Life of an Author

Reminder! March 28-31: LCC 2019 Whale of a Crime and Special News!

Hello Precious Readers!

A final reminder that at the end of this month I’ll be attending Left Coast Crime 2019: Whale of a Crime* in gorgeous Vancouver, B.C., Canada! It’s only a bit north of my home so I’ll be making it a mini-road trip for traveling there.

Left Coast Crime 2019: Whale of a Crime

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I will be at LCC merely as an attendee. I haven’t been to this conference before as it has an annual, roaming location. Last year was in Reno, Nevada, next year will be San Diego, California. Lucky me as a Washingtonian, this year’s location is right in my backyard. Hoping to see you there if you’re in attendance!

From the website:

“What is Left Coast Crime? Left Coast Crime is an annual mystery convention sponsored by mystery fans, both readers and authors. LCC is held during the first quarter of the year in Western North America. Conventions have been held from Anchorage to El Paso, from Boulder to Hawaii, and various locations in between.

Our purpose is to host an event where readers, authors, critics, librarians, publishers, and other fans can gather in convivial surroundings to pursue their mutual interests.

Left Coast Crime is an all-volunteer organization — neither the members of the Standing Committee nor members of each annual convention committee are paid for their time. LCC is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt non-profit organization. Each Left Coast Crime Convention raises money to support a local literacy organization with funds collected through silent and live auctions, and the annual Quilt Raffle.

Who Is Left Coast Crime For? Left Coast Crime is for fans of the mystery/crime genre: readers, authors, librarians, bloggers, publishers, editors, agents, and booksellers.

What Happens at a Left Coast Crime Convention? Our days are built around panel discussions and other programming on a wide variety of topics designed to allow interaction between readers and writers. There are typically three or four programs to choose from during each time slot. The panels can be humorous or serious, educational or entertaining, and are often a mix of everything.There are signings after each panel slot and a book room.

Several special events are included in your Left Coast Crime registration: Thursday Opening Reception, Friday Meet the New Authors Breakfast, Saturday Awards Banquet. Other special events vary by convention.

Connections between authors and fans are encouraged with activities like Author Speed-Dating, Author-Reader Connections, and Author-Hosted Tables at the Awards Banquet.”

I hope to see you there, and I can’t wait to report about this major conference after I’ve experienced it and had time to process what I learned.

Amelia Darnell: Secrets of Silvercrest Village

There is some new progress on the video game! I just received some of the first pages of the revised script late last week and already finished my edits. I’m excited about the new draft I’m seeing because it means our final version of the game will be even better than our awesome demo!

Haven’t played the demo of Amelia Darnell: Secrets of Silvercrest Village? Well, get on that! It’s 100% free to play, and is available for both Mac and Windows.

Also remember, the final version of Amelia Darnell will also be 100% free to download and play. I highly, highly encourage you to try the demo and let me or our team know what you think!

In more personal news…

There have been some major life changes over the last few months. My husband, Pilot got a new job at Washington-based big business, Boeing! This is, of course, a natural field for him to be working in. He’s loving it! I’m still plugging away at my daily life job at a school. Much of the country was laughing at Washington State due to the 2 weeks of snow we encountered in the month of February. Our home received 18 inches of snow! The East Coast tends to laugh at us West Coasters, but I find that a bit unfair. That amount of snow is highly abnormal for our area, so our towns and cities do not have have the same amount of plows or resources available to handle intense winter weather like our coastal counterpart. Grocery store shelves were ransacked and emptied, but for good reason. Washington is an incredibly hilly and still heavily forested, creating major pockets of immobility for its citizens and often leaving thousands without power for several days, sometimes weeks.

My in-laws, Honey and Silver Fox are out in the country at the top of a steep hill. Any time there is a wind storm/heavy rain, snow, etc. they always lose power, often for several days. There is a reason their home is naturally built-in with a wood-burning stove on each level of their home.

