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Happy Third Blogoversary!

Do you remember this picture? I sure do. It was used on my very first post, “Hanging On For Dear Life”, three years ago.

Three years ago? Can you believe it’s been three years already? Where does the time go?

Lots of things have happened in our lives since then. For most of us, they’ve been too numerous to count. I mean, some of us have been thrown a curve ball or two in the midst of trying to eek out a living and at the same time, follow our passion. And for those of you who are fortunate to make a living off of your passion? Congratulations to you!

As you may have noticed, my blog has grown silent over the past couple of months.

Why, you may ask?

Well, because of life actually. I had too many things that demanded my attention. And the blog, for one, was not a priority. So I let it go. But then, as weeks went by, it became easier not to blog. I mean, who cares if I blog or not? Does it really matter?

It’s not like I’m saving lives or changing the world. It’s just little ‘ol me writing a little ditty about nothing very earthshattering. Nothing that could put an actual dent in someone’s existence.

So I thought, why not take a look back at my first post and see what my purpose was for starting this venture. What was my core motivation for blogging? After all, there had to be some reason why I had decided to jump into this crazy endeavor.

Here’s what I said:

“Since this is my first blog, that picture got me thinking. What is my purpose for writing a blog? Yes I’m petrified, but I’m certainly not dangling on a rope suspended from the rooftop of a high-rise hotel.

“My hope is that through my writing I will be able to touch people’s lives and connect with others that will in someway benefit them and not just myself. Just know that as I embark on this new venture, I will be hanging on for dear life while I look out from on top, ready to descend that steep and slippery slope, putting myself out there amongst the unknown galaxy of the universe, otherwise known as the internet, sharing a little splice of our lives.”

Ah, interesting. That picture says more than a thousand words. It’s a great motivator, is it not? But notice something else. The purpose of this blog was not to write strictly about myself. And I think that still rings true. I get great satisfaction writing about life and other people. I find it stimulating to share things with you that stem from a variety of topics.

No, it’s not all about me. Although some day it may be when I get ready to release my new little baby out into the world. Yes, I’m still working on that one. But believe me, when it’s finished, you’ll be the first to know!

Meanwhile, it’s Happy Third Blogoversary!

It’s good to be back!
 

So what do you think? How has life been treating you? Do you find it easy or difficult to blog? Does life get in your way, or are you able to navigate through the muddy waters? What helps to keep you motivated? What topics have you found interesting lately?
 
 
Cheers everyone! And as always, thank you so much for all your support and wonderful comments!
Karen

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Advice From the Ocean

Advice from the Ocean
(Picture by Shadow Text.net)

A couple of weeks ago, I found this on my Facebook feed. Personally, I think Murphy had something to do with it. I never know what that Pelican is up to.

When at first glance, I thought it was a nice play on words. After all, it involves the beach. And let’s face it, who of us doesn’t like to change our focus to a place we would normally go on vacation.

But, as I looked closer, I noticed this was more than just a mere clever attempt in making a statement. These were words of advice, a real life savor, an ocean full of guidance and counsel to give real meaning to our lives.

So, I began to meditate on what was said. I placed my blanket down on the beach, settled my belongings, dug my feet into the cool damp sand, then took a deep cleansing breath and peered out at the refreshing blue body of water.

Ah yes. I felt the stress roll off my entire body.

Yet, what did this all really mean?

For each one of us, it might mean something totally different. But since this is my post, I thought I’d jump in and take a stab at it. I hope you’ll share your viewpoint in the comment section below. 🙂

Be Shore of Yourself. Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that I struggle with this one a lot. I think it goes with the territory of being a writer. I try to appreciate my own strengths and abilities, but it’s hard to be confident on a daily basis when I think that what I just wrote is a piece of rubbish. I definitely have to work on this one.

Come out of Your Shell. This one’s a biggie too. And I’m not sure if this has anything to do with being an extrovert or introvert. I guess it could. But for me, it’s a matter of trust. If I’m the one that’s sticking my neck out, I want to make ‘shore’ that someone’s not going to bite my head off. So far, so good! But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. I’ve been known to put my foot in my mouth. I know. Shocking!

Take Time to Coast. Well, since I’m sitting on the beach, breathing in the fresh salt-infused air, meditating, I’m putting this one into practice. But who of us doesn’t struggle with this? It’s not going to happen unless we schedule it in. We all have so much to do, in any given day. But there are times when we just need to coast. We need time to relax and recharge our minds and bodies or our ability to create will suffer. To be honest, it really affects every aspect of our life. So this is a must do. Somehow, SOMEHOW, we must find the time and give ourselves permission to coast. Even it it’s just for a little while. Yes, Relax and breathe! 

