woe is me! This last week has me thinking about whether or not we need to overshare. I think we do not. 

No one's life is free of strife. It comes to all of us, albeit in different guises. Right now, my strife is being the type of caregiver that is in complete opposition to my personality. I lack the compassion for such activity. 

These are strange days for me. There is time to write, little capsules of time when I can escape into the world of my creation. Those moments don't last long enough. Reality intrudes, calling for me to bring a bottle of water, or a cup of coffee. And it's just enough to kill the joy of writing. 

Will these days pass? I pray they do, but I see no end in sight. Should I give up writing to care for someone who refuses to agree with me on even the smallest point? I was sick last night but even that didn't generate a respite. I went to bed early but kept being disturbed by demands. And I repeat - I was sick. Should I happily care for someone who cares so little for me? 

Perhaps my writing should take a different turn. Maybe I should reach out to everyone who finds themselves in a like circumstance and tell them it's okay to be angry and frustrated that strange days have tracked us down. It could be that my words will help another whose days are stranger than mine. 

One way or another, my strange days will pass. I'll get through them and be better equipped for the next bit of strangeness that comes my way. Experience tells me this. 

My days of having the spousal unit at home with me are numbered. Sooner or later he will need to go into a care facility and, whether he likes it or not, it will be before I'm worn out from caring for him. That's the real danger in being a caregiver. You can give too much of yourself away and then you need care. I've seen it happen and I recognize it as a pitfall to avoid. I will avoid it because love includes self-love, and sometimes that has to come first. 

*_*_*_*_*_*_

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: KC Kendricks Between the Keys

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, self-love, caregivers, contemporary gay romance, LGBT gay fiction, romance fiction for Kindle, rural living, a writer's life, 

What have you missed?

January 25, 2024

"We are like books. Most people only see our cover, the minority read only the introduction, many people believe the critics. Few will ever know our content." - found on X 

The Accidental Writer Podcast

January 15, 2024

One of the things on my mind at the end of 2023 was whether or not to start making more videos and maybe even a podcast. You know the old saying of nothing ventured, nothing gained? I decided it applied to this and I made a podcast video. Or is it a video podcast? It's a start, that's what it is. 

Is it a good start? I can't say.

Was it worth doing? I can't say.

Will anyone view it? I can't say.

Did I, at the very least, learn something? Yep. 

My computer came with a basic movie maker program. It didn't take much to pull out some photos and string them together with a few new .jpgs that I made into a presentable video. The voice-over was more difficult. I had to order a microphone and a headset. No problem. Big A delivered them to my door. But getting the timing to work out? Problem. I missed the ending by about five seconds, but I don't think it matters much on the last screen. 

I called this first video podcast The Accidental Writer, and it's an introduction of sorts to KC Kendricks. It's basic information that if you've been a regular reader here at the blog, you know. But while blogging is not a thing of the past, more and more people would rather watch a video or listen to a podcast. I do think that fifty years from now, reading will be a thing of the past except for the educated few. 

If you'd like to watch my first endeavor into the world of the podcast, it can be viewed below. It's free, and my YouTube channel isn't monetized so there aren't any ads (I don't think). 

If you would, please subscribe to the channel. I'd like to grow it to the point where I can monetize it. I need to keep my dog in kibble. 

What podcast may come next? I have a list of things I can talk about, but I think the next one will focus on a book. Or maybe one of the series. I haven't decided which way to go on that one. More personal ramblings comparable to The Accidental Writer will happen but they'll be spaced out. 

Thanks for stopping by the blog, and I hope you enjoy The Accidental Writer.  

 

 _*_*_*_*_*_*_

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: KC Kendricks Between the Keys

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, Rayne Forrest, romance fiction, LGBT gay romance, Kindle romance, YouTube, podcasts, m/m romance, Between the Keys, new ventures, rural living, country lifestyle, a writer's life, social media, book promotion

So that's what it's called: Bullet journal

January 8, 2024

Of course, I'm going to do it my way.

