Gone home to Scotland

It is with great sadness that I must announce the passing of my sister, Mary Duncan. After a long fight with multiple myeloma, Mary succumbed on August 5th. She was in no pain when she finally left us, and that is my only consolation. Mary's husband, Dan, passed two months before her, and now they are together in the afterlife, roaming the hills and mountains of Scotland.

Her books will still be available on Amazon.com. I have toyed with the notion of trying to finish the sequel to Despite Them, but I'm not sure I have it in me to do that, at least not for a while. I guess like everything else, it will take time if I do attempt it. I'm not sure I could do it justice but who knows, maybe Mary herself will inspire me somehow.

Thank you to all of you who supported Mary by buying her books and passing the word to your friends and family.

Cathy Emmons
gemmons@comcast.net

Spring Tune-Up

I just got out of the hospital for my spring tune-up, fluid level change and all around maintenance on this old body. Just like a fine automobile (I like to think of myself as a late 50's Jag or Corvette), some kind of loving conditioning must be performed or things won't run correctly. 'Course, things haven't run correctly for some time, so a little extra must be done to get me back up to par. I'm getting there slowly but surely. I will be starting another round of chemo for my leukemia to keep it at bay. Not really looking forward to it, but the consequences are worse than not doing it all.

Thanks for all your prayers, cards and phone calls.

As for my writing, it's slow. Some days it's too much to get to my computer, but I'm always thinking about it. Now that Despite Them has been out for a few months, I would love to get some reviews from you all. This can be posted on Amazon or Barnes and Noble via the following links.

Despite Them Amazon paperback

Despite Them Amazon Kindle version

Despite Them Barnes and Noble paperback

Around town, the snow is all but gone and the grass is waking from its winter slumber. Daffodils are poking up from the earth and the treats of warm days are scented with the soil I long to get my hands into. Happy Spring!

Indie Author

I was reading J.A. Konrath's take on his sales on Kindle. He outsells James Patterson by being priced extremely low ($2.99), but he's also a traditionally published author. He says that doesn't matter; that it's all about price.

As an Indie Author (one who isn't traditionally published), it's harder to get your name out there. However, if an Indie Author floods the market with books, one would think it would just be a matter of time before someone catches on and says, well, she's out there with all these books, perhaps she's worth a read.

Do you agree?

Course J.A. Konrath doesn't spend 2 years or more doing research on a story like I do. He just puts his twisted mind out there and gets it done in a few months.

The question should be, who am I writing for? It's like when I used to paint and sell my work at outdoor art shows. I did it for me, for my creative side which doesn't ever stop, but I also enjoyed sharing my visions on canvas with others.

I can say one thing for certain. I may only have a small fan base, but you guys are the best! I know most of you tell others about my books and pass them along to your friends. Word of mouth is powerful stuff! And slowly it's working. Thank you all!

And I do so enjoy readers who tell me they felt like my characters were friends of theirs and want to know more about them. That's how I feel. They get into your heart and you actually care about what happens to them. Then again, I have no compunction in killing them off either...

Anyway, now that all my books are up on Kindle and in paperback form, I can finally get on with doing what I truly enjoy. Writing a new book. I've already begun the next Macgregor tale, and have also begun putting my thoughts on paper about my illness. This must be how James Patterson feels! He usually has about 20 books in progress at the same time. Who says I can't play with the big boys?

I'm Back

Sorry I've out of touch for so long. My back has been trying my resolve for the past two months and is just getting back to some semblance of painlessness.

Anyway, while I've been recouping, I've been tossing around an idea for a new book. This one would be a story of what I've been through for the last year fighting to rebuild my body and life. I'd write it as a fiction, but with the facts of my journey.

What do you think? It may be cathartic for me to get it all out of myself emotionally and mentally, but I'm not sure how people would react to it. Or should that matter?

Give me your feedback.

Onto other matters.

I'm nearly done with Double Vision being reformatted for CreateSpace, the Amazon company who is publishing my books now that I fired my old publisher for non-payment. If you've been having a hard time finding the Eyes of Garnet trilogy online, fear not, they'll be up shortly.

And what about this weather? We're bracing for yet another blockbuster snowstorm this week. The Weather Channel is running out of adjectives to describe how bad it will be. They're on "colossal" now. How much worse can it get? And what if this becomes the norm? I do enjoy watching the videos clips on the crazy people trying to get to work on icy roads at the same speed they think they do when it's dry. Twisted, I know.

Let me know about my idea for a new book. Yay or nay?

A Holiday Feast

We spent Christmas at home, but not without friends to share the day. We planned a fish-fest. When in Maine…

The menu consisted of champagne, and appetizers of scallops, pesto and Gruyère cheese in phyllo cups served hot out of the oven. After that, we sat down to a cup of homemade lobster bisque with puff pastry croutons. So good!

The main meal was baked stuffed haddock with crab and scallop stuffing, rosemary-roasted Yukon gold potatoes, and a corn, sundried tomato and onion sauté, along with more champagne.

And for desert, a Grand Marnier dark chocolate mouse with homemade whipped cream, orange zest and dark chocolate drops on top.

My husband also found a new pleasure; coffee-nog. I'm sure you can guess the recipe.

I hope you all had a happy day and wish you all the best for the New Year.

ps - as you can see from the photo above, the crows ate well also!

Time Travel

I often get ideas for my writing from my dreams and last night was no exception. However, this one I'm going to need some feedback on.

In my dream Gregor Macgregor time travelled to this century and became a rock star! He looked a bit like Slash from Guns and Roses.



I woke up laughing, but then thought, huh, I wonder…

Let me know what you think about sending Gregor on a trip!

Bah, Humbug!

I'm writing this as I wait patiently for the tech person to pick up the line to hopefully guide me to the reason this wonderfully technological devise isn't working. It's a digital photo frame and, of course, it won't repeat the slideshow when it reaches the end. I'm the first to tell you how much I enjoy technology, but when it doesn't work correctly… well let's just say the idea of tossing it out the window is very appealing!

Oops, here's the tech.

Great! After being put on hold several times to try and figure out the problem, she told me it's defective and it should be returned! It's a Christmas gift and there's no way this will all get done in the 10 days we have left. Crap!

So I hang up the phone and try it one more time before giving up. When I turned it on again, I noticed there was a couple photos still showing up that I had removed a little while ago. How can that happen?

It was like a hand slapping to my head. I have to empty the trash or the memory card still thinks the photos are in there. When I did that, it worked perfectly. Yay!

Moral of the story: keeping trying until every possible outlet has been used.

That, and in my case, always allow for operator error!