KATHRYN R. BIEL: AUTHOR

As my third book, I'm Still Here , is about to go live on all markets in about 7 hours, I wanted to publicize my thanks to those who have made the book happen. I'm not sure it is the vogue thing to do, but I put my acknowledgments in the beginning of my books, rather than the end. I know that people tend to skip over this part, but to me it is important to include all the people who make my writing career a possibility. As I have been acknowledged in a few books, I have to say, it is so cool to see your own name in print at the beginning of someone's book. So, here are the people that made I'm Still Here  happen. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To my bestie, Michele Vagianelis. Yet another story that would not have been written without you. Oh, and make sure to thank JV for the spam email I supposedly sent to him that got this all started. I had an incredible team of beta readers on this project. Without their collective insight, suggestions and encouragement, this book ...

I've often been asked what is one surprising thing I've found since publishing. My answer on my latest interview was to say the people who I don't know who have come out of the woodwork to support me. Now it is my turn to pay back some of that support. I'm about to publish my third novel, I'm Still Here . The main theme of the book is finding family. The main character, Esther, has to learn what it means to be family. As the back cover blurb says, "... blood does not always mean family." While I do happen to have a wonderful biologically-related family, I also have a family of friends and a family of other writers. As I'm on the cusp of publishing my latest work, one of my fellow writers is going through a very difficult time. Although we live in the same community and know some of the same people, we've never met. We've liked each other's posts and shared each other's links, but we've never met. But I know that I need to do som...

My mom always made our birthday cakes. And, of course, as a child, I wanted nothing more than the bakery concoctions with mountains of frosting and brightly colored roses that could induce a diabetic coma. However, as I grew up, I realized I don't like most bakery cakes (unless they're chocolate with chocolate ganache). I was attracted to the intricate designs. I wanted my cake to look pretty (not that my mom didn't do a great job. She did. There were no fancy roses or intricate piping though). Then, when I was in college, Martha Stewart came into the picture, establishing an impossible xenith of decorating and home keeping. I have no where near the talent and skill it takes to be Martha, but dammit I'm gonna try. For years, I spent Christmas Eve frosting sugar cookies in six different colors of royal icing, just so they looked smooth and professional. They looked nice, but my mom's round ones with cream cheese frosting taste a whole lot better. For my wedding c...

A while back, I wrote this blog post  about how things I've written about in my books have a strange way of coming to fruition.  So, today, I was returning home from a family outing. The hubs had met us out and was in the car behind us. Much of the time, when we have two cars, at least one of the kids decides to ride with Dad. Today, it wasn't discussed and they were both with me. We live on a main street and about 5 p.m. on a Friday, it's a pretty busy thoroughfare. I had stopped while waiting to make a left turn into my driveway. Next thing I know, I hear a loud crash, then feel an impact as we're hit from behind. Turns out, a Ford F150 had rear ended my husband, who then rear ended me. We pulled right over and assessed the damage. Now, keep in mind, we paid off my van two weeks ago. My husband's car is totalled. His passenger side airbag deployed, but the driver's side didn't. His rear bumper is barely on. His seat broke as his weight went backward...

When my friend Hilary Grossman told me she was updating the cover to her first book, Dangled Carat , my first thought was, "Well, that's too bad. I really like her book cover. I wish she wouldn't change it." Now, I'm eating my words because I LOVE this cover! Here it is, the all new and improved cover: Intrigued? Want to know more about it? Read on: For every girl who wondered if she should love him or dump him..... For every girl who listened to her heart instead of her friends advice.... For every girl who l wondered if she was wasting her time dating that guy.... meet Hilary....   She had gotten used to dating the commitment-phobic Marc, thirteen years her senior. They had a great relationship--why rush into things? She saw no need to pressure him for marriage, believing that when the time was right, he would propose. But after they had been together for four years, their friends decided to take matters into their own hands, pushing Mar...

It started probably close to thirty years ago. Somewhere, in our basement, in the rack of cassette tapes, there was a pirated copy of Queen's Greatest Hits. My eldest brother had recorded it from somewhere and penciled in the names of the songs in his block handwriting. Occasionally, we listened to this cassette and the songs became part of my childhood. Part of the MTV generation, I remember watching bits and pieces from Live Aid. I listened to my other brother's Iron Eagle soundtrack just to hear 'One Vision.' By 1991, I was a Queen fan. I owned the album, Innuendo , and played the shit out of it (the cassette tape, of course). My brother had given me the VHS of Queen Live at Wembley '86  for my birthday. I killed time in my sophomore English class by writing out all the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody. It was more entertaining than paying attention (sorry Mr. DiPrimio). Then, I remember with heartbreak, coming home from school one Monday in November to hear th...

In case you didn't know, I don't have a lot of patience. I want things to happen NOW. One of the benefits of being an indie author is that sometimes, I can make them happen NOW. Conversely, one of the drawbacks of being an indie author is that I have to make myself wait to make things happen. But today is not one of those days. For today, I shall unveil the cover to my third novel, I'm Still Here . Once again, Becky Monson has really outdone herself on this one. This cover was a group effort though. The ladies at ChickLitChatHQ weighed in endlessly on what makes a good cover. Heather McCoubrey   came through with this image. Interestingly, I had picked a different image from the same photo shoot, but this one was the one. Here's the blurb for I'm Still Here : It started out as an ordinary day for Esther Comely-Cox, if you consider simultaneously totaling your car, smashing a Ho Ho in your face and meeting a handsome doctor ordinary. Estranged from h...