Category: author

The BRAVE Interview #20 March 2018: Crissy Maier

by Karen, posted in author, Being BRAVE, Catching women being brave, Interviews, no fear, The BRAVE Interviews, Travel

Here is this month’s BRAVE Interview with Crissy Maier!

  1. WHO are you? Someone who overcomes challenges. Whether it’s my cleft lip and palate, my learning disability, my struggles through the police academy, other health issues, problems at work – I’m not defined by any of them, but rather by my ability to integrate the lessons I’ve learned and to find ways to overcome the next challenge I will face.
  2. WHAT is your One Brave Thing? Sometimes I wonder if I’ve done it yet. I seem to have succeeded at everything I’ve tried, or at least not failed miserably. I might need to try something harder to really be brave. But when thinking about this question, I’m reminded of my first trip to Europe. I arrived in London, almost got lost going to my hotel even though I had step by step instructions. The next day I got on a hop on and off bus and at the stop in Trafalgar Square I wanted to get off the bus, but I was afraid of getting off the bus. In some ways it was an insignificant moment, but it’s a moment that I’ve reminded myself of many, many times. It’s a moment that inspired an entire chapter of my book.  It took a minute or two to talk myself into it, but I got off the bus at Trafalgar Square. I didn’t venture too far away from the bus stop, but I broke a barrier of fear. I traveled through Europe for two weeks before returning to London. When I did, I was a completely different person, I was taking the Tube to sites that I didn’t know how to get to and navigating the streets of London like I would the streets at home. It’s one of those rare opportunities in life when I got to see how much I had changed in a short period of time. When I’m afraid of something, I often think back to that experience.
  3. WHEN did you do it? That was in 2005
  4. WHERE did it occur? London and Europe
  5. HOW and WHY did you make it happen? The woman who stepped off the plane in London in 2005 was ready for adventure, to see the world. But she was afraid of the unknown, of getting lost. But she was more afraid of missing out, or being a “failure.” When fear holds us back, sometimes we need to break down what the fear is, and what the realistic ‘bad’ outcome is. When we think of it logically, it’s usually not nearly as bad as it seems. It’s not always easy to do, it takes time and discipline. More importantly though, I think knowing why you want to do something, and the cost of not doing it, can be enough to give you the discipline needed to overcome the fear you have. If I wasn’t committed to seeing London (in one day), then maybe I wouldn’t have gotten off the bus and found out that it’s not so scary to face your fear.

Thank you so much for sharing your brave story with us, Crissy!

Check out Crissy Maier’s book, Blue Sky Morning  

Read the other BRAVE interviews here: https://kwrites.com/?s=The+BRAVE+Interview

If YOU would like to be interviewed for this series about something brave you have done in your own life, send me an email here: kmcwrites@gmail.com

 

BOOK REVIEW: The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman

by Karen, posted in author, Being BRAVE, book reviews, books, family

I loved The Rules of Magic!

I was a little cautious to be reading Alice Hoffman, because I sort of remembered finding one of her prior books being, um, kind of dark. Something above about doves, I think. I’m not sure.

I must have blocked it out.

This book, however, is a jewel. It’s a tale of two sisters and a brother, Jet, Franny, and Vincent. As they grow up, they become aware that they have magic in their bloodline, in their blood, but they also have a curse. Light and dark. This is the story of how they grow up and live their lives in the spotlight of, and in the shadow of, both.

I won’t kid you–there are some heartbreaking events in this book, but don’t we all have those in our lives?

I very much felt like I was right there in the story with them, that they were my friends. Friends that I loved and laughed and cried with.

Ultimately, the author is showing us that every story has a beginning and an ending, and that some stories have to end so that others can begin. Indeed, that every ending sparks a new beginning.

Of course there is sadness in a death, especially if it’s in an accident, if it’s unexpected, but it can give rise to a new, beautiful story.

I recommend this book. Go get The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman.

BOOK REVIEW: A Beautiful, Terrible Thing by Jen Waite

by Karen, posted in author, book reviews, books

I liked this book because it’s raw and honest.

In A Beautiful, Terrible Thing, the author is telling a tale as old as time: she marries a man who betrays her. The story here, though, is the spectacular manner in which this is done. About 3/4 through it I considered stopping. It was a little annoying that she was so obsessed with this guy after what he did, but the way it unfolded to her–and therefore, to us, she really doesn’t know for sure that he was the dick-wad that we all suspect that he was. She was holding out for proof and hey, who am I to judge her for making unwise choices in her relationships? I have a long history of doing that myself.

