I’ve started doing yoga again with the Fraulein. If you don’t remember the pain of my previous bout of yoga with her, you can read about it here.

Previously, I went in the evening classes at this very trendy place in an overpriced neighborhood. Now, I’m going to the day class, which is still wonderful (and painful) but meets in a slightly dodgy strip mall in South Austin wedged between a vintage clothing store and a holistic medicine shop. It’s very yoga and very Austin.

The place used to be a storefront of some kind. Now, the bathrooms are unisex, but one was once obviously a women’s room and the other was obviously once the men’s room. In the room that was once the woman’s room there’s a sign on the wall. It starts with an apology for the age and vagaries of the plumbing. It goes on to list the things that can and can not be flushed due to the plumbing. It mentions the ways to best respect the Feng Shui of the room. It suggests things you might do to be respectful of future users of the bathroom.

In the bathroom that was previously a men’s room, there’s a sign that simply reads: Flush thoroughly.

I could elaborate and talk about how this illustrates the innate differences between men and women. But I think I’m just going to leave it there.

Watching the Oscars and making my living in a creative art always makes me wonder who I’d thank if I received an award in front of millions of people. I’ve been lucky enough to win two GRW Maggie Awards and attend the ceremony so I’ve given thank you speeches before. But with the added pressure of people watching from all over the world, would I say something different?

I think not. I think I’d thank my family for their support, my friends for their friendship and always having my back and my kids for making me laugh and remember that life shouldn’t be too serious.

What about you? Who would you thank if the world were watching?

Katherine
PS the winner from my blog on Feb. 18 is Minna. Email me at kathy@katherinegarbera.com with you snail mail address.

I was talking to another writer the other day and she said she was applying (along with her good friend) to be a contestant on The Amazing Race. Now I love to travel but it’s not like these contestants get to enjoy the sites they’re seeing. It also seems like it would be extremely stressful.

If I could go on a show, I think I’d like to try:
Is this because I’m a great dancer? Absolutely not. But I’ve seen how people improve on that show. They lose weight, get more toned and graceful. That’s what appeals to me.

How about you? Would it be The Amazing Race or Dancing with the Stars for you? Or is there another reality show you’d rather be on?

I’ll draw a winner from everyone who comments. That lucky person will win a copy of my soon-to-be released book, The Doctor’s Baby.

If you were to visit my house on any given day around 6:45 p.m., you’d hear a lot of “Goodnight Moon.” We say it over and over as bedtime approaches. That’s also the book I read my daughter every night right before I turn out her light. She’s not a very good listener. She’s more interested in trying to grab the pages and get them into her mouth, but still I persist. I don’t remember my mom reading a particular book to me at bedtime. I know she read to me, but I don’t think it was any particular story.

I was thinking recently about books I loved as a child. I liked all the Dr. Seuss books and The Little Golden books too. The first “real” book I read was THE BLACK STALLION. I was never one of those little girls who wanted a pony—I wanted to be Han Solo and fly a starship—but that book did open new doors for me.

I was one of those kids who was always looking for something to do. I didn’t like playing with dolls much, and I wasn’t allowed to watch more than an hour of TV. When I discovered reading, it was a Godsend. Finally I could travel all around the world, do new things, meet new people—and all without leaving my bedroom.

Was reading an escape for you as a child? What books were your first loves? What was your bedtime story?

My daughter loves to play our Wellington upright piano that dates from the 1930’s.  It’s usually late evening, after her homework is finished and she’s winding down for the day, when she’s inspired to sit down and let her imagination pick out the notes.  She really enjoys making up her own songs and I encourage that as much as possible.  I used to do that, too, in my angsty teenage years, and remember how fulfilling it is to undertake that creative process.

When my daughter begins to play, I close my eyes, stop whatever I’m doing, and just listen.  I marvel at the richness of the sound filling our house.  It’s a warm sound, full of energy and promise.  Her passion for her composition rings through in the soft and strident phrases, the fast and slow sections, the dramatic pauses, and the fading resonance of the final notes.

Piano Interior. Photo copyright (c) M. Kean

To me, music is a lot like writing.  A great song pulls you in, sets your toes a-tapping, tugs at your emotions, and makes your heart sing.   A great romance novel—strong plot, intriguing characters, well-written prose–it’s equally as engrossing.  Chapters fly by, and while other things might be demanding your attention, you’re happy to shut it all out, because you can’t wait to find out what happens next.

When playing a tune on the piano, it’s important to hit all the right notes; otherwise, the melody doesn’t sound right.  Hitting a wrong key means the listener is jolted out of the pleasure of the music.  In terms of writing a novel, getting the words right on the page is crucial.  Words are their own kind of music.  They are notes of consonants and syllables, with punctuation added to create melody and enrich meaning.

