Weekly News

Posted on February 13, 2019 by

Happy Wednesday! It’s been a weird/good/intense week over here, and so I decided to do something I haven’t done in a while: share music. Enjoy!

Fight Song
That’s all for me tonight. See you back here in seven.
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IWSG and Weekly News

Posted on February 6, 2019 by

InsecureWritersSupportGroup2

(Sorry for the formatting. WordPress resists paragraphing every once in a while.)
It’s time again for my monthly posting for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The virtual group uber-focused on the anxiety-riddled life of writers. We’re a mess. Come see.
Our fantastic co-hosts this month are Raimey Gallant, Natalie Aguirre, CV Grehan, and Michelle Wallace!
I’m skipping the optional question this month and again focusing on my own writing journey. In January, I mentioned I had finished my current WIP and was beginning the beta process. Well, I have most of my feedback back and am now launching into some pretty significant revisions. Good revisions, like “make this sucker jump out of the slushpile” good. Armed with great feedback and another read through, I have an editing plan. Tomorrow is day one of a probable month-long hard-core revision, and then …the slushpile. I’m feeling way too confident for this stage of the game. It’s weird.
******
Time for some news.
I wish I could have been at the meeting where someone proposed a naked troll who farts glitter at tourists. Fun for all ages had to have been uttered at some point. 🙂
This next story is gross, just gross. That is too much mac and cheese. No one needs that much mac and cheese. Yuck!
Last but not never least, a volcano. When Kilauea erupted last summer it was devastating and newsworthy, but it also provided scientists with a treasure trove of understanding. Besides, I struggle to pass up volcano-related stories. I heart volcanoes as much as I heart science!

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/five-explosive-things-2018-eruption-taught-us-about-kilauea

 

That’s all for tonight, folks. See you in seven.
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Weekly News/Book Release

Posted on January 30, 2019 by

This week I’m handing my blog over to a talented writer friend for the release of her newest book. Her fiction forces readers to wrestle with contemporary issues as the pages practically turn themselves. You should check her out.

 

 

The Sidewalk’s Regrets

Seventeen-year-old Sacha McLeod isn’t looking for someone to rock her world. But when she hears the boy in the music store play the guitar, the music thrills her and she falls hard for Dylan and his sound. 

Sacha finds herself spending less time with her violin and more time with this guy. Her plans for her violin-virtuoso future—and her self-confidence—are shattered when she screws up the audition for a summer music program. Failure isn’t something she’s had to face before, so when Dylan asks her to spend her vacation with him in the city, she lies to her parents, pretends she won a place in the summer school, and secretly moves in with Dylan. 

She’s expecting romance, music, and passion, but when she finds herself playing second fiddle to Dylan’s newly acquired drug habit, she realizes despite what the songs say, sometimes love isn’t all you need.

Publisher: Evernight Teen
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43297490-the-sidewalk-s-regrets
Available for pre-order:
Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/nz/en/ebook/the-sidewalk-s-regrets
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/916090
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sidewalks-regrets-kate-larkindale/1130067138?ean=2940155931058
 
About The Author

Having spent a lifetime travelling the globe, Kate Larkindale settled in Wellington, New Zealand fifteen years ago.  A film marketing executive and mother to two sons, she’s surprised she finds any time to write, but doesn’t sleep much.  As a result, she can usually be found hanging out by the nearest espresso machine.

She is the author of contemporary YA novels The Sidewalk’s Regrets, An Unstill Life and Stumped along with several others that no one is allowed to see. Yet. She has also written one very bad historical romance, which will likely never see the light of day. She is working on several more YA novels that may or may not ever be finished.

Her short stories have appeared in Halfway Down The Stairs, A Fly in Amber, Daily Flash Anthology, The Barrier Islands Review, Everyday Fiction, Death Rattle, Drastic Measures, Cutlass & Musket and Residential Aliens, among others.

Excerpt:

I pick up a yellow package and test its weight. Steel-wrapped, perlon core. I’ve never tried a wound E-string before. Feels good, but really, until it’s strung, tuned, and played, I’m not going to know. I like the weight of the wrapped string, the solidity of it in my palm. I’m comparing the bulk of this string with one of my usual brand when a noise makes me jump. No, not a noise. It’s a wall of noise. A huge tsunami of sound that washes over me and carries me away with it. It wails and shrieks and croons and moans all at the same time. I’ve never heard anything like it. My stomach leaps with something that could be fear or excitement. I can’t tell which. I just know my heartbeat has grown so fast and strong my ribs groan.

As if drawn by a magnet, I’m outside the string room, cutting through the jumbled spaces, the sound growing louder and louder. It reaches into my soul and tears off a piece, carrying it away. What is this music? Can I even call it music?