Last night, I learned that my style of keeping a daily calendar/to-do list/activity log is called bullet journaling. Who knew? I've been doing it for years and I called it...Heck. I didn't call it anything. It's just my daily calendar. 

I don't buy a notebook full of blank pages to customize. I purchase a [very expensive] Day Planner. It has monthly dividers with the month at a glance, a page for monthly notes, and it has a page for every day of the year. The day pages are divided into sections: hourly, to-do, top three important things of the day,  notes, and reflections/gratitude. There is a section in the front that could easily be used as an index, which I didn't think to do, but I may incorporate it. 

Being retired, I don't have a lot of pre-scheduled appointments. The hourly section is my record of what I did that day, time approximate. I staple appointment cards to the page, and screen caps of the ten day forecast get added from time to time. I do record the temperature every morning when I first sit at my desk. I'm always curious to see what the weather was a year ago, or even several years ago. 

After watching Sandi Brock (Sheepishly Me on YouTube) talk about her bullet journal, I looked up what it was. There are a lot of pages devoted to it and the creativity is impressive, but I'm not going to reinvent the wheel since I found a pre-printed day planner that works for me. 

I find it interesting when I discover I'm doing something that falls in place with the rest of the world and I didn't know the rest of the world had a name for it. There is so much going on outside my four walls and having made my choice to write, I don't have time to discover even a fraction of it! 

Am I missing out? Maybe a little. 

Chapter 9 is waiting. 

    _*_*_*_*_*_*_

 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:

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

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

twitter.com/kckendricks

facebook.com/kckendricks

KC Kendricks, Rayne Forrest, Between the Keys, contemporary gay romance, m/m romance, LGBT gay, Kindle books, bullet journal, a writer's life, rural living, learning,

The 2023 Retrospective

 January 2, 2024

Another year has passed. My grandmother used to say that the older you get, the faster time goes. I didn't understand it as a girl, but I sure get it now.

Some days I feel like I'm in a holding pattern, or worse, traveling in circles. The changing of the seasons, the repeating calendar, and the mundane nature of daily living, while reassuring, are hardly exciting. And yet we continue on. 

The Year of our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Three didn't hold many surprises for me. I settled more deeply into the phase of existence we call retirement. It wasn't without its perils but none couldn't be overcome. In truth, they were minor.

January 2023

I decided to update the covers for the Southern Cross series. They were pretty good, but I wanted to add a banner to each cover and create a cover collage for the overview page. I took another look at Patreon and I don't think it's for me. An old Rayne Forrest book, Step Into Tomorrow, got a new cover and a new launch since it had been off the list for a few years.

February 2023

I created a promo card for Shine A Light. I don't know why I didn't do this before, but I have it now. I finished Devilishly Delicious Dane and pushed the button to publish it. Unfortunately, I unpublished it later in the year to work on it a bit more after I had a "why didn't I think of that before" moment. February 25 marked the 40th anniversary of my first home burning, a life-altering event to be sure.

March 2023

March was a "down" month on the writing front and a busy month on the home and garden front. Seeds were planted and sprouted, cookies were baked, and time was spent watching it rain. A writing project I long wanted to do was begun - Sumner's Garden.

April 2023

April brought the closing of Saturday Evening Romance. I started that blog over ten years ago as an open promo blog for writers but it never really took off. Too many authors abused it by "spam" posting day in and day out. Blogger censored a post about Between the Moon and the Deep Blue Sea, which made no sense at all. They restored it without any hassle. 

May 2023

The garden was planted in May and immediately began to thrive. Time to work on Sumner's Garden became limited as the outdoor chores took over. Tending several acres of trees is a never-ending task and the winter clean-up was massive this year. 

June 2023

I began to hear more and more about AI (artificial intelligence) and its impact on writing. It feels fake to me and I decided it wasn't for me. I don't care if it takes me several months to complete a manuscript. I want the words to be my own. I looked into resurrecting a newsletter but June was not the time. The Lord of the Manor put his rusty mechanic skills to good use by swapping out the old motor on the log splitter to one that starts with a key. I am grateful. The tomatoes produced blossoms.

