Kendra Leigh Castle

Archive for the ‘Random Thoughts’ Category

My internet was down most of yesterday.  I was okay with it for a while, thinking it was part of a larger issue that they would fix in a couple of hours.  Then my neighbors came home from work, and THEIR internet was out, and they swarmed the tech guy who finally got sent out after I called.  People need their internets, man   Turned out the power box in this side of the neighborhood had gone up.  At least there weren’t riots.  I think it was touch and go there for a while.  You know what’s weird?  I distinctly remember my life before heavy internet use, or any at all.  I also remember what it was like before telemarketers.  I’m not that old, but my children are going to think this all makes me a dinosaur! 

Anyway, I had a great trip, left Tuesday and came back Sunday.  Got to play with my year-old nephew Aiden, who has somehow gone completely blonde between March, when I saw him last, and now!  My sister living in California is a total bummer, but that’s the Navy for you (she’s a Navy wife too).  I got to go consume mass quantities at Mac’s Speed Shop, which is the best freaking BBQ, like, EVER.  I drank a lot of Fat Tire beer, which is my current favorite.  And I managed to write, though not quite as much as I wanted to.  It’s hard when you take me out of my natural element…that would be parked either in my office or the big chair in my bedroom, wearing ratty PJs, and typing away.  My contract with GCP came yesterday, though, which is AWESOME.

Hope you all are enjoying the end of summer.  It’s still NASTY hot here, which has caused my husband to make all kinds of noise about eventually moving back North.  We’re both native NYers, and it’s a beautiful state, but, um…it snows.  A LOT.  Sometimes I miss it a little, but mostly I don’t.  I do, however, get homesick for it at the oddest times…like today In my alternate reality where I am fabulously wealthy I’d have a summer house on one of the lakes up there, and a place someplace else.  Probably I need to stop watching so much HGTV.  All of those International House Hunters have two homes!  Wah!  Oh well, here for now.  If you all are curious, here’s a page about my hometown, Adams, NY.  It’s small and quaint and no one knows where it is except others from the North Country!  My family has all scattered from there since I got married and left.  I was lucky, though…I grew up in a small neighborhood where my grandparents lived next door and my uncle and aunt (who were my dad’s twin brother and my mom’s younger sister) lived up the street, and the adults were all rfiends and tended to drink beer at various people’s houses every Friday night.  It was a nice way to grow up.  Here are some shots of stuff I actually do miss about the Frozen North:

The Burrville Cider Mill

Apple Cider donuts!!

Lake Ontario

Lots of old farms

Fall

Sackets Harbor, the inspiration for Kinnik's Harbor in COTHM

Talcott Falls, very near my old house

Pretty, huh?  It ain’t all roses, believe me, but there are a lot of nice things about growing up in the North Country.  Of course, a big problem is that there’s a lot of this:

SNOW

The 2008 storm back at home, or MORE SNOW

One of the ice storms that happen periodically

Hmm, maybe I should just use it for inspiration and stay where I am.  Anyway, if you all could live anywhere, where would it be?  Do you like where you are?  Miss where you’re from?  I’m off to grab more coffee, but I’ll be back

Hi everyone!  Sorry for the short post…I’m back in Charlotte to visit my sister and baby nephew while they’re here from California, and today we’re doing a party for my boys and baby Aiden…all of them are August birthdays, and it’s nice to celebrate with family.  So I’m not dressed yet, but I have managed to throw a cake in the over.  I’m getting there!  Hope you all had a good week.  I’ll be driving home on Sunday, and I’ll be back with something more substantial on Monday.  In the meantime, here’s this week’s picture of Chewie, who’ll be coming home a week from today!  And a song I’ve been enjoying as well   Happy Friday, everyone!!Â

Somehow, it’s Monday again

I feel like I’m finally starting to get my feet back under me after last week.  For anyone out there who doesn’t follow me on facebook, which is a place where I contentedly fritter away valuable writing time on a regular basis, I lost my oldest Pekingese, Fizgig, last Wednesday.  Didn’t feel like blogging about it on Friday, and still can’t look at his picture without crying like a baby, so I’m not going to say much about it except that I’m still in the process of mourning him.  He had lived a good life for 13 years, and he was beautiful, and I miss him.  And that, as Forrest Gump might say, “is all I got to say about that.”  But to those of you who’ve expressed your condolences, please know that I’ve really appreciated them.

