Watch This Space for News!

Hi, friends. It’s been… well, according to the date of the entry below this one, I haven’t written a new blog post in over a year! Yikes.

As you might have guessed, writing and editing books, and doing lots of freelance writing, while also being an almost full-time mom…doesn’t leave a lot of time for blogging. That’s why I’ve decided to convert this page to a News space, instead. If there’s something exciting happening in my world, or if I’ve got something coming up that you should know about, you’ll find a post about it here!

For example, I’m performing in a dance concert in a week and a half, for choreographer Diane McCarthy and alongside many wonderful friends from my NYC dance community. I was asked to join this project back in May, when another dancer had to step out of the cast, and it has been a blast rehearsing (and getting back into performing shape post-baby!). If you’re local to NYC, I’d love to see your smiling face in the audience! The show is November 9, 10, and 11, and tickets are available HERE.

In other news…today is Halloween! And although this will definitely be a more professional space going forward, I can’t resist sharing a photo of my adorable baby dressed up as Supergirl. I hope your Halloween is similarly super!

~Kathryn

Friday Five: Catching Up After a Few Weeks Off...

You may have noticed there was no Friday Five last week—and no Friday Five the week before that. Mea culpa! Real Life kicked me in the pants. Plus, my husband and I managed to visit both of our families in a 10-day span. That part wasn't so bad. In fact, it leads me right into...

Justin took this picture of me with nephews #3, #4, and #5 piled on my lap! All the snuggles. *heart-eyes*

1) Family time. We have five *adorable* nephews, two on his side of the family and three on mine, and it was a pleasure to see them all over the last two weeks! (The almost-nine-year-old would probably bristle at being called "adorable" on the Internet, but so be it.) Justin and I got to be super-uncle and super-aunt. We took the almost-six-year-old to the Air and Space Museum at Dulles Airport. We (along with my sister, the other super-aunt) shuttled the three-year-old and the almost-two-year-old to a fast-food playspace for lunch and running around, when my sister-in-law needed them out of the house. We played catch and pushed rope swings and watched various guys play on various mobile devices. It was a blast. 

2) When Real Life cuts in and I don't have time to write for a while, I always come back to it intimidated. I feel like maybe I'll have forgotten how to make stories. This is silly, I know. But nonetheless, it was a huge relief to sit down yesterday morning and write a tentative new first chapter for the magical Middle-Grade I'm starting to rewrite. Maybe I haven't forgotten, after all.

3) I've got a few events officially planned to promote HOW IT FEELS TO FLY this summer! Keep an eye on my EVENTS page for more details... 

4) Speaking of HOW IT FEELS TO FLY, there's been some great news on that front. First, I just found out that the book has sold to a French publisher, Hugo & CIE, who will translate it and produce a French edition (sometime within the next 18 months or so). Magnifique! Also, the first reviews are trickling in, and they're positive, which is such a relief. School Library Journal said FLY is "An empowering story for middle and high school readers searching for acceptance from themselves as well as others" and recommended it for summer reading. Yay! 

5) Captain America: Civil War tonight! #TeamCap

What's new with you? 

~Kathryn 

Friday Five: Friends and Rereads...and a Manuscript Milestone

It's time once again for the Friday Five! 

1) It's been Reread Week for me. I powered through two YA favorites, Jandy Nelson's THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE and Heather Demetrios's I'LL MEET YOU THERE, before picking up THE ROYAL WE by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. I devour new-to-me stories, but there's something so lovely about returning to a book you've read before and *know* will do exactly what you need it to do in the moment you pick it up. 

2) On Wednesday, I got to catch up with two friends I haven't seen in far too long. One had a baby five months ago (and so I got some baby snuggles as well!) and the other opened her own dance studio a year ago and has been swallowed up by that. I'm so glad we found time to hang out. Sometimes, it's all about making time—especially when, like me, you're the one that *doesn't* have the amazing excuse for being a recluse...

3) Yesterday, I got to the end of the current draft of my new manuscript! Since finishing the (admittedly abridged) first draft in January, I've added about 28,000 words, reorganized the whole middle, straightened out the emotional arc a bit... Yes, there's still quite a ways to go before it's anything resembling good, but finishing a draft gets it one step closer. :) 

4) I'm planning book launch and promo stuff for HOW IT FEELS TO FLY. Fun fun fun, coming your way in just a couple months! 

