Kate Swenson

Frostabella and Her Celebrity Friends! Having a fantastic December, working as Frostabella the Snow Princess at the airport.  A strange little gig made even stranger by the fact that I start to work at 6 am.  While this may be the norm for some, I can assure you tis not the regular hour for theatre folk. Nothing like going through security at the crack of dawn with false lashes, covered in glitter, bumpit in place, and hot rolled curls a bouncing.  If you have never entered the airport sporting this look, you don't know what you are missing! My pal Frosty and I walk up and down the halls of the airport as people shout hello, wave, and come running over for hugs and pictures.  Little kids gasp and jump for joy when they see us--except for the ones who burst into tear and run the other direction.  I've had more high fives and photos taken this week than I have my whole life.  People say things like "best airport trip ever"...

That right--I am a National Novel Writing Month Non-Winner.  And I am okay with that. I have won many things in my time, including a bubble blowing contest and a minnow bucket. I have lost many things in my time, like every 5K I ever have or will enter and my marbles. Such is the life of a participant !  You win. You lose. You always learn. And, if you're lucky, there are snacks! What Did I Learn?   Do I Look Like I Care About Numbers? My official NaNo word count was 38,036. Better than a kick in the head! And no, I am not sure why I didn't just plunk down "but that wasn't all" for a nice round 38,040.  Anywhoo that is 11, 964 short of the goal. I learned how many words I average per session, without brain bleed. I also learned how far I can push myself to up the word count. Since it is never natural for me to think in terms of numbers--this is quite valuable. Now, with the aid of a calcumachine, I can better estima...

Let the triumphant kazoos sound!   I am officially Done Done with the first book! At loooooooooooong last my queries are sent and my brain is moving on. Looking forward to seeing how different the process for book number two will be.  It seems like it should be easier. Gulp. We shall see! Oh and look who is helping me pound out Book Two for NaNoWriMo.   My Self-Prize!  Pink, shiny, and way too big - but we can fix that!  What a good helper! 

Wanna Hear a Story? My photog friend and I are having a (weather pending) photo shoot.  The goal is to create an authorial headshot to replace this one, which is dandy for my theatrical life, but perhaps for the literary world it would be wise to show less of my - erm - talents. To make matters worse, in thumbnails the top of my head often gets cut off and I needs those brainses! We plan to gallivant around and see what photo-ops jump out at us.  Could be we get nothing and you are stuck with Ms. "I Know a Secret" over there for a while longer, but we will have fun trying. I would love a picture involving a wishing well, since it is an image central to my current novel and the nerdiness would be divine. Other than that we are open to suggestions - what do you think, Birdies? PS:  My Day 2 - NaNoWriMo Count = 3431   

I decided to join the NaNoWriMo Madness this year!  Nerd Power! Some selected blurb bits from their website... National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30. What: Writing one 50,000-word novel from scratch in a month’s time. Who: You! We can’t do this unless we have some other people trying it as well. Let’s write laughably awful yet lengthy prose together. Why: The reasons are endless! To actively participate in one of our era’s most enchanting art forms! To give yourself permission to write without obsessing over quality. In 2010, we had over 200,000 participants. More than 30,000 of them crossed the 50K finish line by the midnight deadline, entering into the annals of NaNoWriMo superstardom forever. My plan is to jumpstart book two in the Children of Utrøst series.  I was tempted to...

It's Halloween, I am working in a Haunted Forest, and the villains of my novel are the guilty parties holding up Operation Settle4NovemberFirst . I have evil on the brain. Imagine what my (already notoriously crazy) dreams are like! Upon the advice of my beloved Crit Group, I have been trying to scary up my bad guys. But there is a distracting inner whisper and I am starting to question how far I really want to push in this direction.  It is a fantasy novel, but there is a fine line between evil scary and EEEEV-ILL funny.  Which got me thinking... What are the necessary elements in a villain cocktail?  Classic Evil-Tini Recipe 1 Part Bitters to the Core 1 Part Anger Management Issues Muddle Reality with Twisted Past Squeeze of Lemon (Directly Into Wound)  Shake Violently And just how much can you tinker with the basic recipe before you go from refreshing variation to cough medicine? Utrøst's Evil-Tini Recipe 1 P...