Thank you!

There's a squirrel outside my window, grooming himself on a tree, wondering where the branch he used to live on has gone and what he's supposed to do now. He's been out there for a few hours now, just sitting, trying to figure out where to live now that  the ice storm has destroyed his home.

We're pretty lucky the whole tree didn't go down. It's an old one and weathered many storms, but there's always the chance that this might've been the one to take it down.

But that's how life rolls, right?

We live our life like all is good until we hit that point when everything changes, then we walk a different path and keep on going forward until we can't go forward anymore.

Except sometimes we get stuck when really bad things happen and we sit there like the little squirrel wondering what to do, what to do, what to do and it takes a bit of a prod, and sometimes a hefty push, to get us moving forward again.

The point of the story is, that I've been like the little squirrel for a while now. Sitting on a branch and not really moving forward, because life is damn hard.  It really is. And it drags me down.

About six weeks ago, I had a casual conversation with a good friend, who said, "You know, you're doing fine. You're doing really good. And what you're writing is great, but it's dragging on too long. You need a break. Do something short and different, and this--this I KNOW you can do. A thousand words a day and in a month you'll have a short story."

I thought about it. About all the excuses I use to hold me back and about how good it would feel to have something DONE. Finally. Something I could hold up in my hands and say, despite the odds, I did it. And the odds really are high, people. There's just so much that gets in the way of the process from idea--first word--and the end.

So the choice was mine. Sit there like the little squirrel on the branch or go outside my safe zone and explore the tree to see what other homes it had to offer.

I probably couldn't have picked a worse time to take on that kind of challenge. My beloved kitty, my little writing buddy, had just passed. A workplace strike was about to begin, and physically I was exhausted as my MS symptoms decided to flare up, making even carrying a plate to the kitchen sink a problem.

But maybe that's why I did it. Because no matter how crazy life gets, you should never just sit on the branch when there's a whole tree waiting for you to explore. You should always take that chance to learn what you're made of.

So I did it. Not a thousand words a day like the plan. Sometimes only a hundred, but then on others, when my mind was clear and my fingers not so numb,  three thousand or so words blessed me from the great bucket of inspiration in the sky. And six weeks after I began this little challenge, I now have a shiny new story I can hold in my hands and be proud of.

Against the odds, I did it.

And yeah, it feels really, really awesome. Like I've hit the ball out of the park and ran a home run. There isn't any cheering crowd, but that's not what I'm in this for.

I love writing. I love living.

Thank you, Maya Blake for showing me there's a whole tree to explore and for all your words of wisdom. You've made a difference in my world.

And thank you Sutton Fox, for walking with me on this six week journey, holding my hand when the doubt monster scratched at my door, and never letting me give up.

And to Autumn Piper, KJ Roberts and all my writing pals...thank you. It's been a long journey for me, but with your help and encouragement, I got there in the end.

And to you, the person reading this blog right now, thank you for taking an interest in my small corner of the world.

Your support means everything to me.

Thank you!

xo

~Felicity Kates; author of fun, flirty, fantasies~
~Kate Reedwood: Steampunk novels for adventurous girls~

Very Inspiring Blogger Award!

I can't imagine inspiring anyone right now with my head stuffed up with a cold and my tonsils like marbles, but here it is, just the same, a very lovely honour from Ms. Shehanne Moore in the form of A Very Inspiring Blogger Award.

Shehanne, apparently, had something of a fight on her hands with giving me this award on account of her Lady Fury being annoyed with my Lady Anne, concerning their shared taste for unconventional men and Flint being a pirate. But Shehanne snuck the link through under Fury's nose (probably while Fury was occupied inspecting the contents of Flint's trousers) and gave me the award anyway. So thank you, Shehanne, for your bravery in facing Fury's ire, I appreciate your kindness.

More about Lady Fury can be found here:http://furiousunravelings.wordpress.com/about-2/
And about Shehanne, here: http://shehannemoore.wordpress.com/author/shehannemoore/
And the link to her debut novel, The Unraveling of Lady Fury, can be found here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Unraveling-Lady-Fury
I was inspired to pick it up, and upon reading it, inspired to contact Shehanne and tell her how wonderful and refreshing the story is. So, there you go. Books are inspiring, even for creating friendships.

