Kate Rivet

Hello everyone!

As of last night, I’m at about 45,000 words, which means I’m about 15,000 from the planned end of this book!  I’m now in the place of “where is this going?” in the sense of: where exactly should I set up the big event that will fuel the ending of this story?

At the point I’m at right this moment, I’ve already begun to set things up to be like dominoes.  The problem I’m having is that I’m not sure how many words it will take to cause the other shoe to drop and then to pick up all of the pieces.  I know some authors are good at writing pieces of their work and sewing them together seamlessly, but I’m an author who needs to move in order from Point A to Point B to get my idea down.  I can’t do that Point A->Point D->Point B->Point C and then suddenly, they’re all in the right place as if that’s the way they were initially written.

My original goal was that I’d have this novel finished by the end of February.  I will admit that there were many days where not being under the NaNo-type pressure really killed my vibe and I couldn’t get anything worth writing down this month, but I was really determined to persevere, especially after I passed 10,000.  Every single unfinished piece I have is under 10,000 words and that’s kind of my make it or break it point.  When I finally hit 20, 30, 40k — it just pushed me that much more.  So, I have 5 more days of February and just under 15,000 words to go.  That’s about 3,000 words per day to finish on time, BUT!  I’ve given myself a get out of jail free card!  I took a 5-week course on my new digital SLR camera, and therefore my Monday nights have been unproductive.  The last one was tonight, so my Mondays are now back to normal.  As a result, though, I’m giving myself the first 5 days of March to finish if I need that lifeline.

I’m truly hoping to have something to whet your reading appetites with in the very near future, but I will give you this much: the book is definitely, officially called A Royal Risk at this time 🙂  It could change in the future if need be, however, I think it will work wonderfully with the cards I’m dealing in this one.

I hope you’re all having a great end of winter, though I sure hope you are all warmer than I am!

Until next time,
Kate

Hello readers!

Since I last wrote, I’m well into the 30,000’s — I’m actually at 33,360 words as of a couple of days ago!  That’s pretty good progress for someone who’s only devoting a few days a week to writing right now.  Three weeks ago, I started a 5-week course on photography since I inherited a fancy camera that I’m way out of my depth trying to use.  Believe it or not, I’ve already learned a lot so far and I’ve taken some decent pictures so far, but something has had to give to have time for that plus my full-time job.  Unfortunately, it’s been writing that’s taken a back seat while I’m spending Mondays with my camera, Tuesdays practicing for the most part, and Fridays working late and coming home to try to get something done.

On the bright side, I’m at 23 books read so far in 2015!  One of the books I’ve read most recently has been the most interesting — it’s called The Almost Nearly Perfect People, and it’s by Michael Booth.  It’s a look at all of the Scandinavian countries, plus two bonuses: Finland and Iceland (in case you didn’t know, those two aren’t really Scandinavian — they fall under the Nordic umbrella).  As the book I’m working on now is set in a fictional Scandinavian country called Ängsmark, I thought it would be a good read — especially since I’ve discovered I’m 17% Scandinavian through Ancestry.com and I’ve been considering a job opportunity that would possibly take me to Sweden.  I’ve actually been working on my Swedish lately (Jag talar lite svenska!  Svenska är ett rolig språk!), so this book appealed to me that much more.  It’s nonfiction, and those always slow down my reading speed as I take in the new information, but it was well worth the multiple days I spent reading it between working on writing, work, and my class!

Back to writing, though — as I’m now past 33,000 words, I think I am safely past the halfway point.  Unlike most of my books, where I’ve got the basic story outlined in my own special way, this one has been mostly flying by the seat of my pants.  I have to say, though it’s not always easy going on this particular project, I really am enjoying it!  Having some extra creative freedom is both extremely difficult, yet extremely rewarding!

I hope the winter’s cold is treating the rest of you well — I know I have plans to stay in this weekend, where our high temperature in Pittsburgh will be 10 F on Sunday and the low -1 F!  If this weather does not create the opportunity to stay in and curl up with my computer, I don’t know what will 🙂

Until next time,
Kate

I know I’ve discussed writers’ block before on my blog, but I have found, at least in this project, a new issue: I’m calling it NaNoWriMo Syndrome.

I seem to thrive under pressure.  When NaNo calls for me to write 50,000 words in 30 days, I do more than 50k.  When I had tickets to Barcelona during the last 2 weeks of NaNoWriMo ’13, I wrote 50,000+ words in 16 days.  NaNo ’14?  Cranked out my book in 15 days with 50k+ again.  The first novel I ever wrote (many years ago now!) was written in just about a month, and I think that was 70+k at the time.  I seem to be more motivated when there’s time constraints on completing my work, then I can leisurely go back and edit and expand upon what I’ve written.

I’m not saying that’s the issue with everything I write: a couple of the books I’ve written have taken well over a month, but I’ve seen them progress.  They started frantically, but eventually I just couldn’t keep up and had to step away for a little to get properly motivated to finish.