Avoid Pier Pressure. Let’s face it, we all like to be accepted and appreciated by our friends. But even as adults, we sometimes struggle with feelings of inadequacy—that we just don’t quite fit in—that we may not meet the standards or requirements that others may expect of us. As you can see, the pier is connected to the shore. And we can find ourselves in deep water if we don’t stop comparing ourselves to others and come to appreciate our own strengths and capabilities. We all ROCK in our own way, you know?

See Life’s Beauty.
Appreciate Life

The cool thing about this is, no matter where we live, there’s beauty. It can be in the smallest of things that will fill our hearts with joy and laughter. Yet, for us to truly gain appreciation, we must make the time to coast!

Don’t Get Tide Down. I think this is related how we spend our energy. As I sit here and watch the tide, I have to admit, it has a very strong pull. It can be high or it can be low. If we’re tide down too much, it can be a waste of our energy. And who of us has extra energy these days? So, balance seems to be the key. It’s what keeps a surfer on his board, right? If we keep balanced, we will not allow ourselves to be tided down with all the negativity and we’ll be able to perform at our best!

Make Waves! Yes, yes, yes! Don’t just stick your toe in it. Jump in and make a big splash and enjoy the ripple effect in everything that you do! I’m still working on this one. How about you?
 

So what do you think? Do you like to stand at the shore or jump in and make waves? Do you like to take a walk on the pier or would you rather stay in your shell? What kind of beauty has life thrown in your direction lately?
 
 
Cheers everyone! Thank you so much for all your support and wonderful comments!
Karen

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Boot Scootin’ Re-Launch Party!

Howdy!

Welcome to the party everyone!
 
Y’all might want to grab a glass of the bubbly before we take a look around.


(I only bring this picture out on special occations!)

Yes, I thought we were due for a blog party around here. It’s been six long months since a post on this site has hit the Blogosphere. And we’ve got a lot to celebrate!
 
Well, what do you think? Do you like what you see? It’s a big change, isn’t it?
 
As you know, change doesn’t always come easy. In my case, or should I say in the case of my old theme, it was dying a slow death. Plugins refused to play nice with widgets who refused to play nice with the theme. It would send your comments to spam, yet spammers were allowed to leave a comment. You have no idea how many times I’ve saved all of you from the trash.

Time for a fresh start and a new beginning!

So I called the illustrious Wana Web Techie Guru, Laird Sapir.

But I had to wait. Yes, it seems Laird is a pretty popular web techie gal. Yet, just in time for spring, she became available. And as I found out, if you’re willing to wait, you may even be serenaded by her three year old daughter. “I love you, you love me.” Yep, she’s that precious!
It always pays to be patient. And as you can see, Laird was so worth the wait!

Let’s scoot to the top of the page shall we and take a look at the new header. You may have noticed that my tagline “Life Happens” went missing. I wasn’t quite sure where to put it. So it is my hope that these pictures will say more than words. They are the backdrop of my life and the stomping ground for the main characters of my future books.

Yes, life will still be happening around here! :)

You’ll notice as you scroll down the left sidebar, there’s the usual About and Contact page. And right below is my picture. Now we, as in Amber West and Lynn Kelley, graciously tried to play with a new picture in Photoshop. Thank you Amber and Lynn! Well…my picture looked quite frankly…Photoshoped. Lol! So I opted to leave the old picture in place because it’s the same little ol’ me. Besides, a new picture gives us all something to look forward to in the future.

Now directly underneath is my “Follow” information. If you haven’t already subscribed to my blog, you are more than welcome to join us at any time. As you can see, I am not a blog maniac. I do not blog five thousand times a week.

Then of course, you may also Follow Me on Twitter, Facebook or LinkIn. How cool is that?

Scootin’ right along, next you’ll find my Facebook Author “Like” and Twitter feeds, archived posts and then if you scroll down just a little bit further, you’ll notice something kind of special at the end of the sidebar. Do you see it?

Yep, it’s the Pelican. He’s a pretty handsome dude, don’t you think? I thought he’d make a great mascot. But there’s only one problem. He has no name. I had thought of naming him Alfred. Don’t ask me why. There is no rhyme or reason to my madness. But hubby hated it. “No, don’t name that poor bird Alfred!” I know, he needs to get his own blog. Lol. Then I thought, why not ask all of you what you think might be a good name for him. He can’t just not have a name. After all, he deserves some recognition since he plans on staying for a while.

So what do you think? How do you like my new Digs? Please do that poor bird handsome Pelican a favor and suggest a name for him in the comments section before you Boot Scoot your way out of here. And of course, you know I’d love to hear how y’all are doing!