5) We booked tickets to visit my family in Tennessee at the end of the month. Can't wait. 

What are you happy about this week? 

~Kathryn 

YAB Bootcamp Update — Awesome Things Edition

I'm home in Brooklyn after my week with family, and it feels great to be back in my routine today. I slept in my own bed, sat at my own desk with coffee brewed in my own coffeepot and drunk out of my own mug, took a lunchtime dance class, and now am at my new favorite post-dance-class cafe. Life is good! And being back to my normal life isn't the only reason life is good. Things have been pretty awesome since I checked in last week.

Awesome thing #1:

I finished my first draft of EVERYTHING'S BEAUTIFUL! I think that means I officially WON Bootcamp. :D I wrote the last chapter on Wednesday morning, at which point I did a happy dance in my sister's apartment. (Her cat was not amused at my antics…) I haven't looked at the manuscript since, and that's on purpose. I'm taking a break from this book for a few weeks so that when I am ready to revise, I'll be approaching it with fresh eyes. But it's perfect timing for me to be on a writing break because of...

Awesome thing #2:

I received my galley pages for THE DISTANCE BETWEEN LOST AND FOUND! I can't express how amazing it is to see my book laid out like a *real book,* with a font and chapter headings and section divisions and, you know, all the things actual books have. It looks so different than the Times New Roman MS Word doc I've been staring at for so long! Anyway, I have the next week and a half to scan the pages for errors, and knowing me I'll need to do more than one thorough read to feel at ease about sending the book to the printer, so… as I said, good thing I finished the new book's first draft last week.

Awesome thing #3:

Or, if I'm being honest, awesome things #3, 4, 5, and 6: my fabulous nephews. As happy as I am to be home now, it was wonderful spending the week with all of my boys. (Plus the rest of my family: my parents, my brother and sister-in-law, my sister, my husband's parents, his sister and brother-in-law, and even brother-in-law's parents! Whew.) Here's just a little taste of what I was up to over the past week: snuggles, block towers, baby pools, baths, runny noses, dirty diapers, pajamas, picture books, storytime at the library, train sets, Legos, Spongebob Squarepants, Nintendo, laser tag, chicken fingers, sticky fruit bits (and sticky fingers!), cheese pizza, birthday cake, and the list goes on and on. I'll take my award for Super Aunt now, thanks. :)

So as Bootcamp winds down, I'm pretty much done with my writing goals. These three months have been a kick in the pants and a great morale booster. I've gotten so much done! Thanks to all of the YA Buccaneers—and everyone who participated in the Bootcamp—for giving me the encouragement I needed to push through. And here's one more shout-out to my splendiferous teammates: Winter Bayne, Riley Darkes, Emma L. Adams, Kate Scott, Angel Leigh, and Tonette de la Luna! I look forward to seeing what all of you accomplish in the future! Go Team Mazama!

~Kathryn

YAB Bootcamp Check-In, Tennessee Edition

Hello, fellow Bootcampers! Just a quick note from Nashville, where I am going to spend the week doing a little writing and a little freelance work, and much more of this:

Last week I hammered out some serious words on my WIP, and as of today I am approximately 2 1/2 chapters from the end! So… depending on the nephews' naptimes, I might even make it there this week. We shall see. Regardless, I am racing toward the finish line of this first draft. I passed 60K last week, and I know what the last two chapters need to be, so it's just a matter of writing them. Then I can officially say I have written THREE books, which is pretty darn cool!

That's all for now. More updates (and baby/toddler pictures?) to follow...

~Kathryn

YA Buccaneers Spring Writing Bootcamp: Week Six Check-In

It's the YAB Bootcamp halfway point! If I'd had one big goal for the three months, I'd be excited to see if I was halfway there. Since I didn't start with one overarching goal, all I have to report is that I met last week's goal: to finish my WIP synopsis and send it to my agent. I have also started changing the rest of the existing draft from 3rd to 1st person. So what's next? I checked my stats in Scrivener this morning and discovered that I have approximately 49,000 words of this rough first draft. That's actually about three-quarters of a manuscript! However, since most of it was written in 3rd person, and before I changed the role of a major character, I have to do some serious revising before I have a draft that's even remotely ready to show to beta readers. What I would LOVE to be able to do is finish the rough draft by the end of the Bootcamp—i.e. by the end of May. Given that that's six weeks away, and I have a mix of revising and new-drafting on my plate, I think it's doable...