According to the terms of this award, I must now reveal seven things about myself so I'll tell you what I find inspiring:

1. I have two cats: Jiggeratta the Wicked and Fluffernutter. They are old, cuddly and purry and inspire me to want to stay in bed and write.

2. Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones aside, I could live without TV. I prefer movies, good books, and writing as entertainment. There is nothing more inspiring to a writer than enjoying someone else's fantastic work.

3.The sound of a gentle rainfall inspires me to smile, as long as it's not falling on my head. Then I kind of scowl a bit and mutter.

4.I think that finding the courage to get out of bed and face the world everyday is very inspiring, especially for people who can't. A disabled person is so much more than just a chair with wheels, but sadly that is often all people choose to see. Think about it.

5.Taking the chance to tell someone you appreciate them, especially a stranger, is crazy scary isn't it? But I like to do it because the world is full of nay-sayers and life, let's face it, it's just too short.

6.Warm beach sand, vodka, and room service...yeah, very inspiring. But so is walking in the woods, taking pictures of birds and flowers and the things I love.

7.Friendship. Kindness. Love. Children's giggles. Old people holding hands....Enough said.

But the best part of any award, I think, is in sharing it with other people. So with great delight, I have chosen bloggers (in no particular order) who have inspired me in some way. Each of them are wonderful, talented, creative people who, without their words, the world would be a smaller place.

Piper Denna http://piperpatter.blogspot.ca/

Maya Blake http://mayabauthor.blogspot.ca/

Sutton Fox http://suttonfox.blogspot.ca/

Phasers and Spells http://phasersandspells.wordpress.com/

L.W Patricks http://lwpatricks.com/

Luciana Cavallaro http://luccav.com/

Sue Child http://suechild.co.uk/

Tracie Banister http://traciebanister.blogspot.com/

Liesel Schwarz http://lieselschwarz.com/

and last, but definitely not least,

Gail Carriger http://gailcarriger.blogspot.ca/

Now go forth and be inspiring...

A Blog Award!

I've been given a blog award!

Thanks to Sutton Fox for the honor of nominating my blog for the Reality Award.

According to the rules of the award, I need to share 7 facts you might not know about me...

humm...lets see..

1. I'm a natural blond. Or at least I was before my hair went mousy and grey-ish, so now it comes in a bottle.

2. I was named after a shop in Toronto. My mother was driving by a boutique and liked the spelling for Kathryn on the sign and that was that.

3. I was a trained animator in a different life. It was fun until I realized you actually have to be able to draw.

4. My handwriting is so messy I should have been a doctor. I do all my writing on my laptop so I can actually read it.

5. I love old movies. Arsenic and Old Lace with Cary Grant is one of my faves.

6. I like cottage cheese. There, I said it. I eat it plain and it is yummy.

7. My favourite book of all time is...The Little Red Engine, by Diana Ross and Leslie Wood. (This is very much pre-Thomas the Tank Engine days. We're talking the original epic train story, not the later smarmy knock-offs) My mother read that to me so many times when I was a kid I swear we wore out the library card. I think that the Little Red Engine's message which he repeats throughout the book: "I can do it! I really can." And, "I'm sure I can!" have stayed with me throughout my life 'cause it might take me a while to get where I'm going, but I'll get there in the end. :)

So now it's my turn to nominate 5 other bloggers for their inspiring, amazing, and lovely words:

Piper Denna at http://piperpatter.blogspot.ca/

Maya Blake at http://mayabauthor.blogspot.ca/

Morgan Q. O'Reilly at http://themorgandiaries.blogspot.ca/

Kelly Moran at http://kellymoranauthor.blogspot.ca/

Marry Murray at http://bigbluepencil.blogspot.ca/


And because every award comes with a few rules, here's the rules of the Reality Award:

1. Thank the blogger who gave you the award.

2. Post the award on your blog.

3. Share 7 little-known facts about you.

4. Nominate 5 bloggers to bestow the award upon.

5. Contact them and let them know to come pick up their award at your blog!