katherine center

speaking at the Mom 2.0 Summit

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

HEAR a clip from GET LUCKY

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

My third novel is, at the moment, titled Get Lucky. Its the story of a woman who offers to have a baby for her sister. It's still in the editing stages, and won't go on sale until 2010, but here's a fun, sneak-peek audio clip!

twilight

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I went to see Twilight last night. I loved the book and read all 700 pages in one night (staying up until 5 am, even though my kids get up at six). And I'm not even a fast reader. Then I didn't read the others in the series, because I couldn't imagine they'd

favorite word: rubberneck

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Here's why I love the word rubberneck. The sound of it. The syllables. The feel of it in your mouth. But ma

why I love Marisa de los Santos

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Marisa de los Santos, author of Love Walked In and Belong To Me, is one of my faves.

good morning

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

You know what I miss? The seventies.

UK and US

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Here are two covers for Everyone Is Beautiful side by side!

this american life

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

16 things about me

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Yikes. I just got tagged! Here goes: 1. I played on the drum corps in high school. 2.

breakfast with the ladies (and the TV news)

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Yesterday I watched the inauguration at a live blogging party at the lovely house of Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks. I also got to hang with the hilarious and completely naughty Bloggess, the fabulous Laura Mayes of Kirtsy, super-blogger HappyKatie, new friend and Jeanne Tripplehorn look-alike Jodi from The Journey, and mama-blogger Kara, who was kind enough to drop off my laptop when I left it (and the only digital copy of my just-finished novel) behind at the party. Speaking of which, I just finished my new novel. And my mom gives it the thumbs-up.

the lockhart library

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just finished my third novel, a story, in part, about a fictional library based on this one here: the Dr. Eugene Clark Library in Lockart, Texas. Hooray for libraries! Hooray for gorgeous old buildings! And hooray for Novel 3! Found this photo at a blog with tons of pix of beautiful old structures around Texas and elsewhere.

galumphing

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

lunch bag

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The craftiness continues! I'm like an unstoppable I-can-make-that girl these days. Featured crazy crafting item of the day: A lunch bag for my daughter! What else are you going to do with leftover upholstery fabric when your kid's vinyl lunch bag has passed the point of no return? I've been thinking for months now that we just needed a lunch bag that we could put in the washing machine. So I cut up a paper lunch sack and used the pieces for templates. (Big fan of templates in all areas of life...) Added a handle and a little floppy top. (That was actually the hardest part--trying to make a rounded, folded-over edge with the sewing machine). And then I embroidered her name on a little pink patch. (The pink patch started -- as many things do -- as a way of distracting from the bad stitching on the flap.)

the obsession continues

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

the obsession continues

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Okay,

Sunday night can only mean: time for Writing Wednesday!

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

top ten romantic comedies ever--and why

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

1. When Harry Met Sally My yardstick for all other romantic comedies--and against which most of them fail. I am always hoping, when I go into the theater for a romantic comedy, in some tiny place despite years of disappointment, to have a movie about women and men speak to me so clearly, so hilariously, and so truthfully. 2. One Fine Day 3. While You Were Sleeping 4.

goat farm

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Today we went out to the country to visit my childhood friend Christian and his wife Lisa at their farm. They make the yummiest goat cheese ever, and I'm completely enchanted by their life. Christian and his brother and sister were big friends of mine when I was little. They lived in our neighborhood. We carpooled to pre-school. We took vacations to the beach together and, later, to Colorado to ski. Christian in particular, and his brother Hunter, were my pals. I didn't have brothers, and so the things I learned about boys from them made a big impression. I'm sure I played with other kids plenty back then, too. But I remember playing with these guys more than anyone else (except my roller-skating next-door-neighbor Mary Ellen). We had sleepovers. We squirted mustard all over our jeans and then rubbed it in. We went on bike rides. We explored. We saw snow for the first time together (at age 11, no less!) I was kind of a tomboy, and I loved palling around with them. And man, did they make me and my sisters laugh.

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

my grandmother

Katherine — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I am scanning photos for my dad's 70th birthday. Which is, actually, impossible--because my dad is 45 years old. He has always been 45 years old, and he will always be 45 years old. Period. Except that here I am scanning his baby photos. Which means at some point, he must have been four. The same age my son is now. And he must have done the same goofy things and played the same little-boy games and built forts and run around. He actually looks a lot like my son. And the truth is, even though my dad has drawers full of family photos that he's collected, I have not seen that many of them. It never really occurred to me to look at childhood photos of my dad. Because he never had a childhood. Because he has always been 45 years old. Like here: And here we all are, circa 1983--my mom, my two sisters, my dad, and me. I'm the supermodel in the sailor hat and braces. I've seen this photo a thousand times. It's one of those favorites that make it into frames and holiday cards. But it's been a while since I looked at it. And seeing it now, in this context, makes me feel so tender for all these people--these younger versions of ourselves. I know so much that they don't know. I know what will happen next. All the things that are waiting for the

about katherine

Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:04:44 +0000

Katherine's official BIO:

Katherine Center is the author of two novels—The Bright Side of Disaster and Everyone Is Beautiful—and has two more on the way. Her books and essays have appeared in Redbook, People, USA Today, Vanity Fair, Real Simple, the Dallas Morning News, and the Houston Chronicle, as well as the anthology Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond. Kirkus Reviews likens her second novel to the 1950s motherhood classic Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, and says, “Center ’s breezy style invites the reader to commiserate, laughing all the way.” Booklist calls it “a superbly written novel filled with unique and resonant characters.” BookPage named Katherine one of seven new writers to watch, and her first novel was optioned last fall by Varsity Pictures. Katherine’s third novel, Get Lucky, goes on sale April 2010, and she is at work on her fourth. She lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband and two young children.

Here's the trailer for Everyone Is Beautiful!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPwTrTaZRm0]

Here's Katherine in a Public Service Announcement in support of creative writing classes for children:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuqvebTjObw] For more about Katherine (and baby photos!), please visit the "about" page of her website!

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:28:32 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:31:58 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:40:16 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:49:21 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 03:51:46 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 04:04:45 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:16:33 +0000

one year after I decided to start a blog

Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:28:19 +0000

I'm finally doing it. I love to read blogs. But, with two little kids and many stories playing themselves out in my head most of the time, lots of nights I fall asleep still in my clothes. You know, really. My plate is full. Overly full. Spilling off onto the table. But that has to be a good thing, right?

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:41:11 +0000

life on a split-screen

Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 05:52:49 +0000

Here's what happens when I'm really in a groove with writing: I see everything in a split-screen. Like, I'll be washing dishes and listening to my kids play Naked Zoo Animals on one side of my brain, but on the other side, just as vivid, I'm keeping an eye on the imaginary people from the story. It's not like that all the time, though. Mostly, it's one or the other. I'm either reading Aladdin in the carpool line with my 3 year old or I'm curled up with my laptop in that bizarre out-of-body world of fiction (writing a book is a lot like reading a book--the way it just takes you somewhere else). But those split-screen moments are fantastic, and, at the same time, profoundly uncomfortable--in that pregnant way that being right on the verge of something can be. Kind of like the way that dating is so awful and so delicious at the same time. What you're searching for isn't there yet, but everything has potential. I went for about ten days straight like that this month. Ten in a row. But then my real life needed my full attention for a while. So the story shut itself down--really without my permission. But it's okay. I keep the pages in my purse, just in case I get a chance to read them.

everyone is beautiful

Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 14:40:58 +0000

My new book, Everyone Is Beautiful, comes out February 17, 2009. Here's the flap copy: From the author of The Bright Side of Disaster, the entertaining and ultimately poignant story of what happens after happily ever after: how a mother of three recaptures her sense of self and falls in love with her husband all over again. Everyone is Beautiful A Novel Katherine Center Lanie Coates just piled everything she owns into a U-Haul and drove with her husband, Peter, and three boys (all under four) across the country. She’s left her helpful parents, her mom-friends, and the comforts of home behind—all because Peter got into graduate school. Even though Lanie wants to help him follow his dreams, she suspects that she’s ignoring her own. If only she could remember what they were. And that’s just it. Lanie can’t shake the feeling that important things from her pre-mom life have gone missing: her marriage, her ambitions, her body. She feels homesick, capsized by motherhood, and just dead certain that she is no longer fabulous. Not even close. When another mom humiliates her at the park, Lanie decides it’s time to retool her life. She sets change after change in motion, hoping to recapture her lost self. But she also creates ripples that will come to threaten everything she holds dear. In the end, Lanie must figure out once and for all how to find herself without losing everything else in the process.

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:19:16 +0000

hi-res-final-cover

Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:23:39 +0000

save-the-date

Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:30:18 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:31:15 +0000

speaking for the children's museum

Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:56:52 +0000

I will be speaking at the Children's Museum of Houston's big fundraising luncheon on February 23, 2009--just one week after Everyone Is Beautiful goes on sale. If you're in Houston, be sure to come! Contact The Children's Museum for tickets.

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:03:24 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:31:37 +0000

excerpt: everyone is beautiful

Katherine — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:40:16 +0000

Here's the excerpt my great publicist at Random House included with Everyone Is Beautiful when she mailed it out to reviewers this week:

"There is no better people-watching than at the airport: The whole world packed into such a tight space, moving fast with all their essentials in their rolling bags. And what caught my attention, as I took a few breaths and took in the crowds, were all the imperfections. Everybody had them. Every single person that walked past me had some kind of flaw. Bushy eyebrows, moles, flared nostirls, crooked teeth, crow's feet, hunched backs, dowager humps, double chins, floppy earlobes, nose hairs, pot bellies, scars, nicotine stains, upper arm fat, trick knees, saddle bags, collapsed arches, bruises, warts, puffy eyes, pimples. Nobody was perfect. Not even close. And everybody had wrinkles from smiling and squinting and craning their necks. Everybody had marks on their bodies from years of living--a trail of life left on them, evidence of all the adventures and sleepless nights and practical jokes and heartbreaks that had made them who they were. In that moment, I suddenly loved us all the more for our flaws, for being broken and human, for being embarrassed and lonely, for being hopeful or tired or disappointed or sick or brave or angry. For being who we were, for making the world interesting. It was a good reminder that the human condition is imperfection. And that's how it's supposed to be."

(Image from Square America)

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Katherine — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:25:17 +0000

05

Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:15:39 +0000

fort bend junior service league

Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:17:49 +0000

I visited the Fort Bend Junior Service League's monthly meeting this week and spoke to a huge election-night crowd of something like 150 women.

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Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:22:08 +0000

university of houston: arts town hall

Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:23:15 +0000

I had a chance to appear on a panel for an "Arts Town Hall" at the University of Houston's Hilton hotel this week. Professor of English Elizabeth Brown-Guillory brought artists and arts administrators from every discipline together to talk about how the arts can support and nurture each other. The panel also included novelist Chitra Divakaruni, poet and executive director of Inprint Rich Levy, poet Sarah Cortez, and Nuestro Palabra's Tony Diaz.

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Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:35:27 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:45:15 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:50:27 +0000

great review for BRIGHT SIDE!

Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:54:10 +0000

A feisty UK website for women readers, Trashionista, just gave Bright Side a great review! [caption id="attachment_97" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="UK cover for Bright Side"][/caption] The review says: "I mentioned the other day that I loved Katherine Center's The Bright Side of Disaster and I really did. It's been a couple of days since I finished reading it and I wish I hadn't. I miss it." Trashionista also gives it a rating of 5 out of 5, and says "Katherine Center's writing, along with the wonderful characters, make this a memorable read. I LOVED the neighbour, Gardner, and LOATHED the useless Dean. Plus Center writes about the early years of motherhood (not to mention the horror of labour) with insight and warmth. Highly recommended." Here's how the site describes itself: "Trashionista gets to grips with the wonderful world of female fiction. We take an unbiased look at beach reads, bestsellers, new releases and old favourites - and we actually read the books before writing about them. Trashionista doesn't believe that 'chick lit' is a dirty word - but if a book is trash, we'll let you know!"

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Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:14:06 +0000

great review for EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL!

Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:16:02 +0000

The first blog review for Everyone Is Beautiful is in, and it's great. Marcia at The Printed Page, starts her review like this: "This book is LOL funny in parts and tackles serious subject matter with a light hand and wisdom in others. The first 5 chapters had my spouse yelling down from upstairs for me to please ‘be quiet’ as he was trying to get some shut eye." She goes on to write, "I felt like I was visiting with my girlfriends. We're conversing, and commiserating, about our lives and loves. Our daily routines and the ruts we've fallen into. The grind of holding a family together and finding time for the ‘you and me' in a marriage . . . This book is engaging, appealing and down to earth. "

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Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 07:04:10 +0000

essay selected for TEXAS BOUND

Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 07:06:25 +0000

I just had an essay selected for the Dallas Museum of Art's fantastic Texas Bound Reading Series. For the series, Texas-connected actors read the work of Texas-connected writers. Actors who have performed in the series include Kathy Bates, Tommy Lee Jones, Larry Hagman, and Marcia Gay Harden. The performance will take place in early April 2009. “As quintessentially Texan as a Lone Star can of beer . . . the series does [the] state proud.”—Publishers Weekly

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Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:56:26 +0000

interview on CHOOKOOLOONKS

Katherine — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:58:57 +0000

Karen Walrond is running an interview with me today on her fabulous, gorgeous, thoughtful blog, Chookooloonks. I could explain how we met, and became buddies, and happened to be working on eerily similar projects about women and beauty, but she does it so perfectly, I won't even try. [caption id="attachment_134" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="The beautiful Karen Walrond. A self-portrait."]