Except for the tiny issue of how crazy the month of May will be for me. The first weekend in May, I'm going to the New England SCBWI conference with my friend Ghenet. Then I'll be back in NYC for a few days, only to fly to Nashville the following weekend. I'll be in Nashville for a week, and while I want to work (actually, I'll need to work at least a little) while there, I'll also be getting in some much-needed family time. My brother and sister-in-law are expecting their second child, and I'm hoping to be there when he arrives! And of course, I want to spend as much time as possible with my adorable nephew Turner, who is about to become a big brother. But back to travels: from Nashville, I'm flying to the DC area for a weekend with my husband's family. We'll be attending birthday parties for both of our nephews on his side—the seven-year-old's on Saturday and the four-year-old's on Sunday. Then it's good old Amtrak back up to NYC for a week at home in Brooklyn, followed by a road trip to Massachusetts over Memorial Day weekend for a dear friend's wedding.

Basically, by the time June 1 rolls around, I'm going to be ready to collapse. So much revelry! So many trips, and different modes of transportation! Will I have time to crank out the rest of a first draft? That remains to be seen.

I'm not going to be too hard on myself if I don't make it. All of these trips are for good reasons, and they all involve activities and people and events that are just as important as word count—especially since Justin and I don't get to see our families as often as we'd like. That said, I'm going to work toward a May 31 goal! Each week, I'll share my progress toward the finish line, whether that's word count or chapters revised.

How's everyone else doing with writing goals and such? Go Team Mazama!

The fabulous YA Bucklers are: Kate Scott, Emma L. Adams, Winter Bayne, Riley Darkes, Angel Leigh, and Tonette de la Luna! Visit their blogs or follow them on Twitter to see other writers in action. And if you're new to this bootcamp business, learn more at the YA Buccaneers' website!

~Kathryn

Welcome to 2014!

Happy Monday, and (belatedly) Happy 2014! Justin and I got back from Israel a few days ago, and I'm starting to get over the jet lag and get back in the swing of real life. This week, I'm officially diving back in—to my regular workload, to dance classes, and to writing. Yup—now that I've finished my revisions on THE DISTANCE BETWEEN LOST AND FOUND and the book has gone to copyedit, it's time to jump back into my next manuscript! I'm a little nervous, like I am each time I haven't first-drafted in a while, but I'm also excited. I woke up yesterday morning thinking about an important scene and wanting to jot down notes to myself. I can't wait until I hit that point where it's all I can do to get the words down fast enough! (I hope I get to that point soon!) So here goes…with updates to come, I'm sure.

In the meantime, I wanted to share some of our photos from Israel! We took SO MANY, so this is just a sampling, but I think it captures many of the amazing things we saw. We spent one night in Caesarea, where we saw the ruins of Herod the Great's seaside palace and city; three nights in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee, where during the daytime we toured all over northern Israel—Megiddo, Zippori, Capernaum, Dan, Beit She'an, and many more; one night at the Dead Sea, with stops at Qumran, Ein Gedi, and Masada; and four nights in Jerusalem, where we toured all over the city as well as crossing the border into Bethlehem, in the West Bank. We saw so many Canaanite and Israelite and Greek and Roman and Byzantine and Crusader ruins with so much historical significance that it was hard to process how amazing it all was after a while. We climbed rolling green hills and drove through harsh deserts and floated in one of the saltiest bodies of water on earth. We ate so much hummus and falafel and shawarma and shaksuka (a new favorite: eggs poached in a rich tomato sauce). We ate so much delicious dessert—guilt-free, because of all the walking up and down hills. And we were introduced to Turkish coffee, which is wonderful and strong, basically French press without the press.

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic trip, and we hope to get to go back at some point in the future! Click past the jump to see the highlights (and if you're not a "look at other people's travel photos" person, feel free to come back later in the week when I blog about something else!).

Still with me? Not feeling like I'm that family member who always wants to show you a slideshow of old vacation photos on an actual slide projector? Good! Because I honestly didn't mean for this post to get this long, but I wanted to share some of the adventures we had. I promise, next week, I'll talk lots about writing, writing, writing. Or something.

So Happy New Year, again! Here's to a 2014 full of excitement, adventure, momentum, and joy.

~Kathryn

Looking Back at 2013...