Now, on to lighter things!  I have finally managed to find my instructions for getting my mug, plus the cover of Renegade Angel, up on the very cool Nocturne Authors website.  Click HERE to check it all out…in another month I get to be front page material!  September might wind up  being pretty cool if I can stay sane.  I’ll be doing a bit of guest blogging, running some contests, and generally promoting the tale of my sexy fallen angel, Raum, and the half-human woman of his dreams (or is it nightmares?) Ember.  Fun stuff!  Except that I also have that incredibly frightening September 15 deadline I need to hit for my cat-shifting vampire story, and while I am SO loving discovering this story as I’m writing it, WOW is it gonna be tight!  I can do it.  I’m on track.  But I see some pain in my future, because my best-laid plans tend to get blown all to hell on a regular basis.

And then, of course, there is the impending arrival of Chewie.  In less than three weeks.  Do you see the potential for chaos here?  Hmm…methinks that behind this sweet face may be some devilment.

   Hope you all had a good weekend!

Okay, as promised, here’s a look at the parents of our someday-puppy, who will be born in about a month!  Unfortunately, these aren’t pictures I myself took…I felt a little weird lugging my big camera into our initial meet and greet, but when we go out to choose which puppy will be ours at the three-week-old mark, I’ll have got a nice excuse to take some shots:-)  The black dog is Solomon, who is HUGE, and such a love…he’s just so freaking huggable, and that’s what he enjoys, which is great.  He also gives high-fives!  Um, and he drools, but we’re aware of the drooling thing with Newfoundlands.  It’s cool.  The brown and white (her coloring is called Landseer) is Honey Bear, the mama.  Again, a big, quiet sweetheart, and the picture doesn’t do how pretty she is justice.  I got some kisses and hugs from her too!  the kids were so all about these dogs…my son Jack, who’s not quite five, climbed all over them and they didn’t bat an eye.  There’s a reason that Nana in the original, written version of  Peter Pan was a Newf.  Had to laugh, though…my husband was the biggest kid of all around these gentle giants.  He wrapped his arms around Solomon and just kept saying, “He’s so awesome!”  It is fortunate for the breeder that it’s impossible to smuggle a 160-lb. dog out of a house, or I think Brian would have tried it.  We’re probably going to name the puppy (who will be a brown male) Chewie (yep, as in “Chewbacca”) as long as he doesn’t turn out to just not fit that at all.  But I bet he will.

This summer has turned out funny, not at all what I’d hoped or thought.  I was overjoyed at the news of my sale to GCP, of course, and I wouldn’t change that for anything!  But there’s been an excess of sad to temper it.  Sweet Casper found his forever home yesterday with a nice couple who have no kids or other animals, and I think he’ll do beautifully in that environment.  I still cried, but it’s all for the best.  I wanted him to find his place quickly, and he did, thanks to the wonderful rescue.  At the same time, my 13-year-old Peke baby, Fizgig, has about reached the end of his run, because bad news seems to run in packs.  We’ve known this was coming, but there are some unhappy things there that are quite imminent.  Won’t bore you with it, but it’s been very much on my mind.  Well, obviously, or I wouldn’t be going on about it.  Sorry!

You wouldn’t really think of fall as being a time for rebirth, for new life.  But it looks like this fall is going to be just that for this family.  My writing career will be coming back to life, and we’ll have a young, furry life in the house again.  I love that time of year anyway, so I’m hoping it infuses some joy back into the house (with the kids back in school as the icing on this cake, I’m sure it will!).  Right about now, everyone here is just tired.  Been a hell of a month.  But I am keeping on writing those sexy vampires, with some spicy werewolf action thrown in on the side, and it’s a nice place to bury myself when I’m not sure where else to go!

Hmm, I guess it can’t be September yet…I’ve got a lot of pages to write between now and then!  Still, in this heat, and what with everything, it’s not wrong to start dreaming of a nip in the air and the leaves turning red and gold, is it?

I could use a little Jacob Black to lighten up my day!  I don’t care.  If ogling him is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.

