May 2024 Newsletter

It's gonna be...May. I really couldn't help myself with that...as I write this, it's the end of April, so I'm not wrong.

Moving on! I hit my target in that Camp NaNoWriMo project about a week ago, and the cringe won out - it's going back to the deep freeze of my Google Drive.

But a new month leaves me looking forward to summer and fandom con appearances so that soothes the sting of how truly BAD that manuscript was. Mercy. You're welcome for me not springing that on the world!

Since there was no author event at GARF this year, my next outing will be Mountain Hounds at the end of May. I will have copies of Proud Racer: An American Greyhound in Yorkshire, The Complete Clobberpaws (and maybe a few of the individual volumes), The Complete Proud Racer, and Strid (since it has hounds in it) to sell and sign. I can't wait to get back to those mountains...that's my happy place.

What are your summer plans? Any fun vacations? I'd love to hear about them since I'm living vicariously these days. But I have a vampire novel I'm collaborating on and another Camp Nano in July, so I have plenty to keep me busy.

Thanks again for all the support, y'all. It really means the world to me. Now, the next novel in the Guardians of Orana series...

A NEW HERO FACES A FORGOTTEN DANGER.

Created with the help of a meddling goddess, she is the daughter of the Nature Walker and the Rajah of Qatu’anari. Meet Kazhka Clawsharp, Rajahk’mere of the Qatu and apprentice druid of Aynamaede. But what is her true purpose, beyond palace politics and Guardian diplomacy? Why did Sephine, the All-Mother Goddess, step in to assure her birth?

Dark forces, biding time in the shadows, have chosen this time to seek revenge against Qa Sathlir - is his daughter the key to saving him and Qatu'anari from a forgotten enemy seeking to finish the plot that was begun against Sath's father? Welcome the newest hero to Orana in this next novel in the Guardians of Orana series. Pre-orders open soon! Watch this space for more info.

Music Monday: Skid Row

It isn't that unusual for me to post musical theatre numbers for Music Monday. But this one is extra cool because I got the chance to see my niece in her high school production of this show yesterday and I was just stupidly proud. Since she was a member of the ensemble, here's one number she was in (followed by a photo of the same number from yesterday that I got from the audience because let's face it...I am THAT AUNTSIE.) Lyrics are on the video.

Music Monday: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow...

No, I'm not going to quote the Scottish play. But I am going to recommend a singer that I'd never heard before tonight, as I was watching a rerun of a Law and Order: Special Victims Unit episode that had this song in one of the scenes. I closed my eyes while I was listening and the voice of one of my MCs that has been ignoring me lately (I'm spending this Camp Nano session on something other than her) came through in the music. It's lovely, and I'm going to listen to more of Madi Diaz's work thanks to this one.

Tomorrowby Madi Diaz
So loudThe sound of my blood is rushingToo highI'm making myself keep climbingYou keep calling, you keep callingYou keep calling, so I'll turn aroundStill aching, you keep shakingBut I don't hear you nowOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrowOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrowTomorrow, tomorrow, ohSlow downI'm miles away from crashingIt's all over nowI still see your green eyes flashingYou keep calling, you keep callingYou keep calling, so I'll turn aroundStill aching, you keep shakingBut I don't hear you nowOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrowOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrowOoh, I'm over this feelingOoh, I gotta believe itOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrowOoh, never look back, never look backOoh, never look back, never look backTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, ohTomorrow, tomorrow, oh

Music Monday: Road Trips, Camp Friends, and Philosophy Of Loss

[From a post on the Book of Faces] I want to tell you about my good friend Brina. She was able to get some tickets to see the Indigo Girls last night at App State and had a plan to have former camp folk come up to share what is absolutely a core memory for those of us in the Bob Lanford/Jimmy Moor/Bob Cagle eras of Camp Glisson.

Sadly, as is the case when you try to get as many of us as you can together - even those who live fairly close to each other, life gets in the way. But a few of us battled rain and snow to get there and as always, Amy and Emily did not disappoint. 

