Stylish Blogger Award

It's the little things ... I received a blogsite award from a new-found friend and blogger -- Krista and The Jelly Beans of Writing So, I am honored and now will talk a bit about me :-) How hard can that be?! (sweating profusely now). Before I start, here are the rules of the game. And best of luck to those five I pass the award along to!

Ok, here are the rules for this award:
1. Thank and link to the person who nominated you.
2. Share seven random facts about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 5 new-found blogging buddies.
4. Contact the winners to congratulate them

R.F #1: I used to be a closet Victorian Romance reader! You name it and I read it. From Victoria Holt to Barbara Cartland, I had no boundaries to my ravenous appetite. But then I got married, had romance of my own, and didn't find as much interest in that genre. I switched to Stephen King and Dean Koontz horror for a while. It took a heavy dose of gruesome to get me to change camps once again. And it's been mysteries and suspense ever since! (Although, I admit, once in awhile I will venture back into a syrupy sweet romance and feel joy!)

R.F.#2: I am like an only child, but am not an only child ... No, it's not a riddle. My youngest brother is 16 years my senior. I have a sister, the oldest, who is 23 years older than I. And I have 9 nieces and nephews who range anywhere from 3 years to 8 years younger than I. Those were and are like my brothers and sisters. It's crazy during family reunions. I recall when I was a kid, I used to tell them, "If you ever call me Aunt Kathy, I will deck you!" It must have had the impact I wanted because when one of them had a bridal shower years later she asked if it was okay now to introduce me as her aunt!

R.F. #3: I wrote my first song when I was 12. It was actually just lyrics which I put to the tune from a movie, "The Moon Spinners" (Haley Mills was my idol then. And Cary Grant. I loved his old movies.) Anyway, I remember going out into the backyard, swigging on the tree swing and singing my song. It doesn't get more cheesy than that, folks!

R.F. #4: I've been writing stories since I was 7, belonged to my high school writers' club, and even took a class or two on creative writing. But it was when I approached my 50th birthday that I remembered the promise I'd made to myself: If I didn't write a full novel by then, and try to get it published, then I would give up on writing. Rather harsh, don't you think? Anyway, I finished Oklahoma's Gold that year. It felt good :-) And I was encouraged to write even more.

R.F #5: I actually decided to dabble in the self-publishing arena, but I didn't want to publicly say it was me :-). So, I published a young adult novel under a pen name. It's actually a fusion of my children's names into one. It's here, somewhere. I will let you all do the detective work to figure it out!

R.F. #6: I love bodies of water ... oceans especially, but I can't swim! I often say that when I retire, I would like to live in a beach house and watch the ocean waves move, smell the salt air, and just relax on my deck. To me that is Utopia!

R.F. #7: I talk to myself. Not that it's so unusual. I know lots of people who admit to that. But I do it to act out scenes I'm writing about in whatever WIP I'm working on. It helps ... I think ... yeah, it does. Or at least that's what I tell myself ... out loud ... when I'm carrying on a conversation with no one else in the room. Oh, boy ...

That actually wasn't too hard. I guess like most of us, I enjoy writing about myself. It's almost cathartic. Okay, so here below are my five "victims". Enjoy!

Allison Simon

Sue Maynard

Elena Solodow

Katherine Crawford

Danielle Raver