So those of you who visit me on facebook know that the puppy we’ve had for a month, Casper, had to go back to the rescue.  We tried REALLY hard, and despite the fact that he was absolutely nothing like a Great Pyrenees in temperment (being high energy and high maintenance 24-7 are NOT hallmarks of that breed, who even as puppies tend to be a bit easier going), we were willing to work through his behavior issues and deal with the fact that he was more of an arctic mix, with very different needs.  We even had a trainer lined up to come to the house this weekend.  The big problem, the insurmountable problem, was that Casper’s bad behavior with my big baby kitty, Bruno, was escalating.  It was clear to everyone, vet included, that Casper was half Husky, and his personality and instincts are classic Husky.  Sadly, one thing Huskies are noted for is having one of the highest prey drives of any breed, and of being utterly untrustworthy with small animals, cats in particular.  This is not to say that there aren’t Huskies out there who live peacefully with cats, but it would be more the exception than the rule, and there are many cases of Huskies who have seemed to live fine with a particular cat for several years before getting a wild hair one day and shredding them while the owner is gone.  It’s just in them.  Rescue Huskies are almost never placed with cat families.  And our sweet Casper, who is a joyful, happy puppy in other ways, has an incredibly strong hunting instinct.  The last couple of days, he’d gotten so he’d not only stare intensely and stalk the cat, but grab him roughly by the neck with his mouth.  No amount of hissing or swatting by Bruno had ever done anything but further excite the dog, and I guess I should have seen this coming the very first time he cornered the cat and made him cry a few weeks ago.  I just thought we could fix it.  I would never forgive myself if anything happened to Bruno that I could have prevented.  Anyway, end of story, the rescue coordinator completely agreed that it was unworkable, he is back in temp boarding until they can find him a foster and/or a good home, and we are puppy-less once more.  Lots of tears here.  He’s a good boy, and will make someone a wonderful pet as long as they go in understanding what he is and what he needs.  They’re going to keep me in the loop on him finding a new home.  I want to know he’s okay.  Hopefully, as a beautiful 5-month-old baby, he’ll find his forever home quickly.  They’re using some pictures I took of him, and this time, he is being advertised as a Husky mix, no cats, no small kids.  The breed write-up is just totally different than that of a Pyr.  But I guess we’ve helped in some small way…the next people will want him for what he is. 

I’ll tell you what, though, this all sucked HARDCORE.  We have decided we are going to try again this fall with a new fur baby, but this time, we are going to work with a good breeder and get a purebred.  Rescue is wonderful, but considering what happened this time and how awful everyone here feels losing a puppy we were quite attached to, we feel like we need to be 100% sure of the breed and the temperment of the parents.  I do NOT want to go through this again!  So we will be doing what we had initially planned quite some time ago, and getting a Newfoundland puppy.  He will be born in a month, and ready to come home at the end of September/beginning of October.  By then, we’ll all have recovered from this mess, hopefully stopped crying intermittently, and be ready to jump in again.  This weekend we go to visit the parents, and I’m going to take some pictures, so I’ll share those then.

Ugh.  Long week.  Tell me something good, people!  Anything fun to share?  Now that the dust is settling, I’m just writing, which is going to be my primary occupation until September 15th.  And somewhere in here, I need to tweak my outline for that werewolf book I want to do for Nocturne.  My editor there is pretty awesome, has been great at teaching me what I need to do differently when writing category, and she has just a few extra things she wants me to incorporate into the storyline.  But she loves the idea and the chapters so far, so I feel pretty confident that you’ll be seeing Jenner and Mia and their adventures with his werewolf pack in the woods of Northern PA.  They may even get a whole series.  That’s part of the idea, and I’d love that   It surprised me, how much I missed werewolves!  Must be the power of Jacob’s smolder.  But damn do I need a new office chair, and soon, as this is rapidly turning into a full-time job.  Oddly enough, it had not seemed that way up until recently. But I guess that’s what happens as you actually start to have a career!

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!  I’ll be back on Monday with pictures and pithy commentary, as usual.

As you read this, I am cruising down the highway in a seated position, probably humming to myself and definitely BORED.  I love visiting my parents, but the drive back is pretty dull.  Not much to look at but road, which I guess is good for not getting distracted…but then again, I get distracted just by being bored.  It’s a vicious cycle. 

So it’s back to the grind for me.  I sent the fun werewolf proposal off yesterday after giving it one more read (yup, Julia became Mia, and all was well).  I could see that being a category series, if it works out.  Apparently I missed my werewolves a little bit, LOL, which I already knew.  Speaking of, if anyone out there hasn’t read any of the MacInnes Werewolves trilogy and wants to, I’ve discovered they’re out of print, so snatch up a copy if you see it.  The good thing is, they’re still available secondhand since they’re not old, and they’re also available in e-book.  That bit of info made me very glad I kept two copies of each book just for me on my shelf!

Anyway, I’ll go home, I’ll put stuff away, and I’ll get my butt in the chair and WRITE.  I’ve got a five page a day quota to meet to reach my deadline, so I’m thinking I need a better office chair.  The one I have is pretty, but it kills my back.  Any of you have any suggestions for a good, not hideously expensive desk chair? 

