KATHRYN R. BIEL: AUTHOR

Never have I been so happy to write about someone else's incredible work. Sometimes I sign up for these things on a whim, figuring, "Yeah, sure, I'll help out." This was one of the most rewarding whims I've ever had. So, without further ado, let me tell you about Face Time (Love in the Digital Age #1)  by S.J. Pajonas. Book Blitz: Face Time (Love in the Digital Age #1) by SJ Pajonas Today is my stop during the book blitz for Face Time (Love in the Digital Age #1) by SJ Pajonas. This book blitz is organized by Lola's Blog Tours. This blitz takes place on 25, 28 and 30 April, you can view the whole blitz schedule here: http://lolasblogtours.net/book-blitz-face-time-by-sj-pajonas/ Face Time (Love in the Digital Age #1) By SJ Pajonas Genre: Contemporary Romance Age category: Adult Release Date: April 25, 2014 Blurb: After the best first date ever, Lee thoug...

An unassuming green binder sat quietly on the shelf in the room where she died, sixteen years ago today. That was one of the things that my grandmother left behind. A binder full of her handwritten essays, the product of a creative-writing class that she took six years before cancer took her. My father hastily typed it up, had it bound and distributed it to family members. It contains stories of her childhood and marriage. There are genealogy lists and random thoughts. There is the floor plan for the house she grew up in, and the story of her first date with my grandfather. It is odds and ends of her life and it is my inspiration. I was just becoming a person when my grandmother passed away. I dream of her often and wake up sad that she is again gone. As an adult, a mother, I so wish I could talk to her. She raised eleven children, and I just wish I could ask her how on earth she did it. I'm sure she was a very flawed individual, as we all are. I know she yelled too much (as I ...

So, you know that dream you have where you're out in public naked and you're totally embarrassed? I keep having that. Except I'm fully clothed. My mortification comes from the fact that, in my dream, I'm at my first ever author event and only seven people show up. Seven. Out of all the people I know in this world, only seven are at my book event, and three of them are library staff. Yep, this is my recurring dream right now. Thank goodness for melatonin, or I would be getting no sleep at all this week. My first ever author event is tomorrow. As in 26 hours from now. (Eeek, pause for momentary freak out). I will be doing a reading, discussion and book signing at the Waterford Public Library. Yes, it is a small library. No, it is not Barnes & Noble. I'm totally okay with that. Actually, I'm more than okay. I'm really happy that my first ever author event is in Waterford. I grew up going to the Waterford Public Library on a weekly basis (b...

Today, I'm excited to participate in the cover reveal for fellow author Heather McCoubrey. Without further ado, here is the beautiful cover for her second novel, Back to December . Back to December Here's what you need to know about the Book Back to December : Thanks to an abusive mother and an absent father, Anna Blackhurst has only known the love of two people: her Gram and her best friend, Niki. When Anna meets Cooper Reed in a smoky club, she’s immediately drawn to his good looks but isn’t prepared to open herself up to a relationship. As time passes, Anna finds herself falling in love with Cooper and she begins to rethink her future. Maybe, despite her childhood, she can have a happy-ever-after. But when her mother is in a terrible accident, she again sinks her claws into Anna and Anna’s world is thrown upside down. Despite Cooper’s unwavering support, Anna walks away only to regret it immediately. In order to heal, not only herself, but her broken r...

Pardon me while I wipe the tears away. I'm cleaning out. And it is such hard work. Not because of the physical difficulty, but the emotional. I'm giving away my children's childhood. I'm not, I know. I'm giving away their toys. Those objects that occupied my kids for hours on end and brought them endless joy. It makes me sad to part with these brightly colored, loud, light-up monstrosities. As it was, Elmo Live! was still yelling at me to sing and dance. But as I packed Elmo away (face down because I'm kind of cruel), this is what I'm really thinking about: Also, my son HATED any of those toys that sang and danced. Until this Christmas, he was terrified of them and this Elmo is the one that helped him over his fear. I packed up my diaper bags and Baby Bjorn. The diaper bag/backpack that I took when we went to Hawaii when my son was not even two. Hardest for me is the Fisher Price Little People. The farm set has been kicking around our house for ...

Well, not me but my blog and my image. (I actually sort of already gave myself a makeover by chopping all my hair off.) One of the things that I've learned is about branding. As an author, I had never thought much about branding, but it is hugely important. It is one of the reasons why Good Intentions  got its own makeover when it did. Now, all my books will have a uniform look and my name will always look the same on each book. A friend of mine came up with the brilliant idea to create me a logo. She is working on it and it will play a large roll in all of my stuff from this point on. I hope you all like it because it will be all over my media pages. Part of branding includes a cohesion and consistency so that you will see the logo or brand and immediately think of my product--think the Nike swoosh. I've also worked on coming up with a slogan to describe what it is I write about. I get kind of giddy thinking about how it is all coming together. So, be patient. We...

You know how you mull an idea over in your head, but are unsure how to act? And then you get some great cosmic sign, and you know what the answer is. That happened to me today in the form of Peaches Geldof. Daughter of singer Bob Geldof, she was found dead, at the too young age of 25. Her mother died of a drug overdose in 2000. This news in no way affects my life, even in the slightest. Except for what I am voluntarily immersing myself in on a daily basis. That is, novel number three. Without giving too much away, the storyline involves the aftermath on a family, particularly the main character, when her twin sister succumbs to her mental illness and addictions and commits suicide. The idea for the story was largely inspired by an acquaintance of mine who disappeared last February. Her body was found several months later. While I did not know Anna well, people that I care about loved her dearly, and have felt tremendous loss. One day, while discussing my new main character, I d...

So, I may have mentioned a time or two (or twenty) that I've gotten hooked up with a great group of writers that have really helped me find my way as I hopefully and eventually transition my career to full time writer. One of the coolest things about being a writer is that you have to read. I started writing because of my love of reading, and now it's part of the job. The group of writers that I have found are mostly female (there may be a man or two in the group, but I'm not sure and I don't want to be exclusionary). We write chick lit and women's fiction. I try to write chick lit, but it becomes more serious and turns into women's fiction. Sometimes, chick lit is looked down upon by the more literary types. Chick lit are the books that make you feel good, are about strong women, have a dash of spice and a pinch (or three) of humor. They are the romantic-comedies of the book world. And while reading heavier stuff is good once in a while, right now I need to rea...