July 2023

Work on Sumner's Garden went well. I got the cover made which boosted my determination to find time to get it finished. The debate about AI heated up over AI apparently mining data from every book online with or without the author's permission. Canada was inundated with wildfires and the smoke reached some of the US's southern states. We had weeks of hazy days and could smell the smoke. There were days we only went outside to see to Deuce's needs. 

August 2023

August is harvest time. I was pleased with my garden. I put together a limited edition of Shining Victory and No One But You, the story of Levi and Stacy. It was only available until December 31, 2023, and it will be a long time until the limited edition is available again, if ever. 

September 2023

Sometimes you make a choice you don't like and so it was in September. I pulled the plug on my .com website. It started out on Yahoo, which I liked, then transferred to a different company, got transferred again and again and again until Verizon ended up with it, and that I hated. The software became unworkable, so I let it go. I still own the domain, though. I also passed a milestone at Between the Keys with blog number 1200. The garden finished and I moved on to wood-cutting season.

October 2023

The tree trimmers came and took down a huge leaning maple leaving tree carnage in the west forty in their wake. The Lord of the Manor had doctor appointments which took precedence. I ended up going back to work for eight weeks while my protégée was on maternity leave - and then she got Covid. I'd only planned for a six-week stint, but it all worked out. She's fine. 

November 2023

Finally! After struggling with the cover blurb for Sumner's Garden, I got it worked out. I pushed the button on Sumner's Garden and it went live on the nineteenth. We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal for two. It's amazing that after almost thirty years we still like each other. 

December 2023

A new story is in the works and I have an idea for the one after that. Maybe two. Time will tell. I surprised myself and got the cover finished, so that's one less thing to worry about down the road. The lack of a .com website still concerns me, and I may have to resort to hiring someone to set up a generic site and explaining it to me. It used to be so simple and I think it's been made more difficult so we do need to hire help. We'll have to see where that goes. 

_*_*_

There you have it - my 2023 retrospective. I didn't meet all my goals in 2023, and that doesn't bother me. The main thing is I stayed on a path that was true to myself. I don't think I can do much better than that. 

I have a list of things I'd like to see happen in 2024, and creating more videos about my rural living tops the list. Lack of focus is the enemy. I allow myself to waste time sitting in the garden and talking to the plants, or talking to the dog. Retirement should not equate to becoming lazy. Success will be structuring my time better, although I admit the pace I choose will give me time to simply smell the roses. 

Here's to 2024! May we all stay healthy and prosper!

KC/Rayne 

The 2022 Retrospective

The 2021 Retrospective

The 2020 Retrospective

The 2019 Retrospective

The 2018 Retrospective

The 2017 Retrospective

The 2016 Retrospective

The 2015 Retrospective

The 2014 Retrospective

The 2013 Retrospective

The 2012 Retrospective

New Year's, KC Kendricks, Rayne Forrest, Between the Keys, look to the future, yearly retrospective, m/m romance, Kindle romance books, time management, writers on writing, rural living, LGBT author

January 1, 2024

 

I am thankful for this new year, and for the opportunities it will bring.

I am thankful for my good health, my home, my family, and those members of

the family of man who surround me and support me. 

I am thankful to have the spirit to move forward in this new year.

_*_*_*_*_*_*_

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.

   Worship the Lord with gladness;

    come into his presence with singing.

 Know that the Lord is God.

    It is he that made us, and we are his,

    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

 Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

    and his courts with praise.

    Give thanks to him, bless his name.

 For the Lord is good;

    his steadfast love endures for ever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations

Psalm 100

KC Kendricks, Rayne Forrest, Between the Keys, m/m romance, LGBT romance, romance fiction for Kindle, love one another, thankful, 

December 31, 2023

 

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,

   The flying cloud, the frosty light:

   The year is dying in the night;

Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

   Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

   The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind

   For those that here we see no more;

   Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,

   And ancient forms of party strife;

   Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,

   The faithless coldness of the times;

   Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,

   The civic slander and the spite;

   Ring in the love of truth and right,

Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;

   Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;

   Ring out the thousand wars of old,

Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,

   The larger heart, the kindlier hand;

   Ring out the darkness of the land,

Ring in the Christ that is to be.

