Hello You Gorgeous Thing, You!

Well, five weeks, 7254 air miles, 1602 car miles, 7.5 hotdogs, 0 words written and several measly attempts at blogging later – I AM BACK!


Oh, how I’ve missed this shiny, colorful, pink-checkered place!


Vacation highlights:

Phew! Needless to say, I had an absolute blast this vacation. More details to come, of course.  

I’ve missed you all and can’t wait to catch up! Did I miss anything big these last few weeks?  How have your summer months been so far? 

Writer on Vacation

True. Sometimes writers have a hard time turning their brains off. Especially when they’re in the middle of a project. Anything they see or hear could be used to change, better, or elaborate the story that’s continuously playing out in their heads until they can get it down in writing.


In my case, however, I think I’ve been purposely avoiding my wip like it has rabies. Sure, I have TONS of excuses. I’m on vacation. Haven’t seen my family in a long time. Had a birthday last weekend. (Oh yes. I’m thirty now. Joy:) And then there was the 4th of July festivities and all that goes with it.


But now that things have finally settled down a little, I keep finding less and less reasons to avoid opening up that document. The weather outside is too hot to enjoy. Parents and kids are returning to their normal routines. I’m finding myself with a lot of ‘downtime’, which I was sort of expecting (this is vacation, after all) but had kind of hoped would be filled with easier, less painful activities.


It’s not that I don’t like my current project. In fact, I really like it. It’s wondering if I’m going to open that document and suddenly…well, not like it so much.


The thing is, I don’t usually take three week breaks when I’m in the middle of something. First drafts are spewed out in a couple of months, writing almost none-stop in some shape or form and that’s always worked well for me. Now I’m worrying if the time away will make me re-question everything I’ve written. I feel kind of like Shaggy from Scooby Doo (zoiks!) – never wanting to enter the haunted house because I’m not sure if it’s a real monster terrorizing local inhabitants. Or just the owner dressing up as a monster to scare local inhabitants. Um, now that I think about it, I'm not even sure which one is the better scenario in my case…or if that analogy even makes sense. Oh well:)


What has you avoiding your current projects? And what inevitably pulls you back in?

At 'The Art of Infiltration'

I hope everyone had a fantastic 4th of July. I know it was a trip to spend it back over in the U.S. for the first time in years and with my whole family back together to boot. I know I don't usually post on Thursdays but I just wanted to poke my head in to let you guys know I'm over at The Art of Infilitration where Kimberly Gabriel invited me to do one of the best interviews I ever done did. (Yes. This is how I talk now. Thank you South Carolina:)

Hope to see you there!

What Does it Mean to Be an American?

Okay, wow. The title of today's post is way too philosophical for this early in the morning. But it's one of the things that occured to me as the plane was touching down in NYC Saturday night.

I wasn't sure when I was going to be be able to blog again. Between the jet lag and the traveling from place to place, I haven't even had much time to think, nevermind come up with witty observations.

First of all, I'm writing this post without spell check which is kind of like standing on a podium with my clothes off. Most of you post early in the morning and, for that, I salute you.  Living in France, I had the advantage of taking most of the morning and early afternoon to come up with a blogpost and write it out so that it posted at 7 or 8am US time. Everything was on the fly. Not so easy now that blogtime is six hours earlier. I tried writing something out last night but I couldn't come up with a damn thing. I guess I've become too dependant on improv, if that's even possible.

In any case, we're all doing well. In vacation's past, whenever I came home to the US, I almost felt like I had split personality disorder. One half of me was French. When I'm in France, I speak a different language, have different mannerisms and a different humor. The French Katie would be sitting in a chair, pouting out her bottom lip and wondering why these silly Americans eat standing up so much.  The American in me would tell French Katie to 'shut up and go grab a hot dog off the grill'.

Now, the two of us seem to have settled down into one person. Maybe it's age, or time but I find I can understand, identify, and accept the good and the bad both countries and cultures have to offer and it's definitlely made our arrival back in the family fold that much more peaceful.

I hope you all are having a fantastic week! Have you ever had a cultural clash moment while traveling or meeting people from a different country (or a different region of the US, even!)?

FMFB- I'll See You On the Other Side!

Good Morning everybody and welcome to this week's Friday Morning Follower’s Bloffee! Looks like summer has finally arrived! The weather in France is glorious and I've been seeing loads of comments about the heat in various parts of the U.S. the last few days. I hope the sunny days last throughout the next five weeks!

So, for any newbies - all you have to do to participate in bloffee is:

1. Comment. 2. Tell us what you’ve brought for breakfast. ( I'll be serving up some virtual pancakes with maple syrup)  3. Find someone in the comments section you don’t recognize and check out their blog. Voila! An instant friend and potential follower connection has been made.