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She's also running a giveaway for an advance copy of my new book, Everyone Is Beautiful!

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Katherine — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:01:17 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:05:21 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:08:37 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:09:30 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:10:15 +0000

The Bright Side of Disaster got OPTIONED!

Katherine — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 16:48:17 +0000

Varsity pictures just optioned the movie rights to The Bright Side of Disaster!

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Katherine — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:08:47 +0000

katherine to speak at the fort bend county book & author dinner!

Katherine — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:12:34 +0000

[caption id="attachment_179" align="alignleft" width="214" caption="Katherine with author Bliss Broyard at the Houston Chronicle B&A Dinner last fall."]

[/caption] I will speak as a featured author at the Fort Bend County Book and Author Dinner on February 15, 2009. The dinner is just two days before Everyone Is Beautiful goes on sale, but it's against the rules to sell books before their on-sale date. But you CAN pre-order Everyone Is Beautiful, and it'll arrive at your house on the 17th! (Or so I've heard...)

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Katherine — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:16:35 +0000

world-famous tortilla soup!

Katherine — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:33:48 +0000

Last summer, reader and blogger Natasha Maw did an interview with me on her Maw Books Blog. One of her questions was about a tomato-lime soup that I'd written about in The Bright Side of Disaster. She thought the soup sounded good, and wondered if I had the recipe. Of course, many of things in works of fiction are made up. I could easily have just been conjuring a soup that sounded good. But this soup, it just so happens, found its way into Bright Side because it is my very favorite soup in all the world and one of the yummiest things I know how to cook. So it's real, and I gave her the recipe. And she published it with the interview. And now that fall is here and it's good soup weather, she tried it. Here is the title of her post: "Katherine Center Wasn't Kidding! Yummiest soup EVER!!" And here is a bowl of the beautiful batch she made: [caption id="attachment_184" align="alignnone" width="400" caption="Natasha Maw's first batch of my tortilla soup!"][/caption] Yay, Natasha! So glad you liked it!

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Katherine — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:35:55 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:05:31 +0000

speaking at the Mom 2.0 Summit

Katherine — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:10:08 +0000

I'll be speaking at the Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston this coming February. The Kirtsy Chicks and OpMom are organizing, so you know it's going to rock. Here's how they describe the summit: What do you get when you mix top brands, mom bloggers, social media experts, marketing leaders, media leaders, tech moms and mompreneurs all under one roof talking shop? (Well, besides a whole lotta awesomeness....) Plus the speakers are awesome, and the venue is supah-swanky!

great review at BOOKFINDS

Katherine — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 23:23:24 +0000

Bookfinds just gave The Bright Side of Disaster a fantastic review!

Here's an excerpt: "Often, I find myself leaving books half-finished, growing weary with stilted prose or predictable plots. But there are those rare moments when I find a book that really speaks to me. A book that makes me fall in love with both the writing and the characters. I cherish these books and I want to pass them along to everyone I know. When I finish a book that sparks such a pure and wonderful reaction, I can’t wait to post about it here. I just finished Katherine Center’s debut novel, The Bright Side of Disaster, and it left me clutching the book to my chest and sighing the contented sigh of a happy reader! I urge you to pick up a copy for yourself."

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Katherine — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:07:26 +0000

essay in upcoming anthology: Because I Love Her

Katherine — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 05:42:31 +0000

I'm all excited about the essay I have coming out in April in the anthology Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers Reflect on the Mother-Daughter Bond. The book is edited by Andrea N. Richesin, who also did The May Queen, and it features Karen Joy Fowler, Jacquelyn Mitchard, Joyce Maynard, and one of my very favorite writers, Catherine Newman, author of Waiting For Birdy. My essay is titled, "Things To Remember Not To Forget," which could easily be the title for my actual life. "This collection about one of the most complex relationships we have is so rich and varied that you'll want to read the whole thing from start to finish and then dip into it again and again. The essays are, by turns, wry, funny, angry, forgiving, sad, joyous, and a great many of them are all of these things at once. The book is suffused with hope and punctuated by a fierce, fierce love." --Marisa de los Santos, author of Love Walked In and Belong To Me

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Katherine — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:57:43 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 02:26:09 +0000

the new author photo

Katherine — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:25:43 +0000

I always find myself flipping back the the author photos on the jackets of books I'm reading, just curious about the authors and trying to get to know them a little by studying their faces. And if I'm reading a second book by an author I've read before, I'm always bummed when they re-use the same author photo. I'm like: New book? New photo! Right? So, I went ahead and got a new one. For the new book. Which comes out in February. And which you can pre-order on amazon right this very minute. And, voila! Here I am. Wearing a scarf I gave my sister for her birthday and then borrowed back (I literally detoured past her house on the drive to the photographer and she came out in her bathrobe and handed it through the window) and a necklace I got at Whole Foods (Jewelry? At the grocery store? Awesome!)--and sporting the semi-recent haircut that took off 11 inches and left my high school self behind forever. Yup. C'est moi. I gave the scarf back, though. I thought about "misplacing" it. But, in the end, I did the right thing.

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Katherine — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:48:01 +0000

interview at Trashionista!

Katherine — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:17:34 +0000

Keris, at the fun and feisty British site Trashionista, has posted an interview with me. Visit the site to learn who my favorite chick-lit heroine is, find out what I'm reading now, hear my theme song, and read shameful secrets about my housewifery habits.

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Katherine — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:45:41 +0000

the duchess

Katherine — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:46:53 +0000

My eyes are puffy this morning because I cried so hard and so long while watching The Duchess at the movies last night. I mean, I cried and cried. But good crying. Cathartic crying. The kind that comes from experiencing something real. I want to feel something when I see a movie or read a book--or hear a story of any kind. I want to be stirred up and provoked and moved. I want to see things a little differently after it's over. Here's a movie that does that. A good one. The world it creates feels so convincing and so real I was completely drawn in. I love BBC costume dramas, anyway. But a lot of the time, for whatever reason, they feel like costume dramas. But The Duchess, from the opening shot--a closeup of the silk hem of Georgiana's gown skimming the grass as she walks across a yard--is different. It brings you right up close to her. It brings you inside. The opening scene shows Kiera Knightley's teenage character, Georgiana, playing and flirting out on the lawn while her parents, inside, arrange her marriage. Soon she is married off to a duke and ready to make a go of it. But he doesn't talk to her. He has no interest in her at all, other than as a vessel to produce a male heir. Georgiana, meanwhile, wants what we all want: companionship, conversation, friendship, love, tenderness, touch. Essential components of human life. The Duke is--um, how to say it--a total horn dog. He's messing around with anyone he chooses, even keeping a longtime mistress in the house who comes to dine with him and Georgiana at every meal. But Georgiana is not allowed to have anyone. She lives in pure isolation. And that's what got me. How badly she wants human connection in her life and how the rules of society (and that mean duke) pulverize her every attempt to get it. But the movie doesn't feel like a polemic. It's not done in an obvious or clumsy way. Every tension in the story rises from the characters, and the well-defined social strictures around them. You believe in Georgiana and you root for her. You see why she acts the way she does. And you understand the pressures on the Duke, as well, and his mistress. It's clear how trapped they all are, only able to play the cards they have. And somewhere in the empathy you feel for the characters, there's some kind of recognition of something about your own life. Even though your own life, truly, couldn't be farther from that of the duchess. There's just a feeling there. How we're all just playing our cards. How none of us gets to choose our circumstances. How, even still, even today, as different as things are (and thank goodness), it's still hard being a girl. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p2UtgtJuDk&NR=1]

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Katherine — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:10:16 +0000

book tour for Everyone Is Beautiful!

Katherine — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:12:13 +0000

The dates are confirmed for my book tour for Everyone Is Beautiful! There are still some unconfirmed events, and not all the times are set, so I'll update this page as I can. Send your friends! Send your family! Or, heck--just buy a plane ticket and meet me there!

Tuesday, FEBRUARY 17

Everyone Is Beautiful goes on sale. (Though you can pre-order it now!)

Monday, FEBRUARY 23:

Houston, Texas

Children's Museum of Houston's Parents and Families Luncheon. Houston folks, be sure to get tickets!

Thursday, FEBRUARY 26:

Houston, Texas

Reading/Signing

Brazos Bookstore

2421 Bissonnet, Houston, TX

Tuesday, MARCH 3:

Houston, Texas

7:00 p.m. Reading/Signing

Blue Willow Books

14532 Memorial Drive, Houston TX

Thursday, March 5:

Dallas, Texas

Reading/Signing Legacy Books

Tuesday, MARCH 10:

Anacortes, Washington

7:00 p.m. Reading and Siging

Watermark Books

612 Commercial Avenue, Anacortes WA

Wednesday, MARCH 11:

Seattle, Washington

7:00 p.m. Reading/Signing

Third Place Books

17171 Bothell Way NE, Ste. A101, Bellevue, WA

Thursday, MARCH 12:

San Francisco, California

7:00 p.m. Reading/Talk/Signing

A Great Good Place for Books

6120 LaSalle Avenue, Oakland, CA

Tuesday, MARCH 17:

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

7:00 p.m. Reading/Signing

HW Schwartz Bookshop

10976 N. Port Washington Rd., Mequon, WI

Wednesday, MARCH 18:

Dayton, Ohio

Reading/Signing

Books and Co.

4453 Walnut Street, Dayton, OH

Thursday, MARCH 19:

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Reading/Signing

The Bookcase of Wayzata

607 E. Lake St., Wayzata MN

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Katherine — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:22:56 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:38:29 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:06:23 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:24:34 +0000

cowgirl

Katherine — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:26:40 +0000

I stumbled on this photograph today at Cowgirl Up!, and I can't stop going back to look at it.

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Katherine — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:20:48 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:25:26 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:28:12 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:29:14 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:30:38 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:32:17 +0000

Who We Were Friesens DJ2.indd

Katherine — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:48:49 +0000

square america

Katherine — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:53:04 +0000

I've made a great discovery. A site called Square America that is "a gallery of vintage snapshots and vernacular photography." Photos from the early 20th century up through the 1970s or so. I keep going back to the site to browse through it. Some of the images are breathtaking. Some of them are funny. All of them are fragile and bittersweet. The pictures are beautiful without meaning to be. It's heartbreaking the way we try to capture moments and hold on--to people, to youth, to life--knowing all the while that we can't. It's mesmerizing to see these flashes of other times, other places, and other people gone by. The fact that these snapshots were taken by amateur photographers--friends, husbands, parents--makes them feel so intimate. You can wonder at who these people were, where they were going, whatever became of them. You are seeing a real moment that's lost in every other way to time. You are peeking into a life you could never actually find. Or, at the same time, these could be your relatives, your childhood, your family album. How is it possible that strangers' lives can feel so much like your own? Square America has just put out a book, and I ordered it as soon as I found out about it. Now I am watching the mail.

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Katherine — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:11:05 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:15:02 +0000

forgetfulness

Katherine — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:31:41 +0000

I posted this YouTube video of Billy Collins' poem "Forgetfulness" on Kirtsy when I was a Guest Editor there last year. I still find myself going back to watch it from time to time. I love the grainy animation in the video, the way the images flicker in and out and overlap each other. And, of course, I love the last line. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrEPJh14mcU]

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Katherine — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:23:04 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:51:58 +0000

new book tour stop: Dallas!

Katherine — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:53:40 +0000

Looks like I'll be headed to Dallas on March 5, 2009 for a reading for Everyone Is Beautiful at Legacy Books. From what I can find online, Legacy books looks enormous and swanky and gorgeous. Can't wait.

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Katherine — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:09:18 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:17:15 +0000

great review for Bright Side at Planet Mom!

Katherine — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:21:41 +0000

Melinda over at Planet Mom has just posted a glowing review of Bright Side! (And added it to Kirtsy!) She worries that she waited too long after getting her book to post about it, but I say it's never too late for a great review. Here's what Planet Mom has to say: "It is a positively scrumptious read, in every palpable, plausible and profoundly irresistible sense of the word." She also writes: "At the risk of sounding completely cliché, I felt as though I knew the fictional people that Center created. I could hear them saying whatever it was they said. I could imagine them doing the sorts of things she had them doing and by all accounts, the trip to Breastfeeding Hell she so vividly described made my toes curl. By the same token, her portrayal of the warm and wonderful kisses her knight-in-shining-armor so passionately planted made me melt. Okay, I was a puddle upon the floor. A veritable pile of mush incapable of rational thought." "Confession: I read Bright Side two sinfully indulgent times. Okay three. It was that good."