Cheers everyone! It’s great to be back. Thank you as always for all your support and wonderful comments! See you next week!
Karen

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If You’re Missed and You Know It, Clap Your Hands!


(Do you know who those hands belong to? Is it a plea for help? Is someone missing? If so, could it be you or me? Thank you Lynn Kelley for volunteering this picture via WANA Commons.)
 

In any event, everyone Clap Your Hands!
 

Some of you may have noticed that I didn’t blog over the summer. It wasn’t planned. It just happened. I succumbed to burn-out, an aftershock from all the turmoil that happened over the last couple of years. I couldn’t move. Days would go by and I literally could not move.
 

Was I depressed? No, not really. More like exhausted. Beyond exhausted.
 

When you are deluged by difficulties that are out of your control, when necessary, you will rise to the occasion, then afterwards you collapse. I think it has something to do with that old adage, what goes up must come down. And I crashed. It’s just that simple.
 

At first I thought I’d take a month off. That sounded reasonable. With so many of you at home with your children or gone away on vacation, I would go unnoticed. Then another month went by and then another. It got easier not to blog. I mean, who would really miss me?
 

But I was wrong.
 

I tried to connect on Facebook because it’s a great way to stay in touch. Then, in mid-August, I saw a post on my feed that mentioned a WANA classmate who was recovering from major surgery. Don’t ya just love that about Facebook? It gives us an opportunity to support and root for our family and friends. The WANAite was none other than Anthony Tuscano. And he apparently had a serious issue that required major surgery.
 

Ding, ding, ding, off went my radar. I, of all people, know about the recovery process from major surgery. So I left a cheerful “Get Well” message amongst many others. Well, don’t you know, dear Anthony leaves me this reply, “Karen, I’ve missed reading your blog; and I miss you!”
 

Moi?…Really?
 

I was taken aback by Anthony’s kind words knowing HE was the injured party. It was HE who no doubt suffered from major surgery. And he thought of me?
 

I clapped my hands.
 

At the beginning of September, I heard from another WANA classmate, Pat O’Dea Rosen. Do you see a trend here? Pat, it seems, has an art for direction. She, in her own gracious, complimentary manner, gave me a nudge. Why, this writer remembered the very first post I ever wrote. She, in a nutshell, told me that I had “set high standards and put too much pressure on myself.” Her comment actually mirrored something Jenny Hansen had said to me over a year ago.
 

Call me thick headed, but don’t you hate it when people are right? Did they nail me, or what? I have come to realize there is no hiding behind what you write. It’s there for all to see in black and white. But this was Pat’s way of telling me that I was missed.
 

I clapped my hands.
 

Then I thought about others who are struggling. Or those of you, who out of the kindness of your heart, come by and leave a comment on my blog. Do you know how much you’re missed? Yet, it is possible that many of us may feel like we are blogging out to the Universe and are never missed. Now, how sad would that be?
 

There’s been a lot going on over the past few months. Fires, tornadoes, floods, illness, yes, most of us are dealing with quite a number of challenging issues. Yet, we keep pressing on. Why not take a look around you. See who might be MIA and send them a message. You’d be surprised how little it takes to encourage another.
 

I leave you with this thought that came across my Facebook feed the other day…

“If you find someone who makes you smile, who checks on you often to see if you’re okay, who watches out for you and wants the very best for you, don’t let them go. Keep them close and don’t take them for granted. People like that are hard to find.” (Author unknown.)
 

So if you’re missed and you know it, Clap Your Hands!
 

Thank you so much for the encouragement Jenny, Pat and Anthony! Well all of you actually! 🙂

And we hope you have a speedy recovery Anthony!
 
 
So what do you think?

How did you enjoy your summer? Were you able to re-arrange your schedule and get some rest? Did you and your family get away on a much needed vacation? Were you affected by one of the crazy climatic disasters that have struck our globe? If so, I hope that you and your family are safe!
 

Thanks everyone for stopping by and for all your upbuilding comments!
Karen
 
 

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“K.B. Owen’s Dangerous and Unseemly Mystery Book Tour”


 

I cannot tell you how delighted I am! Not only do I have exciting news about Historical Mystery Novelist Kathy Owen, but I have been bestowed the title of “Mistress of Ceremonies.” I know. This is a huge honor! And I’ll be happy to tell you all why in just one moment.
 

For starters, I’d like to ask, who really is K.B. Owen?
 

Many of us know her through Twitter, Facebook, Mywana and through her blog. Yet, I am suspicious there is more to Kathy Owen than just meets the eye.
 

So the first thing I did was go to her website. It says that K.B. Owen resides in the beautiful east coast state of Virginia with her husband and three sons. That she loves gardening, Hummingbirds and has a special fondness for Tea and Cookies.
 

