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SHARING IS CARING! Free download 5 chapters!

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  Hello Everyone, I hope y’all have been having a great summer.   I can’t believe it’s already getting to be the end of August! Kids are back in school and school busses are a regular sight on just about every road I travel. I’m also seeing Halloween decorations in the stores already.   On that note, if you haven’t already read THE WEAPONS THEY USE, here’s a tiny spoiler alert—sort of. But not really. THE WEAPONS THEY USE is set at the end of October over HALLOWEEN week. Once you read the book, you’ll understand the reference. (Some of you might already have made the connection.)   I will be giving away 10 free copies through GOODREADS contest. You can go to the GOODREADS giveaway page to sign up for your chance to win, or go to my website here and click on the ENTER GIVEAWAY button!   THE WEAPONS THEY USE has already received 5 stars from not only Reader’s Favorite, but Reedsy Discover and Amazon readers.   Click here to read REEDSY review   Click here to re

THE WEAPONS THEY USE...THE BACK STORY

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  Hello, Everyone, As many of you know already, last summer I published my first science fiction novel titled THE WEAPONS THEY USE . It’s what is called a soft sci-fi or present day sci-fi. Either way, this book has gotten some incredible reviews! Reader’s Favorite gave it 5 stars as did many Amazon readers.   Here’s a little known fact about this book; THE WEAPONS THEY USE is the novelization of one of my own, original screenplays. I’d gotten the idea several years ago when the Las Vegas shooting took place in 2017. This wasn’t the first such event that had everyone shaking their heads in horror and anger as they asked, “Why is this happening? How can this keep happening?” After some intensive research into this devastating phenomenon, I’ve found some very disturbing facts that I’ve included in the book. There have been 340 mass shootings in the US alone between 1966 and 2016 with 96% of the shooters being male, with the average age of 33.4 years. There have been 2,526 casualti

TIME FOR A CHANGE-UP; WRITING CONTESTS

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 Hello, It’s been quite a while since I’ve had the opportunity to take a moment to relax and share what I’ve been up to. In my last blog post, I wrote about what I’d learned that agents look for in sample pages, as well as links to where I’d found the information. I truly hope those words have helped you. Personally, I have put those suggestions into practice by going over my own work. As a result, I’ve had a couple of agents, and one small publishing house, request my full manuscript. I was so excited I couldn’t help but crow about it to a few of my close friends and family. (I hope I didn’t jinx myself…not that I’m superstitious!) Now, I’m biting my nails waiting to hear back from them. It takes time. Agents and publishers alike are inundated with queries and they must sort through them all. The query is your introduction, so that’s where you have to sell your story. That’s step one. Step two, if they find your query intriguing and want to see more, they’ll request pages . . . An

Let's start with CHAPTER ONE: Do's and Don'ts Agents Look For.

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Hello again, Over the past few months, I’ve been going over some of the notes and reviews from beta readers for my two most recently completed manuscripts.  Not that I’m making excuses for past mistakes when I say that, since I’ve no longer been chained to a 9-5 job thanks to the COVID 19 pandemic, I’ve had a lot more time to put into my writing. Time to dig deeper into the mechanics of how to create a book that people will want to read. Let’s face it, even though talent and imagination are at the forefront, there are still processes that must be followed.   Much like when a builder constructs a home, there are steps and blueprints that must be adhered to or the whole thing will crumble. Therefore, I have been delving deeper into what agents, editors and publishers look for and why they reject so many projects.   Let’s start with CHAPTER ONE, which will be what is requested as a sample of our writing. Agents and editors want to get hooked from the first paragraph, connect wit

Another Day, Another Adventure in Writing!

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Hello Friends, As most of you know I have recently launched KATE’S PASSION NEWSLETTER, a weekly e-mail newsletter for readers, writers and anyone who loves to keep up to date on what's going on in the world of fiction. Also, as an added bonus, twice a month you will find GUEST INTERVIEWS with other writers, editors, reviewers and others of every genre and medium. These artists have graciously volunteered to give us a few minutes of their time to discuss not only their work and upcoming events, but a little bit about their creative processes. I find this most intriguing because, though writing and publishing are such subjective industries, no two artists follow the same method when it comes to perfecting their chosen craft. So far, we have interviewed authors such as Janice Spina, author of the award winning children’s series, DAVEY AND DEREK, JUNIOR DETECTIVES for MG/PT/YA as well as other wonderful books. Her interview will be in the Oct. 2, 2020 issue. We will also interview

Writing queries & My latest project!

H ello my friends, I know it's been a while since my last blog, Memorial Day in fact. June has been a very busy month for me. Not only have I completed another manuscript, but I am now in the process of polishing it up to its brightest shine so that I can start sending out queries to agents. That makes two books that are ready to send, once I finish the final run-through, that is. There may be a few who are unsure of how to write a query that an agent will appreciate. Being in that group does not mean you’re a failure. Let’s be honest, writing queries is more difficult than writing a book. In a book you have three hundred and fifty pages to tell your story. With a query, you have a single paragraph to hook the agent into wanting to read more. I’ve been writing query letters to agents for, well, several years now and have only recently learned the secret, thanks to a course that I’d purchased called Get a Book Deal 101 . Now, technically I can’t divulge what is

Memorial Day: A Time For Remembrances

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Hello, my friends, Normally, as those of you who read my blog regularly know, I usually post about my journey through my writing career. However, I feel that this is a time to salute those who have made it possible for me to do what I love to do. So, let me just start with this: THANK YOU! I don’t think I say it enough, or truly appreciate your sacrifices. Thank you to those who have fought and died and are still fighting and dying to protect our nation and our freedom. Thank you, police officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses, EMT’s, and all of you who come to our rescue in our times of need, even at the risk of your own safety. Everyone—unless you have been living in a cave for the past six months and have no contact with the outside world—knows that the COVID 19 pandemic has turned all of our lives upside down. But there are those who have continued to serve and do their jobs with little to no recognition; Grocery store clerks, bank employees, auto mechanics, teach