-Alfred, Lord Tennyson

December 25, 2023

 

May peace dwell with you,

may prosperity huddle near.

May family gather together

without heartache or tear.

There is a star shining

in the night sky ... just there.

It is for you to wish upon

to keep you safe from care.

May everything you need

be yours to have and proclaim

as you're due; just close your eyes

and ask it in His precious name.

Merry Christmas to you, friend.

Let your season be a blessed one

filled with love and cheer and more.

Smile, laugh, and enjoy the fun.

-author unknown 

given to me by a friend

December 24, 2023

 

A surprise accomplishment

December 20, 2023

Maybe it was the cold weather. Monday was our first really blustery day of the season. The wind was steady, the sky was gray, and even Deuce didn't want to be outside. I made a flying trip to the grocery store and settled at the computer to work. I didn't expect to go in the direction I did.

I'm into chapter four of the current work-in-progress, a story with the usual working title of, "Finish This One First." ALL my manuscripts have had the honor of carrying that title at one time or another. It's a way for me to find the right document on the list. It doesn't mean anything more than that. It's what I look for after all these years. When I have a story started, I tend to want to get the cover made. I like having that visual aid. 

When I first began to make my own covers, it took me hours to create one. I'm a little faster now. And it's easier. So, so many covers today look muddled. There isn't a distinct background, just swirls of colors and lines. It makes it easier to pull elements of pictures I have on file and fade them together. My favorite stock photo site recently closed and I had a good many credits to use before they took down the site. I didn't need to go buy a guy or two. 

I didn't expect to get the cover background completed, but I did. It was a nice surprise! It's ready for whenever I get the title. It's also is one less distraction to my writing process. It's too soon to share it, but that's okay. Now I have to concentrate on writing the story and coming up with a blurb. 

I'll be able to share more when I get farther into the story. Chapter 4 is just too soon. I could still change my mind!

 _*_*_*_*_*_*_

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: KC Kendricks Between the Keys

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, Rayne Forrest, Between the Keys, book covers, LGBT gay romance, m/m romance, slash romance, writing process, contemporary gay fiction, romance fiction for Kindle, work in progress, romance manuscripts, writers on writing

Winding down 2023 and making decisions

December 17, 2023

Every year ends. I always get to this part of December and have a moment of panic. Christmas Eve is in one week. Twenty years ago that meant I'd be preparing for our annual open house, but the world shifted, friends scattered and drifted away, and now, for us, Christmas Eve is a quiet evening. 

It's not a bad thing. We're older now, and the spousal unit is ten years older than me, so he appreciates a quiet evening more than I do. We may take Deuce for a little ride to check out some Christmas lights, but we won't be joining with other people. It's our choice. 

I'm currently working on putting together my retrospective for 2023, which will publish on January 2, 2024.  That's a look back and today I'm looking forward, down a road that has a few twists and turns on the horizon. There are no wrong turns, only choices to make. 

Do I want to try to maintain a website or hire someone? I'd like to do it myself, but can I learn new software right now? 

Do I want to continue to keep Holly Tree Manor as a separate blog, or post everything here? If I post everything here, I can still post over there and send people this way. I don't monetize my blogs so does it matter which way I go?  And do I want to incorporate more videos on the blog and also post them on Facebook? 

I admit to allowing things in my writing realm to slide while I prepared for and settled into retirement. I look around on social media and the girls I "came up with" seem to be gone. I suspect a lot of them didn't want to go indie when so many of the epubs closed. I don't blame them. I miss the camaraderie of being in a group and exchanging ideas that actually work. 

A lot of what I do will be a continuation of what I've always done. If it's not broken, don't fix it. If you enjoy doing it, why stop? 

I've set a deadline of December 31st for myself to decide which road to take. It's likely I'll look to the words of Robert Frost for counsel: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

One can only hope I recognize it when I get to it, and I'm brave enough to take that first step out of my comfort zone. 