But then it goes on to say that Kathy taught college English for nearly two decades at universities in both Connecticut and Washington, D.C., and holds a doctorate in 19th century British literature.
 

Aha! That would explain her love for mystery and what helped her to create amateur sleuth, Professor Concordia Wells!
 

Speaking of Professor Concordia Wells…
 

Today, as Mistress of Ceremonies, I have the distinct pleasure of announcing the launch of:
 
 

K.B. Owen’s…

“Dangerous and Unseemly” Mystery Book Tour!
 


 
If you enjoy curling up to a cozy historical mystery, you are going to be totally enthralled by K.B. Owen’s new novel!
 

Here’s the description:
 

It’s an unseemly lesson…in murder.
The year is 1896, and Professor Concordia Wells has her hands full: teaching classes, acting as live-in chaperone to a cottage of lively female students, and directing the student play, Macbeth.

But mystery and murder are not confined to the stage. Malicious pranks, arson, money troubles, and the apparent suicide of a college official create turmoil at the women’s college. For Concordia, it becomes personal when a family member dies of a mysterious illness, and her best friend is attacked and left for dead.

With her friend still in danger and her beloved school facing certain ruin, Concordia knows that she must act. But uncovering secrets is a dangerous business, and there are some who do not appreciate the unseemly inquiries and bold actions of the young lady professor. Can she discover the ones responsible…before she becomes the next target?
 

Okay Kathy, now we’re really hooked!
 

So what’s the catch?
 

Ah, that’s a good question. It turns out that Kathy has added a little Mystery and fun to her book launching tour. Plus a special Prize!
 

So do you want to play? Here’s how it works:
 

At each stop in “K.B. Owen’s Dangerous and Unseemly Mystery Book Tour,” there will be a mystery question to answer. The correct answer has a corresponding letter. When you collect all the letters and unscramble them into sets of four, you’ll discover which ROOM, WEAPON, and SUSPECT. Then, at the end, you’ll email Kathy at kbowenwriter@gmail.com. It’s just that simple. I’ll be announcing the winner right here on my blog, at the last stop of her tour on Wednesday, April 3rd. What could you win? A free ebook copy of “Dangerous and Unseemly” and a $25 gift card of your choice to either Starbucks, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble!
 

Ooh Kathy, that sounds really cool!
 

Now if you run into a few stumpers, don’t worry! You’ll be able check out Kathy’s Mystery Quizz page at kbowenmysteries.com. It has Clue-type graphics and lays it out, step by step. And if you join us in the middle of the tour, the complete list of Book Tour hosts can be found here and at kbowenmysteries.com. The Email Deadline is Monday, April 1st. No foolin’! 🙂
 

And just so you can keep up with each clue, here’s Kathy’s scheduled date of appearances:
 

First stop Tomorrow, Feb 25 – Elizabeth Spann Craig – “The Butler Did It?”

Then Wednesday, Feb 27 – Janice Hamrick – “Fantastic Formula: the Perry Mason Series”

Friday, March 1 – Jill Edmondson – “What Nancy Drew and Scooby-Doo Taught Me About Writing Cozy Mysteries”

Tuesday, March 5- Margot Kinberg – “19th century Con Men – the Best Salesmen Ever”

Wednesday, March 6 – Nancy Lauzon – “Book Shower”

Friday, March 8 – Renee Schuls-Jacobson – “An Unusual Interview”

Wednesday, March 13 – Julie Glover – “The Language of 19th century Charlatans”

Thursday, March 14 – Jenny Hansen – “When You Gotta Go…in the 19th century”

Wednesday, March 20 – Rachel Funk Heller – “Skype Interview”

Monday, March 25 – Laird Sapir – “The Interview”

Friday, March 29 – Tiffany A. White – To be announced

Wednesday, April 3 – Karen McFarland (me!) – “Announcement of Winner and Tour Wrap-Up”
 

So please be sure to join in on all the fun!
 


 
“Dangerous and Unseemly” is available now at:
 

Amazon Kindle
 

Paperback (Amazon)
 

Barnes and Noble Nookbook
 

Smashwords
 

Kobo
 

Scribd
 

iBooks
 

And please check out Kathy Owen’s website for more historical mystery at kbowenmysteries.com!
 

So what do you think? Are you ready for “K.B. Owen’s Dangerous and Unseemly Mystery Book Tour?” Mark your calendars and bookmark this post! You all know how I love to give away prizes! And since I do happen to have some pull with the author, I’m working her over as we speak! So follow all the clues and you could be a winner!
 

Thank you everyone for stopping by and giving Kathy Owen all your support!
Karen

 
 

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