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Dear Reader,
Please welcome today's guest columnist, author Kris Kennedy, who says she loves hearing from readers. Ms. Kennedy's email is: [email protected] and when you say hello, you're also entered in the drawing for a signed copy of one of her books: The Irish Warrior, Defiant, or Deception--winner's choice!
Writing Partners
Merriam-Webster: Partner: archaic: one that shares : partaker
Authors have a lot of people who share the ride with us. During the writing of a book, we'll have any number of people we might call 'partners'--editors, friends, husbands/wives, critique partners, random people who once expressed an interest, long ago, who we ran into at the post office the other day.
But my best writing partners aren't the critique partners who've helped massage my stories, sometimes with kind notes like "Wow, I love this so much!" and sometimes with stern ones that say, "Really? Again, with the adverbs?"
Nor is my best writing partner any of the wonderful editors who've helped me untangle a story knot, nor the plotting parties when people tried to help invent some good juicy ones.
My best writing partners aren't even the people I love the most, who've given me vast amounts of love and devotion in tolerating and supporting this crazy hobby-turned-low-paying job, i.e. my family.
Nope. My biggest writing partner is...my dog.
She's there with me wherever I go. Everyone else leaves for work and school and it's just me and her and the voices in my head. She goes with me from treadmill to desk to sofa to dining room table aka: nerve center. If I move, she moves.
Occasionally, having her so close can be shocking, because her super-doggie-danger-detecting senses go off whenever we're about to be attacked by aliens or a mailman or a squirrel or something dangerous like that. She barks her head off. It's most rewarding if this happens when I'm deep in thought, because it pulls me right out of that lazy reflective state with a nice shot of adrenaline.
More often, though, we descend into long periods of quiet, neither of us speaking (or barking), just being together, for hours. Alternately, sometimes I put on music really loud while I'm writing--I mean, really loud--and she's there for that too, happily, without complaint. She's at my feet when everyone else goes upstairs to meet their bedtimes, and I go back to write. She's there when I get up at 2 a.m. and tiptoe downstairs to write down a Great New Idea. She tumbles down the stairs beside me then lays at my feet. And she waits.
I love that she's always with me. I love to hear her peaceful breathing. To feel her warm furry body up against my foot. I love when she starts dreaming, her legs racing, her ears flickering.
Best, I love when she wakes up and sees me and her tails thumps against the ground. Hey there, partner.
Hey there, partner, I whisper back, and bend down to touch her. We did it, my friend. We wrote another one.
* To see photos of my writing partner, go to: http://kriskennedy.net/dearreader-pictures
About Kris: Wife, mom and former psychotherapist & consultant, award-winning Kris Kennedy left behind the office for the wilds of medieval England and Ireland. She believes every reader deserves amazing stories that will "take her away," and writes smart, sexy, adventure-filled historical romances designed to do just that.
* Congratulations to the winners of Blowing on Dandelions by Guest Columnist Miralee Ferrell: Linda Ciupinski, Sherri Guthrie, Mary Robinson, Eve Koenig, Pat Harmer, Debby Brandenburger, Gen R. Jesionowski, Geneva Masters, Elaine Ruggiero, Heather Marsten and Donna Easley.
And the winners of Unholy Lies by Guest Columnist Sandra Bretting are: Mildred Abercrombie, Betty Royster, Sheila Plowman, Mary Rodriguez and Janice Jasieniecki.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
AUTHORBUZZ: RESTRIKE (Mystery) by Reba White Williams
The young Greene cousins have moved from North Carolina to New York to seek their fortunes in the art world. Coleman is editor of ArtSmart, a trendy magazine, and Dinah owns a fine art print gallery. They encounter theft, fraud, and murder after a mysterious billionaire arrives to found a museum dedicated to prints.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on RESTRIKE to find out more about the book and the author, Reba White Williams. Send her an email, she'd love to hear from you.
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