As you're reading this (if all goes well with the scheduled autoposting on Wordpress…), my husband and I are touring around Israel! This amazing trip, which I'm sure you'll hear all about on the blog in a few weeks, was my parents' wedding gift to us, and we're finally able to go (we just had our two-year anniversary in November). An adventure like this feels like a fitting way to end what turned out to be a pretty great year! 2013 had its ups and downs, for sure, but the ups were, well, very up. :)

• I started this blog! I'd been wanting to blog for years, and hadn't gotten around to it. Now, with almost a full year of blogging under my belt, I'm so glad I took the plunge.
• My newest nephew was born! He's almost a year old now, and he is a delight. You can see some pictures of him HERE and HERE.
• I signed with a fabulous literary agent! This was the culmination of several years of blood, sweat, and tears, and when it finally happened, I was over the moon. Of course, that was only the first step along a journey that included...
• Selling my debut novel to HarperCollins! And I thought signing with an agent felt good. 2015, when my book is slated to be released, can't get here soon enough.
• I attended my first writer's conference, SCBWI LA! It was fabulous to meet more kidlit writers, as well as to hear some true legends in our field speak. Also, my husband and I took a fun vacation in California when the conference was done.
• I revised my book. And revised it. And revised it again. That might sound frustrating, and at times it was! But my editor pushed me to make the book the best it can be, and it has become something I'm so proud to send out into the world.
• I had a dance performance that was fun and challenging and really well received by our audience—all you can ask for, really!
• I joined the Fearless Fifteeners and the YA Buccaneers!

My word for 2013 was PATIENCE, and I couldn't have chosen a better one—because even as I'm working to be more patient with myself, I've seen my patience pay off in some big ways. And I'm not just talking about the book deal, though that's the obvious one. I've also, in the past few weeks, finally hit some of those yoga milestones I've been chasing. Remember when I posted about trying to be patient as I worked toward arm balances? I now have Crow Pose and Headstand in my bag of tricks! Am I perfectly stable in those poses every single time I attempt them? No. But after spending a year building toward being able to do them consistently, I know that with patience, I'll get there. Oh, and here's the photo evidence of a year's work:

A few other random blog-related stats from 2013:

• My most popular post ever is, to the surprise of probably no one, the post in which I announced my book deal (see link above)!
• My second most popular post, to my great surprise, is… *drumroll* THIS ONE: my thoughts on Lauren Oliver's Delirium series. This is the Energizer Bunny of blog posts! Just in the past week, it surpassed my agent announcement post, my "About Me" page, and a few other key pages in number of views. So, Lauren Oliver fans who keep finding their way to me: Welcome! Look around. Stay awhile.
• I reviewed about 50 books on the blog this year, and you can scroll through those posts using the Friday Reads tag. You can see my top 10 out of all of the books I read this year HERE. I'm going to continue reviewing books on the blog in 2014, though I probably won't be as formal with my Friday Reads posts… so keep an eye out!
• I have 83 blog followers—not too shabby for my first year! I'm happy so many of you are interested in what I have to say.

So I guess all that's left to say is, thanks for a great 2013, and here's hoping that 2014 brings even more good times and good news! Happy New Year, everyone!!

~Kathryn

The December Check-In

Um, y'all? It's December already! I'm not quite sure how that happened. The most wonderful (and busiest) time of the year seems to have snuck up on me! I blame the book revisions. I just got back from seeing my family for Thanksgiving, where I ate too much and sat around too much and didn't do much work. What did I do? As we say in the south, I "visited." Because where I'm from, "visiting" isn't just the act of traveling to someone's home. It's the sitting and chatting part, as well. It's the catching up on everything you've missed in each other's lives and sharing coffee or sweet tea and dessert. I.e., "Sit and visit with me for a while." I was able to see my entire family while I was there, including my almost 11-month-old nephew, who is a hoot and a half:

It's such a pleasure to get to see my parents, my sister, and my brother and sister-in-law and nephew all at the same time. That doesn't happen nearly often enough (though thanks to the late Thanksgiving, it will happen again in just a few weeks at Christmas!).

But now I'm back in Brooklyn and back to the grind. My book revision is due on Monday, so I am chugging away, putting the finishing touches on the draft. I've made all of the big changes at this point and am rereading and finessing a few sticky spots. I'm starting to reach that "oh no, almost time to turn it in, it has to be perfect!" anxiety point, but I'm forging ahead. Things that help: my supportive husband, my wonderful family, and my amazing friends—with whom I'm having not one, but two Write Nights this week to make sure I'm ahead of the game.