I needed to be with those people and hear that music. I needed to laugh at a memory of Robby shrieking at the line, "are you on fire?" in the middle of Kid Fears. I needed to get big, happy tears in my eyes as Brina and I sang along to The Wood Song. I needed to be overly amazed with Malinda's gracious and wonderful son Harper, whom I hadn't met other than in Facebook photos. And I needed a non-camp friend like Amanda to go along because sometimes I'm not at back to normal as I think I am AND she loves the Indigo Girls with a Glisson-adjacent fervor. 

All of us Glisson alums have busy, vibrant lives...and yet, we can come together in a moment and I'm 18 again and standing outside the Chapel, hearing that bell ring.  Then, we depart to serve until the next time. 

To quote the Girls..."Thanks, y'all."

March/April 2024 Newsletter

This is where April is going.

Seriously, where did March go?

Actually, I have a theory - my loss of a month has to do with a slight setback and recalibration of my treatment schedule, but I'm back on track now and in the throes of another Camp NanoWrimo session (as I am every April and June). Please click on the link above to check on my progress. Since Camp months aren't as strict (in my mind, I'm so not a Nano Rebel), I'm working on a first pass editing of something I wrote back in 2013, complete with loads of cringe and WHAT WAS I THINKING as I go along. You may see that eventually as a YA offering, or I may send it slithering back to the dark corners of the hard drive at the end of the month. Uncertain.

My bookish schedule has become a bit more certain, so let me give you an update after I say thank you to everyone involved in ConPossible. I cannot wait to be back in person next year, and my sherpas (who are AMAZING HUMANS at the best of times) showed up and showed out. I'm just so grateful, and to all of you that stopped by the table to ask when the sequel to Strid is coming out, that will be officially in progress this time next year (I need a research trip back to the other home, Yorkshire, to get it really moving!).

2024 Schedule:

Confirmed: 

Mountain Hounds, Gatlinburg, TN, 1 June 2024. The event runs that whole weekend, but the vending area will be open on Saturday only. I used to attend this event with my greyhounds and the folks are so nice! I can't wait to introduce them to Clobberpaws (the book, not Bryn... sadly, she's a little too old for that kind of shindig these days).

ConGregate 10, Winston-Salem, NC, 12-14 July 2024. I am so thrilled to get accepted back to this event! There is a little bit for everyone there and I will be a panelist/author guest as well as have a table in the vending area so come see me! I will have copies of Hero, the latest in the Orana Chronicles/Guardians of Orana series.

Upstate Renaissance Festival, Greer, SC, 6-7 September 2024. This will be a return to a familiar faire for me but with a new twist: the author vendors will be in a different area all together this time, from what I understand. Stay tuned for more details. This faire has traditionally been free to the public and is in the most gorgeous downtown city part in Greer, SC. Don't miss it!

Craft Fair, Maryville College Homecoming, Maryville, TN, October 25-27 2024. This is my <loud mumbling noises> reunion year at MC and I can't wait! Come see me and get a book signed!

The Geekery Market, Concord, NC, 9 November 2024. Come get your geeky and nerdy Christmas gifts! Books make fantastic presents, y'all, and they are EASY to wrap. Just sayin.

Thanks, y'all!

Music Monday: Mr. Blue Sky

Yeah, I know it's eclipse day. Well, here in South Carolina, where we won't see the totality, the skies are blue and lovely today. Blue skies on a MONDAY require a little ELO. Enjoy (lyrics in video).

Music Monday: LABOUR (the cacophony)

I know, I've posted this before, but for the one year anniversary of this song being released, the artist took note of everyone that did a cover/lip-sync/other video on TikTok all rolled into one big video to speak to the shared understanding of feminine rage that has heightened since the song's release. I wasn't going to say anything about this new version at first. I was just going to let the video play and let you see the effects of patriarchy, misogyny, and centuries of oppression play out on your screen. But y'all...look at the amazing diversity of faces, self expression, and lives represented in this video. How much more does this hit home with this may voices behind the original? I wish they'd included deaf talent from TikTok on here performing the song in ASL, but when you think about how global this video has become that would have been just more oppression, IMO, to pick one signed language over another. Perhaps a video will be forthcoming in the future with that many Deaf performers from all over the world?

