Great Ways to Procrastinate » Miscellaneous

Winner, winner, winner!

Kathryn — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:10:52 +0000

This month Daphne P. of Lanham, Maryland wins a signed set of the first two books in the Seven Deadly Sins series: To Sin with a Stranger & The Most Wicked of Sins AND an e-ARC of The Dukes Night of Sin (in stores November 30th.)!

Be sure to enter Kathryn’s new contest today and you may be the next winner of the first three books in the sexy Seven Deadly Sins series.

The Seven Deadly Sins…and Barbies

Kathryn — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:15:46 +0000

The Most Wicked of Sins (in stores now) is the title of the second book in my sexy and wickedly fun Seven Deadly Sins series. It’s about envy, which really is a wicked sin. I mean, come on. You could conceivably have a little fun committing the other six sin-but not envy. No way.

Is Envy the most wicked of sins?

Let me tell you a little more about each of the Seven Deadly Sins, and then you decide which is the most wicked of sins.

Now, the Seven Deadly Sins are: Greed, Envy, Sloth, Gluttony, Lust, Wrath and Pride. Okay, I can think of worse sins, but hey, a Pope came up with these as the top seven about a thousand years ago. ‘Nuf said, right?

Greed: Perfect example~ my teetering To Be Read pile(s). I have more books than I can possibly read, more books than anyone can possibly read, and yet I can’t leave the bookstore without half a dozen more. I have so many books that I am thinking of building a green house out of recycled romances. Think I can get a tax credit for that?

Envy:. I named the heroine Ivy in The Most Wicked of Sins after an Envy incident in my neighborhood years ago. A woman down the street had the most amazing garden, and yet I never saw her do any more than water it. One day, the flowers were strewn all over the front yard and my neighbor was busy raking up the mess. She guessed some kids had torn up the garden at night as a prank-but wished she could thank them for pulling up all of the poison ivy too. Now she could work in her garden again. A couple days later, I saw the woman who lived next door to her with a horrible red rash all over her arms and face. True story.

Sloth: It’s 8 a.m., kids are off to school. I am going write to ten pages -right after I check my email. Wow, is it noon already? Okay, eat lunch, then off to write ten pages…after I check out that one site. Crap. Dinner time? (Meant to buy some groceries.) Lazy slug.

Gluttony: There is only so much a human needs to eat, right? Beyond that, it’s excess and after a while, Lycra becomes a way of life. Believe me, I know. (Though, the woman who invented SPANX is up for sainthood. Yup, pretty sure it’s true.)

Lust: Oh, come on. How is this a sin?

Wrath: Okay, you race into a grocery store for some milk, but some guy is blocking the aisle with his cart while he taps on his Blackberry creating a shopper back up (the term for this is Blackberry Jam, I think). Excuse me, please. He doesn’t hear you. Tap, tap, tap. Would you mind if I just squeezed by? Tappity tap. Grr. You are about two seconds from yanking that thing out of his hand and chucking it and him in the lobster tank. That’s wrath.

Pride: Pride is supposed to be the worst sin. I don’t mean like taking pride in your work, or your school, or your kid’s team. We’re really talking arrogance, right? Pride as in Pride and Prejudice. Oh Mr. Darcy. You lovely sinner, you.

There you have it. The Seven Deadly Sins. What’s next? Siusan’s story, The Dukes Night of Sin. Her sin? Sloth.

Such fun!

Images courtesy of the Barbies that hang out in my office and sometimes star in my kids’ iPhone movies and school assignments.

(Kathryn’s blog previously posted on Romance Bandits)

New Contest!

Kathryn — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:14:11 +0000

Three sets of signed copies of To Sin With a Stranger and The Most Wicked of Sins (books 1 and 2 in my best-selling Seven Deadly Sins series) are up for grabs. Be sure to visit my contest page and enter today for your chance to win!

Win one of three signed copies of To Sin With a Stranger

Kathryn — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:16:17 +0000

Three signed copies of To Sin With a Stranger (book 1 in my Seven Deadly Sins series) will be given away on January 24th. Time’s a wastin’. Be sure to visit my contest page and enter today for your chance to win!

The Most Wicked of Sins ~ ON SALE TODAY!

Kathryn — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:23:41 +0000

The second in my Seven Deadly Sins series, The Most Wicked of Sins is in stores and libraries today! Grab your copy right away~ paying special attention to page 100~ because something on that page is the key to winning one of two $100 Amazon gift cards. The first drawing for this special contest is October 5th and the second is October 13th. Enter today! It would be a sin not to.

