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"A Firefly for Thanksgiving"
My newest, romantic short story, “A Firefly for Thanksgiving,” is included in Passionate Hearts from Vanilla Heart Publishing. You can take a sneak peak by following the link and turning the pages. This will be published in a variety of formats: hardback, Kindle, IPad, Sony, Nook, PDF at OmniLit and All Romance as well as a possible audio edition.
“A Firefly for Thanksgiving” is a modern story of love that is delayed by the war in Afghanistan. You don’t want to miss it. It is timely and fit for the coming holiday.
- Temple at the Emmy’s
Autism has its night! Thank you Temple Grandin and the lights of Hollywood/HBO for giving autism a face, a name, a night to shine. “Temple Grandin” won eight Emmy Awards - Oh what a night it was!
Temple Grandin stood and waved from the audience as actors from the movie of her life won awards, then took the stage herself as the biopic Temple Grandin won the Emmy for best TV movie at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on Sunday night.
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- The Red Rooster today
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- The Red Rooster in the 1950's
I posted this 1950′s picture of the Red Rooster Grill on Facebook, History of Iowa Falls page with the following message: Does this look familiar to anyone? My parents, Kep and Mary Kepler opened the Red Rooster. Dad, painted the windows ~ freehand every week or so. He also did the windows on the Super Value next door ~ owned by my grandparents. 1950′s.
The next post from fellow Iowa Fallsian, Richard L. Gaulke is so sweet, I wanted to share it on my blog. Here is what he had to say.
Familiar? I guess so!! When I cruised the streets of Iowa Falls late at night in 1955 driving my 1951 really cool baby-blue Pontiac convertible tricked out with white-wall tires, white mud-flaps dotted with ruby reflectors, and a squirel …tail afixed to the radio antenna, I stopped at the “Rooster” to check out the action. A really cute girl and her girl friend were in a booth. Not knowing either girl I, and my male friend, struck up a conversation with the girls and I offered them a “ride home” which they accepted. I and this girl spent hours that night talking as if we had known each other for years. We married in 1956 and will celebrate our 54th anniversary is this June. The Rooster is the place where my happiness started so it will always be special to me. Great image. Thanks.
I replied with: Who was this really cute girl, Richard? I’m sure she still is just as cute.
Richard finished the Iowa Falls, Red Rooster, sweet romance story with: She is my wife, Sharon. We are great-grandparents now and our “cute” has mellowed down into just plain “good looking.”
Doug and Katie gave Cookies to God
Cookies for God
is a special short story that I wrote for and about a personal experience with my children, Doug and Katie, when they were young. It is an inspirational account of what we can give to God and how. All parents will want to share this experience with their own child. What a great idea for a Sunday School class as well. Read it and enjoy at Divine Caroline.
by Kathie from AliMed
My new oral motor speech program, TONGUE TRACKS, published by AliMed, will be in their May 2011 catalog. This program is designed for children with mild speech delays to children on the autism spectrum. TONGUE TRACKS is a fun, motivating way to get children to practice tongue, lip, mouth exercises that enhance speech sounds, chewing, and swallowing. The beauty of TONGUE TRACKS is that it can be implimented by speech/language pathologists, teachers, and parents.
- “Bouquet of Weeds”
I received notice today that my story, “Bouquet of Weeds,” has been selected to appear in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Devotional Stories for Mothers. This book will be in bookstores October 5th.
The Therapy Dog
My writing friend, Judy McFadden, a member of the Henderson Writer’s Group, self-published her book Life with McDuff. She has had wonderful success and I congratulate her. Judy won the Angel Animal Network Contest AND McDuff is also being written as a Hollywood screenplay. Mc Duff will be right up with the ranks of Lassie and Rin-Tin-Tin. (Am I dating myself?)
“McDuff taught unconditional love, forgiveness, looking beyond appearances, nonresistance, and being of service to others. And, he didn’t stop – even after death.”
