WOOHOO! Check out the trailer!

I'm so excited to share with all of you the book trailer that B&H has for NO SAFE HAVEN!

It would thrill us beyond belief :) if you could help us get the word out by passing on the links to everyone. They can either view it here on our website, Kim's Website or on - Kim's YouTube channel under favorites

NO SAFE HAVEN releases in March of 2011 - and will be up for pre-order in a couple of months! We are very excited about this book and hope to get the word out!
Thank you - Kim and Kayla

Spider Bites and TV ... Random Monday

What a week...
I had a crazy one, that's for sure. We had a big event for our kids' swim team, Kayla and I are in the middle of revisions, and I don't know what shows aired when, but I received over 4500 emails through my website... AND... I got bit by what we think must have been a spider.

My random thoughts about this?
-I don't like spiders.
-I really don't like being bit by one.
-It really itches.
-It REALLY hurts.
-It made my arm swell up to twice its size.
-The diameter of the area grew up to 8 inches.
-Yes, I measured it.
-WebMD doesn't have enough information on spider bites.
-My arm had a fever for 4 days.
-My arm also looked like it had a sunburn on steroids.
-It made all the muscles in my arm hurt.
-It's still there. But it is getting better.
-I really don't like spiders.
-I really, really, REALLY, don't like being bit by one.

Now back to email...and revisions...

Alaska Adventure #2...

As we continued our amazing research trip into the interior of Alaska, we had the privilege of seeing one of Alaska's (and the United States') most incredible sights. The Alaska Pipeline.







And another part of our interior Alaska trek was North Pole, Alaska. Here's a great picture of Julee at Santa Claus' House hugging a giant stuffed Polar Bear.




North Pole, Alaska is where our characters' are from in NO SAFE HAVEN. This deliciously yummy croissant french toast is from a little cafe' in North Pole and probably the best french toast I've ever had!




Guess what this is? Any idea how much mail they receive here every year? Take a guess...



Julee, myself, and Karen at the Cafe' North Pole - which will be featured in Book #2. The research was oh, so hard...




This trip was full of great memories, but more than anything - great friends. This is one of my best friends, Leah. I miss her.



Keep watching for more pictures and fun stuff from our trip back to our beloved Alaska...

From Kayla's Perspective #4 - REVISION RAMBLINGS

UGH!! Revisions, schoolwork, swimming, crit group chapters. Where has the day gone?

As we travel down this amazing-ly busy, terrib-ly funny, tiring-ly draining, and genuine-ly crazy path, (since this is a blog I can use all the “LY” adverbs I want, LOL) I realize what “not enough time in the day” really means. (“Sleep? What is this sleep you talk about?”)

Also, now Mom and I have a new challenge, a puzzle: Taking apart and then putting back together our story. (Duhn, duhn, duhn, duh!) Otherwise known as, REVISIONS.

“Let me splain… No, too much, let me sum up…” (Come on, you’ve gotta love The Princess Bride) we’re each making a separate document for our character's scenes so that we can re-tweak them, finding out where to add new scenes, which then means going back and labeling all the old ones. Whew.

Confused? Don’t worry, so am I! But I’m just going along with it, Mom knows what to do, so I’ll just follow her. Again, LOL. (It's a good time to only be 12+1 years old. I don't have to have all the answers.)

Being a writer is hard work, which is why I always keep my stash of M&Ms close by. FYI-M&Ms work magic when writing! And sweet tea, sweet tea’s great too. You’ve gotta be prepared when going onto the battle field, right? (Just go along with it.)

Then again, every once in a while it’s nice to sit back and relax, ya know? Most of the time that means watching a movie (like Bolt, Up, or The Ultimate Gift) or reading a book (like one of The Dragon Keeper Chronicles or The Chronicles of Narnia).

But no matter how relaxing that is, it’s still a job to do revisions! (Revisions themselves aren’t the bad part, the bad part is when you over-do your editing and destroy your scene. How do I know? Just trust me, I know.)

But, it’s always fun when Mom comes into the room (In that moment it’s like angels start singing the Hallelujah chorus) and she starts making me laugh.
(Just a little piece of valuable info here, Mom and I are both very silly and love to laugh at each other’s mistakes, for instance as I was writing “Most of the time that means watching a movie or reading a book” above, I put “watching a book or reading a movie”.) Hey, you’ve gotta at least chuckle!! Come on, chuckle… you can do it… come on…

I guess that’s just how life is though, full of surprises, trials, laughs… and confuzzling sentence skeletons (Ick). But, at least I know that I’ve got God, so what am I worried about? I may do horrible in my worst subject, (English, are you surprised?) but I guess that’s what perseverance is for, right? (Nod your head so I know you’re paying attention.)