What I did this summer–got married in a castle in Scotland!

Kathryn — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 22:05:47 +0000

So, when a romance author (who absolutely adores Scottish heroes) gets married, where does she tie the knot? In Scotland, of course! On August 11th, I married my kilted hero in the chapel at Dalhousie Castle in Scotland. The rings were delivered by a little owl to my daughter who gave them to the minister to be blessed. Check out a few photos (more to come–including a few of “Ted” the owl.)

Signed copies of To Sin With a Stranger up for grabs every Friday in September!

Kathryn — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 20:19:50 +0000

To celebrate the September 29th release of The Most Wicked of Sins (book two in the Seven Deadly Sins series), Kathryn is giving away signed copies of the first in the series, To Sin With a Stranger, every Friday in September. Enter the contest today! While you are there, be sure to read the all new Prologue and Chapter One excerpt of The Most Wicked of Sins, available for pre-order now.

The Winners are…

Kathryn — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:45:03 +0000

Kathryn gave away three huge bags of romances signed by all of her favorite authors at the RWA Literacy signing. The winners are: Sara P. from San Francisco, California won Kathryn’s website drawing! The winner on Facebook is Jennie K. from Providence, Rhode Island. And the winner on Twitter is Roni G. from Oakley, California. Your books are on their way to you, and the boxes are huge, so I’d start clearing shelves right now. Happy reading!

Step by step: how Kathryn writes a romance

Kathryn — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 20:15:47 +0000

PREP~ It’s has been awhile since I have added to my Novel Bootcamp, but now is the perfect time because I am writing a new book. The book is the third about the Sinclair family, the Seven Deadly Sins. This time I have prepped more than I ever have. Avon author Cathy Maxwell had recommended, once upon a time, that I take the Discovering Story Class by Robin Perini and Laura Baker. I had attended their workshops at the RWA conference once before and so I signed up for the Master’s Class. Amazing. I so highly recommend the experience that I bought my sister (an aspiring author) the Discovering Story Magic initial materials and then signed her up for the June 1 class. Take the Discovering Story Magic Class. Trust me on this one.

If you haven’t read my Novel Boot Camp blog before, you should know that I am seat-of-the-pants writer. It comes to me as I write. Plotting is alien to me. Or so I thought. Through the DSM Master’s Class, I actually plotted–not the scenes or where the story goes, but a few essential bits that make up the story. The inciting incident, the long term goal, the short term goal, the critical flaw, the romance block, the black moment and the resolution. I did this for both my hero and heroine (Lady Siusan Sinclair, who appeared in both To Sin With a Stranger and, the soon to be released, The Most Wicked of Sins.)

Then, I briefly outlined all the scenes that came to me as a result of this brainstorming (I brainstormed with Rob Perini and Laura Baker through this class). I ended up with maybe 30 scenes which I placed on a poster board I had segmented into 20 chapters. Now, it’s time to write. This is the first time I have, dare I say it, plotted on paper instead of inside my head. By thinking through the critical turning points in a story, all the way through, I think I have a better handle on this story from the beginning than I have ever had before.

Will it work? I don’t know. I tend to try another method of writing with every book. I guess I keep hoping that one day I will find the perfect process for me. Every book is different. Maybe a new process is required with each book. But something tells me maybe this is the right approach for this book (officially entitled The Duke’s Night of Sin, Avon Books, June 2010.)

Will you join on me on this journey? I hope so. Ready, set, GO!

Make them Green with Envy

Kathryn — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 00:10:18 +0000

Green with Envy~ Win a huge (reusable and appropriately green) shopping bag of romance novels signed by your favorite authors! Kathryn and 500 authors will be gathering in Washington, DC on July 13th for a mega-booksigning to support literacy. Can’t attend? No problem.

In anticipation of the September 29th release of The Most Wicked of Sins, the second book in her 7 Deadly Sins series (envy) , Kathryn is giving away two bags of signed steamy romance novels.

How to win on Facebook: write “The Most Wicked of Sins is Envy” (in stores Sept. 29) on your wall or status bar and then post on Kathryn’s Facebook wall “I’m envious!”. On Twitter: write #TheMostWickedofSins @kathryncaskie.

Winners! At 10 p.m., July 20th, Kathryn will choose a winner from each site and send them each a bag of signed romances. Enter and win!

Missed the entry window? No worries.

Visit KathrynCaskie.com for excerpts and another chance to win big!