CONGRATULATIONS JUDY!
Biz$shop is all about Steve Veltkamp. I attended an ever-so-wonderful class presented by Steve, the founder of Biz$shop yesterday at UNLV. He presented on Selling on the Internet. I learned so many wonderful things like Webdesign, E-Commerce, small business techniques, promotional ideas, Nitch marketing, No-No’s for the website, how to drive traffic to the site, etc. etc.
Steve is the KING of internet Commerce and I feel fortunate to learn from the KING. His site is great at Biz$shop and his e mail is success@bizshop.com. This professed clown, speaks all over so catch him in the center ring sometime when he’s near you.
Steve, if you read this, please add a link and a comment.
I would like to write that I am done with my synopsis but I can’t. I can say, however, that I am comfortable with it after the fifth draft! I anticipate making some more changes in it but, hey, it’s on paper and I think it’s pretty good.
I’ve learned a lot about synopsis writing that I want to share with you. One of the hardest parts for me is to keep it in the PRESENT TENSE. I don’t know why, but it’s difficult. All synopsis Must be written in the present tense. It must also be written in THIRD PERSON. That shouldn’t be hard for anyone.
I’m going to list some of the important things that I’ve learned in my research about writing a synopsis so that you don’t have to spend all of that time looking them up again.
open with a hook
present tense
third person
introduce MAIN characters – secondary only if contribute a great deal to the story
give a clear idea of your ENTIRE BOOK – include the ending
keep it narrative – quotes should be used sparingly if at all
tell any character changes
tell your plot lines as you weave through the story
check for grammar/spelling/punctuation/flow
Agents and publishers want to see if the writer can PLOT a story and create interesting characters that a reader can identify with in real life. Are they sympathetic to the characters?
My plan is to have 6 people read my synopsis and get their feedback. I am going to select 3 who already know my story and 3 who do not know the story so that I can get a judgement on what they would know after having read it. The synopsis is always written in the same style as the book itself, so that gives the unknown reader a glimpse of the writing flavor.
I’ll get those “6 victims” selected and send my synopsis off to them while my book continues to be edited. I’m also working on my query letter and have a person who is guiding me along with that process.
Now my favorite part, I’ll leave you with something from Audrey and Stephen ~ I think a bit more steamy this time as the town of Iowa Falls, IA heats up. Enjoy.
Audrey tilted her head to the left as she exhaled with a deep, breathless sigh. Her heart was thundering as loudly and boldly as an Iowa thunderstorm and her fingers were flawless as they rapidly met Stephen’s halfway up the front blue plaid shirt. The air between them was heavy with the impatience of their longing. After 26 year of withholding passion’s fire, they were ready to explode and the time was now. Their lips locked in raw physical hunger.
Stephen unbuttoned one button of his shirt and with a powerful yank, the rest of the buttons burst at his command, flying in all directions like the fireflies of the night. Audrey swiftly unfastened his belt, snap and zipper of his shorts. She tugged his shorts and briefs forward, over his swollen penis, allowing them to fall to the floor. Stephen took one-step and kicked the other foot free with a fury. As he feverishly unfastened Audrey’s bra, she slid her panties down her legs. Their naked bodies, enfolded in the rapture of each other, left no room for air or night or fear to come between them. They connected as one in the desire of their love and longing.
Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa.
My essay, Thank You, Mr. Sathoff was selected by the Iowa Writing Project as a contribution for the National Day on Writing, October 20, 2009. This is hosted by the National Council of Teachers of English. Mr. Sathoff WAS the most influential educator in my life. You can read the entire essay by clicking on the Iowa Falls, Iowa slider at the top of Kathie’s World. Enjoy ~ and once again, Thank you, Mr. Sathoff for instilling in me a lifetime of knowing the joy of reading and writing.
OR you can also go to the following, Iowa Writing Project to view Thank You Mr. Sathoff directly from their site at: http://galleryofwriting.org/galleries/348399