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Katherine — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 15:54:08 +0000

A gorgeous print from Farouche's delicious ETSY shop...

One of the many things I'm thankful for today is apple crisp. I lost my Joy Of Cooking recipe for it and had to search around online, and I found a katrillion recipes before I found mine. But guess what? There's only one correct recipe for apple crisp, and if somebody told you to put cherries or nuts or oatmeal or peas (Seriously? Peas?) in yours, you got some bad information. Here is the the good stuff: A whole bunch of granny smith apples, like 8 or 9 1 lemon 2 cups of all-purpose flour 2 cups of brown sugar 2 sticks of butter A good sprinkle of cinnamon Peel the apples (all in one long strand to amaze your kids, if you can), and slice off lots of little pieces into a big, rectangular pyrex dish. Squeeze lemon juice over the apples to keep them from browning. Melt the butter a little and then dump in the flour and sugar and stir it all up into a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle the crumble over the apples. Then sprinkle the cinnamon on top. (You can do half the crisp, if you like. We double it because it's the best part. Nothing against apples.) Bake for 50-ish minutes at 375--until the apples are soft and bubbling and the crisp is brown and crunchy. Happy Thanksgiving!

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Katherine — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:27:39 +0000

american wife

Katherine — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:36:19 +0000

I just finished Curtis Sittenfeld's new novel, American Wife: "a work of fiction loosely inspired by the life on an American first lady." And oh, how I loved it. The writing is so fine. The dialogue is so crisp and smart, the inner landscape of the main character is so textured and complicated. The story felt completely real to me. I read the first of four sections with tears in my eyes for page after page, and then, by the last section, I was toting the book with me everywhere--pulling it out at stoplights, walking and reading in the halls of my son's school at pick-up, and, this afternoon, letting my kids make a potion out of a mushed-up hard-boiled egg and a cup of orange juice. All so I could keep reading.

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Katherine — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:16:09 +0000

bright side to be published in czech republic!

Katherine — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 07:19:10 +0000

Just got word that there's to be a Czech language version of Bright Side. Can't wait to see the cover!

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Katherine — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 03:23:42 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 03:28:01 +0000

want to see my ranch?

Katherine — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 03:29:36 +0000

Blogger, photographer, digital storyteller, and all-around superhero Karen Walrond came out to my family's ranch (we are Texans, after all) this weekend and took some photos of the place with a twin-lens reflex camera.

I am a big fan of old cameras (the main character in Everyone Is Beautiful uses one), and these photos are really haunting and beautiful. The tree above is one that we thought was dead, and so we planted a hearty antique rose bush at the base that could grow all over it. But then we found out it was only half-dead. In the summer, half of it is bushy and green, and the other half is gnarled branches--plus a few roses. It's the coolest tree around.

The photo above is of a 100-year-old farmhouse with thick concrete walls made of sand from the Brazos river and a rusty tin roof. This is a real texas place, y'all. Someday remind me to tell you about the crazy neighbor who used to sit out on his front porch naked except for a holster with loaded pistols.

Karen has posted all the photos she took at her gorgeous blog, chookooloonks, if you want to see the whole show. (And you definitely do!)

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Katherine — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 03:40:06 +0000

Love. Marriage. Chocolate cake.

Katherine — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 03:42:25 +0000

Here's the cover for the British edition of Everyone Is Beautiful!

I'm fascinated by the tag line on the front. I think if I were writing a tag line for Everyone Is Beautiful, it would go something like: "Love. Marriage. Chocolate cake."

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Katherine — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:33:58 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:34:45 +0000

it's official: the audiobook

Katherine — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:51:28 +0000

Random House has chosen an actress to read (perform?) the audiobook version of Everyone Is Beautiful, and she's adorable! Kirsten Potter--you may have seen her guest spots in Medium or Judging Amy--will record the book in January. (The audiobook goes on sale the same day as the hardcover--Feb. 17, 2009!) Look at that great smile! It's almost as good as her fantastic voice! Listening to her demo reel, it sounds like she's got exactly the right sass for the job. And seriously. How cute is she?

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Katherine — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:47:59 +0000

another reason I love Writers In The Schools

Katherine — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 00:57:11 +0000

Look at this amazing little poem by first grader Miguel! If I could BE a holiday card, this would be it! Plus look at the great graphics! The snowflakes are made out of the WITS tree logo! Here's how they describe their program: "WITS gives children all over Houston the gift of creativity, the power to find their voices, and the freedom to express themselves." I used to teach for them, and it's absolutely true.

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Katherine — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:25:38 +0000

I want to marry BOOKLIST!

Katherine — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:39:02 +0000

Just got word of a terrific review for Everyone Is Beautiful from Booklist, which calls it a "superbly written novel filled with unique and resonant characters." Please see the whole delicious concluding sentence below:

"Center takes a woman at her most vulnerable time

and sets her on a journey to find herself

without losing what she holds most dear

in a superbly written novel filled with

unique and resonant characters."

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Katherine — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:25:18 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:51:53 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 05:58:34 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:00:11 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:02:22 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:02:53 +0000

I had a wakeful child last night

Katherine — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 06:11:44 +0000

--and found myself awake in the wee hours, long after everybody else was back asleep--cruising around on ETSY looking at beautiful, handmade things and wishing I were an artist with studio full of windows and sunlight. Here are some photos from a series called Through The Viewfinder at a shop called Scarlet Beautiful.

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Katherine — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 07:19:25 +0000

happy that-time-of-year

Katherine — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 07:21:52 +0000

This print is from an Etsy shop called Sure As Blue. They have lots of pretty things.

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Katherine — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 20:40:04 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 20:42:59 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 20:45:39 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:32:10 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:34:27 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:36:16 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:38:11 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:39:47 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 15:45:37 +0000

our friend Mike

Katherine — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 16:03:57 +0000

Mike Putnam is a friend of my sweet husband's from college. When I hear about Mike from back in the day, it's usually stories about diving off trestle bridges and other crazy things college boys do. So how amazed was I to find out that he is, in addition to being a veterinarian and former college boy, an amazing nature photographer. He is not kidding around with these photos. And here's Mike himself and his amazing camera. Go, Mike, go!

took down the twinkly lights

Katherine — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:37:15 +0000

It always makes me kind of sad to see them go. If it were up to me, I'd leave them up all year--along with the blow-up snowman. But I've been informed that's too eccentric. Maybe 2009 will be so awesome I won't even miss them.

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Katherine — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 06:12:20 +0000

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Katherine — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:05:05 +0000

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Katherine — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:07:55 +0000

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Katherine — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:11:20 +0000

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Katherine — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:29:25 +0000

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Katherine — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:35:45 +0000

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Katherine — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:40:25 +0000

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Katherine — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 14:48:42 +0000

we have to move to Philadelphia

Katherine — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 15:01:08 +0000

I had many thoughts at the movie theater last night as my sister and I wept our way through the end of Marley & Me--thoughts about devotion and loyalty, about family and marriage, about pets I have loved and lost, about how much I love stories that validate my own life choices. But one of the strongest thoughts I had was, "I have to move to Philadelphia." I don't think I'm spoiling anything important when I tell you that near the end, the family moves from a pretty normal-looking, suburban life in south Florida to an absolutely enormous and breathtaking stone house in Pennsylvania. And then adorable little snowball fights are happening, and like magic their whole house is full of fabulous antiques and warm fires and cocoa. And I was like, Okay. We're moving. So I went online to see what you could really find for yourself up there near Philly, and I typed in the fairly random maximum house price of 500,000. And shoowee, they've got some great old houses up North. Even if I can't tell you the difference between Lansdowne Township or Cheltenham or Limerick, I can sure enjoy oggling those houses. Okay, this one happens to be 600,000. But, hello? Built in 1890-ish, and look at the windows in this garden room: Here are some others: Of course, we can't actually move. Partly because my whole fun family is right here in Texas and I want to be near them, and partly because I love the rich and layered experience of having deep roots (5th generation, baby!) right where I grew up. And the older I get, the more I love our big, friendly town of Houston. But that doesn't mean I won't stay up late some nights shopping for houses I will never buy in places I'll likely never visit.

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Katherine — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:37:54 +0000

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Katherine — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:51:10 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:22:55 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:40:00 +0000

super sweet

Katherine — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:02:48 +0000

Kristjana, at the the Mommy Blog, just posted the sweetest blog entry about Everyone Is Beautiful. After writing about how she's not posting as much since her new baby (look at that handome face!) came last summer, she said this:

Fortunately, inspiration comes in unlikely packages. Though I have begged off the most recent slew of requests to review products and websites, when I got a note to review Katherine Center’s next book, pre-publication, I jumped on it. I reviewed her first book on this website last spring and absolutely loved it. When her newest work arrived in the mail, I let it sit unopened on my dining room table for well over a week for the simple reason that I knew that once I picked it up, I would want to read it all the way through without stopping. Last night I braved a peek inside the cover and BOOM. Here I sit 24 hours later a richer woman.

The great review she did for Bright Side said reading it was like "getting a phone call from your best friend," which I thought was lovely--and very high praise. She describes Everyone Is Beautiful in this very sweet way:

The book is all about a mother drowning in motherhood and her decision to do something to get (at least a piece of) her old self back. Ah. Sing to me, fair authoress.

Three cheers for even READING a book with a toddler and a new baby in the house. Very impressive!

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Katherine — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:33:25 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:55:35 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:56:59 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:04:36 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:08:07 +0000

letterpress books

Katherine — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 04:16:50 +0000

I was just messing around online, waiting for my kids to fall asleep, and I stumbled on these charming little letterpress books at the crafty website of Jaime Rugh. They are tiny (3 X 4 1/2) with letterpress quotes and sayings inside. I cannot resist letterpress, or tiny little books, and I want them all.

great review from 101 books in 1001 days

Katherine — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:25:31 +0000

Katie in Florida gives Everyone is Beautiful a great review! She writes: "I loved this book. (Maybe even better than her first book, The Bright Side of Disaster, which I reviewed here.) I felt like I was there with Lanie, watching her just move through each day until she found her own passion again. Then it was like watching a woman with tunnel vision. She was so consumed with photography that she forgot other things in life. But she came out a better person in the end because she found herself again. Perhaps my favorite part of the book was this part at the very end of the novel:
And here, after all that, is what I have come to believe about beauty: Laughter is beautiful. Kindness is beautiful. Cellulite is beautiful. Softness and plumpness and roundness are beautiful. It's more important to be interesting, to be vivid, and to be adventurous than to sit pretty for pictures. A woman's soft tummy is a miracle of nature. Beauty comes from tenderness. Beauty comes from variety, from specificity, from the fact that no person in the world looks exactly like anyone else. Beauty comes from the tragedy that each person's life is destined to be lost to time. I believe women are too hard on themselves. I believe that when you love someone, she becomes beautiful to you. I believe the eyes see everything through the heart - and nothing in the world feels as good as resting them on someone you love.
"Everyone is Beautiful will be released on February 17, 2009. I highly recommend reading it!"

mieka_smiles

Katherine — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 05:56:02 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 06:22:29 +0000

now we're moving to England

Katherine — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 06:25:55 +0000

Mieka Smiles, writer for the British paper The Journal, just gave the UK edition of Bright Side a terrific review! She writes:

"Another chick lit book? Well, the answer is yes and no. The Bright Side of Disaster certainly nestles very well into that genre. But but rather than being just another one of a plethora of those released, it really, truly is a shining example of female fiction at its very best."

To see the whole fantastic review (and to flip through a virtual magazine and hear delightful swishing noises as the pages turn) go to page 13 of City Living.

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Katherine — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:24:08 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:25:43 +0000

great review from Kirkus!

Katherine — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:36:21 +0000

Kirkus Reviews just gave Everyone Is Beautiful a great review!! The full text includes many plot points and several spoilers, so in an effort to protect the story's surprises, I'll just give you the best line:

"In less deft hands, the horrors of the out-of-control Coates toddlers would resemble bad reality television, but Center’s breezy style invites the reader to commiserate, laughing all the way, with Lanie’s plight."

[caption id="attachment_526" align="alignright" width="189" caption="Jean Kerr"][/caption] The review is very positive, calling the book "lighthearted" and saying that it "avoids the obvious clichés, while harkening pleasantly back to ’50s-era motherhood humor classics like Jean Kerr’s Please Don’t Eat the Daisies." (Please Don't Eat The Daisies became a movie with Doris Day and David Niven and then later became a TV show.)

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Katherine — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 07:57:36 +0000

fantastic review from the Mommy Blog

Katherine — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:03:49 +0000

When I got a message from Kristijana at the Mommy Blog saying that she'd really loved Everyone Is Beautiful and that she'd be posting a review soon, I made some assumptions. I know she has a toddler and a baby, and when my kids were that age, I was lucky if I wasn't wearing my bra inside out. I thought it was possible she might not get around to writing the review. And that was fine with me. My thinking was, she really had more important things to do. But she got it done! And folks, it's a doozie! I am totally blown away by how thoughtful and articulate the writing is--for any writer, let alone one with two little monkeys all over the place. Here are a few excerpts, but don't be shy about visiting her blog to see the whole thing. It's quite a read! Kristjana opens with this:

For any mom who has ever found herself on day two of going shower-less; who has ever accidentally flashed her nursing bra in public; who has ever wondered for a second too long why the kids were so quiet, and found them swimming in shaving cream in the bathtub; who has ever wondered how many years until the kids stay quiet long enough for her to have a real and meaningful conversation with her husband; who has ever wondered if that husband and you can ever even look at each other with passion again, this one is for you.