My blogposts over the next few weeks will probably be sporadic and all over the place since, well, I’m going to be all over the place.

We arrive in New York. My parents are picking us up and whisking us away to Richmond, Virginia where we’ll stay with one of my favorite aunts for a couple days before finishing the trip down to South Carolina.

Three weeks in SC before we travel back up the coast, staying with my sister in North Carolina for a few days, again in Virginia and then ten days in good ol’ Connecticut (where I grew up).

Lots of traveling and long car trips (but I honestly miss that. It feels like summer.) In France, it only takes about six-eight hours to cross the country by car, going the long way. This has kind of shrunk the French’s perception of space and time. Basically, if anything is over 30 minutes away, the French say it’s in ‘China’ and won’t travel there without some prodding.

As much as I love the East Coast, someday I dream of visiting other states like California, Colorado, and Louisiana. Or Quebec City! In any case, I can’t wait to see the U S of A again. I hope you guys have a fantastic weekend! Next time I write, it will be from the other side of the ocean!

Is there a state you’ve always dreamt of visiting but never got around to it? Any big summer plans?  

That Is the Question

So, the question about whether or not an author should self-publish has been beaten to a bloody gurgling pulp.  And the general consensus is, there is no right answer. There’s only what’s right for you. (I know.  About as helpful as a wet fish in the face. But it's true.)

For me, when I walk into a book store, I just know. –I want to see my book in there so bad it hurts. I want to see it in windows and on shelves. I live in France so I’d like to have foreign rights sold and see it over here too.

In short, I want a traditional publishing contract.

Which means I might remain the Creepy Query Girl for years to come before being bumped up to Creepy Client status.

And I’m okay with that.

That said, I’m not closed to self-publishing.

In fact, I already have a project I’m thinking about putting out there. Why? Because I know I’ll never stop writing and living new adventures. It’s become a part of who I am and I don't feel like myself if I'm not working on something. I guess, my take is- even if a book wasn’t picked up by an agent, if I still believe it’s a worthy read that people will enjoy, why not share it?  Why hole it up on my hard drive forever, hidden from the world?

If it’s not ‘the book’ that will get me a traditional publishing contract, it can still be ‘a book’ that touches readers regardless.

I don’t think we need to pick one over the other.  But maybe that’s just me.

What about you guys? Do you think a line has been drawn between self published vs traditional published? If you’re thinking of self-pubbing, what’s the biggest obstacle for you? (I think we’re all well aware of the obstacles faced when you want to traditionally publish:)

Tell the World I'm Comin' Home

Mothers don’t get a lot of ‘true’ vacations. I mean, even if you and the fam take off to an island paradise, or to the top of the mountains, Moms still find themselves doing laundry, folding clothes, preparing or organizing mealtimes, cleaning up and taking care of the kids. (aka -work = opposite of vacation)

There’s no drinking Mojitos on the beach when you’re too busy worrying one of your kids is getting sunburned. Or putting sand up their noses. Or is playing too close to the water, or are at risk of drowning, or being targeted by sharks, kidnapped by pirates, etc

Anyways, I did have a point, here, somewhere…Oh yes.

This Saturday, we will be flying back to the United States for a FIVE WEEK vacation! Unfortunately, the hubs didn’t get enough time off to accompany us so it’s just me and the girls (ages 4,6, and 8)…traveling on a plane…for eight hours.

Needless to say, I’m a little nervous about being the sole parent during this adventure.

But I’m also really excited. My kids haven’t seen the United States in three years and their English could definitely use the exposure. Not to mention, it will be great to see them with my parents again.

But the biggest reason I’m looking forward to THIS vacation?

*leans in for a conspiratory whisper*

Something strange and magical happens whenever I stay with my parents on vacation. I always try to help out and do my part, you see. But sometimes, when I go to do laundry, I realize it’s already done.

Sometimes food replenishes itself when I didn’t even go shopping!

People ask me what I want for dinner or tell me what we’re having! (I’m pretty sure every time this happens one wrinkle magically dissipates from my face and turns into a beaming fairy of light. This is how fairies are really born, you see. Try telling a mother that dinner is already taken care of and watch the magic unfold for yourself.)

It’s really a beautiful thing to see. Funny, the only time I get a ‘true’ vacation is when I go stay with my parents. But I will never be too old or proud to refuse reverting back to semi-kidhood in exchange for a little TLCJ

What are your vacation plans this summer? What was the best ‘true’ vacation you ever had?