A bit of blog business—we're about to hit the one year mark! I know, right? Who'da thunk? So for the rest of this month, you'll see some Year in Review–type things. I want to look back at the books I've read, as well as at all of the amazing things that have happened this year. I'll take a look at my most popular posts, as well (including one surprising post from earlier this year that just keeps going and going and going…).

And stay tuned for a fun announcement next week!

In the meantime, hope everyone's staying warm out there. Thanks, as always, for reading!

~Kathryn

Slideshow Time! (Or, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation")

Putting this out there up front: If you're not the "look at pictures other people took of their travels" type, you might want to skip today's post. But I wanted to share some pictures from the second half of my California trip—the vacation part! So here goes.

At the end of the SCBWI Los Angeles conference (recap HERE), my husband flew out to join me. He grabbed a rental car, picked me up at the Hyatt, and we set out on the road. After a stop for dinner in Santa Barbara, we spent the night in San Luis Obispo. The next morning, we drove up to the magnificent Hearst Castle, which is in San Simeon. It was so cool to see how one of the richest men in the country in his time, William Randolph Hearst, created this amazing home—even more amazing considering that Hearst thought of this space as his casual getaway. He actually called it "The Ranch," because it was built on land he used to camp on with his family when it was completely undeveloped coastal mountain country. One of the coolest things about the whole complex is how he worked with the architect to bring together so many different historical styles and artifacts. The place is a museum, filled with centuries-old art and architectural features from all over the world.

On our way back to San Luis Obispo, we stopped in the town of Harmony—we were intrigued by the sign that proudly proclaimed "Population: 18." We also stopped to walk around a few different beach areas. Depending on where we were, the day went from sunny to overcast pretty quickly, but we had to get our feet in the Pacific despite the chill!

Tuesday was road trip day. We wanted to drive Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, from San Luis Obispo all the way to San Francisco. We'd heard that Highway 1 is one of the most beautiful drives in the country, and we didn't want to miss it—especially since we had the luxury of having an entire day to do the drive. We saw elephant seals lounging on the beach at San Simeon. We slowed for hairpin turns where the edge of the road was a cliff dropping down to the waves crashing against the rocks in Big Sur. We mingled with (fellow) tourists and ate fried calamari on the boardwalk in Monterey. We drove past farmland and vegetable stands around Monterey Bay, cut through Santa Cruz, and hit Half Moon Bay just as we were starting to get hungry for dinner. We dropped our car off at San Francisco International Airport, hopped a shared van into the city (one of the trip's few frustrating moments), checked into our hotel, and met my friend Caitlin for dinner. All in all, a pretty fabulous day.

Wednesday was our first full day in San Francisco, and we made the most of it! We were the ultimate tourists, renting a GoCar (thanks for the recommendation, Ghenet!) to putter around the city streets. Our GoCar (basically a tiny go-kart-like vehicle that had GPS and gave us a guided tour as Justin drove) took us through the Marina district, up to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge, through the Presidio, down Lombard Street, which is known for being one of the most crooked streets in the country, through Chinatown, and into the bustling Union Square district. We went back to Chinatown for lunch, then went to Market Street and rode one of the famed San Francisco Cable Cars to Ghirardelli Square for some well-earned chocolate milkshakes. Finally, we had dinner with Caitlin and her awesome boyfriend, Brendan.

Bored yet? I hope not, because here come the redwoods! On Thursday, we borrowed Caitlin's car to head to Muir Woods, one of the state's redwood forests. These trees were nothing short of breathtaking. We got there at 8:30 in the morning, before the tourist rush hit, and the woods were so quiet and secluded. Aside from worrying about poison oak, Justin and I loved walking those trails. Then we got back in the car to drive up to Sonoma to experience a little bit of wine country. We had a great afternoon, one of the warmest of our entire trip, driving around and enjoying the sunshine. We tasted some wine, ate some delicious food, and made it back to the city before dinnertime. Dinner was In N Out Burgers, which we felt we couldn't head back to the east coast without trying.

