Fly, Baby, Fly! Or, Blue Straggler Officially Released in Paperback

March 1 is finally here and my novel Blue Straggler has been officially released out into the wide, wide world in paperback.

The best indie publisher ever.

I am so thankful to 30 Day Books for taking a chance on my work and this story.

I am so thankful to all of my readers who have been encouraging me all these years (like … ummm … 10 or more).

I am so thankful to have friends who continue to pimp me out, I mean share information on my novel with everyone they know.

I am so thankful for the friends who are helping me set up signings and release parties and who have written just to say they are proud of me. I never get tired of hearing that.

I am so thankful for each and every review posted online (I’m up to 34 reviews on Amazon!)

And I am so thankful for my family who put up with this crazy dream of mine and never once told me it wouldn’t happen, even though they were probably getting kind of doubtful around the time I turned 40.

Yep, I am one thankful person today.

Now, I guess it’s time to sit back and see how my literary baby does out there in the broader universe.

Until the verdict is in, I say with fervor, “Cool Whip for all!”

(If you don’t get that reference, by the way, you’ll just have to read the book!)


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Love/Hate Relationship with Texas Tornados … and Exciting Book News

Yesterday was a crazy, roller-coaster kind of day, full of ups and downs.

First, I got word that my sister’s home in Central Texas was side-swiped by a tornado as they were all getting up and ready for school and work. Everyone is okay, thank goodness. The house, not so much. But insurance is a good thing. And my nieces will have a great story to tell for the rest of their lives about the January morning the sky turned green-black and they spent some scary moments praying while crouched in a hallway closet.

Personally, I’ve always wanted to be a storm chaser (seriously) because tornadoes intrigue me like no other weather event. I’m addicted to Texas Storm Chasers on Facebook and I love The Weather Channel and Storm Stories. In fact, I have very few regrets in my life at this point, but if I had to name one, it would be that I did not pursue storm-chasing back when I didn’t have a kiddo relying on me for, oh I don’t know, daily needs and such. Now, we live so high in the mountains and so close to the Continental Divide that a tornado up here would be a hugely rare event. As in I think there’s only been one reported in a million years (don’t quote me on that). We do have our own bizarre weather events, but let’s face it, chasing blizzards isn’t nearly as exciting as chasing a massive, cat 4 funnel cloud.

Back to reality: I spent the remainder of the day out shopping. Lots of ups and downs here, too.

Up: Upgraded to a Kindle Fire and am in love. Tip: Target has a better warranty, but Best Buy has better Kindle cases.

Down: Again saw that indie authors are so not well-represented on the shelves of Barnes and Noble. (I had a gift card to use.) Very disappointing. I had a list of about five indie books that I wanted to get my hands on, but they had none of them in stock.

Up: Treated myself to Starbucks coffee with … wait for it … real whipped cream in large amounts.

Down: Tried on swimsuits for an upcoming trip to Mexico. Sometime I would really like to sit down and have a discussion with a swimsuit designer or two just to figure out what in the hell they were thinking. Potential question: Did you really think that a very large polka dot design would look good on anyone, especially grown women with, errr, curves? (I refuse, however, to regret the whipped cream noted above.)

Then, a Big, Huge Up: Got home and found that the galley proof of Blue Straggler had arrived in the mail from my publisher! It looks fantastic, as you can clearly see from this photo of a cute mystery kid displaying it for the camera. Galley Proof of Blue Straggler, a novel by Kathy Lynn Harris

I then proceeded to stay up til 2 am proofing the book because I couldn’t wait.

Exciting times. The official release date is now March 1, and I have so much to do to prepare. It’s a good thing that I have so many wonderful friends and family to keep me sane.

Stay tuned for more information on a book release party or two in Texas and book signings/readings in Colorado.

Random Texas music note: If you’ve never listened to the San Antonio-based band, the Texas Tornados, give them a try. Good stuff.


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You Can Take the Girl out of Texas, but …

A blog! I need a blog! This thought has been keeping me up nights for quite a while, so finally, here it goes …

Texas cowI’m pleased to announce I’ll be blogging here regularly (I hope) about my writing and family life, my adventures in the Colorado mountains, and mostly, my musings on what makes Texas so crazy and yet so special. Hint: It has everything to do with hard-livin’, hell-raisin’, big-hearted people. And maybe cows.

The big news today on the writing front is that the paperback release of Blue Straggler is scheduled for mid-February now, and readers can even pre-order the book now via Barnes and Noble. I can’t wait to hold a proof in my hands soon. And my husband BETTER take me out to dinner. I’m talking steak and vodka, baby.

I’m already making some calls to see if I can set up a couple of book signings down in Texas in March. Let’s face it: I love a good excuse to enjoy the spring wildflowers, especially the bluebonnets, and perhaps a margarita or two with some of my dear friends at Texas A&M. Stay tuned for updates!

For now, I’ll leave you with a phrase a colleague just told me “must be a Texas-ism.” I simply told her that my laptop crashed “like a mother dog.” And now I’m thinking that may just be a “Kathy-ism.”


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