So, with my 9th book presently in my word processor, I’m trying to break out from the chains of my old habits.  I came up with an idea and got started, and got a good amount of work done before the inevitable slow down.  But there have been more than a few days since I started this project that I’ve written 200 or less words, and I’m okay with that!  I’m about to hit 18,000 words and the book is still on task to be what I set out for it to be.  Unlike a lot of the books I manage to finish, I still don’t really have a concrete layout for it, but I do see where it’s heading and how to get it to that invisible finish line.

I like my main characters and their supporting casts, I like the location, and I like where the story is headed.  When I have all of that set, it tends to be easier for me to really sink my teeth into a project.  That’s not saying that the one or two projects I had on the back burner aren’t things I might like to pick back up eventually and work on, but there was something about those, probably that I had no idea where they were truly headed, that made them much more difficult to really pour my heart into.  I’m really giving this one a good shot, though — one of my favorite books I’ve written yet was actually one that took me probably 4 or 5 months to complete, and it’s one of the ones that means more to me than some of the ones I cranked out and was pleased with.  That particular favorite was one that I could truly find myself stopping in a book store and being intrigued enough to buy it from just the blurb I imagine would be on the back cover.

So, fingers crossed that this project turns out like my 6th book did — I think this one is going to be a favorite down the line as well.

Until next time,
Kate

If you follow my Twitter page (or see the posts to your right here on my page), you’ll see that I posted this link yesterday about pop/punk/emo/whatever you’d like to classify them albums turning 10 this year.  10 years ago, I was 18/19 and this music was one of the most important things to me at the time.  Back then, I was trying to make the transition from schoolkid to real adult, and it was really a hard time for me.  See, I went to college for a semester and it was very rough.  I graduated early from high school, and I had really hoped to make some new friends, since that’s the big thing you hear about college: you’ll make some of the best friends of your life there.  That, unfortunately, did not happen for me.  I had a really tough time of it, mostly because I was at a school I was not happy attending.  I hadn’t gotten into my first (and honestly, only) choice school, and instead of working for a semester and reapplying to other schools I could have been happy at, my mom insisted I go to one that was notoriously a party place.

Now, I’m not a partier at all — I prefer to keep to myself and just go out to events that appeal to me.  As a result, on a party school campus, there’s not a lot for a girl like me.  My first roommate was horrible to me, and my second one was great, but she and I had completely opposite lives as she was a junior and I was a freshman.  I know I was lonely a lot, and I spent all my time on my computer, chatting to all of my online friends in their different locations all over the world.  Back then was when the bands I was into were still small and close with their fanbases, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to spend my nights chatting on AIM to these various musicians.  I’ve seen a good few of my friends from back then blowing up in huge ways, and I regret that most of them and I aren’t nearly as close as we once were.  There are a couple of bands on that list that I actually consider friends, even though I haven’t had a face to face conversation with them in years.

I spent last night listening to one of the albums from that list that I find to be one of the most perfect of that era: it’s Volcano by Gatsbys American Dream.  Gatsbys created an entire album around the central theme of human emotions being like a volcano (namely, Pompeii), and there is not a single bad song on that record.  As I listened to these familiar songs that I’ve still listened to often over the past decade, I found my mind racing back ten years and all of those memories flooding over me.  I felt the same pain my 18 year old self felt realizing that I was so out of my league at that school, and I felt the same joy that I felt being in the middle of a crowd and singing along to the songs that truly rescued me from myself back in those days.  After Volcano ended and after the various Gatsbys songs I played after had also closed out, I went into my current writing project and banged out almost 4,000 words.  Today, I’ve got another album on: A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out by Panic! at the Disco.  I actually attended quite a few Panic! shows over the years, including their first-ever show in Chicago (a place that I called my second home for many, many years with one of my best friends and her amazing family).  Once again, these memories are rushing over me and I find it’s hard to keep from tearing up as I remember how these musicians and the friends I had in those days really kept me together when I really could have lost everything.

I am truly, truly indebted and thankful to these musicians who helped shape my life into what it is now.  Although I may not get to talk to these friends, both musicians and the actual friends who kept me sane back in the mid-2000’s, I owe the fact that now, in 2015, I’m chasing my dreams to watching them chase and achieve theirs.  So go ahead: check out that list and pick your favorite album (mine are, obviously, Volcano, A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out, and also From Under the Cork Tree) and remember who you were a decade ago.  It may be happy memories, sad memories, or a combination of both, but you’re stronger now for who you were back then.  I know I had a tough time of it sometimes, but I wouldn’t change a single thing.

Until next time,
Kate

Hello once again! While I should be writing right now, I’m instead working on this website! You’ll notice a few changes up top if you’ve been here before: I took down the playlist page for now, but I’ve added a reading list page. There, you’ll find a page with all the books I’ve read so far in 2015 and I will continue to update it regularly! There’s more of the story on the page, so go ahead and check it out if you’re interested.

Other than that, I don’t have a whole lot to update about on the writing front. I read a really good book the other day, then got sucked into the series and as a result, I spent this week reading instead of putting down my own words. I’ve vowed to myself to spend this next week working on writing, though, so hopefully by the end of the week, I will have at least doubled my present 6,733 word count. I also have to constantly remind myself that this isn’t a NaNoWriMo story, though, and that I can take my time if I want!