Hope everyone had a good Fourth.  We cooked out, pigged out, and watched fireworks on the beach, which was pretty much just how I wanted to spend it.  And now…back to reality.  Boo.  Hiss.  Have a great Monday, everyone!  And enjoy the pic of Keifer, the non-sparkly vampire.  I looooved him as the Lost Boys’ David way back when. 

So I’m not quite late with this post!  Okay, well…maybe a little

Hazards of vacation: forgetting what day it is, among other things.  By the time I realized it was Friday, I had to get ready to get out the door!  It was Spend Mah Birfday Money day at the Carolina Place Mall, and I must say, I think I succeeded admirably.  Fabulous new wide-legged jeans that are cut more like trousers and look like something out of the fabulous Forties, a few tops, a big long sweater to replace the gross old flannel of Brian’s I tend to wrap up in (which is not to say I’ll ditch the flannel completely, but really, I should have an attractive alternative for SOMETIMES), and most importantly, a plush Mr. Pricklepants for my desk.  He’s going to sit by the Cheshire Cat, I think.  Who, you ask, is Mr. Pricklepants?  Well, you really have to see Toy Story 3, but he’s a very cuddly thespian who wears leiderhosen and is, um, a hedgehog.  Went to see that movie yesterday in 3-D and it was SO good, and a lovely way to round out the story of Woody, Buzz & Co., but yes, I did cry.  My kids didn’t, but I think you have to be an adult to really understand what was sad about it.  At least the toys ended up okay, and that made me smile. 

In other “Yay!” type news, I finished up my werewolf story proposal for Nocturne, which will now head out for (hopeful) approval after I give it one more look tomorrow.  Wish I could have done another fallen angel, but they know what sells for them far better than I, and werewolves are ALWAYS fun!  I may have to change the heroine’s name.  I’ve got too many “J” names going on in there, and it’s getting weird.  I’m thinking Mia, maybe, instead of Julia.  Anyway, back to the vampire book tomorrow!  My brain is probably going to explode by the end of the summer.  It could happen.

Have a WONDERFUL Fourth of July weekend, everyone!  I’ll be heading home Monday, which means back to reality for me, but before then we’re having the big cookout here with family.  Dad says Casper has made this visit “interesting.”  Yeah…his interesting-ness made us decide to have a dog trainer come out to the house next weekend to teach us how to train this wild white animal, because oh my God.  Seriously.  Hope you all have a holiday that’s more fun than “interesting”!

Greetings from my (working) vacation!  Meant to get a post up earlier today, but I’m working from my laptop with an iffy connection and the internet here is sloooooow.  

Hope you all had a good weekend.  Mine was full of chasing Casper the wonder mutt, who likes to lay on the top step into the pool and bite the water.  At least he hasn’t punctured the liner again, now that we’ve mostly taught him about the steps, but he could still fall in again.  I put nothing past him.  I think he’s sleeping right now.  or he could be dismantling the downstairs.  I’m not sure I want to know.

Hope you all had a good weekend!  I’ve been enjoying the beer in the picture.  I know beer isn’t everyone’s thing, but IMO on a hot day it’s often just right.  Love a good Hefeweizen.  Didn’t have an orange to slice for a glass of it, so I settled for drinking out of the bottle   My children have discovered some ridiculous old movies that my sister and I made with the old video camera back in the late 80s/early 90s.  Wow was I a ham.  Also, revisiting bad hair was not really on my list of stuff to do here, but it happened anyway.  And now I remember exactly why I got braces. *shudder*  Ah, the awkward years.

On the writing front, I’m still flying, though a little terror has crept in.  I have a LOT to do!  I spent some time with Ty and Lily this morning, and then moved on to Nick and Julia.  They’re the stars of the werewolf tale I’m writing for my second Harlequin, and I’m a little surprised how quickly I’ve fallen for yet another big bad wolf.  YUM.  I’ve never written two things at once before.  Should be…interesting.  That’s the nicest word I can think of for it right now, LOL!  Thanks again for all the support and enthusiasm, ladies.  You all are awesome.

Oh, God, the dog is awake.  *kathump kathump kathump* “Nooo, Casper!” has become the sound of my doom.  Better go.  How’s your world looking today?

Pretty much, anyway.  My grin after wolfing down my first S’more in probably a decade was at least as wide as the Cheshire Cat’s!  I know, a decade is too long.  The problem is that I would have to start a fire somewhere to roast the required marshmallow, and starting fires is something no one should ever ask me to do.  That’s just asking for a major natural disaster.  I can’t even take a dish out of the oven without burning myself.