And she closes with this:

There is something truly special about Katherine Center’s writing. Regardless of how many personal traits I may or may not have in common with her leading ladies, in both of her novels to date, I have had the distinct feeling that she is writing me. The feelings and emotions in her books are so tangible, so authentic. The theme of “losing yourself” when kids come along is one that every woman - especially a stay at home mom - struggles with, and Everyone is Beautiful embraces it and then tackles it; you find yourself not only cheering Lanie on, but wondering where exactly it was that you left your own streak of Who I Am. This book will inspire you to get up and get moving and remember all those little parts of you that still exist beneath the Mommy banner.

ypg_gala

Katherine — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 08:17:47 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:25:21 +0000

pincushion heart

Katherine — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:33:32 +0000

I just kind of love this hand-sewn pincushion heart from Etsy. And what a metaphor.

loving this book

Katherine — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 06:37:41 +0000

A totally fascinating look at the evolutionary origins of good (social, empathetic, kind, joyful, warm, selfless) human behavior--as well as the psychology of facial expressions and non-verbal communication. Get your pen out for underlining! Here's a random smattering of interesting info from the book:

Women laugh more than men.
Laughter and talking happen in different parts of the human throat.
Certain facial expressions can only happen when we feel a particular emotion in our bodies.
People laugh at all sorts of things that are not funny. Eighty percent of the time, in fact.
Happier couples are more likely to look for a silver lining in their partner's faults.
What both men and women value in a potential mate the most is kindness.
Human touch is really, really important.

It's a complicated book, and I can't do it justice at a glance. But if you like this type of thing--studies of human psychology applied to our daily living--this one had me reading passages out loud to my husband. Here's one of them, from the chapter on teasing:

There is no relation more vital to the survival of our species than the intimate bond. There is no relationship more fraught with conflict or more fragile. Our ultravulnerable, big-brained offspring require more than one caretaker to survive, thus binding us into long-term caretaking relations which have no parallel in our close primate relatives. And from their moment of inception to their end, intimate relations roil with conflict, sacrifice, and matters to negotiate. In early stages of intimacy, sexual strategies--interests in short-term exchange or long-term devotion--require navigation. As children, housework, and mortgages arrive, partners can feel like beleaguered managers of a halfway house, moving from one crisis to the next . . . So we turn to teasing to solve many problems of intimate life . . . With age, as sexual partners move in with one another, sharing the contact of everyday life, partners develop their own personal idiom, including provocative names and teasing insults. Partners develop teasing insults about each other's sexual proclivities, their bodily functions, their sleep habits, their manner of eating, the anachronistic hairstyle they dogmatically prefer--all threats to connubial bliss. These teasing insults mark partners' quirks and foibles as deviant, and problematic if carried to extremes, but endearing foibles nonetheless, uniquely appreciated by the partner. Studies of married partners find that partners with richer vocabulary of teasing insults are happier and enjoy a better long-term prognosis.

450-kcred

Katherine — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 05:55:34 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:05:18 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:05:53 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:06:40 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:13:38 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:17:16 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:19:29 +0000

keep calm & carry on

Katherine — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:29:48 +0000

I love this poster, which was originally printed--though not really used--in Britain as a morale booster during WWII. (Here is the story of the poster.) Since its rediscovery many years after the end of the war, facsimiles of the poster have been selling like hotcakes, and if you browse design websites, which I do, you'll see them everywhere, in all sorts of great colors: But here's an artist selling posters on Etsy that are inspired by the simple graphics and gorgeous text on these original posters.

upcoming events

Katherine — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 17:31:58 +0000

UPCOMING EVENTS (An incomplete list!) JANUARY 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - First Writing Deadline for Novel 4 (On Sale 2012) Random House JANUARY 15 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Literary Death Match Dallas Museum of Art/ OPIUM Magazine Dallas, TX reader representing Houston/competitor JANUARY - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Bright Side of Disaster goes on sale in the Czech Republic! Translated title: Everything Bad Is Good For Something JANUARY 18 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Bright Side of Disaster goes on sale in GERMANY. JANUARY 28 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - St. John’s School Houston, TX chapel speaker FEBRUARY 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pearl Hadassah group Lunch Houston, TX speaker FEBRUARY 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mom 2.0: Defining A Movement Art Exhibit Opening featured artist (for this video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8K9s7_k3TM And this collage: FEBRUARY 18-21 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - MOM 2.0 Summit Four Seasons Hotel Houston, TX speaker Saturday, February 20, 1:15-2:15: Using Your Right Mind to Market This is what happens when the English department crashes the Business School. It’s happening. And it’s creating a buzz. New media mediums are perfect platforms to test and use creative approaches to inspire audience engagement. We’ll look at smart ways people are using the right side of their brains to create left-brained results. FEBRUARY 24 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Assistance League Books ‘n’ Brunch Junior League of Houston Houston, TX speaker MARCH 4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Everyone Is Beautiful goes on sale in the UK! MARCH 23 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mommy Group The Woodlands, TX Crush Lounge Bar speaker/book signing MARCH 25 - - - - - - - - - - Huntwick Book Club Houston, TX speaker/book signing APRIL 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Get Lucky goes ON SALE! Everywhere APRIL 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- Fort Bend Junior Service League Sweetwater Country Club Sugarland, TX speaker/book signing APRIL (date TBD) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Radio Interview The Christopher Gabriel Program Fargo, ND APRIL (date TBD) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Podcast Interview The Kim Smith Show Introducing WRITERS APRIL 10 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GET LUCKY LAUNCH Party Brazos Bookstore Houston, TX 5:30-7:30 Get a sitter & make it a Date Night! Or a Girls’ Nite! Either way, it’s Saturday! Help us celebrate!! APRIL 13 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Book Club Visit Houston, TX speaker APRIL 15 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Texas Library Association LiFTA (Library Friends, Trustees, & Advocates) Luncheon Grand Hyatt San Antonio speaker April 17 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Book Club Visit Houston, TX speaker April 19 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Reading/Signing (the fabulous) Blue Willow Bookshop Houston, TX APRIL 22 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Reading/Signing The Dr. Eugene Clark Library Lockhart, TX APRIL 23 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Fourth Friday Diva Author Night Bright Sky Press Warehouse Houston, TX speaker APRIL 28 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Book Club Visit Sugarland, TX MAY 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Frostwood Elementary School Girls’ Night Out Houston, TX Speaker - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SPEAKING I absolutely love to speak to groups large and small! Please don't hesitate to contact me about speaking. I've spoken at countless fantastic events, including (but not limited to--because I have a terrible memory!): The Vanity Fair Bright Side of Disaster Book Party (New York, NY) Random House Summer Showcase (New York, NY) The Houston Chronicle's Book and Author Dinner (Houston, TX) The Texas Conference for Women (Houston, TX) Houston Chamber of Commerce's Women in the Driver's Seat Luncheon (Houston, TX) The Mom 2.0 Summit (Houston, TX) The Children's Museum of Houston's Parents and Families Luncheon (Houston, TX) The Houston Public Library's Grand Re-opening (Houston, TX) The Museum of Fine Arts Houston's Artful Thursday speaker series (Houston, TX) The Fort Bend County Book and Author Dinner (Sugarland, TX) The Baytown Library Book and Author Dinner (Baytown, TX) The INPRINT reading series at Discovery Green (Houston, TX) Pi Kappa Phi Banquet, University of Houston (Houston, TX) The City of Sugarland luncheon (Sugarland, TX) The Young Writers Reading Series (Houston, TX) Divine Tampa's Moms Reinvented (Tampa, FL) The Kinkaid School book fair (Houston, TX) St. John's School book fair (Houston, TX) The Inprint Poets and Writers Ball (Houston, TX) The Dallas Museum of Art's Texas Bound Reading Series (Dallas, TX) Opium Magazine's Literary Death Match at the Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas, TX) The Poison Pen reading series (Houston, TX) Also: Innumerable book clubs & bookstores all around the country, including Seattle, New York, L.A., Minneapolis, Milwaukee, San Francisco, Dayton, Dallas, and Anacortes, WA. A note about book clubs: I am always delighted to visit book clubs in or near my hometown of Houston. And even if you're not close to Houston, we can SKYPE!! Just email me at katherine@katherinecenter.com and we'll make a plan.

jensmanoshatside

Katherine — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:59:42 +0000

and if it were just a little colder

Katherine — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:03:37 +0000

I love this sweet hat from the Purl Bee. If I knew how to knit, and if I had just a bit more free time, and if I were a person who wore knit caps, I'd make one.

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Katherine — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 16:03:12 +0000

pfl-column

Katherine — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:09:30 +0000

see y'all there

Katherine — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 19:11:44 +0000

Houston folks, get ready! It's almost time for the Children's Museum of Houston's Parents and Families luncheon! Monday, February 23 at the Hilton Post Oak. Buy a table! Bring all your friends! Come support one of the greatest places for kids in H-town--and hear me talk about my new book, how to help kids write the stories of their lives, and my worst high school date ever!

dr-eugene-library

Katherine — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:00:24 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:10:02 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:11:23 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:03:02 +0000

d-o-n-e-!

Katherine — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 17:01:47 +0000

I just finished my 3rd novel and sent it to my editor. I'm totally in love with the story and having a hard time making myself stop writing. It's called Get Lucky and it's the story of a woman who offers to have a baby for her sister. Then hilarity and, of course, heartbreak ensue. Here's a little excerpt, just for fun:

Mackie and Clive envisioned my pregnancy like a long stay at a family-owned spa. They were going to cook for me and pamper me and spritz me with gratitude every day. Mackie had read every book in existence about optimizing those nine months, and she fully believed that a happy mother made for a happy fetus. And I was willing to run with that. They were going to play Brahms on their house-wide speaker system to nurture the baby’s intelligence—as well as Billie Holliday for wisdom, Al Green for passion, and James Brown for total badass-ocity. Mackie was going to cook feasts every night and keep the house stocked with organic, high fiber food that was free of trans-fats, artificial colors, synthetic hormones, and phthalates. They were going to buy me a gym membership (no pressure!), a feng shui pebble fountain, and a birthing ball that converted into an ergonomic desk chair.

They said I didn’t have to worry about finding a new job until after the baby. That way I’d have my options open when we were done. I could follow my plan to go back to New York and resume my fabulous ex-life, or “please, please, please stay in Texas.” Either way, everybody won. They were getting a baby, and I was getting a 40-week, all-expense-paid, health-and-wellness-oriented, baby-riffic vacation. Easy.

The gorgeous photo up at the top, by the way, is from the amazing Aimee at Greeblemonkey.com. If the feeling of finishing your third novel were a photograph, that photo could easily be it. That's exactly what it feels like. You can buy that photo in her Etsy shop, and I may do just that--so I can have this feeling every day.

kathbooks

Katherine — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 01:08:17 +0000

and now there were two

Katherine — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 01:39:42 +0000

Got the hardcover for Everyone Is Beautiful in the mail this weekend, and it's a scrumptious and delectable thing. It won't go on sale until February 17, but I took it over to my friend Karen's house this week where my friend Laura had the great idea to put it next to its sister. Then they each snapped a photo. Here's Karen's:

what's not to love?

Katherine — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 03:47:45 +0000

I came across this poster on Etsy from a shop called Blossom Time and just love the gray and pink, and the font, and the shape of that delightful square cake and how the filling looks a little bit nuclear. Plus, I'm kind of a sucker for 1950s publicity photos. And, of course, cake in general--which gets kind of a cameo role in Everyone Is Beautiful. Not a starring role, exactly--but a guest-star walk-on.

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Katherine — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:46:49 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 05:14:15 +0000

beauty-myth

Katherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:34:11 +0000

this book will change your life

Katherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:43:05 +0000

I just had a crazy couple of days meeting and visiting with feminist superstar Naomi Wolf. She's written many famous books, but the one that I have dog-eared and underlined on my bookshelf of favorites is The Beauty Myth--a book I read just out of college. It profoundly altered my thinking about issues of beauty in women's lives. It's defnitely in my Top Five nonfiction books. It might even be in my Top One. And here's the crazy thing: The new edition of The Beauty Myth has a new cover--with the EXACT SAME cupcake girl that my new novel Everyone Is Beautiful has on the cover. (Minus the cupcake, of course). Did I mention how much I adore that cupcake girl? I just know we'd be great friends. If she were, you know, real. Even crazier is that Everyone Is Beautiful actually mentions The Beauty Myth by name as a book the characters are reading. By the way, my sister also got to chat with Naomi, and my sister showed her the note I wrote in the copy of The Beauty Myth that I gave her some 15 years ago: "This book will change your life."

restaurant

Katherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:04:57 +0000

I am eating in this restaurant if I have to build a time machine

Katherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:09:21 +0000

--and I'll actually have to. Because it's long demolished. But I'd give anything for a cup of coffee and a slice of diner cake at Emil's Steer Inn Drive Inn. Or the Frost Diner: Or the Mark Twain Cafe & Bar: Or the Glass House: Or many other of the awesome dining establishments listed on James Lileks' website that features, among other things, restaurants from the days before the chains.

emils

Katherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:10:18 +0000

emils1

Katherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:10:44 +0000

frost-diner

Katherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:39:24 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:29:09 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:36:30 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:38:09 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:00:36 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 03:46:47 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 03:47:35 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 03:54:20 +0000

design mom

Katherine — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:08:42 +0000

I was so star-struck today to see Everyone Is Beautiful featured on Design Mom. Gabrielle Blair is not only completely beautiful and exceptionally cool, she's also unbelievably nice. And kind of a superhero. She's a designer, a mom, a famous blogger (her blog is huge--and for good reason, because everything about it is deliciously swanky), and also a Kirtsy founder. Which is about as awesome as it gets. Gabrielle says she was excited to receive the review copy from Random House, and she "absolutely plowed through it." Then she says of the main character "you know you'd want her for a bff." Here are Gabrielle's lovely photos: Gabrielle will be speaking at the Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston in February. Go, Gabrielle, go!

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Katherine — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:23:12 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:25:26 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:34:30 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:36:44 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:45:15 +0000

back to me...

Katherine — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 04:10:15 +0000

A local Houston paper called The Examiner ran a profile of me today. It's so fun to see things starting to rev up for the release of Everyone Is Beautiful (only 2 weeks to go!). Here's how writer Melissa Buron describes the new book (review to come later):

"Everyone is Beautiful follows the trials and tribulations of a young mother as she relocates to Boston with her family. The novel is part mommy lit, part chick lit and part red hot romance. Readers, especially new moms, will identify with the main character’s struggle to balance parental responsibility with adult needs and desires."

I love that phrase "red hot romance"! And I resolve right now to start using it every chance I get. Here's an excerpt from their interview with me:

You're a mom, wife and writer. What would a normal busy day look like for you? 1. Get up. 2. Feed, clothe, and brush teeth of everyone in the house — except husband. 3. Meet five-year-old's carpool in the driveway while three-year-old gets naked in the house and makes a potion out of hand lotion, toothpaste, milk and red pepper flakes. 4. Re-enter house and watch in slow-motion as three-year-old spills potion on living room rug. 4. Chase, cajole and point sternly at three-year-old until he consents to put on his underpants. 5. Drop son at pre-school and meet up with sister for an invigorating walk. OR 5. Drop son at pre-school and race home to get ready for a luncheon or a book club visit. OR 5. Drop son at pre-school and race home to nap. (Because napping and writing are like Oreos and milk). OR 5. Drop son at pre-school and spend the morning in a fugue state of writing. 6. Forget to go to the grocery store. 7. Forget to start a load of laundry. 8. Remember to take a shower. 9. Remember to pick up carpool. 10. Goof around in the backyard with kids until Daddy comes home. 11. Make dinner and listen to NPR while husband tickles children in living room. Then either: 12. Get fancy and hand children over to husband while I go give a talk or visit a book club. OR, more likely: 12. Calf-wrangle children upstairs into the tub and read to them while they splash. Then, in a joint effort with husband: plead, cajole, and point sternly at children until they fall asleep. 13. Talk with husband about how cute children are. Marvel at how we lucked out. 14. Write, read, or look at real estate I will never buy online. 16. Go to sleep with fingers crossed that everybody sleeps through the night.

I really, really want to live here

Katherine — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:30:37 +0000

And it's for sale! And I kind of feel like if you love a house enough, and are pure of heart, it ought to just magically become yours. It actually belongs to some acquaintances of mine, and it is even fabulous-er in person. The plaster walls, the archways, the old barn wood on the floors. Last time I was there, I thought about just chaining myself to the stairway. Or maybe I should just steal that chair made out of suitcases.

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Katherine — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:24:54 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:26:17 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 03:27:09 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:37:49 +0000

heartrock12208

Katherine — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:40:30 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:49:44 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:51:10 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 05:55:10 +0000

is it Valentine's day yet?

Katherine — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:02:30 +0000

'Cause I am ready to post this image from my e-friend Mary's awesome blog, It's Pretty Good. She takes amazing photos of the beautiful things in her life and then puts the text of the entry right on top! I love the way she sees beauty all around her. In a stack of teacups: A worn old doorknob: A frozen puddle on the ground: A bouquet of tulips: Mary is also a Kirtsy editor. And she has a site called It's Mary Ruffle, where she collects the beautiful images she stumbles across online. She's like a fountain of loveliness.

about

Katherine — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:09:34 +0000

st_basils_cathedral_closeup

Katherine — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:46:55 +0000

EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL in Russia!

Katherine — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:50:35 +0000

Just found out that there will be a Russian edtion of Everyone Is Beautiful. If I could write "awesome" in Russian, I would!

ascension

Katherine — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:03:38 +0000

fantastic review from a college professor!

Katherine — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:09:07 +0000

An Ohio college professor just gave Everyone Is Beautiful a great review on her blog, calling it a "feel-good book for oldyweds." The review starts out this way:

"I need a feel-good book in February, and this one did the job starting with the title: Everyone Is Beautiful. As a bonus, the cover has a picture of an iced chocolate cupcake. The author, Katherine Center, has apparently been getting attention from the mommyblogs, but she deserves some from book bloggers, too, before the novel comes out on Feb. 17, because not only is the description of dealing with small children realistic, but the novel is well-written and wry and it earns its title and its ending, much like you have to earn the benefits of a long-lasting marriage."

great review from BookBitch!

Katherine — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:53:34 +0000

Becky LeJeune just gave Everyone Is Beautiful a great review at BookBitch! Here's an excerpt:

"Center has a great voice and Lanie is a charming leading lady. This touching and hilarious read will really open your eyes to what truly makes a person happy, what truly makes a person beautiful in the eyes of another."

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Katherine — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:27:38 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:29:24 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:35:45 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:38:08 +0000

big-cover

Katherine — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:33:42 +0000

EVERYONE IS officially BEAUTIFUL!

Katherine — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:35:33 +0000

Everyone Is Beautiful hit the stores today! Here's the blow-by-blow: 1. I woke up with that same feeling you have on your birthday. Like, This is a special day. This is YOUR special day! But people don't necessarily know that unless you tell them. 2. So I told them. Like my next-door-neighbor, who was heading out for a jog. Everybody says the same thing when you tell them happy news. When you say, "It's my birthday today," people say, "Happy birthday!" And when you say, "My book goes on sale today," people say, "Congratulations!" And that's fine. Because it's really just about getting to say your news over and over. 3. Turns out, there's a group of fans of my first book at my son's school. And none of them knew I was the author of that book until recently. 4. I did a podcast for Beth Irvine's BlogTalkRadio show. My first podcast ever. And it was super-fun. It was a lot like chatting on the phone. Which I can do in my sleep. 5. I dashed off to a luncheon for the Women Ambassadors of the Shell Houston Open golf tournament. Which--who knew?--gives tons of money to charity. Ate the most delicious caesar salad, a delectable piece of cheesecake, and got some SWAG, including a leather wallet-slash-pencil case that I am still marveling over. 6. I raced home and watched my son pedal his sister's Barbie Big Wheel up and down the sidewalk, still in my fancy luncheon shoes. 7. I picked up my daughter from kindergarten and saw a mom in the carpool line waving her new copy of my book. I ran over to sign it for her through the car window. 8. Took kids to Borders to get a gander at the book, now officially on sale, and snap a photo to commemorate the moment. Three photos later, I got yelled at by a Borders lady who said: "You absolutely cannot take pictures in here." She seemed to think I might be a competitor from a rival store. Me, in my platform sandals with my two kids racing around the stacks like jackrabbits. 9. Tried not to get huffy or sarcastic with the lady, who softened a bit when I explained that it was MY book I was taking picture of, even though it was HER merchandise. (A bizarre distinction.) But I did feel a little like she'd ruined the moment. And I did decide to leave right that instant. And it did take way too long, then, to round up the kids. Who are remarkably fast. 10. Here's one of the forbidden pictures: The whole experience left me feeling a little funky. I was like, "You can't talk to me like that on my birthdayl!!" 11. But then I came home to this: from my editor and publicist and all the folks at Ballantine. And I was revived! 12. Then I checked my email and found lots of fun reviews for Everyone Is Beautiful popping up online. One from On My Bookshelf that calls it a "concise, and touching look at parenting with young children and marriage." One from The Book Report that says, "Reading Everyone Is Beautiful is like catching up with an old friend . . . I appreciate the insight passed on by the author about finding the beauty and balance in our every day lives. This book is a fun read that will make you appreciate what you have." And one from Book Addiction for Bright Side that says, "a very fast-paced, enjoyable, and heart-warming story that truthfully brought tears to my eyes." Plus a little shout-out from the Houston Dog Blog! 13. And two guest posts that I wrote have also gone up online: One about the challenges of writing a love story about married people at The Printed Page. And one about motherhood at Reading Group Guides.com that makes me tear up every single time I read it... Now we've gone out for Tex-Mex with the kids, and put everyone to bed, and I'm making cupcake toppers for the Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston this weekend. Cupcake toppers with quotes from Everyone Is Beautiful. Which I'm twittering, one by one! Anyway. Happy Everyone Is Beautiful Day!

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Katherine — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:01:41 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:02:59 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:16:44 +0000

cupcakes 2.0

Katherine — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:17:16 +0000

I am never in on the ground floor of anything. But my friend Laura invited me to be a part of the first-ever Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston last weekend. And I went. And I brought cupcakes. And I made the toppers myself. 'Cause I'm crafty that way. (Or at least, I used to be.) My kids and I went all around Houston trying to find the best cupcakes in town. But it turns out to be a tough call. There are lots of great cupcakes here. We know food in H-town! And this is also true: After a week of cupcakes, they all started to taste the same. Here's something else that's true: I want to go back to Mom 2.0. The Four Seasons! The samovars of coffee! The feisty, intelligent, beautiful bloggers everywhere. It was too good to be true. And now I am really missing it. I just want to go again. Like, tomorrow.

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Katherine — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:08:26 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:25:44 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:27:29 +0000

reading tonight at Brazos Bookstore in H-town!

Katherine — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:38:47 +0000

Remember last week when I went to Borders and got yelled-at for taking a photo of my book on display?? I posted about it on Facebook. And within about five minutes, Sally, who works at Brazos and is a Facebook buddy of mine, wrote to let me know that I should have come to Brazos. Where I could've taken all the pictures I liked. So I went to Brazos to take pictures. And guess what? There was my book! Out on display! I love all bookstores. I even still love Borders. (Red is my favorite color, after all.) I love the smell of the new books. I love the buzz that comes from being surrounded by them. I love the sense of possibility that comes from having all those thoughts and adventures and poems in one place. I even just like the shopping. But I don't go to bookstores now, as a mama, as often as I used to. Because my kids can empty a shelf of books faster than you can say, "Don't touch those!" I'm always struck, when I get to go to Brazos, at how beautiful it is in there. The books are beautiful, and so are the antiques everywhere, and that great rug. And the lighting. And plus, it's not covered in toys. And, for me, that's always a shock and a delight. I'm reading tonight at Brazos at 7 pm. If you're in Houston, come by! No toys anywhere--I promise!

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Katherine — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:04:11 +0000

beautiful

Katherine — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 19:07:07 +0000

Just blowing a kiss to Mary Swenson, who posted this lovely image of Everyone Is Beautiful's cover on her gorgeous blog, It's Pretty Good. Don't you wish keyboards had a heart key so we could all use hearts as verbs??

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Katherine — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 03:55:15 +0000

first week roundup!

Katherine — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:00:12 +0000

Emails and responses are starting to roll in for Everyone Is Beautiful, and I thought it would be fun to share some of the things people are saying:

I just read Everyone Is Beautiful and it was such pure joy! I was so tired and ready for a nap but picked it up to read a chapter or two and ended up finishing that night. I could not put it down! --Minette I found myself laughing out loud just as I did in the first book and "noodle" has become new terminology in my household. --Amber I just today finished reading it and I loved it !!! --Jenifer I hear your book is taking off in big ways - one of my nearest & dearest cried in the first 12 pages. That's...a good sign! --Gwen Bell I already finished Beautiful and loved it!!!! You capture the life of a stay-at-home Mom so eloquently and again, I loved the characters and was rooting for Lanie! --Stephanie Loved everyone is beautiful! What a lovely, nitty-gritty, poignant, hilarious description of the madness family life can be--with a lovely love story to boot! --Abigail Your book makes my life feel important. --Sarah

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Katherine — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:53:21 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:56:50 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 04:57:56 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:07:23 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:11:08 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:51:20 +0000

mother may I

Katherine — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:53:51 +0000

Here is a gorgeous photo from the fabulous Tracey Clark at Mother May I.

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:26:36 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:27:58 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:29:34 +0000

coral

Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:31:28 +0000

grey-street-girl

Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:32:59 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:34:15 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:36:43 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:39:56 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:42:19 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:44:22 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:51:02 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 05:56:48 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:00:17 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:03:11 +0000

what does beautiful look like to you?

Katherine — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:06:37 +0000

Over at the amazing photography site Shutter Sisters, there's a project going on. It's called the One Word Project. Every month, they choose a new word and then folks post photos of their interpretations of that word. This month, to celebrate the release of Everyone Is Beautiful, the One Word is "Beautiful." And Ballantine Books is giving away four Diana cameras over the course of the month--every Sunday. I want to say, "It's going to be incredible." But guess what? It already is! Tracey Clark, who put this whole thing together, posted about it on Sunday to the Shutter Sisters community. She wrote, "The book is awesome; perfectly written, insightful, hilarious and cut-to-the-heart tender," and then she encouraged everyone to "muse on beauty, grab your cameras and see what kind of beautiful you can find through your lens." Now, already, there are over 300 photos up in the Flickr pool. I went to choose five of the photos that are already up to celebrate here, but there were so many great photos, I had trouble choosing. So I just upped it to 10. Which still isn't enough. But here's a sampling of what those amazing photographers can do with that one beautiful word:

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Katherine — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:50:24 +0000

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the awesomest thing ever, ever, ever

Katherine — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:32:15 +0000

My friend Mary Swenson and I made a trailer for Everyone Is Beautiful. I contributed the idea and the text (it's from the book), and she contributed the photography and the design and the fabulousness. And here it is!!! Hope you love it as much as I do. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPwTrTaZRm0] Thanks also to Laurie Smithwick for putting it together and making it happen!

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Katherine — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:07:02 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:17:55 +0000

Everyone is Beautiful!

Katherine — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:50:52 +0000

Everyone is Beautiful

Katherine — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:15:39 +0000

Everyone is Beautiful

Katherine — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:23:04 +0000

buttons

Katherine — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:36:39 +0000

Buttons for your website -- hot off the press! Just copy the code below each button and paste it into your own blog or website and voila -- Believe! OR! Here's a slightly larger version of the button above: Copy this code for the button above:

Copy this code for the button above:

swell food for salty dogs

Katherine — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 06:20:21 +0000

I am visiting one of my best friends from college here on my book tour. She's lives up north of Seattle in a charming and picturesque town called Anacortes. She runs her own restaurant, and has been running it for several years, but I've been home with my little kids--and I've never seen it until now. The place is beautiful and the food is even better. She makes a crabcake that will bring tears to your eyes, and she serves breakfast until 4 pm every day. Cottage cheese pancakes! Mashed potato croquettes! She is a foodie in the best sense of the word--she's all about pleasure and comfort and yummy things brought together in new and yet soothing ways. Her menu has quotes from Julia Child and Lewis Carroll. And the place is full of maps and art and books. It's kind of paradise.

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Katherine — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:55:45 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:02:03 +0000

the BEAUTIFUL commemorative cupcake!

Katherine — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:07:52 +0000

My friend Nicole, a phenomenal chef, invented these sweet cupcakes to bring to the reading at Watermark Books in Anacortes, WA. Here they are, coming into existence. First, the cupcakes--hot outta the oven: The homemade caramel filling: The homemade caramel filling IN the cupcakes! The homemade whipped-cream icing: And the sprinkles:

Great review from USA Today!

Katherine — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:03:09 +0000

USA Today just featured Everyone Is Beautiful in their "Women's Fiction Round-up"--and gave it a glowing review! They say, "This is a breezy read that glows, in part, because its characters bask in the sunny side of life."

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Katherine — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 06:03:15 +0000

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more BEAUTIFUL pictures

Katherine — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 05:14:27 +0000

The beauty is piling up at Shutter Sisters' One Word Project this month! In a photo challenge sponsored by Ballantine (and they're giving away 4 Diana cameras!), photographers are posting their visual interpretations of the word "beautiful." It's so breathtaking to look through the photos. I highlighted a few photos last week, too--and here's another sampling!

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Katherine — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:03:25 +0000

oh, I just love these hens

Katherine — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 11:08:11 +0000

Found them at Three Sisters Ink via the sweet site SevenOf.com. I am one of three sisters, and my mom has a chicken collection. So I have to own this print!

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Katherine — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 03:58:49 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:02:14 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:11:13 +0000

home again, home again

Katherine — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:14:32 +0000

After 3 weeks of traveling, I'm home again for good. I'd had big plans to document the book tour here, but instead I came face to face with the tension between documenting the things you're doing and actually doing those things. That's a frustrating thing: that there are only so many hours in the day. There's no way to get more, no matter how much you need them. So I'm very busy with writing and the writing life--but when I'm with my kids, I'm not busy at all. It's two lives: the how-can-I-get-it-all-done writing life and the let's-goof-around-in-the-backyard mama life. It was my daughter's sixth birthday last week, and the best present she got was an old desk of my sister's that was in my mom's garage. We painted it firetruck red and I put on little pink hearts. Now all we need is drawer-pulls. We also made stepping-stone handprints this weekend: And built a fort for imaginary snakes: The book tour was dreamy. But it's so unbelievably good to be home.

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Katherine — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:40:31 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:46:37 +0000

something lovely

Katherine — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:57:16 +0000

I keep thinking about the way my friend Nicole's landlord has decorated the little garden house out back with a collection of plates. I can't get over the way it's just this little unexpected lovely thing in the yard. I just saw the amazing Amy Krouse Rosenthal in Houston this week doing her Beckoning of Lovely project (and I'm reading her unbelievably fantastic Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life) and I'm resolved to keep my eyes open for loveliness. If I can remember to. There should definitely be more plates on buildings.

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Katherine — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:53:48 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:55:07 +0000

happy love poem

Katherine — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 15:56:20 +0000

It's a beautiful day. Here's one of my favorite poems. (We read it at my wedding!)

From Blossoms

From blossoms comes this brown paper bag of peaches we bought from the boy at the bend in the road where we turned toward signs painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands, from sweet fellowship in the bins, comes nectar at the roadside, succulent peaches we devour, dusty skin and all, comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat. O, to take what we love inside, to carry within us an orchard, to eat not only the skin, but the shade, not only the sugar, but the days, to hold the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into the round jubilance of peach. There are days we live as if death were nowhere in the background; from joy to joy to joy, from wing to wing, from blossom to blossom to impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.

Li-Young Lee

my iMovie debut!

Katherine — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:22:43 +0000

Just got a Flip video camera, and this video documents the first time I ever used it! This is me, after a reading, pretty late at night, at my desk. I'd intended to read an entire chapter--the chapter I'd read just a few hours earlier at a lovely and breezy Inprint Houston event, but the phone rang halfway through. And it turns out it's plenty long as it is. Note the suitcase in the background--still out from my last book tour trip two weeks ago! My voice is pretty hoarse, too. I've had many book events lately and done a whole heck of a lot of talking. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q2kKChQrDA&feature=channel_page]

you really can't have everything

Katherine — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:46:43 +0000

Here is the first in a series of 3 videos I am making that feature excerpts from my essay "Things to Remember Not to Forget." The essay was just published in an anthology called "Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond," edited by Andrea N. Richesin. The photos are from an amazing site of "American vernacular photography" (i.e., found snapshots) called Square Americ a. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3dytQKtXj0]

we all carry our mothers inside us

Katherine — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:32:46 +0000

Here's the second video trailer for the essay "Things to Remember Not to Forget" in Andrea Richesin's anthology, "Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond." All the photos, as before, come from the amazing site Square Americ a. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26W3SuWHU-g]

aero-trailer

Katherine — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:24:03 +0000

totally crushed-out on this travel trailer

Katherine — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:35:35 +0000

I can't stop thinking about it. I can't stop oggling the photos of it on Craigslist. Apparently, the inside is "gutted." And so I keep thinking I could put in some great floor, and a little dinette table, and a couple of mattresses. And make fantastic curtains out of some great Amy Butler fabric. We go up to New York every summer to visit my husband's folks. And this is how I want to travel there this year: with my two kids and their daddy and a week's supply of PB&J in an adorable, retro travel-trailer with homemade curtains! But it's not cheap. It's cheap for a trailer, but it's not pocket change. And since it's hard for me to even get the dishes done, I'm not sure when, exactly, I would re-panel the walls or make homemade curtains. (Though I do have a knack for making curtains!) Most likely, it would sit untended-to in the driveway for years and years and eventually get sold, again, on Craigslist looking just about how it does now. But I still can't shake the idea of it. And I have this habit of seeing things for how they could be instead of how they are. I'll probably never have this trailer in real life. But I'll definitely put it in a book.

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Katherine — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:29:10 +0000

I love wrinkles

Katherine — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:31:47 +0000

In March, while I was on a book tour, I was also on a blog tour. Random House set it up with the lovely Dorothy, who had me contributing guest essays at blogs around the web. But it all went too fast. I was racing from town to town, blog to blog. And I promised myself I'd do a best-of later, when I could savor it more. So here is a favorite post from the tour. It originally appeared at In Bed With Books. [caption id="attachment_1094" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="My friend Nicole's restaurant, Adrift."][/caption] March 11, 2009 The Lives We Hoped For I just had my birthday. I turned 37, and now I am old. Boom. Just like that. I knew it was coming: 37. Though I wasn’t thinking about it too much—or even seeing it as a Big Birthday, the way 40 will be. It was just another birthday, and, like with many things in life—a due date, say, or a book coming out—it snuck up on me. I’ve always been struck at how not-at-all different you are when your birthday finally arrives after all that buildup. It’s almost a letdown. You wake up, and you’re still just you. Same old, same old. But this year, washing my face just before I woke my kids for school, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and saw wrinkles. Deep, significant, there-to-stay wrinkles. And I swear they weren’t there the night before. And so it was really lucky for me that I happen to be a big fan of wrinkles. I’ve even joined the Bring Back Wrinkles group on Facebook. I guess the downside of wrinkles is that they remind you you’re not young anymore. But guess what? I already knew that. And I’m not even sure that I would want to be young again, frankly. As fun as it was. I’m on a book tour this week, and one of my stops has taken me to a little town north of Seattle where one of my best friends from college lives. Last time I saw her was at my wedding. Nine years ago. She’s hanging out with me right now at a hotel room, working on her computer just like I am working on mine. We both have a lot going on, and it’s pretty quiet in here, except for the typing. But every few minutes, one of us will pipe up and say, “Remember when we got obsessed with dominos and couldn’t stop playing?” Or, “Remember when we found that train-car diner in Maine?” Or “Remember that time we played that drinking game watching When Harry Met Sally?” A lot has changed since then: I’ve had two children and written two books. She’s opened the restaurant she always dreamed of. We are, in fact, living exactly the lives we hoped for. And so I’m not going to complain about the wrinkles. Or that I’m not twenty-two anymore. Or that life carries you away from people and places you loved. Or that the joys of living have to be spaced out over time. You can’t have everything all at once. That’s what memories are for. And also, gratitude: You loved them once. You really did love them. And that just has to be enough.

being a grown-up

Katherine — Mon, 04 May 2009 15:48:08 +0000

I saw Lars and the Real Girl the other night for the first time. I loved the sweetness of the story, and the mystery of the main character, and the message about how we can all take better care of each other. And there was a great description of being a grown up that I had to stop and write down. The writing was beautiful, and I think it's one of the truest ways of describing adult life I've ever heard. Lars asks his older brother about how he knew he was a grown-up. His brother--not a big talker--skirts around the topic, and finally answers reluctantly:

"You grow up when you decide to do right, okay? And not what's right for you. What's right for everybody. Even when it hurts." Then Lars wants to know, "Like what?" "Like you don't jerk people around. And you don't cheat on your woman. And you take care of your family. You know? And you admit when you're wrong. Or you try to, anyway. That's all I can think of. You know, it sounds easy, but for some reason it's not."

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Katherine — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:06:58 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:11:32 +0000

the lives we hoped for

Katherine — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:16:52 +0000

Here's a video I just made for the essay "The Lives We Hoped For." I originally posted the written version here, under I Love Wrinkles, and then the amazing Mary Swenson posted it to Kirtsy. Which inspired me to read it at a book event a few days ago. And reading it out loud to an audience was so fun I decided to make a recording. The lovely photographs in the video are by my friend Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks. (You may have seen her recently on Oprah!) And there's a fantastic necklace in a photo near the end that is one of Andrea Scher's Superhero Neckalaces. I know a bunch of people who have Superhero Necklaces, and whenever I see them wearing one, I find myself thinking over and over how fantastic they look. Like I did yesterday, at coffee with Karen. Who always looks fantastic, anyway, but I sure did love her necklace. Here's the video! Hope you like it! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVSyVC2pveo]

a little excerpt from Bright Side

Katherine — Sun, 10 May 2009 19:49:41 +0000

Happy Mothers' Day! Here's a video I made with an excerpt from Bright Side! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urHyNhYmhlk]

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Katherine — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 15:48:31 +0000

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art gallery

Katherine — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 16:00:33 +0000

Summer is officially here, and with it came stacks of art from my children's schools. And just as I was looking at the piles and wondering where I would store it all, it occurred to me that I didn't want to store it. I wanted to look at it. So began my project of covering every square inch of our house in kid art. (The green one below is a porcupine, by the way.) Hooray for art!

what better day than Saturday for the inaugural Writing Wednesday?

Katherine — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:06:06 +0000

At the suggestion of my amazing friend Brené, I'm starting a weekly series here on the blog about writing. She even came up with the title: Writing Wednesday. Of course, I'm doing the first Writing Wednesday post on Saturday. Cause that's how I roll. And Brené's original suggestion was to write a post about writing. But my list of things I'm just salivating to write is pages and pages long, and I'm nervous if I add another writing project it might get lost in the pile. In theory, at least, these videos will be quick and spontaneous and fun. Not things to labor over, but chatty and conversational. The idea is to do quick videos about some aspect of the craft of writing every week. Just for fun. I have a gazillion things I can talk about, but I'm also taking questions. So tell your IRL friends and your e-friends, too! Sign up for the RSS feed and follow me on Twitter! Send me your questions about writing, and I'll do my best to answer. And then we'll take over the world. Here's the first video: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDNaVaIsJlU] Many thanks to Neva Rae Schoof for the lovely piano in the video!

couldn't wait for Wednesday!

Katherine — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 05:25:06 +0000

There's a good possibility I may never actually post on Wednesday. But here's the first one! Kicking things off with the first--and possibly best--advice I ever got about writing, courtesy of my dad. Here we go! And feel free to leave questions! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTtR9FcpDrA]

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Katherine — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:31:32 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:37:12 +0000

written on the body

Katherine — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:51:43 +0000

I'm not sure how I came up with the idea to do this. But a few weeks back, I decided that I wanted to paint words all over the body of my friend Jenny and have our friend Karen photograph it. So I asked them. And to my serious delight they both said yes. Here's something I love to do: put words in places you don't expect them. In college, I stamped poems onto signs made out of sheet metal and put them up around campus. I stamped words on office supplies, and bedsheets, and the pages of old books. I loved the idea of words showing up where they didn't belong. The surprise of it. Now I am a grown-up, and writer, and I spend most of my creative life typing. But every now and then, I get to step away from my laptop. And two days ago, I ventured out into my mother's back garden with two of my favorite people. And I could not believe how relaxed we all were. How game Jenny was to be painted like a tattooed lady, and how calm she was. And how perfectly Karen captured not just the look of things, but the tenderness of it all. And then our friend Laura showed up, too, and we hung out at my mom's kitchen table. We ate do-nuts and joked around a lot, but there was definitely something magical going on there that day. And then, using Karen's photos, I made this video--to try to bring the words off the page a little. To bring them to life in a new way. And boy, did they come to life. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK7eqyry39o] ALSO: This happens to be the garden where I got married. And ALSO: Karen took exactly 500 photos that day. And ALSO: Jenny read to us from the memoir she's writing when we went back inside, and my face hurt from laughing the rest of the day.

writing wednesday: friday edition!

Katherine — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:40:49 +0000

I recorded this Writing Wednesday post yesterday, and my husband was like, "You do know it's Thursday, right?" And I was like, "Man, that's what Writing Wednesday is all about!" So here's my Friday post for Writing Wednesday! Happy weekend! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9a0piIJyFKY]

it's Monday, so that must mean: Writing Wednesday!

Katherine — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:02:07 +0000

I've seen enough rambling homemade videos on YouTube to know it's important to keep these Writing Wednesday clips short. I'm shooting for 2-3 minutes, and even 3 feels a little long. But it is hard to cover very much into 2 minutes. Sometimes they seem to raise more questions than they answer. But maybe that's a good thing. Heres a quick one that answers Anne's question (from the comments) about whether I worry, with all this conserving I do of syllables, about the writing getting too spare. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsdJASiemlc] Feel free to add your questions about writing below, and I'll try my best to answer them (in 2 minutes) (or maybe in 10-part 2-minute miniseries). But also feel free to ask any questions that the videos themselves bring up. I'll be happy to clarify or expand in subsequent ones!

do you make an outline when you write a novel?

Katherine — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:43:53 +0000

It's Thursday morning! So that must mean it's time for Writing Wednesday! This question is from Jaime, who wants to know if I make an outline when I write a novel. And the answer is yes. And no. And sort of. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEuH_wQb09w&feature=channel] Usually, my outlines are just numbered lists. Very broad. The number stands for the chapter, and then I follow it with whatever the main event of that chapter will be. Ideally--though this doesn't always happen--I like chapters to build to something. Just as the book itself is building up to its ending, a chapter can follow that same format. That sense of things building is always good for the story's momentum. Though I certainly have plenty of chapters that just make a bridge between other chapters and events. Have you tried making outlines? Do they help or hinder? Other questions about structure? Or momentum?

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Katherine — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 13:36:36 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:17:04 +0000

the body project

Katherine — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:38:43 +0000

After my friends and I did this project there were comments. Lots and lots of comments. And many of those comments said this: I want to do it, too! Which gave me an idea. Other people should do it, too. I cannot tell you how soothing, amazing, and comforting it is to paint words of kindness on the body of a friend. And from what Jenny has said, it's pretty great to be painted-on, as well. (That's her self-portrait up top!) And there's no reason Karen, Jenny, and I should get to have all the fun. So grab some friends and a camera and make it happen! Then come here and leave a link to the photos in the comments (please keep the photos PG). I'd love to make a gallery of the photos on my website. Wouldn't the world just be a slightly better place for women if we all just went out and did this? And if there were a little place on the web where we could all just relax and celebrate all different kinds of beautiful? Plus, it's just really fun. SOME GUIDELINES: Pick a friend you feel very comfortable with. Use only kind words. Nothing mean. Wear whatever you're comfortable in, but please keep photos PG. Use a small paintbrush. Too thick gets gloppy. Use water-based acrylic paint, and add a little water to it. It paints smoother that way. The light outdoors is better for photographs. Close-up shots work better than far-away ones. Make some words big and some words small. Use printing and cursive. Use stamps, if you like! Write all over the body, or just in one place... Here are some suggestions for things you could write: (But feel free to write what you like. As long as it's kind.) 1. Make a list of things that are beautiful about your friend, and then paint them on her. And have her do the same for you. 2. Make a list of ways you can look for beauty (in yourself) instead of flaws. 3. Make a list of things you would say to your daughter or mother about what makes a person beautiful. 4. Use this quote from Everyone is Beautiful. (Or parts of it...) This is the paragraph we used, and you are welcome to use it, too! And here, after all that, is what I have come to believe about beauty: Laughter is beautiful. Kindness is beautiful. Cellulite is beautiful. Softness and plumpness and roundness are beautiful. It’s more important to be interesting, to be vivid, and to be adventurous than to sit pretty for pictures. The soft tummy of a woman is a miracle of nature. Beauty comes from tenderness. Beauty comes from variety, from specificity, from the fact that no person in the world looks exactly like anyone else. Beauty comes from the tragedy that each person’s life is destined to be lost to time. I believe women are too hard on themselves. I believe that when you love someone, she becomes beautiful to you. I believe the eyes see everything through the heart, that nothing in the world feels as good as resting them on someone you love. I have trained my eyes to look for beauty, and I've gotten very good at finding it. You can argue and tell me it's not true, but I really don't care what anyone says. I have come at last to believe in the title of the book: Everyone Is Beautiful. I really do agree with the main character of Everyone Is Beautiful. Women are too hard on themeselves. And I don't know exactly how we learn to be kinder. But I can tell you from experience that doing this project is a very good start.

writing wednesday! too much coolness is not cool

Katherine — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:16:31 +0000

This Writing Wednesday is about naming characters. And why you have to do it carefully and not just buy a baby book and pick out your favorite names. Here's the main point of the video (and you'll notice that I DO NOT actually SAY IT in the video): Characters and names have a relationship to each other. That's what's important about character names. It's not just what the name itself says about your character. It's what your character's relationship to that name says about your character. And you don't even have to talk about that relationship. It can be implied. But it has to BE THERE. Cause babies don't pick their names. But they do have to live with them. And there are little mini-stories in there--about how they like or don't like, endure or change, cringe about or tout, fit or don't fit their names--that make your characters more interesting. That's why you have to be careful with names. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbRua0Zze1k] And PS: Morty was actually more popular as a baby name in the 1920s and 30s. Sorry--I can't think and talk. But you get the idea... PPS: I want to state for the record that I LOVE the name Jenny (main character of my 1st novel). And also Barbara, Morty, and Zoey. When you see those names pop up in one of my books, you saw it here first. PPPS: Very sorry for that terrifying YouTube still. Whoever picks the stills for YouTube uploads has the wrong job.

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Katherine — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:31:37 +0000

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Katherine — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:35:22 +0000

well_susan

Katherine — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:36:39 +0000

style with style

Katherine — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:02:58 +0000

I grew up with The Elements of Style, but I guarantee my copy was nowhere near this gorgeous. Maybe it's time for a new one. I might need to get it for the illustrations alone. These illustrations are by Maira Kalman, who also has a gorgeous and super-fantastic illustrated blog for The New York Times. Her last blog for them, called The Principles of Uncertainty, is now a book, too--and I want it for my birthday (if you'd like to send me a gift). She does a lot of New Yorker covers, of course and lots of children's books. I LOVE her work like crazy. I wish I had 50 of these to hang all over my house. And if you're looking for a way to spend a couple of lovely minutes, go check out the movie she made for The Elements of Style. Lovely. And now that I've seen her give a talk about her work, I'm officially in love. She's brilliant, and I wish I could go spend a week with her in New York and get her to tell me about everything she's ever painted.

revising a draft

Katherine — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:56:57 +0000

Here's me, yesterday, revising an early draft of a story. This is what it looks like early on--lots of writing all over the page: arrows, carrots, scribbles. Then I go back and type in what I've written. Then I print it out and write all over the typed pages again, over and over until it feels ready. People often ask me if I write things by hand or type them. I always used to say I typed. Until one day I noticed that it's about half and half. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKj62znIAlE&feature=channel_page] The words scrolling on the screen are the words that resulted from the very writing moment happening in the video. I don't usually share early drafts with anybody at all, so it feels a little thrilling and crazy to put those words up for the world to see--especially when those little sentences are just newborns. But people seem to be interested in the process of writing. And you can't talk about revision with something that's already finished, can you? My husband thinks the sound of the pen on the page is like a dog wagging its tail. And that's kind of exactly right.

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Katherine — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:45:02 +0000

favorite quotes

Katherine — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:51:01 +0000

A reporter asked me last week to put together some of my favorite quotes from Everyone Is Beautiful for a story she's doing. And so I did. I've been writing new stuff, and blogging, and goofing off with my kids this summer--and it had been a while since I'd spent any time with Everyone Is Beautiful. It was fun to go back and visit all those characters again and sift through the story to find some favorite moments. So here are some of my favorite passages from Everyone Is Beautiful:

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People are always beautiful when you love them.

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Taking Amanda’s card, I knew that within twenty-four hours Baby Sam would find it in my purse, put it in his mouth, chew on it until it looked like a wad of gum, and then leave it on the floor where I’d step on it in bare feet many hours water on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. But it was okay. I wouldn’t have called her anyway.

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Here’s what I need to confess about Peter and me: We were not exactly in love anymore. After fifteen years and three children together, we were often other places besides in it. We were under it, sometimes. Or above it. Or against it. Or in arm’s reach of it. Or in shouting distance of it. Or rubbing shoulders with it. But not in it. Not lately. Not since Baby Sam was born. Baby Sam was, you might say, the straw that broke the Love Camel’s back. And now that camel was lying in the baking sun. All alone and very thirsty.

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At the end of the evaluation we had learned many things about me: I had a strong back, biceps and calves. My “areas for improvement” included my triceps, hamstrings, nonexistent stomach muscles, and pretty much everything else. We had also learned that I had a tendency to become sarcastic in the face of intimidating physical challenges, and that my positive attitude was questionable.

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She did not know what it felt like to be challenged by a child, or overwhelmed, or unsure of what do to next. It’s easy to be smug when you’ve had it easy. I would much rather have been judged by a mom who’d had some challenges. But, of course, a mom who’d had challenges would know better.

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Within a certain range of acceptability, we were all just doing the best we could—and, really, given a basic foundation of love and some Richard Scarry books, kids would be okay.

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I suddenly understood what it was, exactly, people longed for when they longed for their youth.

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Years ago, in college, I remember reading a statistic about women. Asked if they’d rather gain thirty pounds or be hit by a bus, 75 percent of them chose the bus. I was one of them, for sure. I remember thinking that, truly, if I gained thirty pounds, I might as well be run over anyway. Because I’d have no reason to live.