      _*_*_*_*_*_*_

 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:

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

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

twitter.com/kckendricks

facebook.com/kckendricks

KC Kendricks, Between the Keys blog, Rayne Forrest, m/m gay romance, romance fiction for Kindle, LGBT gay romance, sci-fi romance, shapeshifters, contemporary gay romance, a writer's life, life decisions, Holly Tree Manor, New Year, Robert Frost, life choices

Is it really a distraction?

December 9, 2023

Two decades ago, when I was a neophyte writer, I was warned to be careful of distractions. Me being me, I looked at where that advice was coming from. Certainly, a publisher and editor would urge an author not to get distracted. They didn't make any money if the writer didn't produce. But a lot of other writers in the old online groups said the same thing. 

I was pretty good at blacking out distractions - in the beginning. Being published was a new thing, an exciting thing. I didn't realize the price I'd eventually pay by isolating myself to write. I missed out on a lot to be a writer and I have a different mindset now. 

Earlier this week I got a phone call from someone asking if I were related to a person who had just passed. Sharing the last name, and knowing the origins of the name, I was sure we were related. It made me curious as to how close the connection might be. I consulted The Book. 

The Book is actually three full volumes of my genealogy. I looked up the deceased person's name and discovered we were connected - if you went back to 1751. There are three main branches in the tree and we're in the same one. 

Searching him out started me on a journey down the rabbit hole. You know the rabbit hole. The one Alice fell into. It does exist and I found it. 

Stuffed into the three volumes are copies of obituaries I've collected over the years. I saved them so that "one day" I could add them to the genealogy software I use. I had the program open so I decided I'd take five or six and get them added. You can guess how that has turned out. 

Is it really a distraction to set writing prose aside for a few days and pursue a passion? I know virtually nothing about my father's family. My father's father died when I was four or five, and my dad tended to avoid his mother, ergo, I didn't see her much in my formative years. My aunts helped a bit but they left out A LOT of family history and I recently learned why. There's a "family secret" that today is just silly. My grandmother had a half-brother born out of wedlock. He's even buried beside a family plot so why didn't anyone talk about him? I suppose a child out of wedlock was a big deal in the early 1900s, but now, not so much. I think it speaks well of my great-grandfather to marry a woman, in those days, who already had a child. 

Taking time to pursue a passion keeps us connected to ourselves. It's one of the reasons I no longer produce six to eight books a year. I could, but I don't. Instead, I stay checked into my life and what I enjoy doing (besides writing). It's the reason I started Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway. I wanted to record my life now so that when I'm an old woman I can look back and believe I did exist and I did have a life. You may think that's a distraction, but it's important to me. 

Writing is important to me, too, but it is a lonely pursuit. To write well, we need to focus on the words. This tends to isolate us. We need our other passions to stay balanced and happy. It's up to each of us to decide where, every day, we focus our time to be happy. 

*_*_*_*_*_*_

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: KC Kendricks Between the Keys

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, Rayne Forrest, genealogy, writers on writing, m/m romance, LGBT romance, Kindle romance, passions, distractions, life balance, time management, maturing, family

Comments are good, but...

December 8, 2023

As I begin this blog, it's 7:38 AM. I've been up since about six. The dog runs on "Deuce Time," which means we go outside to pee-pee before daybreak. I do not always want to get up that early, but I love my dog. If he has to go, he has to go. I can relate. 

It's a slow morning for some reason. The spousal unit and I lingered with the Weather Channel, and coffee, for longer than usual. Edging into winter, the To Do List gets shorter. It becomes the Do It Later List. It's a balmy thirty-five Fahrenheit outside and that's reason enough to postpone what chores we can. So I'm at the computer, but I can't lie and say I feel productive enough, or awake enough, to work on a story. 

I've got a work-in-progress that is going well, and an idea for one after that. I don't ascribe to the edict of write-write-write-write. My brain isn't quite awake enough for that yet this morning and I'm not willing to write garbage only to delete it later. 

A couple of months ago, a comment was made to me and I don't remember if it was on Facebook or X (formerly Twitter). I don't remember who made it, either. Anyway, the comment was that doing promo on Facebook groups and X was a waste of time. Well, maybe. 