Hope the weekend was a good one for everyone!  We were BUSY.  Very fun neighborhood cookout on Saturday night, after which I discovered that I can no longer drink a few beers, eat late, and expect to sleep well.  Sunday we did an overnight at my in-laws’, more fun, more eating, and I switched to wine.  Didn’t sleep any better, but that was at least partially the fault of my very senile Pekingese Fizgig, who has had a rough couple of months and is geting hard to travel with.  In all, though, I enjoyed the holiday weekend.  What did you all do?

In other news, I’m psyched because Alice in Wonderland comes out on disc today, which I lurved so much I saw it twice in the theater!  Must own it.  Oh yes.  And would someone please explain to me how Johnny Depp can dress as an insane clown and STILL be weirdly sexy?  Maybe it was the kilt and the accent.  I have no idea.  The man is…gifted   I’m reading a couple of books right now, but the one (Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere) is well-written but somehow just not grabbing me, and the other (the newest by La Nora) is frustrating the hell out of me.  I love her books, but I don’t like this one.  I don’t like not liking her damn book!  Still, have any of you read it and felt that way?  The whole new series just isn’t sittting right with me.  Oh, you’ll all be happy to know, though, that I’m corrupting the book club I got invited to join…we’re doing Nora’s Three Sisters Island trilogy for June, July and August because I was asked about good fluffy beach reads.  Yay for fluffy beach reads!   

Have a great week, ladies!  I’ll likely post again on Friday, so check back then for new rambling.  I’m thinking M/F is a good schedule to start, even though today is Tuesday and all.  I keep thinking it’s Monday, so it counts

Hmm, that break back in February seems to have turned into  three month hiatus!  Well, if any of my beloved blog readers are still out there, I think those depleted batteries of mine are finally recharged.  I’m dipping a toe back into blogging, and am thinking bi-weekly to start, with more posts if I feel the urge.  Haven’t figured out a schedule yet, but I’ll work it out if you’ll bear with me as I get my rusty ass back in gear.

So what have I been up to these past few months?  Well, as you might have noticed before I finally threw up my hands in despair, we basically had an ongoing case of the plague in this house all winter.  Three of us are now on allergy shots   I’ve spent my time shuttling children back and forth to school, swimming, and some occupational therapy for my two boys (needed a little help/tweaking on hand strength and fine motor skills).  I have read a bit, though not as much as I would have liked, and I’ve won that damn video game twice now.  Weird things soothe me when I’m stressed!  I’ve agonized over what to do about an ailing pet (Fizgig is still with us, hobbling around, which is where he’ll stay until he definitively lets me know he’s ready to go), and have agreed to take on a new one to add to the crazy zoo I live in.  I’ve doctored my husband after his most recent back surgery, which was a little over a month ago, and I’ve been Head Chauffeur since then.  I’ve written a couple of pitches, a couple of proposals, and am still trying to figure out what my second book for Nocturne will be.  The biggest news, in my opinion, is that after extensive tweaking, pushing, pulling, cutting, pasting, and excessive consumption of coffee, the vampire proposal that I originally worked up for Harlequin has just gone out on wide submission this week!  It’s some of my best work.  That is something I’m sure of.  Whether it will ever see the light of day, well…that’s something that will start to become clear in a month or so when the offers or rejections begin coming in.  I do hope I get to share that story with all of you!  Renegade Angel doesn’t have a cover yet, but I’m hoping I get to see one soon.  That’s a release I’m also anxious for…I’m VERY proud of Raum’s story, and I hope you all enjoy it.  I did discover that it’s available for pre-order on Amazon already, which was a thrilling little jolt.  It’s been a bit since I had a release!

Anyway, that’s my recent life in a nutshell.  Those of you who I see on facebook probably know all of this already, but a recap seemed in order as I return to the blog.  I’d love to hear what everyone else has been up to!  To finish up for today, I’ll share a picture of the new furry baby who we’ll pick up next Friday night.  We’re going through a rescue in DC, Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, which is a wonderful group of people working to find unwanted animals their forever homes. 

This is the new little big guy, a purebred Great Pyrenees who will soon outweigh most of us in this house (though not me if I don’t stay out of the fudge brownie swirl ice cream).  He was named Casper, but we’re changing it to Bogart, aka “Bogie,” aka “Bogie Bear” (thanks, Donna!).  He’s ten weeks old in this picture, which was taken a couple of weeks ago.  I’ll definitely post new pics as I have them so you can watch him grow..and grow…and GROW.  I’m interested to watch Bruno the cat train this new canine family member

I hope you all had a lovely spring, and I also hope to see you around here as I resume my rambling about life, the universe, and everything.  Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend!