Hello ,

On day of fall weather and now we're back to humid, horrible swamp weather. Whose idea was it to build the capitol on a swamp? I'd like to go back in time and give them my thoughts. Although, wearing all those layers in this heat would probably kill me. No wonder women fainted all the time...

Summer You Are So Harsh

Under tree in pensive stance,

summer day no hot romance,

just a bleak and coarse advance

to sweaty, drenched discomfort;

while even birds are hunched in shade,

panting beaks and eyes all glazed,

waiting for the evening....

By Tony DeLorger

Thought that poem stated it better than I could...

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Book Cover Reveal!

I've probably been teasing the new book cover for Stepping Across the Desert for about two months, and I am sorry about that! But now it's here! The ebook is finished and uploaded and the print is almost there!

What do you think?

At seventeen, her father’s vengeful mistress kidnapped Rowena and sold her as a slave. Now her new owner could be her ticket home. 

Algeria, 1832. Rowena has lived for five years as Fatia the slave when her master presents her to an English businessman as a gift. Though the journey back to European soil is dangerous, she seizes this chance to escape her fate and go home to England.

Christophe Sutton wants nothing to do with a female slave, but he can’t leave her behind. At first he feels duty-bound to take care of her, but soon discovers his feelings growing deeper. Unwilling to trust even an Englishman, Rowena disappears after reaching Spanish soil, to find her own way home.

In London, her father has become a baron, catapulting Rowena into high society upon her return, where prejudice abounds and status has more importance than gold. As rumors and lies threaten Rowena’s future, Christophe appears one night, wanting answers. 

Will the truth be enough to find true love, or will it ruin her chances before they even begin?

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As for Coffee Stains, I have finished my development editing of it and it is now being read by beta readers ...again.

The last few weeks I grappled with whether or not I should change quite a bit of the book. If you change one thing, many times you have to change MANY things. Whether it be plot or description or character. Changing one point feels overwhelming because it can (and usually does) turn into a whole ORDEAL.

And it did with this book. But the wonderful lesson I learned was that a book can become better with a little more feedback. You see, after complaining about some feedback I received, a few women in the Creative Writing Community started reading my book. Their feedback was specific and honest. And since I trust them, and know that it isn't easy to be HONEST sometimes, I took their words to heart and rewrote parts of the first two chapters. And guess what? They LOVED the changes. Which convinced me to go on with the rest of the book and make it better.

I could have published it as it was and it would be 'just fine'. But instead I grabbed a hold of the opportunity to make it more than 'fine', set aside what I really wanted to do (write another story) and got to work.

And now that it's done I'm so glad I did it. Because in the end, I want my book be the best that it can be for you, the reader. Because you are why I'm writing it!

Now on to working on some short stories....

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Until next time,

Kat

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