KATHRYN R. BIEL: AUTHOR

I've been hard at work (which is why the blog has been suffering) on getting my fourth novel ready to go. Jump, Jive, and Wail  is going to the editor this week, which means I can finally tell the world about it. I was first inspired to write this story almost a year ago, while watching the Winter Olympics. I love watching the ski jumpers and thought that somehow, it would be cool to write a story about it. I happened to mention it to the lovely and talented Aven Ellis , and she encouraged me to go for it. I had to do a lot of research for this book, which is something that I usually don't have the patience for. Since I knew nothing about ski jumping, I had to really look into it. One of the things I found out was that women were not allowed to compete in ski jumping before the Sochi Olympics in 2014. Women from several countries worked together and lobbied (and sued) to get Women's Ski Jumping allowed in. Staff from Women's Ski Jumping USA ( http://www.wsjusa.com/ ...

Forgive me if you've heard this story before. I need to tell it again. When I was in high school, I had a little bit of a hard time deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up. For a few minutes, I considered majoring in Communications. But I knew I wanted to be in the medical field. But the commitment to schooling and student loans that went along with medical school intimidated me. I was considering physical therapy and respiratory therapy. Somewhere along this time, my next door neighbor was in a terrible car accident. He was thrown through the window of his truck and broke his neck. He was paralyzed. This was a hard thing to accept. He had been in my brother's class and I remember waiting at the bus stop with him. As one can imagine, becoming paralyzed in your early 20's can be devastating. It certainly was for this young man. His step-mother, a nurse, used to give me my allergy shots, so we'd talk about things every week when I was over there. I knew that he ...

Ok, in defense of both of my brothers, they probably drive just fine. I know one is a back seat driver, so I prefer to let him drive so he doesn't criticize me, but that's besides the point. This isn't about my literal brother but my figurative ones. Sisters too. I live in New York. Even though I'm upstate, we're sort of known for our aggression and the speed with which we do things. I lived for a time in Massachusetts, and it's even worse there. It's fine with me. I'm a Northeastern girl. I like to go-go-go. When I moved to Ohio, I was immediately and intensely frustrated by the slowness with which mid-Westerners move. They are never in a hurry for anything . Drove me crazy. Of course, I married a mid-Westerner. I don't know what I thought would happen. After 14 years together, he's still as slow and I'm still chomping at the bit. But for all the slowness in Ohio, I noticed something that we in NY tend to lack--friendliness. The first ti...

I had a brilliant idea. Or a really stupid one. Only time will tell. It's November all ready. Whether we like it or not, the holiday season is descending rapidly. I like to keep Christmas out of my house until the turkey's been consumed, but that doesn't mean one can't start planning. Okay, so here's the deal (and I'm sorry but this is restricted to continental US only. I will send to APO/FPO addresses 'cause those ladies deserve this). Give your wife, mother, sister, bestie, kid's teacher or even YOURSELF a customized gift this holiday season. A personalized, autographed set of paperback books. My books, of course. Three paperback books, signed and shipped to you. Or directly to the recipient (but sorry, I don't wrap). One low price: $35. That's three paperback books (retail price $12.99 each), signed and shipped to you. One low price. What are the books and what are people saying? Good Intentions:   Plain and ordinary Mag...

For a very long time, I avoided Pinterest. Oh, sure, I was invited and even opened an account. But I never went on the site. The reason is two-fold: self-esteem and time management. The self-esteem thing is this: all these people posting pictures of the wonderful things they've made. The beautiful cakes, the intricately decorated cake pops, the pumpkins made out of old books. All that stuff looks great. Except my stuff comes out looking more like something from a Pinterest Fail page than anything Pinterest-worthy. Finally, I realized this: So, then I avoided Pinterest because of time management issues. Namely, once I type in www.Pinterest.com, suddenly four hours have elapsed and I have nothing to show for it. I don't have that kind of time to waste. I need to keep up on Candy Crush. So, for me, Pinterest was not a productive thing. But then, my good friend, the super talented Jayne Denker , sent me her super secret Pinterest board. I was beta reading for her nove...

Dear Son, Sometimes I forget where we started. Sometimes I forget how far you've come. Sometimes I forget what a long road it has been. Sometimes I forget how hard it is for you to express your thoughts. Sometimes I forget how hard things must be for you. Sometimes I forget that things are hard because you are still smiling. Sometimes I forget that you are aware of some of your differences. Sometimes I forget that you are oblivious to some of your differences. Sometimes I forget that you are autistic. Sometimes I forget that you are only ten years old. Sometimes I forget that you need time to play and be yourself. Sometimes I forget that you are not doing things on purpose to annoy me. Sometimes I forget that you need time to yourself. Sometimes I forget that you don't understand how to ask for help. Sometimes I forget how frustrating it must be for you to be a square peg. Sometimes I forget that the world doesn't always make sense to you. ...

Today, Biel Blather is being taken over by fellow writer and all-around funny gal, Jayne Denker. She's here to talk about her book, Down on Love , which is on sale this month. (Blog) Tour of Marsden, Day 5 In Which Your Tour Guide Swears a Lot; Or, Continuity’s a Bitch Hey campers. Are you still on the bus? We’re headed for Marsden, NY, the fictional small town in the heart of the Catskills that features in my rom com, Down on Love . If I sound a little subdued today, it’s because I have a raging headache, so if we could all play quietly as we roll along, that’d be great, mkay? What’s bugging me, you ask? I mean, sure, I was mighty perky on the first four days of the tour (see the full list of stops at my blog, http://jaynedenker.com ), but today I have one heck of a hangover. No, not that kind. A continuity hangover. I’ll try to explain; I just need a little pick-me-up first. Are you going to finish that coffee? Okay, see, continuity is like air—you only no...