I stumble into the store’s main room on trembling legs. In the corner, someone is playing an electric guitar. Although playing doesn’t seem like the right word for the way his hands move across the instrument. He’s caressing it. Teasing it. Berating it into creating this otherworldly sound that pummels the walls and assaults my senses. Feedback cackles through the amp and he seems to encourage it, pushing the neck of his instrument closer and closer before tearing it away. Every note burrows into the marrow of my bones, each one digging deeper and deeper until I can’t separate my body from the music swirling around it.

As abruptly as it started, the sound stops. I stagger backward as if the weight of the noise was keeping me upright. I’m still clutching the packages of strings, the paper envelopes growing damp in my palm. My heart raps a staccato rhythm against my ribs and I realize I’m holding my breath.

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Weekly News

Posted on January 23, 2019 by

Happy Hump Day! It’s a good mid-week day, extra steep for a quick slide into the weekend. I won’t waste any of your sliding time—straight into the news.

I bet this experience meant everything to the divers, but it’s a big ol’ fat no way for me.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/weird/ct-largest-great-white-shark-20190118-story.html

This next story went viral because we all want a cart and a Pringle’s jar of wine.

https://www.wric.com/news/weird-news/police-walmart-bans-woman-who-rode-electric-cart-for-hours-while-drinking-wine-from-pringles-can/1701206905

Last, but not least, a potential breakthrough for cancer. My fingers, toes, and arms are crossed.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190123131706.htm

Go back to sliding. See you back here in seven.

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Weekly News

Posted on January 16, 2019 by

It’s Wednesday once again, and it’s a happy Wednesday. I FINISHED my rewrites. It’s been months of dissection and rewrites, but my second book is now in the hands of my betas.

Ah…

That’s my news this week. I’m sleepy. I can rest a little now, right? See you back here in seven.

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Weekly News

Posted on January 9, 2019 by

Happy New Year! It is the second Wednesday of 2019. A new year and a new chance to get this whole adulting thing somewhat right. Anyone willing to wager on me nailing adulting? Yeah, me either. Oh well, here’s some news.

This first story follows up on the burnt donut truck from last week. Good on you, Krispy Kreme.

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5c2e456be4b08aaf7a974041

I’m just going to leave this next story here.

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5c3649f6e4b070b69ae0612e

Last but not least, science. Really cool science. A mind-blowing potential connection between string theory and black matter has been put out there to reconcile the math of each. The scientist at the end of the story threw a blanket onto the idea of our universe being part of this “bubble” concept, but I’m intrigued.

https://www.livescience.com/64417-universe-sits-on-extradimensional-bubble.html

That’s all for tonight. I’ll see you in seven.

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IWSG and Weekly News

Posted on January 2, 2019 by

InsecureWritersSupportGroup2

It’s time once again for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group. We’re an anxious gaggle of worrying writers, bodies curled over our keyboards, fingers cramping from agitated typing. It’s an image to behold. Don’t allow yourself to miss it.

The fabulous co-hosts today are Patricia Lynne, Lisa Buie-Collard, Kim Lajevardi, andFundy Blue! Yes, one of them is me, and I did call myself fabulous. What can I say?

In place of answering the optional question this month, I’m instead sharing the winners of the anthology contest. Way to go!

IWSG Anthology Contest Winners

Oddly Suited by LG Keltner
Sea of Sorrows by AV Brown
Behind the Catcher’s Mask by Jennifer Lane
A Diver’s Ball by Angela Brown
Fearless Heart by Deborah Solice
The Dark Charade by CD Gallant-King
The Cog Prince by Elizabeth Mueller
Flower of Ronda by Myles Christensen
Remedy by Chelsea Ballard
Charleston Masquerade by Carrie-Anne Brownian 

The top story has the honors of being included in the title. LG Keltner’s story came out on top! The official title of our next anthology – Masquerade: Oddly Suited. Congratulations, LG. (She was also in the top spot for our first anthology, Parallels: Felix Was Here.)

The IWSG Admins spent many hours reading the entries and fourteen were sent to our special judges. We certainly wish to thank them for taking time away from their own work to read the entries:

Elizabeth S. Craig, author
Kelly Van Sant, agent at Red Sofa Literary Agency 
Elana Johnson, author
DL Hammons, Write Club founder
S.A. Larsen, author
Kristin Smith, author
Gwen Gardner, author and previous IWSG anthology winner

That’ll do it for my IWSG post. Time for some news.

*****

 

I love the collective sense of humor our police have. This is just another social media win from the same people who have given us the fabulous lip sync battles. The men and women in blue have won the internet.

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5c2bb132e4b0407e9085b790

This is the second year in a row I’m posting about a Santa gathering. I had no idea Claus World was so happening. Hang ten, guys!

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5c2136e3e4b08aaf7a8b855a

In science this week, a possible secondary reason for one of our planet’s mass extinctions: supernovas slayed our water beasts. Megalodon didn’t stand a chance against radiation. I can’t really say I heart the science of mass extinction, but learning about it helps us know how to protect ourselves in the future. I definitely heart that!

https://www.livescience.com/64286-supernova-killed-megalodon-pliocene-extinction.html

That’s it for me today. See you back here in seven.

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