My favorite part in the book:

The author’s therapist says: “Something inside of you was saying, ‘Whoa, hold on, this doesn’t add up,’ but you ignored that voice and plowed on. What we need to figure out is why and start to arm you with some concrete tools that you can draw on until you truly learn to listen to your intuition.”

I mean, Boom! Right?

You will probably enjoy this book.

Disclaimer: Bad wi-fi so video quality isn’t great. Proceed at your own risk.

BOOK REVIEW: ANGEL OF EVENTIDE by Elle Powers

by Karen, posted in Angels, author, book reviews, books, Brave books, family, relationships

I was pulled right in to the conversation between the angel and the woman at the outset of the book. But, is it an angel? Who is this woman?  I have many questions and so I press on, intensely interested in how the answers would they reveal themselves.

This is not only a story of compassion; it’s an epic love story.

It’s not a typical love story, however. I don’t want to give too much away, so I will tread carefully here.

It is the love story of Maren and Sea (pronounced “Shay” for Seamus). Maren is different from other girls. She doesn’t get sick. The ‘magic brownies’ her peers are eating don’t have any effect on her.

Maren is also a girl whose reckless behavior has placed her at the brink of death many times in her young life. At the age of ten, she is assigned an angel who literally rescues her from death and then proceeds to watch over her. What is unusual is this: Maren can see him. Maren has always been able to see the ‘folks’, as she refers to them. She has always has this special ability, to be able to see behind “The Mystic Curtain”, as her mother refers to it.

This book is so much more than a “romance between a fallen angel and a lost girl” (p 169). It is also the story of parents’ love for their child. Of God’s love for us. It’s a brilliant exploration of what it means to be mortal and immortal, angel and human, and how we all fit together into the larger story of life. When life feels like a punishment, perhaps it’s because we can’t see the whole story.

Near the end of the book is a reference to a song that only Maren was hearing (P 282-283) .

“Maren stirred to its dreamy rhythm, understanding that this was the song of the world–the composition of creation.”

This sentence immediately brought a song to mind. To me, it felt like a perfect description of this song sung by Andrea Bocelli, Canto Della Terra (Mighty Sun).

There are several quotes that I loved at the outset of each chapter, including one from The Untethered Soul by Michael A. Singer, one of my favorite books ever (p 225), so it was hard to  narrow it down to one favorite, but I managed.

My favorite quote from the book (P 214):

“The truth was that they were living out this story together; every heart in every age was essential and connected…and so their each and every choice mattered to the whole.”

Beautiful. Thank you, Elle Powers! Get this wonderful book, Angel of Eventide.

I leave you with this invitation: Treat yourself and listen to this song undistracted.

BOOK REVIEW: The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty

by Karen, posted in author, book reviews, books, love and marriage

I loved this book The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty.
It’s about husbands and wives and mothers and daughters and sisters and any practically any other relationships you can think of, including one’s relationship with oneself. Boom.

Real, messy, honest relationships.

One note: Pay attention at the beginning of the book because you will be introduced to several characters and you don’t want to be distracted or multitasking and get confused.

Like I did. 

No problem, though. I just referred to the drawing at the beginning of the book and it straightened me right out.

The best quote from the book is on page 128, a wife thinking about her husband:

“She’d hated him for a while over that. Really hated him. But then she just got tired of hating him and started loving him again. It was easier.”

This book has a twist at the end that I never saw coming. Totally worth reading. I had a hard time putting it down once I started reading it. I had the characters dancing around in my head at the oddest moments.

And is one of the marks of a truly great book?

Get it here: The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty. I highly recommend this book and any of her other books (I wrote about one of them  in the past, What Alice Forgot.

The BRAVE Interview #17 December 2017: Amy B. Wells RN

by Karen, posted in author, Being BRAVE, books, Brave books, Catching women being brave, Interviews, The BRAVE Interviews

This month’s interview is with Amy B. Wells, RN!

I am an author and nurse anesthetist.

I’ve had many phases in my life. I was an accountant for a long time (hated it with a passion). I stayed at home with my children for about five years, then went to nursing school when I was in my late thirties. After that, I worked in the ICU for three years before going to anesthesia school. I’ve been a nurse anesthetist for a little over six years. I am married with two teenagers and a grumpy old tom cat and currently live in the suburbs of Houston.

My latest endeavor is writing. I’ve self-published four novels and I have started blogging on my website https://amywellspublishing.com/

WHAT is your One Brave Thing?  Many people might think the bravest thing I’ve done is attending nursing school or working in the ICU and or going to anesthesia school all at an older age while raising two young children, but the bravest thing I’ve done is to publish these novels.

It took me a long time to work up the nerve to publish them. I’ve always been rather introverted. Publishing and writing a blog has meant exposing myself to others. I might as well be naked! Most things I’ve done have been planned and controlled rather than creative or artistic.