Anyway...I can't listen without getting goosebumps as well as very angry at the truth presented here. Lyrics included at the bottom.

labour (the cacophony)

by Paris Paloma

All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid

Nymph, then a virgin, nurse, then a servant

Just an appendage, live to attend him

So that he never lifts a finger

24/7 baby machine

So he can live out his picket fence dreams

It's not an act of love if you make her

You make me do too much labour

[Verse 1]

Why are you hangin' on so tight

To the rope that I'm hangin' from off this island?

This was an escape plan (This was an escape plan), carefully timed it

So let me go and dive into the waves below

[Pre-Chorus]

Who tends the orchards? Who fixes up the gables?

Emotional torture from the head of your high table

Who fetches the water from the rocky mountain spring?

And walk back down again to feel your words and their sharp sting?

And I'm gettin' fucking tired

[Chorus]

The capillaries in my eyes are bursting

If our love died, would that be the worst thing?

For somebody I thought was my saviour

You sure make me do a whole lot of labour

The calloused skin on my hands is crackin'

If our love ends, would that be a bad thing?

And the silence haunts our bed chamber

You make me do too much labour

[Verse 2]

Apologies from my tongue, never yours

Busy lapping from flowing cup and stabbing with your fork

I know you're a smart man (I know you're a smart man) and weaponise

The false incompetence, it's dominance under a guise

[Pre-Chorus]

If we had a daughter, I'd watch and could not save her

The emotional torture from the head of your high table

She'd do what you taught her, she'd meet the same cruel fate

So now I've gotta run, so I can undo this mistake

At least I've gotta try

[Chorus]

The capillaries in my eyes are bursting

If our love died, would that be the worst thing?

For somebody I thought was my saviour

You sure make me do a whole lot of labour

The calloused skin on my hands is crackin'

If our love ends, would that be a bad thing?

And the silence haunts our bed chamber

You make me do too much labour

[Bridge]

All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid

Nymph, then a virgin, nurse, then a servant

Just an appendage, live to attend him

So that he never lifts a finger

24/7 baby machine

So he can live out his picket fence dreams

It's not an act of love if you make her

You make me do too much labour

All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid

Nymph, then a virgin, nurse, then a servant

Just an appendage, live to attend him

So that he never lifts a finger

24/7 baby machine

So he can live out his picket fence dreams

It's not an act of love if you make her

You make me do too much labour

[Chorus]

The capillaries in my eyes are bursting (All day, every day, therapist, mother, maid)

If our love died, would that be the worst thing? (Nymph, then a virgin, nurse, then a servant)

For somebody I thought was my saviour (Just an appendage, live to attend him)

You sure make me do a whole lot of labour (So that he never lifts a finger)

The calloused skin on my hands is crackin' (24/7 baby machine)

If our love ends, would that be a bad thing? (So he can live out his picket fence dreams)

And the silence haunts our bed chamber (It's not an act of love if you make her)

You make me do too much labour

Music Monday: Of Living Masterpieces

I will admit to being low-key obsessed and potentially hyper fixated on the latest album from an artist I'd never really heard of before TikTok - Livingston. The lyrics to Last Man Standing have jumped out at me, and I am seeing the MCs for several of my novels through the images this young man creates. The fact that he not only sounds like Imagine Dragons but has recorded a song they gave him? Priceless. Sublime bliss. Enjoy. (lyrics in the video)

Music Monday: Sweet Lark...I mean, Melissa

Yeah, so today's song is speaking to my current #WIP but only in the eyes of the male MC I think. But at the same time, it is a call back to a different version of me at a very different time in my life, when all I had to worry about were my grades at school and remembering the bug spray when I went for a campout or creek hike (those two things have their own songs). Enjoy.

Music Monday: My new low key obsession

If you have been on socials this month I'm sure you have heard Livingston's new single, Shadow, along with others from his new album that dropped yesterday.

