Kate Rivet

Hello everyone!  I hope April has been very good to you!  I don’t have much to report, hence why I’ve been somewhat MIA.  I took a lot of this month off because my 9-5 job has been insanely busy as of late, but I also joined a gym for the first time, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for a long while.  I have what’s known as chondromalacia patella, which is also commonly referred to as runners’ knee.  It’s ironic to me because I never ran until last year, though I’ve had this since I was a preteen.  As a result, the winters are especially hard on me, and I don’t do a lot of physical activity outside running around like a lunatic for 40 hours a week at work.  Every year, I gain around 10-15 lbs because of this; it then comes back off when the spring comes and I’m able to start walking again.  I figured that, with the low cost to the gym that just opened up near me, I’d give in and get access to the machines that I’ve always wanted to use when it’s cold or just ugly outside.  I’ve been there probably 6 or 7 times now, and I absolutely love it!  It’s early days, but I’m already feeling stronger, and I’ve lost 5 lbs so far 🙂

I’m planning to spend some of my weekend time working on edits for the next couple of weeks, and I’m thinking I could do an hour or so tonight if I want.  I’m only about 8,000 words from where I want this novella to be before I put it onto Amazon, so hopefully it won’t take me too long to get it done!  I’m pleased with how this came out, even though it was just a short distraction, so I’m really hoping that everyone will enjoy it when it finally comes out.

Other than that, all I’ve done is read a bunch of books!  Don’t forget to check out my reading list up at the top of this page — I’m now into the 60’s number-wise, and I’ve achieved my goal of reading at least 50 new books so far this year!  If you’re looking to learn more about any of those books or even just chat about them, you can always tweet or email me; I’m always happy to talk books!

I’m hoping you’ve all enjoyed some lovely weather this month, unlike the weather here in Pittsburgh!  We had one good weekend, but everything else really has been hit or miss.  Here’s hoping for a beautiful (and not TOO hot) summer!

Until next time,
Kate

The numbers are in, the numbers are in!  After 5 days of giving my book away, I’m shocked to be able to say that I’ve managed to get a whopping TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTEEN books into new hands!  Now, I’ll be the first to say that my book probably won’t be winning any prizes, but I thought it was a good one to put out there, and I’m truly humbled at the response to this sale.  Sales have been sluggish, with most of them coming as soon as the book was released, but I’m so beyond grateful for the opportunity for this book to be out and circulating!  If you’ve read it and you’ve enjoyed it — please continue to pass along word to your friends and please leave a nice review!  Knowing that people are reading my first published book truly makes me a happy camper 🙂

And I can also announce that MY camping for Camp NaNoWriMo is done!  Well — I should say that my first draft is done at 12,396 total words, but I’m planning to go back and edit starting very soon, and hopefully it will round out at just about 20,000 words to qualify as a true novella.  Once I’m satisfied with it, I’ll be getting that one prepped for Amazon as well.  I’m thinking a 99¢ price sounds good for a novella, especially something to get people interested in my writing!  The working title is Living for Adventure, but that’s not set in stone.

Anyway, I really want to say a huge thank you once again to everyone who picked up my book, as well as those who helped me promote the sale.  I appreciate every single one of you helping my dreams to come true!

Until next time,
Kate

Hello everyone!  I’ve been busy on my self-directed vacation from writing for the past month-ish since I finished writing A Royal Risk!  In that time, I’ve read a bunch of great books, including the Dorothy Must Die series by Danielle Paige (it got me hooked right away!).  As of today, I’m at 50 books out of my goal of 100, which means I’ll probably blow that goal right out of the water in no time.  I’ve spent my time thinking of other ideas, which I haven’t been writing down because this was supposed to be a vacation from it all!

But I guess writing is more than just something I do as a hobby — I think writing has truly become a part of my DNA.  I will make every attempt to take a break, but then an idea comes along and I can’t help but start on it.  I get almost a tingly feeling, like an itch you can’t scratch, if I don’t set aside time and write sometimes.  It doesn’t have to be the next great American novel or anything, but sometimes I just need to get started on a project — even if it just sits unfinished for me to come back to one day.

As a result of the subconscious need to start something to write, I began a new short story on April 1st, for Camp NaNoWriMo!  I’ve never done Camp before, but I knew that it was a lot more relaxed than the big event in November.  You can set your own goal for Camp — mine is 10,000 words — and you’ve got the 30 days of April to bang out your story.  I realized a little early on that 10,000 words would be a piece of cake for me, especially since I’ve done 50,000 in 15 days before, but I figured that 10,000 would let me lay the foundation for something that might end up around 20,000 one day that I could sell for either 99¢ or even maybe distribute for free.

Speaking of free, I put my book, Roads to Love, on sale on this week for free.  The sale started today, and it’ll run through Thursday the 9th.  So far, at last check, I’ve moved 26 units today alone.  That’s definitely a daily record, though I wish more people would have picked it up when I ran the 99¢/$1.99 sale previously!  Either way, I’m just glad people are picking up my work and might spread along to their friends to pick it up if they enjoy it!  If you didn’t catch that subtle link earlier, I’ll hit you in the face with it now:

Anyway, back to Camp NaNo – I wrote 2,010 words on day 1, which put me at nearly a quarter of my goal right away.  I was a bit busy the next day, so I only got to 3,001 words, but was now more than a quarter finished with the goal.  The next day was even busier, so I did what I rarely do — allowed myself a day off.  I rebounded yesterday and hit 5,026 words, so I’m now past the halfway mark!  I’ve got an idea where this story is going, and I hope that it turns out what I’d like it to.  The idea came to me slowly on the first, but once it did, I realized that this is a love letter of sorts to my travels and some of the people I’ve met along the way.

My summer should bring lots more ideas for stories — in July, I’m taking a road trip to Canada to visit my best friend and be there for her wedding!  It should definitely be interesting, since I’ve never driven that far on my own before.  After that, I’ll be home for a month (and visiting with my friend Kassie from Chicago, the one whose mother I wrote about a good few posts back now!), then I’m off to Reykjavík, Iceland!  I’m very much so looking forward to all the new things I’ll be exposed to this summer, since they will only serve to strengthen my writing.

Anyway, I hope you’re all having a good weekend — and Happy Passover and Happy Easter to those who celebrate these holidays! — and I will be back to write soon, hopefully when I finish this presently-unnamed story!

Until next time,
Kate