Alas, War Machine is no more as it died (over and over and over and over and over again) and had to be retired. We purchased a new (used) crossover vehicle, in a sharp blue, which Pilot has now lovingly dubbed Blue Steel. I call it Blue Streak. We’re still debating on the new name.

We are actually moving this month! We got the keys last week to a brand new Bacher Fort and will be spending the next few weeks moving in. I can’t explain how much changing from a dwelling with all carpet to a new place with hard-surface flooring is happiness-inducing to my life. It will make cleaning so much easier and help keep my allergies in check. I know a lot of people really enjoy carpet, but I hate it SO MUCH. Having hard-surface flooring will literally be life-changing. Less than 20 minutes to clean, I don’t have to worry about pet messes, it’s easier to move furniture, and so on.

This is good news because… Pilot and I are expecting our first child! That’s right, a Bacher Baby is on the way! The Bacher Fort is expanding, as well as my uterus. We planned this move because of us having 2 dogs and a wee babe-in-arms while running up and down stairs to take the pups outside is an incredibly bad idea. Especially when one half of our dynamic duo (meaning: me) is incredibly accident-prone, stairs + baby + 2 dogs on leashes = imminent death.

Baby Bacher is predicted to arrive end of July. This means as summer approaches my random blog postings may be even less frequent than they are now. It kind of depends on how I’m feeling. At least now, out of the first trimester, I’m no longer dealing with nausea.

Yes, I buried the lead.
Yes, you read that correctly.

In less than 6 months, Pilot changed jobs, our car War Machine died (over and over and over and over and over), retired War Machine, bought a new (used) car, found out we were expecting our first child, found a new place to live, am currently moving, and prepping for the arrival of Baby Bacher, ETA July 2019! Most of the time, the “experts” never recommend doing more than 1 of those things within the same year. We did all of these things in less than 6 months.

No sweat, right?
Well, no one ever said we were smart.

If you’ve been a long-time reader of this blog, you already know that I’m not particularly sentimental regarding infants, nor am I a firm believer that every person is required to be a parent. Whether you choose to have children in your life or enjoy having a child-free lifestyle, I salute you. Neither is wrong, neither is better than the other. Success is only what you measure for yourself. I will not become one of those people who will inundate your inboxes with tons and tons of baby photos or videos.

Unless something particularly challenging or side-splittingly hilarious happens, most of our private life regarding Baby Bacher will be kept quiet. (Although as time goes by, I suggest keeping an eye on my Instagram for the occasional family photo.) I will never be afraid to answer any question you might have, so post your questions in the Comments section below. (Be prepared, I will answer you honestly.)

Yes, this means that if you take photos with me at Left Coast Crime 2019: Whale of a Crime, I will be sporting a baby-belly as well as my typical Michelin-man style fat rolls. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, people!

I wish you a happy end of winter/early inklings of spring and hoping this blog post finds you well.

*If you would like to attend, please note that pre-registration and fees may apply.

Haven’t read the Roxy Summers Mystery Series? Start with Capture Me and meet Roxy in a case of cat-and-mouse for a grand Seattle adventure! Then, travel with Roxy to sunny Los Angeles for a food competition to die for in her sequel novel, Crush On You! Roxy’s third book, Missing You has Roxy and friends searching of her ex-boyfriend, lost in a blizzard-riddled Alaska, hoping to find him before time runs out.

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Celebrating with my favorite snack!

Hello, Precious Readers!

It’s January, which means it’s the beginning of a new year. New Year’s Eve was fairly quiet in our home, not counting the fireworks that were set off throughout the neighborhood. To me, January not only signifies a new start, but also a time of reflection over the last year. In harmony with the season, I completed my third book, Missing You and it’s with my editor.

Sending off my book is a bittersweet sentiment. It is the last book of my current contract with Trifecta Publishing House and wraps up my character, Roxy Summers’ storyline… for now. I promise that I have several more ideas brewing, but I need to recuperate from this one.