Can we take a second to acknowledge that I am clearly morphing into a teenager here in my self imposed exile while in treatment for cancer? Honestly.

Anyway! I heard that first verse in a TikTok and I haven't been able to get Taeben and the novellas I'd planned to write IN A FEW YEARS out of my head, so here we are. It's also a...bop? It slaps? I don't know. It's an earworm and I'm not mad at it. There. Enjoy.

Music Monday: I've Found Mine

So I survived the last minute surgery and then some. I'm back to progressing fairly normally, though there has been a bit of a shift in the timeline...an I'm not even mad at it, as the kids say. I've been told that I have a positive outlook and if I do, it's because of my tribe. My found family. My people. It's taken me 50+ years, but I have a group carefully cultivated that lifts me up and keeps me moving forward. Negativity? Nope. Criticism? Can't use it. Things I need to hear said with all love? This is what I have been looking for my whole life and what I have now, and I can only hope that you can find them too. Is it any wonder so many of my books have such strong found family vibes? Write what you know, they say. Write what you know.

Music Monday: Still Unwritten

This has been a weird couple of days, culminating in Music Monday almost being forgotten. Last Thursday I went to my appointment with "plastics" (as my oncologist calls the reconstruction doctor), expecting to have made progress that would not only move me forward in the journey but also allow me to sleep in the bed again for the first time in a month.

Instead, I was booked in for last minute surgery on Friday at 2pm - which meant I was WAY HANGRY by the time we got to that point. But I think now I'm back on the road to healing and ready to get back to writing. I need to write so badly it itches. That's why this song speaks to me this week. I'm still looking out that dirty window, but I'm getting ready to let the sun illuminate the words I can't find. Enjoy. (Lyrics in the video.)

Music Monday: Willow, hold the Pickle.

 This week's Music Monday has a dual meaning. I first heard it and thought of the project I'm working on with an author friend of mine. Some of the lines make me think of the two MCs and their relationship. But also, this has been a rough time lately for our youngest dog, Willow-Pickle. So...here we are with Taylor Swift. The video has captions and is absolutely charming and worth a watch. Enjoy.

Music Monday: Not See Ya Later, Goodbye.

I would love to say that this song is just research because I'm so bad at writing crime fiction, but really it's just very catchy and makes me laugh every time I hear it. I need that kind of laugh on a Monday, don't you? Enjoy...the lyrics are in the video.

 
50 Ways to Say Goodbyeby Train

February 2024 Newsletter

Kaylee Frye looks at fifty...two.

How is it February already? I will tell you: we've escaped from the 357,899 days of January, that's how.

If you remember from my previous newletters, I have been in treatment for breast cancer since last July, and I think I am finally in the homestretch. Part of that awfully long January was surgery, and while it is imparining my ability to sit and write for a long time, I can do short bursts. Most of that time is spent editing the next Guardians novel and working on that project I can't talk about yet with my friend and co-author, Tony Daniel (Return to Sender: From the Files of Pyramid Investigations).

My appearance schedule is turning out to be a bit more sparse than last year which makes me sad. One of the things I love about conventions and shows is the chance to talk books with other authors and readers - I genuinely want to know what kind of books you like to read. I've even found some recommendations for my TBR pile at some of these events. So far, I have three events on my calendar (I'm still waiting for a response from ConCarolinas and ConGregate 10) and one of them is coming up this month.

The twist is that I won't be there in person - I'm not cleared to drive yet, so my fantastic sherpas Angel and Melissa will be holding down the fort at CONPossible in Peachtree Corners, Georgia, 16-18 February. This event, formerly known as the Atlanta Steampunk Expo, is fantastic and the folks that put it on are just wonderful. I'm sorry that I won't be there in person but please stop in if you're local and looking for a fun weekend event...Melissa and Angel will have signed copies of my books for sale as well as bookmarks - my campaign against dog-eared pages in books continues!

I think that's all for now. I hope that I will have a better picture of my event schedule next month, and will be that much closer to the next Guardian novel's release date in May. As always, I could not do any of this without you, and I appreciate your support more than you know. Ta, y'all!