The thing is, besides the obvious that it's my time, doing a bit of promo in the Facebook groups is something I can do while I finish my coffee. It's also something I can do when I need to take a break from writing to ponder a plot point. It's something I can do when I need to take a break from an outside project, be it to warm up or cool off. 

I'm not sure why this other author felt the need to...what? Criticize? Chastise? Advise? It doesn't matter. Doing promo this way is just how I work and it's fine for me to do it this way. It beats sitting and mindlessly staring into space while I warm up from being outside, or finish my morning coffee. So that's the way it is in my world.  

_*_*_*_*_*_*_

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_3.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: KC Kendricks Between the Keys

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, Rayne Forrest, m/m romance, Kindle romance, LGBT gay romance, sexy men, social media, promotions, writers on writing, a writer's life, rural living

You're on candid trail cam!

December 6, 2023

Yesterday I posted over at Holly Tree Manor, showing a picture of me captured by one of the trail cams. I was asked to share it here, too, since as the post says, it's proof I'm not an AI creation. 

See the post at HTM here

_*_*_*_*_*_

It's always a good thing if you can laugh at yourself, or at least shake your head and mutter. 

The weather today left a lot to be desired. Gray skies, dreary. A definite winter bite in the breeze. It was a good day to pull a heavy sweatshirt out of the drawer and layer it with a turtleneck. 

Can you even buy a turtleneck these days? 

If you needed positive proof The Lady of the Manor exists, here it is. I have several trail cams now and it's difficult to walk around the yard and not trip one of them. 

Those windows you see in the background are the windows in my sunroom office. I was peacefully working at the computer when I heard a ruckus over my left shoulder. Of course, it was Loki. He'd chased a squirrel over the woodpile and somehow managed to catch it. I went out and convinced him to let the poor squirrel go. It scurried off, I'm happy to report. 

So there you have it. The fingers that pound on the keyboard are really attached to a person and not to some AI-generated fake. 

And the sweatshirt? Yep. It's an old one from the 1990s. It's got Terry LaBonte's #5 racecar on it. It's warm, too!

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor/The Hideaway

KC Kendricks, Between the Keys, mm romance, LGBT gay author, Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, Terry LaBonte, rural living, bad cats, country lifestyle, firewood, sunroom, squirrels, trail cams

Did a year make a difference?

 

December 1, 2023

Today marks the end of my .com website. Did I want to give it up? NO. I did not want to let it go. I still own the .com, but I'm not going to continue to pay for web hosting on a platform I can't work with. I said I was throwing in the towel on it a year ago, but damn it. I really hated to give up. What made the final decision was the way they kept changing everything in the background. Change for the sake of change. 

I started with a website way back in 2004 through Yahoo web hosting. Oh, my god, was it easy! All work was done offline, then once you had a page the way you wanted it, you clicked "publish" and away it went. And it was affordable, too. Having a .com website used to send the message you were serious about being a writer. 

In this economy, that mindset is tough on a lot of newbies with talent and no money. 

So here I am today with all my information at Between the Keys. I want a proper .com website and that means I need to get off my arse and figure it out. One big drawback is I don't want to work online. I'm slow. I tweak a lot. I'm visual so I need to see what it looks like every step of the way. 

The difficulties I've had learning new software figure into my deliberations about the future. I've been asking myself if it's time to retire from writing the same way I retired from the day job. I don't have a definitive answer. 

Blogger is, for me, an easy platform to work with. Right from the start, I had it down pat. Pick a template, pick a background, set margins, and add content. I know, I know. It's working online, but Blogger works. When I click "publish," it does. And I've had Between the Keys long enough that it looks a little different from a lot of other sites. 

Maybe 2024 will be the year I figure out where to host the .com. Or maybe I'll just wait it out on Blogger. More likely, I need to stop obsessing about it. 

 _*_*_*_*_*_*_

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: KC Kendricks Between the Keys

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, Rayne Forrest, writing, websites, m/m romance, LGBT gay romance, kindle romance, 

rural living, Between the Keys, history, platform websites