WHEN did you do it? I wrote my novels over a period of about five years, but never was brave enough to put them out there.

When my fiftieth birthday approached, I decided it was now or never.

Time is marching on, I told myself!

I self-published my first book on my fiftieth birthday (this year)! Eeek! I can’t believe I’m fifty! How is that possible?

Then I wondered why the heck I waited so long! Not long after, I published the other three. I’ve gotten nothing but support and enthusiasm from those around me.

I’ve met numerous new friends both on social media and in writer’s associations I’ve joined. A whole new world has been opened to me. I had no idea how many nurses and other great people are writing just like I am!

Now, I’m in the process of rewriting them, coming up with new covers and a relaunch next year, hopefully to sell my books to a wider audience, and I am writing a fifth novel and have plans for more. It’s so much fun!

WHERE did it occur? The great thing about self-publishing is you can do it from anywhere you have an internet connection. I wrote and published from my arm-chair.

HOW did you make it happen? Lots and lots of screen time with hands on keyboard. I was obsessed with my books and I still am. I love thinking up new books; coming up with ideas is never a problem. Execution, on the other hand, is more difficult. I credit the discipline of anesthesia school and nursing school for teaching me how to be dedicated to a goal.

For me the first stage in writing a novel is to develop my main characters, which so far have been nurses because I think nurses make perfect protagonists. They are strong-willed, funny, caring and dedicated with lots of interesting quirks thrown in. And the situations they get involved in make for great stories.

After coming up with my protagonist and an alpha hero (I’m a sucker for romance and love to include it in my books) I then think of the worst possible thing that could happen to the protagonist. This is the “dark moment.” This is when the reader thinks the protagonist can’t possibly be saved and the reader wonders how it will all end. And then, the protagonist finds a way to save herself. In my books, I want the heroine to be responsible for solving the problem and saving herself even though I have a strong hero, too.

I then think of an inciting incident, the event that starts the story and several tension-building incidents until I hit that dark moment. From there I build the rest of my tale. Sometimes I get stuck and go around in circles, but that’s part of the process.

I’m still learning about the craft of writing and marketing fiction. It’s a never-ending learning process, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of it.

WHY did you do it? I’ve always been an avid reader of fiction and dabbled in writing over the years although I also love sciences and nursing. Giving anesthesia is a technical job, although there is an art to it, but I find writing provides a creative outlet that I don’t get in the operating room.

When you create fiction, you are responsible for the interactions of your characters and what happens to them.

I love being immersed in a book and even more so being immersed in creating one. I find I grow quite attached to my characters and miss them when I finish a novel. Sometimes I want to write a sequel just so I can see them again.

You can click on the image to find them on Amazon. You can also go to my website to click through to Nook, Apple and other distributors.

https://amywellspublishing.com/

Read the other BRAVE interviews here: https://kwrites.com/?s=The+BRAVE+Interview

If YOU would like to be interviewed for this series about something brave you have done in your own life, email me at kmcwrites@gmail.com!

BOOK REVIEW: Unipreneur by Laura Stewart Shortridge

by Karen, posted in author, book reviews, books, Brave books, family

This is my friend Laura’s new book:

Unipreneur: How to Live Your Passion in a House Full of Dream-Killers

I loved reading this book!

There were so many concepts that were introduced that resonated with me that I felt like I was having coffee and discussing my own life with my BFF.

I loved also all the quotes she chose to begin the chapters.

Like Laura, I struggle with my “monkey mind”. Here’s my trick for dealing with it: I have learned to feed it a banana to get it to settle down so that I can think. You’re welcome.

I had a similar experience to the author’s with regard to biking with her husband. My husband was an athlete all his life and I was, well, I was not. Biking was something that he thought we could maybe do together and I manned up to be his partner. He got the short end of the deal though, when we were biking miles from home and I lost my balance and steered my front tire through—yes, through—his. I think we walked back to the cars with him carrying both bikes, and probably me, too, on his shoulders. Not pretty.

One of my hero is quoted in the book, Eleanor Roosevelet. “All the water in the world can’t drown you unless it gets inside of you.” BOOM.

Buy this great book!

Unipreneur: How to Live Your Passion in a House Full of Dream-Killers by Laura S. Shortridge

You’ll love it!

Want to watch and listen to me talk about Laura’s book? See below!

My novel is the pick for this month’s GET ARTSY BOOK CLUB!

by Karen, posted in author, books, Brave books

I am excited to announce that my novel One Brave Thing has been chosen as the next book for the ‘Get Artsy Book Club’! 