I hope 2015 is going well for you all so far, and I hope you all read some great books this year just like I hope to do myself!

Until next time,
Kate

I have to run shortly, but I just wanted to say welcome to my new home on the Internet!  This is my new official site at KateRivet.com and if you haven’t yet updated your links, make sure to do so!  Otherwise, you will miss out on my latest news!  I’ll write another post later, but I just wanted to get something quickly written to show this is my new home!

Until next time,
Kate

As I write this entry, I’m almost 6,000 words into my next book! It’s crazy to imagine, especially since I still have edits and changes I should make to the one I’ve published, but I find that it almost always happens this way. I put a story to bed, vow to myself that I’m taking a break, but my mind gets jumpy with an idea that I can’t resist toying with.

This latest story I’ve started? Well, I think it really has promise! But I’ve also got two other ideas I really liked that are sitting at about that same word count mark. But I’m committing myself to this one; I’ve got a lot of research into it and I really want it to succeed!

If I keep up with it, maybe I’ll even share a teaser or two with you all soon!

Until next time,
Kate

Wow, two posts in two days!  This must be some new record for me 😉
I just wanted to post a quick message to say that I’ve added a page at the top of this one — it’s called Extras, and is my little page full of Easter eggs about my just-published novel!  Eventually, I’ll probably make a page talking about my writing and editing process, and at some point I’ll begin to chronicle my adventures in attempting to actually find an agent and get published by a real publishing house.

As always, if there are any questions about anything at all, whether it be my process or my characters’ inspirations or anything at all, feel free to e-mail me 🙂

Until next time,
Kate

Today is an important day in the Kate Rivet author world!  Why, you ask?  Well, after the past two months of blood, sweat, tears, and much profanity while thinking about chucking my laptop out of the window, I am OFFICIALLY a self-published author!

Here are some links that I want to share in one place, since I can’t seem to do it on any of the Facebook posts I’ve made:

Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/author/katerivet

Amazon book page: (I made it a shortened link to make it easier!)

Facebook author page: (also shortened for ease of use!)

Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/11121238.Kate_Rivet

I’d say more, but I’m too busy letting everybody know that Roads To Love, my 2014 NaNoWriMo book, is now available for sale on Amazon Kindle!  I did the 90 day exclusivity deal on Amazon, but after those 90 days are up, I’ll work on getting the book up on iBooks, Barnes & Noble, and other eBook platforms!  Now, I’m off to do some more promoting, holiday baking, and kicking back watching my grandma read my book in which she’s on the dedications page!

Until next time,
Kate

You know, I went to my local NaNoWriMo 2014 “Thank God It’s Over!” dinner last night, and my ML (who is a great girl and a friend!) and I both got to saying how we’re just really bad at blogging.  I decided I was going to update this thing, even though I do it sporadically.

On October 26, 2014, I finished writing my 7th novel, A Recipe for Love.  6 days later, I was busy working on my NaNoWriMo book! 🙂  15 days after THAT, my first draft of Roads To Love was done!  For the past two days, I’ve been working on edits to Roads To Love, because I plan on putting it up on Amazon’s Kindle page as soon as I have it to my liking!  I’ve read some not-so-great free or almost-free books lately, and I figure that my stuff is at LEAST half as good as those, plus those were supposed “bestselling authors”, so what do I have to lose?

I’ve been really excited about this endeavor with RTL.  See, I decided to do a four story compilation about best friends, and I went into my writing notes and picked four ideas that I’d never been able to completely flesh out.  With each story in the book coming in at approximately 12,500 words, it was perfect to get out smaller versions of the originally envisioned tales.  I also have a clear idea of what I want the cover to be, and I can photoshop it myself or use the Amazon cover creator when I’m ready to go.  Eventually I’ll have to figure out how to put it onto iBooks and the other platforms, but I’m okay with it being Kindle-only to start!

Other than that, I’ve really enjoyed the company I’ve shared over the past month.  I’ve been going to the write-ins near me like I did last year, but this year our group felt very tight-knit and we all really got along well.  There were some old faces and some new, and together we got a lot of work done!  At least 4 of the people who I know went to the write-ins I was at joined me in the winners’ circle, and that feels great to have others succeed with me.  As I said, I also went to the “TGIO” dinner last night, and everybody had something really interesting to read over our Italian dinners at the Spaghetti Warehouse!  It has been almost 10 years since I’ve been there, and I was pleased to see they now offer gluten-free pasta, which I heartily enjoyed.

Things are also beginning to look up at my “real” job, though I haven’t been there since the 18th of November; I spent the 19th through the 28th traveling over to London and Cardiff!  It was my first time in Cardiff, and it was a beautiful city!  I got really inspired over this trip, and I’m hoping that my next book will be set either in the London neighborhood where I stay during my visits, or maybe even in Cardiff in the area I walked through on my way back from the Bay to the Cardiff Central rail station.

I hope you all have also been having as good of times as I seem to be having after my gorgeous vacation, and I really hope I will remember to write here again soon!

Until next time,
Kate