As a writer, it’s really important to me that my sentences flow just right.  Whether I’m writing description, a conversation, or relaying my heroine’s flustered musings, each word has to “feel” right to me, not just within the sentence, but the paragraph and indeed the whole chapter.  I want my readers to be drawn so thoroughly into the story I’ve created, they forget the physical words on the page, and become swept away in the melody of the story.

It’s not easy.  Some days, I agonize over finding the right word to make a sentence sparkle.  But when I find that right word, I know it’s the perfect one and no other one will do.

I love finding authors whose books are so beautifully written and brilliantly crafted, they leave me in awe.  Those are the stories that resonate with me for a long time.  Just like a wonderful song.

***
Catherine’s next medieval historical romance, A Knight’s Persuasion, Book 4 of her Knight’s Series, will be released in May.  For an excerpt from this book and her other novels, please visit her website at http://www.catherinekean.com

I couldn’t put the punctuation markings over the vowels correctly with WordPress but those first words are supposed to be in Latin….They are the immortal words of the Bard, a warning given to Julius Caesar about impending doom (which had occurred when Caesar was assassinated by conspirators on March 15, 44 BCE). Now, of course, Shakespeare knew that date so it was more a case of ‘Monday morning quarterbacking’ than a portent, but March does seem to be an unsettling month overall, doesn’t it?

Just think about the weather. . . how many have heard the old saying “In like a lion, out like a lamb”?   The beginning of the third month of the year is firmly entrenched in winter, with storms, both snow and rain, expected. By the end of the month, spring has arrived. Some of the worst Nor’easters in my area on the East Coast have arrived in March, one I remember because it began on my sister’s birthday on March 14 and ended on the 15th, dumping more than a foot of snow on us.

Then, just after mid-month, there are the dueling saints — the Irish have St Patrick first and they do things like drinking, partying, singing Irish songs and other fun things like turning the Chicago River green! And, in his honor, Southwest airlines offers passengers free beer to celebrate… On the other hand,

the Italians have St Joseph and they go to Mass, cook big family meals and pray.  A different approach for sure!

And after all the feasting, a day of balance in the universe known as the vernal equinox, a day of equal daylight and night, the end of winter and the beginning of spring!  The earth wobbles back up straight on its path in the other direction, giving the northern hemisphere more hours of day as the southern hemisphere. Again, doesn’t sound like a stable time of the year to me!

But, brighter and warmer and longer days are nearly here! March leaves like a lamb, all the uncertainties and unsettledness behind us and the calmer, gentler winds of April approach. The weather eases, the winter wimpers away and our moods and days lighten.

So, though many think of the warnings about March, I see the opportunity of change and the expectations of the future.  I welcome the winds at the beginning of the month, but also the calm breezes at the end.  How about you? Do you hope for the end of winter and the beginning of spring?  St. Patrick or St. Joseph? Portent of doom or opportunities abounding? Leave a note telling me what you will miss the most about the winter or what you look forward to the most about the spring and I’ll pick two people to receive copies of my upcoming Harlequin Historical anthology – Pleasurably Undone.

While lamenting the end to the the terrific snow season, Terri is also looking forward to her new releases – PLEASURABLY UNDONE! is an April release from Harlequin Historicals.  Then in May (April 27th actually!), her novella A STORM OF LOVE will be part of a Kensington Brava anthology that includes Susan Johnson and Mary Wine. Visit her website at www.terribrisbin.com to find out about the new books and her upcoming appearances!

I’m hard at work on my latest Legend Hunter book (entitled Treasure Me due in stores in 2011) and things are going fairly well for the rough draft. This is a blessing considering the last book was one of those pull-teeth-for-every-word kind of books. I’m really enjoying the characters and the change of setting, this book takes place largely in Scotland, a different pace from my normal London setting. And like I said I’m making good progress. I’m about 3/4 of the way done with this first draft. But I’m having a difficult time focusing.

Now this lack of focus is due, in part, to the fact that The Professor and I are building a house, a house we will close on this month! So I’m super excited and mentally decorating and trying to remember what it is that I already own that’s been in storage for nearly ten months. But that’s not the only distraction. You see I’ve been hearing voices. Now for most people that’s a sure sign to call a doctor, but for writers this is a perfectly normal occurrence. Characters talk to us. Which is great when you’re writing a book. Especially a book on deadline…

Except when those character voices are for book ideas you have no business thinking about. Here I am diligently working on this book and yet I keep hearing these two characters from a new idea, and they’re having the most intriguing conversations. Now I know for a fact that that book, nor any other, will be any easier to write than the one I’m currently working on. But despite the fact that I know this, I’m able to delude myself. As if my muse is a siren seducing me with tempting morsels of a new and wonderful and shiny idea. It’s like chocolate chip cookies baking, that delicious aroma filling my senses and making my mouth water. That’s what this new idea is doing. I’m dying to write the proposal, dying to brainstorm the whole concept with my writing buds. But I try to keep it aside and focus on the task at hand.