After completing any project, as an introvert I always need recovery time. To close friends and family, I’ve already received the question, “Okay, you’ve finished Book 3. So what’s happening in Book 4?” Perhaps other authors go through this (at least I hope so!): My brain goes through a “creativity divot.” Imagine having worked for 24 hours straight, and then asked to drive a car across the country without sleep. That’s where my brain is. The larger the project, the longer the recovery time. I have a cup of creativity in my mind, and after it’s been used it needs time to refill.

Writers, we’re a strange bunch. We’re never fully satisfied with our writing. Ever. Maybe we weren’t has happy with a character or scene we’ve written, or maybe our project had typos for which we smack our heads against the surface of our desks afterward, or maybe we had to remove a character from the story, no matter how much we loved them. After a book has been submitted and/or released to the public, we’re constantly wringing our hands to know if it’s good enough, was the cover a good choice, were we able to convey the story in a way that not only matches what we envisioned, but communicated it in a way that is easily understood by the masses? This is no small feat. No matter which of these, or all of the above (and most often, more), have occurred, it’s important for a writer to take breaks to celebrate the little victories.

Otherwise, we’d go crazy.

This brings me to the topic of the day. Today is January 19th, which means it’s National Popcorn Day! Popcorn is my absolute favorite snack. I’m not talking about the chemical filled-quick fix-microwave stuff.

No, no way.

I’m talking about: fresh, fluffy, crunchy, tender air-popped clouds of savory deliciousness. There are many varieties of corn that affect the final shape of each popcorn kernel, and I like my popcorn puffy and round, known as “mushroom” popcorn. Most people use “snowflake” popcorn, which looks like a firework in the sky.

popcorndotorg popcorn shape

Image from Popcorn.org

This might seem blasphemous to other popcorn purists, but I don’t like butter on my popcorn. I don’t like soggy bits, and no matter how carefully one can drizzle, there’s always a soggy kernel. I prefer to air pop my crunchy bits, half of the time I eat it plain. No butter. No salt.

If I’m feeling frisky or needing a bit of kick-you-in-the-face flavor, I’ll add a light-to-no-flavored cooking oil (avocado oil and grape seed oil are fantastic on it!), and add seasoning flavors to it.

I’d like to share some of my special popcorn flavor go-to’s with you. That’s how much I love you.

(The following is in no particular order of preference.)

  • Brewer’s/Nutritional Yeast. Loved by vegans everywhere, it provides a cheese-like flavor, without the fat, calories, or dairy products. We get ours at our local grocery store in the bulk food items area. I also use Nutritional Yeast in several other recipes. Using Nutritional Yeast helps me with my cheese-loving addiction without the guilt.
  • My own personal blend. I don’t have an exact recipe for this one. As mentioned in previous blog posts, Mom and Dad grew up on good ol’ American farms. My mom learned comfort food cooking from her mother, and so on. We rarely used recipes, and recipes were typically for baking not cooking. For cooking, we measured with our hands and our eyeballs. If you want my personal recipe, grab your favorite storage container and shake together the following:
    • 1 part Nutritional Yeast: The amount used is what you’ll compare all other seasonings to.
    • 1/4 part Cumin
    • Large dash of Smoked Paprika (splurge on good stuff, if you can. It’s one of my few splurges. I love a good smoked paprika!)
    • Optional: A dash of Cayenne Pepper to taste
    • A dash of pepper
    • Optional: A light dash of Salt
  • Sometimes I’ll flavor the oil itself.
    • Make fresh
    • Wash and pat dry fresh rosemary stalks
    • Simmer gently in your favorite cooking oil to infuse the rosemary flavor for ~10 mins
    • Drizzle flavored oil over your popcorn
    • Sprinkle parmesan to your personal taste
  • Furikake. No, this isn’t a bad word. Furikake is a general term for Japanese “rice seasoning.” There are several varieties of flavors, but I stick with ones that focus on seaweed being broken up into tiny flakes. Sometimes this is referred to as “Hurricane Popcorn” stemming from the State of Hawaii. I prefer to use a light touch of oil instead of butter. Multiple varieties of furikake can be found at most local Asian food markets. If you haven’t tried it on plain rice, you’re sooo missing out!
  • Ranch Popcorn. I haven’t tried this recipe yet. I hope to soon. I have no comments if this will be good or not. If you try it, let me know what you think!