Little voice inside head also known as Holy Spirit: BE THANKFUL!
Me: Yes, sir.

Oh! I think I hear lunch calling me, it’s saying “Kayla… eat me…” echo, echo, echo. (Have I succeeded in making you smile yet?)

I guess I’ll go eat lunch and then get to my Revisions, Math, and English (woop-a-dee-doo… hint, hint).

Have a wonderful day and God bless!
-Kayla
Remember: Bad things aren’t the only things that happen in life so thank God for your blessings (yes, English included), even when you’re down in the dumps.

Random Monday Questions...

Well, since the furious writing of No Safe Haven, the research trip to Alaska, speaking, book signings, and then Sales Conference at B&H - and of course the recovery from said trip (LOL!) - I've been just a tad bit off schedule. (Understatement, I know.) But, I am pleased to say that even though my crazy life continues, the random Monday blogs will resume...

Today, it will be all the questions floating in my mind in the next 90 seconds. Here goes:

-I wonder how many people are drinking a Dr. Pepper this morning just like me?
-Why do weeds grow better than my carefully tended flowers?
-Why haven't they come up with something useful to do with weeds?
-Why can't we make money off of growing weeds?
-Does anyone else wish that time would slow down for just a little bit?
-Why does my husband like to fish so much? Especially in the heat...
-Where did I put my black jacket with the pink stripes?
-Was that the dryer that just beeped?
-How many yards will the kids swim at swim team today? 4000? 5000? 6000?
-Will I ever feel caught up?
-When is the A/C guy supposed to come tomorrow?
-I wonder who I just received email from... the iPad has dinged 15 times during the writing of this...
-Can I have a day off?
-What would people do if I answered the phone, "Hi, this is Kimberley the Author, what's your favorite color?"
-Does anyone know what movie that's from?
-Will anyone try to answer my questions?
-Why can't I turn off my brain like my husband and "go to my nothing box"?

There you have it... Random Monday...
Now where did I put my daytimer?

Life Suckers...

Have you ever had a person (or even people) in your life that drain you? Basically suck the life out of you?

My hubby teases me, saying that I attract those kind of people. And in all honesty, he's right. (Now, don't get upset, I'm not saying all the people in my life are like that, but I generally have at least one in my life at all times.) He's even gotten to the point where he makes a loud sucking/vacuum-type noise to help me discern these things when we're talking alone. :) He's got discernment - really GOOD discernment - where I don't.

Anyway, I'm learning. With all the TV stuff, book stuff, and every other kind of stuff, my life has changed. And I'm growing through this process, I'm being pruned through this process, and I'm holding onto my joy through this process.

BUT - I can't say it doesn't hurt when you find out someone isn't trustworthy - or realize that they have single-handledly sucked a good portion of your time/energy/money/LIFE out of you. And for me, it makes me wonder, "Why didn't I see this earlier?"

In fact, I'm still recovering from one of these life-suckers that I recently had in my life. But, praise God, I learned a LOT.

It's kinda like the post I wrote about falling down. Every time we fall, we have the incredible opportunity to learn a valuable lesson so that we DON'T fall the same way again, and we learn how to pick ourselves up out of the muck and mire.

It is hard though... every time you hear from that person, see that person, etc. And personally, I fight urges of wanting to stomp my feet and say, "Really?!? Are you serious?" But then I hear that still small voice (sometimes in the form of a tried and true friend) saying, "Pray. Pray hard." And I feel that inevitable 2x4 from above followed by the gentle words, "I love ________ just as much as I love you."

That's always a gut-wrenching revelation for me. To be reminded that I am no better than anyone else, that God couldn't possibly love me any more than anyone else, and that Jesus died so that "whosoever believes" can have the same eternal life given to me through His sacrifice. Wow. Talk about convicting.

Too many times, we just want to wash our hands of that person(s) and move on. And I'm not saying that's bad, but what happens every time that person(s) is brought up or crosses your path? How are we supposed to handle that?

My answer? Pray. Pray hard. And look forward to the thump of the 2x4 with the gentle reminder. It's humbling. And much needed.