Somedays this is harder to do than others. Like last weekend, I woke up Saturday morning obnoxiously early because these damn characters were having a conversation. I tried to go back to sleep. I rolled over. I tossed, then turned, but they wouldn’t shut up. Finally I got up and opened a new file and wrote the prologue. Now it’s saved with the rest of the notes and tidbits of dialogue I’ve overheard and it is waiting, not so patiently in the wings while I do the job I’m currently paid to do.

In the meantime I’ll keep working on Treasure Me and if those pesky characters keep talking, then I’ll jot down their words and hope someday when I can share their story with you as well.

So how about you? What are your temptations? How do you keep focused when your attention is being divided?

Despite the fact that I cannot skate, ski or shoot a rifle, I love the Winter Olympics. Their slogan is above — Swifter, Higher, Stronger. One of the things that seems sure is that there will be upsets; that the odds-on favorites will fail; and the best stories will come from people we’ve never heard of before. Sure, I love Apolo, and I figured Bode, Shaun and Lindsay would do just fine. But it was the stories below that really grabbed me.

Alexandre & Frederic Bilodeau. Alexandre won Canada’s first gold medal in this Olympics as his brother, who has cerebral palsy, went a little nuts in the stands. Alexandre repeatedly referred to his brother as his inspiration, saying that when he gets tired and wants to stop, he thinks of Frederic’s limitations, stops his whining and gets on with it. The 22-year-old skier upset the sullen Canadian ex-pat (and millionaire) Dale Begg-Smith, who ignored reporters and generally acted like a sulky brat while the gold medalist, clearly stunned with his win, tried to take in the fact that he was the first Canadian ever to win a gold medal on his nation’s soil. 

Chris DelBosco. In the wildly exciting ski cross race, Chris DelBosco, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, had the bronze medal in his grasp. With just one jump to go, he took a huge chance…and blew it. He fell. He lost. In an interview afterward, he said simply, “I didn’t want the bronze.” Nope. He put it all on the line, he was skiing for gold, and even though he failed, he gave it everything. Good for you, kid.

Marjan Kalhor. She is twenty-one years old, finished the giant slalom 35 seconds behind the gold medal time. She trains by skiing down grassy hills, and she wore a purple veil underneath her helmet to cover her hair. She is Iran’s first female winter Olympian.

The Night Train. In addition to being my favorite wine (well…not really), the Night Train is now my favorite bobsled team. Perhaps I love chubby, balding Steve Holcomb because he looks more like a kielbasa-eating champion than an Olympic gold medalist. Whatever the reason, I was absolutely elated at their win. Kudos to the good-natured German silver medal team, who called the American team’s driving “super-genius.”

And most of all…Therese Rochette. She drove her daughter to thousands of skating lessons, sat in the chilly rink for countless hours, sacrificed, scrimped and saved. She helped her child choose outfits and hair styles and music for her performances, made sure she ate well and did her homework. She knew with faith unshakeable that at the Vancouver Olympics, the world would see what she had always known — Joannie Rochette was a champion. She was right. Yu-Na Kim may have shown us the best of the sport, but Joannie showed us the best of the human spirit — the strength, grace, commitment and love she learned from her mother.

Swifter. Higher. Stronger.

Well done, Mrs. Rochette.

Sid drew a winner for an advanced copy of the The Konstantos Marriage Demand by Kate Walker, and that winner is Serenissima! Congratulations! Please send your mailing address to kate AT kate-walker.com.

Thanks to everyone who commented, and special thanks again to Kate for blogging with us!

When you read a book are there particular settings that draw you in?

For myself when I read historicals, I like England and Scotland best. Unless of course it’s a western. India and France…ummm, not so much.

For contemporaries I like small towns and settings more in the midwest than in the south or on the coasts. That’s not to say I won’t read a book set in a different local but they’re not books I’m immediately drawn to…

How about you? What settings do you prefer? Or, does it even matter?

BTW, I just received my author copies of my The Doctor’s Baby, my new book that will out in April.

I’ll draw a winner from everyone who comments and that person will win a copy!

And…big announcement…I’ve just had my website revised. If you’ve got a minute, go to www.cindykirk and check it out. Let me know what you think!