Although Missing You is not yet 100% done, the story is complete and it’s with my editor. There will be a few more rounds of editing before it’s sent off to the printer, but for now, I’m going to kick back with some of my favorite go-to snack, letting both my stomach and mind be refilled.

Love, and love of popcorn, to you all!
– KB

Haven’t read the Roxy Summers Mystery Series? You have time to catch up!
Start with Capture Me and meet Roxy in a case of cat-and-mouse for a grand Seattle adventure! Then, travel with Roxy to sunny Los Angeles for a food competition to die for in her sequel novel, Crush On You! Roxy’s third book, Missing You releases in June 2018. Keep an eye out on my bookshelf page for pre-order links closer to the release date!

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Get your copies today!
Katherine Bacher on Amazon
Katherine Bacher on Barnes and Noble
Katherine Bacher on other platforms:

Capture Me (click here)
Crush On You (click here)

Join me LIVE TONIGHT on Facebook at Jacquie Rogers’ Pickle Barrel Bar and Books! (3PM PST)

Hello Precious Readers!

Tonight at 3:00pm (PST) I’ll be joining several authors in celebration of Cissie Patterson’s new book release Mail Order Moments (Brides of Beckham). We’ll be at Jacquie Rogers’ Pickle Barrel Bar and Books Facebook Group starting at 3:00pm (PST).

I’ll be talking about my book, Capture Me and my upcoming release Crush On You (releasing August 21st), and giving away a DOUBLE FEATURE prize. One winner will receive a copy of BOTH of my books in e-book format. Capture Me immediately, and a guaranteed free e-copy of Crush On You after its release.

Don’t forget to join Jacquie Rogers’ Pickle Barrel Bar and Books Facebook Group **FIRST** before joining in on the festivities at 3:00pm (PST). Otherwise, you may not see the posts right away!

Hope to see you there!

why am I shaking? It’s NaNoWriMo!

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Precious Readers, let me make something perfectly clear. I am not a true participant of November’s #NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I have already had a first novel in the works since January. I tip my hat to anyone truly working from start to finish a novel in 30 days. You are truly a stronger (and might actually be) crazier, than I.

 

The purpose of NaNoWriMo is to plot, plan and write 50,000 words within 30 days. It is doable. I think if I pushed myself, I might actually get close to competing that goal. But one ting I am certain, I’m not sure if I’d want to.

 

I’m far too detail oriented not to go back and delete things that seem outright wrong on my screen, right in that moment. There are some who use voice controlled programs to audibly write their novels. I personally tried Dragon software. It’s an amazing program and I recommend it, but I’m not sure if it was right for me. You have to verbally say “new paragraph,” “comma,” “delete” along with other voice commands that break my stream of thought of getting my story onto the page. I’m too detail oriented not to watch my words appear on the screen and trust to keep going blindly facing away from the monitor.

 

Some type all 50,000 words in 1 day. I personally don’t see the point as this could cause (possibly irreparable) damage to my tools: my hands, wrists, and fingers.

 

Instead, my plan to participate in NaNoWriMo is this: Since I already had most of a first draft done, I wanted to finish the next stages of writing a novel by the end of November. This includes the following:

 

Step 1: Finish Draft 1

As of Nov. 1 I was 4 scenes away from finishing Draft 1. I needed to buckle down and get those scenes out of me. I didn’t write for the month of October, as Pilot and I were facing some financial decisions, working on melding Lou The Chihuahua into our family, keeping Nimitz from killing Lil’ Lou, and hosting Halloween party with my friend, Caring.

 

Step 1 Progress Report: As of 1:28 AM on 11/3/2015, I typed the words, “The End” on my first draft. Yea me!

