KATHRYN R. BIEL: AUTHOR

Since last June when I published my first novel, I've learned so much about the publishing industry. One of the best things I've learned about is the concept of beta readers. Beta readers are readers who offer critique and feedback about a novel before it is published. Sometimes, it happens as a final review. Most of the time, it occurs somewhere between drafts one and five. Thanks to the awesome writing community I've found, I got the chance to be a beta reader last December. It was so cool. Not only did I have the chance to read a really good book, but I also got to discuss with the author different viewpoints and logistics of the story. Plus, this author was then able to beta read for me for Hold Her Down , and provided excellent feedback to me. It is such a cool arrangement--to get honest and open feedback before publishing.  Anyway, I am pleased to announce that the novel I had the pleasure of beta reading for will soon be available. Here's the info: PI...

The year, 1989. The fashions, ugly. Seriously? The hair, atrocious. You can't tell from this picture, but the hair, in addition to the stellar bangs is in a banana clip with a big black lace bow at the top. Luckily, I took off my ugly purple glasses for the picture. That would have been just too much. It was St.Patrick's Day. I was at a party at Billie Jo Vincent's house. She was an eighth grader, while I was in seventh. I was pretty bummed that none of the eighth grade boys paid any notice to me. The party was over, and I was waiting for my ride. My mom was usually late, so it wasn't that surprising that I was one of the last ones picked up. What was surprising was that it was my oldest brother who came to pick me up. He had torn his ACL, and wasn't supposed to be driving his car, since it was a standard. Obviously, knowing that he was breaking a rule, I had to question him as soon as I got in the car. I was not prepared for the answer. My mom wasn...

I know what you're thinking...a fabulous multi-city tour, crossing the country. Meet and greets, celebrities, the jet set lifestyle. Um, not quite. Most of it will probably be done in my jammies. I'm doing a blog tour with Chick Lit Plus, which is a fabulous company that helps promote chick lit and women's fiction authors. In May, I will be doing a 12-blog tour in which other bloggers will review Hold Her Down and feature guest posts and interviews with moi . There may even be some giveaways... It's going to be pretty exciting, and a good way to spread the word about Hold Her Down. I'm very excited about my second novel, and this blog tour is a way to spread the word to new audiences. So, if you have a blog, and are interested in participating, you can sign up  here.  As a blogger, you will have the choice of reading and reviewing Hold Her Down, letting my write a guest post, or having a joint pow wow. Samantha over at Chick Lit Plus will take good care of y...

I spent over two hours last night staring at another woman's breasts. And I feel so much better about myself for it. Let's backtrack a bit. From the time I was a small child, I needed to pass every test (heck, I needed to ace them). I don't do well with failure. Throughout my early and mid-twenties, I was somewhat smug about this. Then came the day that I failed the test. And I knew, from that moment on, I would never be able to pass it again. What test you might ask? The dreaded Pencil Test. Now, ask any woman what the Pencil Test is, and they will tell you. If they say they don't know, it is because they are lying. It is the test to check to see if your breasts are sagging. If you place a pencil underneath, let go, and it falls to the floor, then you're golden, with no sag. If the pencil stays...alas, gravity has won. I first failed the pencil test shortly after the birth of my first child. While I did not nurse him, chestal changes still occurred. It wa...

We got the official notification from the school district yesterday. They believe that a student purposefully deleted the writing works of almost all of the children in my son's school. They are not retrievable. The school district is taking security measures to ensure that this sort of thing cannot happen again. That being said, Jake is quite disheartened about the whole thing. To him, it has made the whole week difficult. His classroom teacher has given him (and his two classmates) time during school this week to work on the writing assignment, and the deadline has been extended, which takes all of the pressure this week. Over here at Biel Central, we are taking this whole experience and trying to make some teachable moments. Despite his disappointment and frustration, we are staying positive. We are making serious kick-ass lemonade over here. This is a great opportunity for my kids to learn that life is not fair. That sometimes, bad or unfortunate things happen, even when yo...

This past summer, my computer died. I had used it first thing in the morning before packing it up. The kids were at camp, and I had planned on working on my second novel (Hold Her Down) at a local coffee shop while I waited for them. But when I got to that coffee shop, the damn thing just beeped at me and would not turn on. While I had stored Good Intentions on a flash drive, I had the brilliant idea just to keep Hold Her Down on my laptop's hard drive. 65,000 words in and my damn computer wouldn't turn on. I tried not to panic. I had it somewhat backed up, but not completely. Lucky for me, I dodged a bullet when it turned out to be a blown mother board, leaving the hard drive intact and retrievable. Today, we lost another piece of work. The emotions I'm feeling about this make my summer panic pale in comparison. My son, who is in 4th grade, was chosen to participate in his school district's Young Writers' Workshop. It is an honor for the 4th-6th graders to be cho...

We all know the saying. We've all said the saying. We've all done the saying. I do it all the time. And, as an author, I know how important it is that a cover reaches out and grabs the attention of the potential reader. I needs to look professional. It needs to be eye-catching. It needs to say something about the book. When I started thinking about the cover for Hold Her Down, I knew exactly what I wanted. I had a crystal clear vision of what it should be. You see, in Hold Her Down, there is a book within the book. As supporting character if you will. And this book within the book is entitled Hold Her Down. The cover is described. It is an important detail to the plot. That is how my cover image came to be. My main character, Elizabeth, picks up the book and sees the cover. But my cover image may be a bit on the misleading side. One may take a quick glance at it and figure that Hold Her Down is a smut book. That it is a bodice-ripping Harlequin-romance type book...

Novel # 2 is officially published! Here's the summary: Elizabeth Zurlo is lost. She's a wife, a mother, a teacher, a PTA volunteer—but somewhere along the way, she's lost herself. Depression and despair can lead to desperate measures and when she is pulled back from the brink of suicide, Elizabeth slowly tries to rebuild her marriage and reclaim her life. Just as she has finally started to put herself back together, a scandalous novel rocks her small town ... and costs Elizabeth her social standing, friendships and ultimately, her marriage. However, the man who seemingly destroyed Elizabeth's life, helps her realize who she is and what she needs to do to become the woman she's not only capable of being, but the woman she used to be. Digital editions are currently available through  Amazon ,  Nook  and  Smashwords.   I'm putting the final touches on the print version, making sure the cover prints as intended. Sometimes CreateSpace is funny about t...