FINALLY, on Friday, our last day, we took a boat cruise around the San Francisco Bay, including around Alcatraz Island and under the Golden Gate Bridge. Then we walked to the Ferry Building (Chelsea Market with more natural light?) for lunch, walked down Market Street, took a vintage trolley car back to Fisherman's Wharf, played with vintage coin-operated games and automatons at the Musée Mechanique, and tried authentic Irish coffees. After delicious Mexican food in The Mission neighborhood with Caitlin and Brendan and a stop in Dolores Park (which I was STOKED to see because of Lola and Cricket from Stephanie Perkins' book LOLA AND THE BOY NEXT DOOR), it was off to the airport.

Such an awesome trip! We saw a lot, but I still felt rested and ready to tackle the "real world" when we got back. Once we recovered from our red-eye, that is...

Thanks for sticking with this travel/photo-heavy post! Next week, I'll be back to my regular blog shenanigans—some writing on writing, some writing on books, etc.

~Kathryn

Happy Six-Month Blog Birthday to Me!

July is here! That means it's really hot outside, and I pretty much start sweating the moment I step outside. But that's not all it means. My blog is officially six months old! It's rolling over. It's grabbing its toes. It eats solid foods sometimes. It's smiling and giggling and ... enough with the baby metaphor. Basically, I feel like I've met my first big blog milestone. I started in January with great intentions, and making it to July feels like I've actually done what I set out to do. Yay me! Ha. :)

I've had a crazy busy few weeks, and I don't really expect things to slow down over the next couple of months. I'll be getting my first editorial letter sometime soon, so I'll be back to revising THE CREATION OF HALLELUJAH CALHOUN. I'm finishing up some freelance projects I was assigned before the book deal fell into place. I'm rehearsing for my performance with Becky Radway Dance Projects in October. It's all good stuff, and I'm excited about all of it, but that doesn't mean I won't cherish every bit of downtime I can find.

Starting with this coming holiday weekend. Justin and I are flying to Nashville tomorrow night to see my family (including my ADORABLE nephew, who is also turning six months old this month!). We plan to relax, soak up some southern sunshine, and eat lots and lots of delicious southern food. We also have a few awesome things to celebrate: my mom's birthday, my brother having completed his first year of medical residency, my sister's teaching contract being renewed, and of course, my book deal. Some things don't feel official until you celebrate them with family and friends, and I can't wait to see everyone.

Because of the long weekend—and thus the short work-week this week—I'm keeping today's post short. But I couldn't let the start of July slip by without mention! Thanks to all of you who've been reading from the beginning, and to those of you I've picked up along the way. It's nice to feel like there are some people out there who are interested in my ramblings! I hope the second half of the year just keeps getting better and better.

Happy 4th of July! Hope you have all the fireworks and barbecue (or peace and quiet and rest) you're dreaming of. :)

~Kathryn

Family Time and Travels

You may have noticed that I was supposed to post yesterday, and didn't. Or, more likely, you have no idea when I plan to post and simply come here whenever I share a post on Facebook or Twitter. Regardless, this week, Wednesday is the new Tuesday! Justin and I spent the weekend in Tennessee with my family. The main reason we went was to meet our new nephew. He didn't disappoint! I dare you to tell me this isn't the absolute cutest five-week-old you've ever seen:

Unlike our last visit to Nashville over Christmas, when we saw a movie and did a few touristy things and ate at every delicious restaurant in the city in just six days, this trip was completely calm and quiet. We mostly got up, watched some TV, got dressed, and went to my brother and sister-in-law's house to hang out with baby Turner. Where he mostly did this:

We also got to give him a bath, whereupon he made possibly my favorite face ever:

Except for the time he made this face:

In short, it was a lovely weekend, and I got my baby-cuddling fix, and I'm bummed that we can't see Turner (and the rest of my family) more often. One of the few things I dislike about living in Brooklyn is how far away my family is (and how expensive plane tickets are!!). But thanks to the wonders of modern technology, we've already video-chatted with Turner a few times. Hopefully he'll eventually start to recognize his Aunt Kat and Uncle Justin, despite our distance.

Yesterday, back at home, it was back to work as usual. Not only do I have some freelance deadlines to meet this week, I'm hoping to finish revising my novel within the next month. I've heard back from all of my brilliant beta readers and they've given me a lot to chew on. Now I just have to implement those changes! I'm really happy with how this book is turning out, and it's a relief to know that other people have enjoyed it, too. I'm confident that if I dig in, I can make it the best it can be.

And maybe by the time Turner is a teenager, it will have been published. :p

Now, back to it. See you on Friday!

~Kathryn