 

Step 2: Finish Draft 2

1-edit

Draft 1 focused on getting my story out. Getting my Protag’s experiences and growth out onto the screen. You should know that I am highly proficient in MS Office programs. This includes MS Word. When I came to an area where I needed to describe details about an object, or didn’t want to spend time describing an environment in detail, I left a “gray field” to come back to. I wanted to focus more on my character’s thoughts, conversations, and get the plot onto the page. Things like describing the scent inside of a vehicle, or the noises of a restaurant, I left for when I had time to think about those things. Being more detail-oriented, I have had to train myself to “keep writing” and not get caught up in those details. Believe me, I can nickel and dime the structure of a story and get caught up in a huge time suck before I get back to why my character is doing something. Working on Draft 2 allows me to go back and fill those non-plot specific areas and beef up details.

 

Step 2 Progress Report: Will begin tomorrow.

 

Step 3: Find Critique Partners

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This one is tricky. I’ve been fortunate to meet face-to-face several authors whose writing I admire, characters I love, and advice I clutch to my chest. (Sorry, I hate the word “bosom.” It just sounds odd.) However, being that they’re working on their stories, published several times over, and I’m barely-patiently waiting for their next works to come out, it means that they’re busy. I don’t want to be that overbearing, conceited fan asking them to take away from their writing schedules to read my (extremely) rough draft.

 

I also don’t want to entrust my equivalent to a BABY (other than my dogs) to a complete stranger, unless they come highly recommended from said admired authors. I have some friends and family who have offered to read my stuff. The problem is, I’m not sure if they understand what they’re asking. A second (or even third) draft is still considered extremely rough and I’m looking for people who will focus on the story, not the technical/formatting edits at this time. I need not only critical readers, but people who are able to verbalize their thoughts to me in a constructive way to make my story stronger.

 

Step 3 Status Report: Sort of started. Working on it.

 

I’ve begun seeking advice from The Wise Ones (authors I admire) about how they found their critique partners. Many of these same authors have had the same critique partners for over twenty years. This is not just a friendship, it’s a trustworthy teammate offering to do a JOB for you and provide expert advice to make my story appealing to the masses. It’s not just being someone who likes to read, it’s a real time-consuming and effort-filled job.

 

Some family members are/were teachers, so I do have that going for me. However, there is also a timing issue. I’m not going to just hand off my manuscript to someone who can’t respond to me within the scheduled time period. I want to get going on my next story and don’t want to lose momentum. I have work that I want to polish and get ready to submit to literary agents. I quit my job to pursue this life, and every day that I’m not writing or working towards getting my completed written work published is money out of my pocket.

 

Don’t get confused. I don’t do this for the money. I do this because I have a lot of stories and characters in my brain, asking me to share my work with the world. Even if it doesn’t reach anyone, I can’t stop their voices calling out how they want to break out of my mind and jump onto the page. Even if I become homeless, I will want to keep writing. Other than my family, it’s what I love, it’s what I wake up for, it’s what makes life exciting for me. However, I do want to share my writing with the world and I am committed to making my LOVE into my job. I’ve had countless jobs that weren’t in fields that I cared about. They were important fields, and I’m proud to have been part of the team that worked in those fields, but it’s not what I care about.

 

I want to make what I care about my daily work. A long time ago, when I started this blog, there was a major crevasse between my Daily Life and my Real Life. Well, I have had almost a year to make my Daily Life the product of my Real Life. Pilot allowed me to cut off the ties holding me back from crossing the bridge over that crevasse and live on the side where Daily Life = Real Life. However, this also means, I need to keep my butt in gear and focus on getting my story published.

 

What advice would you give (100%) newbie writers who know nothing about the business side?

How did you gain your Critique Partners?

Did Critique Partners start out as strangers or people you know?

How much time do you give someone to read your manuscript?

What instructions do you give your Critique Partners to guide them in the feedback you’re expecting?