Tons of prizes at The Romance Reviews YES Party!

Today I'm participating in the Year-End Splash (YES) Party at The Romance Reviews.  There are over 100 prizes to win this week, including a chance at a $100 gift certificate!  Silver Lake's question is #19, the correct answer will enter you in the drawing for a free e-copy!  (Hint - the answer can easily be found on this blog or my website).

Here's the link to the contest page, have fun!  http://www.theromancereviews.com/event.php

The cover-matching game is for the grand prize, or you can play for the individual weekly prizes.  You must register to play but that's free and easy.  Good luck!

Coffee and Writing - A Perfect Combo #amwriting #noguilt

I admit it, I LOVE coffee.  I love everything about it – the taste, the smell, the caffeine, the warmth.  In the middle of a heat wave, I will still order hot coffee instead of iced.  I drive around with a refill mug in my car so I don’t have to feel bad about the Styrofoam cups.  And don’t give me any foreign flavors—coffee with some half and half, that’s it.  No ingredients, variations , or sizes that I can’t pronounce.

Hello darkness my old friend
DRINK ME!

I'm reposting the list I found last year of the Top Ten Coffee-drinking Professions.  Not surprisingly, I was on there: Writers/Editors clocked in at #6.  Here’s the full list, courtesy of a survey done by Dunkin Donuts and Careerbuilders:

 

                                                                          

1. Food Preparation/Service Workers

2. Scientists

3. Sales Representatives

4. Marketing/Public Relations Professionals

5. Nurses (Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, or Physician Assistant)

6. Editors/Writers/Media Workers                                   

7. Business Executives

8. Teachers/Instructors (K-12)

9. Engineering Technicians/Support

10. IT Managers/Network Administrators

Not sure either why we’ve been made to feel as though coffee is a guilty habit.  Everything I’ve read recently points to the many good qualities in my cup of joe.  An article I saved points out that while coffee is associated with caffeine, it’s important to remember that coffee is only 2% caffeine and 98% other stuff, including chromium, magnesium, and antioxidants.  So while caffeine can negatively affect some people with certain medical issues, that amount of caffeine is fine for most people.  In fact, a few new studies suggest that coffee may help lower the risk of several diseases: Type 2 diabetes, liver cancer, cirrhosis, and Parkinson’s.

I enjoy my coffee so much that I brew it half-regular, half-decaf.  That way I can have an extra cup without feeling jittery or experiencing insomnia.  Of course I transferred my coffee obsession to the characters in SILVER LAKE…but a reunion at a haunted lake house amongst old friends (and old flames) trying to solve the cold-case mystery of their friend’s disappearance pretty much requires coffee, don’t you think?  Especially when Brandy’s ghost gives them sleepless nights. 

The characters in GULL HARBOR love coffee too.  When Claire first moves into her temporary summer home on Cape Cod, she has a rough early morning search for the coffee maker.  But she, too, is having sleepless nights...not unexpectedly, as she's a medium who's been hired to rid the house of a destructive spirit.  The coffee served up by Dan at Gull Harbor Diner brings her back repeatedly to the popular local's joint--but it's a small town, and she finds she can't avoid seeing Max there either.  She has no idea how he ended up in the sleepy seaside town--throughout their passionate college relationship, he promised to love her forever.  But then he disappeared without a hint of an explanation on graduation day.  The town may or may not be big enough for the both of them, but Claire has a job to do: find out why an aggressive ghost is haunting her clients' home, and help the desperate spirit move on.  However, someone connected to the death might have a problem with the truth coming out...
 
I've got my cup in hand right now as I finish this blog post.  Hopefully I can make some progress on manuscript number 4 before I have to get to work.  My other job is teaching fitness classes, and I need my morning java to do that effectively as well.  Plus, it's Monday.  Time for a refill!