I have been a member of this book club as a reader for a few months now. I was drawn to the ‘Get Artsy Book Club’ because, well, I love books! More than that, the name of Allyson’s business, Determined to Shine, also resonated with me. I have been telling myself to ‘shine’ a lot recently, so the word caught my eye right away. I took it as a sign that this was something that would benefit me, and I am so glad that I did! I love the books we have read so far.

Reading the books and doing the projects as part of the ‘Get Artsy Book Club‘ have helped me gain new insight and inspiration in my own life.

I also have discovered a new art form – artist trading cards – and they are so much fun to make! Allyson gives clear, step by step video directions that make it easy to create these unique and fun art forms.

So again, I am very excited that my book, One Brave Thing, was chosen as the next book for the ‘Get Artsy Book Club‘ to read! If you have already read (or want to read!) my novel and would like to participate in this unique book club this month, click here to sign up. You can sign up for one month for $15, or multiple months for a discounted price. NOTE: This is Allyson’s book club and all the information about the club and pricing is on her website.

Included in the book club are questions for reflection based on the book, art projects (easy! you can do them!), and a live book chat together online.

So I hope you’ll sign up for the club this month and join me in reading the book, making some art and some new friends, and discussing the themes of One Brave Thing together!

Need to get the book? Click on the title to order your copy of One Brave Thing!

Thank you! Please share this post with anyone you think would be interested! I look forward to discussing the book and creating with you!

 

Kary Oberbrunner, Exposed! Behind the scenes at the Igniting Souls Conference 2017

by Karen, posted in author, Being BRAVE, books, Brave books, Catching women being brave, Clarity, education, friends, no fear, Travel, writing

Ever wonder about this Kary Oberbrunner guy?

I first met him online in a chatroom…No–wait! Kidding! I first met him online at one of the free webinars he hosted:

How to Turn a Book into a 6-Figure Business

My expectations were low.  Full disclosure: I watch a lot of free webinars. I am never motivated to buy anything at the end of them.  Anyway, the information that I got was so interesting and so in alignment with what I already knew and was currently doing (or trying to do), that I had to find out more about what this guy was teaching.  Also, I had to find out more about this guy in general.

So I did what women everywhere have been doing since the beginning of time when they needed to find out more about a guy:

I googled him.

Not one bad thing. Not one. On the entire internet.

This led to me becoming part of the Igniting Souls Tribe, which led to me going to the Igniting Souls Conference this year.

This was a much bigger deal for me.

I was taking big risks to go to this conference! 

  • I hadn’t flown alone since 1990 and had never changed planes before to get anywhere. If changing planes was required, it was a deal-breaker.
  • I would be leaving my daughter alone for a few days, and she didn’t want that.
  • Who would feed the chickens while I was away?
  • How would I get to the hotel from the airport?
  • What if I got stranded there? (I did, actually)

Yep; I was feeling the fear (nod to Susan Jeffers)

In the end, though, I did the thing I thought I could not do! (Nod to Eleanor Roosevelt)

I packed up all my fears and I went to Ohio. Alone. On the plane–two planes. No, four, counting the fights home!

In the morning before the first session of the conference started, I heard a song playing over the speakers. I could feel it inside me. This wasn’t just any song.

This was one of my favorite songs in the world:

Con Te Partiro by Andrea Bocelli.

Translation: Time to Say Goodbye. And I realized that I had done exactly that. By making this trip, I said ‘Goodbye’ to my fears and ‘Hello’ to my faith and confidence in myself. When I heard this song playing, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I was supposed to do.

So, who is this Kary guy? He’s the guy who you can’t find anyone to say anything bad about. And at the Igniting Souls Conference, there were hundreds of people saying only good things. About him. About each other. It was one of the best gatherings that I have ever been part of. Ever.
Thank you, Kary, and thank you to all the amazing members of this tribe, in which I am blessed to be included.

I am leaving you with this, my favorite version of Con Te Partiro, which Andrea Bocelli sings with Sarah Brightman. I hope you feel it, too.

Here is a slideshow of some moments from my trip and #IgnitingSoulsConference17

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

How to add a writing buddy on NaNoWriMo.org

by Karen, posted in author, books, NaNoWriMo

Log into nanowrimo.org.Follow these steps:

  1. Go to the ‘General Search’ box at the top of your NaNo Page (to the left of the sign out page).
  2. Enter the NaNo User name (or the name that you know) into the box, and make sure ‘Authors’ is checked.
  3. When the list comes up, find your person on it.
  4. Check ‘add buddy’ button to the right of their name.

The End!

Feel free to add me as a writing buddy if you are so inclined. Search kmcwrites

Check out my online course: How to Win National Novel Writing Month!