This is where I have lived.
Half of my family is from
Texas, the other from Kansas, and I once lived in Canada for 22 years with my Canadian
husband. We’ve been homesteaded happily in Texas since 1990, and he now calls
himself an American. That said, each of us has dual US-Canadian citizenship, as
does our son. Some people divide the world into two camps. I am a …
I once thought I would die
and wasn’t even out of college.
On campus I was riding my
bicycle down a path, barreling down a slight hill, when my brakes failed. I
couldn’t stop and careened onto a busy street. Cars came at me on my right, but
I whizzed by in time to avoid getting scrunched. This scared me almost to
death.
The first thing I ever
wrote was…
I wrote and illustrated my
own version of Clement Moore’s wonderful “Night Before Christmas” when I was seven
years old. After that I tried to rewrite Little
Women.
I wrote for many years
before calling myself a writer.
In the early 2000s, while shopping at a Whole Foods store, I
spotted a mug adorned with words from Henry David Thoreau. Aimed straight at my
heart, the words were, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live
the life you’ve imagined.” I bought that mug and used it for five more years while
I wrote and wrote and wrote some more. It took that long for me to acknowledge
that being a writer was my heart’s desire, and another year passed before I
could call myself a writer. Now I call myself an author, because my two mysteries are published. That is the best
part, being a published author.
Being a writer is the most
daring thing I’ve ever done.
The most daring thing I’ve
done is to put myself out into the world as a writer. It takes guts to send
your baby/book out into the world, knowing that lots of people could sling mud at
you and say your book is the stupidest thing they’ve ever read. I’ve heard many
very famous authors say how depressed they get about bad reviews, so I know I’m
in good company. I figure it is well worth the risk. I can take the heat so I do
stay in the kitchen.
If forced to choose, I’d
prefer to be famous rather than rich.
Forced to pick, I’d much
rather be famous. I would go further and choose to be famous for being an
author whose books people love to read. Why not rich? That’s easy. Many rich
people lead very unhappy lives. They grow mean and nasty and very, very
selfish. Enough said.
===============
Want to read
the first 20 pages of Kay Kendall’s second
mystery, RANY DAY WOMEN? Go to her website http://www.austinstarr.com/
That book won two awards at the Killer Nashville conference in August 2016—for best mystery/crime and also for best book.
Her first novel about Austin Starr‘s sleuthing, DESOLATION ROW, was a finalist for best mystery at Killer Nashville in 2014.
Visit Kay on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor
That book won two awards at the Killer Nashville conference in August 2016—for best mystery/crime and also for best book.
Her first novel about Austin Starr‘s sleuthing, DESOLATION ROW, was a finalist for best mystery at Killer Nashville in 2014.
Visit Kay on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KayKendallAuthor
I enjoyed the blog, Kay :) I learned just a scootch more about you, and can honestly say, I've read your books and love them :) Inching that mug closer to you and whispering..."Write another, gal..."
ReplyDeleteOh thank you so much, dear Loretta! You have made my day--heck. You made my week! I hope the next book will publish later this year. I will tell you more when I see you next!
ReplyDelete