True Love

 

Gull Harbor Cover Reveal - Kathryn Knight

Thankfully, I've had many inquiries about my next release...Gull Harbor is also a romance with paranormal elements, and I'm very excited about this book.  While I don't have a firm release date yet, I DO have the approved blurb and cover art to share!  Today I'm featuring the cover, by artist Rae Monet.  It's absolutely gorgeous, and it brings together the main elements of my fictional seaside town of Gull Harbor: the coastal waters surrounding the jutting arm of Cape Cod, and the isolated wilderness between the ocean and the bay, dotted with kettle ponds and woodlands.  While the house portrayed on the cover is not meant to be "the" actual haunted house in the book, it accurately conveys the town I've created in my mind...a place that, while beautiful enough to draw tourists from around the world in the summertime, grows eerily quiet in the off-season...a place where secrets may hide and ghosts may lurk...and a place where two people with a painful past find themselves unexpectedly thrown together to face dangers that extend beyond the paranormal.  I hope you enjoy the sneak peek at the cover - blurb to come soon!

Sandy's Sister Storm - Kathryn Knight

Down goes the tree

So this happened in front of my house today!  I have to say, the Nor'Easter that blew in last night hit my neighborhood worse than Sandy.  Thankfully we are situated far enough North to have escaped the main wrath of Sandy.  This new storm, however, blew down this huge tree branch, which hit the power line (while my early-riser husband was nearby, grabbing yesterday's mail before it got drenched) and BOOM, out went a transformer down the street.  A little fire started in the branches and I began making calls.

No power all morning left me in a state of dazed confusion.  On my one morning off, how could I not visit my blog, FB, email, my author loops, etc.?  But I lit some candles and got busy, finding a surprising number of things to do.  Baskets of paperwork have been filed or recycled.  My notebook of ideas is organized.  Laundry folded.  Coffee was cold, but hey, I was warm and dry inside.

The worst thing about this storm for me (and of course this is nothing compared to what people have endured with Sandy) was that it hit on the night of my first library presentation/author discussion/book signing.  When schools and community centers began canceling all afternoon events, I knew I was sunk (no pun intended, lol).  But I forged ahead anyway, since it had been advertised...me in a raincoat with my box of books and freebies and poster.

No one braved the storm.  I hadn't asked my friends to come to the library discussion - they've bought and read Silver Lake and been so supportive already.  So as I sat, somewhat dejected in the discussion room, playing with my note cards, in rushes my best friend.  I hadn't asked her to come or even told her about the event...but she saw my post on Facebook and rushed over on a dark, beastly night.  I almost cried.  We rescheduled the event with the library director and went to the little tavern next door for a glass of wine.

That's a true friend.  And that's what Rain, the heroine in Silver Lake, used to have in Jason, Allie, and A.J., before Brandy disappeared.  It's no wonder she wants them back in her life--although being around Jason, who was once more than a friend, creates a painful longing that ratchets up the tension in the haunted lake house.  Click the Silver Lake tab to read a blurb and excerpt!

Brandy's ghost has a message to share...

How did you weather the storms?

Guest blogging about Reunions!

Thanksgiving is often the time of reunions - school, family - and Nancy Jardine and I are blogging about reunions at her site today.  Come by and share your stories!  I've planned my 25th high school reunion and it's in less than 20 days...nervous and excited.  Link to join us:  http://nancyjardine.blogspot.com/

Welcome to she said, he said: Reunion fun!: Today, I'm welcoming fellow TWRP author, Kathryn Knight. She's brought a topical subject for me - reunions.

Guest blogging at Between the Pages!

Today I'm talking about where I got my idea for Silver Lake and how I found the time to write it all down!  Plus Silver Lake got a very nice review, come visit and say hi :)

Between the Pages: SPOTLIGHT IS ON: Author Kathryn Knight - Where do ...: ABOUT THE BOOK: Amazon Buy Now Rain Anderson can't decide which is more unsettling—encountering the ghost of her missing fr...

Haunted Blog Hop Winners!

A big thank you to everyone who stopped by on TWRP's Haunted Garden Blog Hop.  This was my first blog hop and I had a blast.  AND I won Somewhere My Love by Beth Trissel and since it's a ghost story and romance (my favorite combination!) I couldn't be more pleased! 

I WIN!

Now, for the winner of this blog's drawing...Congrats to
Beckey White on winning a copy of Silver Lake! 
Hope everyone had a Happy Halloween and weathered Sandy with minimal damage.