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It couldn’t be love, I told her. It was too horrible. “That’s exactly love!” she said. “Love is exactly that horrible.”

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It was so easy to come up with solutions to other people’s problems. To watch them struggle through parenting and believe in a self-satisfied way that if you were in their shoes, you’d have it all figured out.

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“I’m not interested in taking your picture when you’re acting beautiful,” I said. “I want to take your picture when you’re being beautiful by accident.” “Nothing beautiful is an accident,” she said.

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It only hit me at this moment: It had been a tough five months for my mother. She needed to do some things for herself. And I could relate to that. I could really relate to that.

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At that moment, I suddenly loved us all the more for our flaws--for being broken and human, for being embarrassed and lonely, for being hopeful or tired or disappointed or sick or brave or angry. For being who we were, for making the world interesting. It was a good reminder that the human condition is imperfection. And that’s how it’s supposed to be.

beautiful when you love them

Katherine — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:13:42 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:00:00 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:03:23 +0000

100 things I am grateful for

Katherine — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:09:29 +0000

It's been that kind of summer. The kind where it seemed like a good idea to make a list the things I am grateful for. I set out to make a list of 100, and once I got going, it seemed it would be just as easy to list a thousand. But I stuck with 100. And then I made a video for the list: one day at my house this summer with my kids and my flip video. Watching it, I've decided this video feels--and sounds--a lot like my life. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNz36Db5864]

footprints by the bed

Katherine — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:16:28 +0000

you left footprints

Katherine — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:20:26 +0000

Here's a little photo poem. The image here comes from one of my very favorite sites, Square America, an online collection of found photographs and snapshots. And the text comes from something I wrote years and years ago...

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Katherine — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:57:28 +0000

caroline carefully arranges everything she holds dear

Katherine — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:05:42 +0000

I found a link to this painting at live.life.create.art today and I'm totally breathtaken. The artist is Amanda Blake, and I just want to stare at this painting all day. Really, I want to go inside it. I'd love to know how to paint like that: to know how to make a paintbrush do that...

writing wednesday: life with kids

Katherine — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 17:38:12 +0000

Here's a Writing Wednesday about life with kids. The question comes up over and over: How do you do both? How do you get it all done as a mother and a writer? And almost every mother with little kids I know struggles with some version of this question. How do you get it all done? How do you take proper care of your children and yourself? (And here's a spoiler for the video: I have no idea.) [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqzHF8Wbuow]

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here's where we've been on vacation:

Katherine — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:28:47 +0000

This photo says a lot. But I'll add these words, as well: Wildflower garden. Yacht club. Farmers' market. Alpaca farm (with chickens!). Also: 75 degree weather. Gorges, and streams, and a lake. Grandparents. And this, too: Lucky, lucky, lucky.

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Katherine — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:52:45 +0000

KATHY GRIFFIN: STRAIGHT TO HELL -- Pictured: Kathy Griffin -- Bravo Photo: Jonathan Cohon

life on the D-list

Katherine — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:57:49 +0000

Just got a message from my publicist at Random House that there's a section of Kathy Griffin's Bravo show My Life on the D-List that has my book cover in it! She has a book coming out with Random House, and she filmed a segment of the show at their offices. And right behind her, on the shelf, is my book. I wanted to post the segment here, but it got too confusing. So here's a LINK!

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Katherine — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:31:16 +0000

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handcrafted buildings

Katherine — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:14:19 +0000

I'm obsessing over this amazing slideshow of photos of this charming cob house in Texas today! The New York Times just did a profile of it, and it's so much like a house I stumbled on at the Children's Garden in Ithaca, New York, when we were just on vacation there. My kids were playing in this terrific troll house: A woman at the park said her neighbor was the guy who built it. She gave me his name, and I checked out his website and I was just totally enchanted with the idea of these hand-built houses. Here's what the troll house looked like while it was being built: And here's another house the builder did: This summer, we took a trip out to the Texas Hill Country. It's where I spent summers as a kid, and where my mother spent her summers, too. It's cooler in the Hill Country than it is in Houston, and it's less humid, and there's always a good breeze. Plus, there's a beautiful green river called the Guadalupe to swim in. And while we were there, we spent an afternoon at my old summer camp--where my mother and sisters and cousins went, too--which was in-between sessions for the weekend. We picnicked under the cypress trees and explored the hillside with the old stone cabins from the 1930s. I hadn't been back to that summer camp--or to that part of Texas--in at least 20 years, and it was such a profound, almost breathtaking experience to go there and to walk the same paths I'd walked as a child, and the same paths my mother had walked when she was a child, in a place that hadn't changed at all. It was like turning back time, and it gave me the sweetest feeling of sadness. I'd forgotten how stately these stone buildings were, and it wasn't until I was there again that I realized how much they have defined my sense architecture, and place, and beauty, and home. The way they are handmade, and special, and unique to themselves. The way they were done with care and built to last. The way the places we make can connect us to the past. I often wish I could go back and visit the girl I was as a kid. And I often miss living in my childhood home with my sisters and goofing around. And even many years after her death, I still miss my grandmother and wish I could see her again. But visiting the hill country this summer, I got about as close as I ever will.

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Katherine — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:08:23 +0000

you saw it here first

Katherine — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:13:56 +0000

My third novel, Get Lucky--on sale April 2010--now has a cover! Now we just need to get it together with the words, and we're good to go.

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Katherine — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:05:46 +0000

my sister's birthday

Katherine — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:15:59 +0000

My big sister is about to have an important birthday--and to honor it, and her, my mom and dad and I went through our old family photos to make a little video retrospective. This photo, in particular, is knocking my socks off. I'd never seen it until my mom gave it to me for the project. The video uses the song La Vie En Rose performed by Sophie Milman. It's a gorgeous rendition! Go buy it on iTunes! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEJMrEIx-l4]

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Katherine — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:42:53 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:12:42 +0000

the long-awaited kitten post

Katherine — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:17:40 +0000

I apologize for the Blair Witch quality of the kitten photos. But they do illuminate some true things: 1. My camera spends too much time at the bottom of my enormous purse--down with the pretzel crumbs and dessicated granola bars. 2. A small person in my house (and I'm not naming any names) threw the camera across the yard recently. 3. The kitten is pretty fast. 4. The kitten is a fluffer-nutter. A Twitter pal asked me what a fluffer-nutter was, and I'll admit that a fluffer-nutter is a sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow creme that my friend Sam used to love to eat back in college. But there it is. 5. The kitten gets carried a lot. More than she ever dreamed possible. 6. I'm teaching her to sit on my shoulder. Because it's either that or the keyboard. 7. We're not totally settled on a name. For now, we are trying many things. Chloe. Sunshine. Clo-clo. Clo-cakes. Fluffinator. My friend Cate used to call her dog Little Snickety Snacks, and we may throw that in from time to time as well. 8. Here's a great thing about cats. They always wear that same deadpan expression.

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Katherine — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:03:24 +0000

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where have i been?

Katherine — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:48:39 +0000

I try not to forget to count my blessings. And one of them--two years in a row, now--has been getting to go out to the Texas Hill Country to stay in the gorgeous country house of one of my mom's dear friends. I got to go last year when I was finishing up my third novel, and spent almost a week there writing a good 1/3 of the book in a total and delightful fiction frenzy. It's just so unbelievably charming there. And whimsical. And tidy. And scenic. And friendly. And everywhere you look, there's something beautiful. I got up in the morning, made coffee, and wrote. It was about as good as it gets. I wouldn't trade my real life for anything. But a little writing vacation once in a while is pretty great, too.

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Katherine — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:08:24 +0000

advance readers' edition

Katherine — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:16:42 +0000

The AREs for Get Lucky are all printed up--and just arrived in the mail at my house. It's still a 6-month wait for the actual book, but it's always a thrill to see the AREs. It's amazing how different the words look on the pages of the book. The new layout seems to change the rhythm and the sound of the language. I've been so used to 8 1/2 by 11 sheets of white paper--double-spaced in Times New Roman. And then suddenly, pages are different: the font's different, the spacing's different, the line breaks and page breaks and margins are different. It's thrilling, and discombobulating. And for a while, until I get used to it, the sentences look funny all rearranged--and sound wrong in my head. But then I get used to the new shape of the story on the page, and the new shape starts to feel more and more right until, after a while, it's like this is what the words were waiting for all along.

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Katherine — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:26:33 +0000

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you can make butter

Katherine — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 02:38:01 +0000

Today, when my daughter saw I'd bought some heavy cream at the grocery, she asked if we could make butter. So we did! We learned how to do it when she was in pre-school, and it's super-easy! Here's how: Pour some room-temperature heavy whipping cream into a small glass jar (like a baby food jar). Screw the lid on tightly and shake. Just shake and shake--about five minutes. At first, you can hear the milk sloshing around, and then, suddenly, it'll sound like there's something in there. And there is! It's butter! It's so thrilling to actually make butter. It feels like a miracle.

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lovebomb

Katherine — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:34:06 +0000

Last spring, I got invited to go with a group of women artists to the Oregon coast for a retreat called Lovebomb. And of course I said yes. Even though Oregon is a long way from Texas. And even though I've done more than enough traveling lately. And even though I only knew four of the 14 women who'd be there. I'd heard too many great things about the first Lovebomb (last year) from my friends Karen and Brene to say no. I felt honored to be asked. And then, as time got closer, I felt nervous. Because these women are seriously beautiful. And fabulous. And fierce. The more I visited their blogs and got to know them in a virtual way, the more I wondered just exactly what business I had crashing their vacation on the beach. But by then the plane ticket was already bought. And, of course, some things in life you just have to do--no matter how anxious you feel the night before you leave. And guess what? By the end of it, I was belting out a James Taylor solo by a campfire on a beach. (Still kinda cringing over that). That's how comfortable and welcome they made me feel. And I found out that these women were even more awesome than they seem on their blogs. Because in addition to being brilliant and accomplished and infinitely appealing, they're also just nice. Which goes a long way with me. [caption id="attachment_1409" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="Photo by Tracey Clark"][/caption] L to R: Tracey Clark, Karen Walrond, Brene Brown, Ali Edwards, Andrea Jenkins, me, Kelly Rae Roberts, Andrea Scher, Alex DeSouza, Jen Lee, Myriam Joseph, Jen Gray, Jen Lemen. Not pictured: Mati Rose. It was a great weekend for many reasons, and it reminded me how important it is sometimes to do things that scare you. And how thrilling it can be to step out of your regular life a little. And how quiet walks on the beach can restore your internal rhythm. And also--because I often need reminding about this--how luck and bravery seem to go hand in hand.

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Katherine — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:44:07 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 04:39:31 +0000

how hands can make sunshine

Katherine — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 06:03:49 +0000

One day, in Oregon, we made collages. [caption id="attachment_1392" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="My collage."][/caption] It was all because of Kelly Rae, who shared both her artistic process and her giant suitcase of cool collage stuff (like vintage letters, postcards, ledgers, envelopes, stamps, sheet music) with us. [caption id="attachment_1396" align="alignnone" width="499" caption="Ali Edwards' collage-in-progress."][/caption] When I saw the paints and canvases come out, and when I realized what we were about to do, I could barely wait to get my hands on all those beautiful old things in Kelly Rae's suitcase. And I'd brought along an old LIFE magazine, too, just in case it might come in handy. So we added it to the pile. And so I spent the whole afternoon on the floor in the sunlight with a breeze blowing through the window making a collage. And I was reminded of something I used to know: I love to make art. And the process of working on something visual--something that might have words in it but is not ONLY words--makes me feel absolutely blissed out. I'd really forgotten how good it felt. [caption id="attachment_1397" align="alignnone" width="499" caption="Tracey Clark's collage-in-progress."][/caption] I came home from Oregon swearing to myself that I was going to find more time to make things with my hands. And I really hope I will. But I also know very well that there are only so many hours in the day. I can't guarantee that making art, as good as it feels, will make the cut in my daily life any more than other good things (like dancing, and singing, and massages, and walking, and sleeping) do. But I sure am grateful I got to have that day by the beach. It's left a little sunshine-y place in my heart. And I thank Kelly Rae for taking me there every time I look at my collage up on the wall. And I absolutely cannot wait to get back.

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body poems: $1

Katherine — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 03:51:16 +0000

I'd love to have a body poems booth. Maybe just sit out on the front lawn on nice days with a sign like a lemonade stand that says, Body Poems: $1. And anybody who needed to tell herself something could just stop by and get painted. The first time I ever painted words on someone's body, I had this thought: How can I do this for a living? And then I went to Lovebomb, and a whole group of women agreed to let me paint them. They chose the words, and I did my best to do them justice. I spent a whole afternoon, there by the beach in the breeze, painting and grooving to people's iPod mixes. And here's some of what we created that day: (Photos, top to bottom: Karen Walrond, me, Brene Brown, me, Tracey Clark, Tracey Clark, Karen Walrond.

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Katherine — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:24:36 +0000

i love radio

Katherine — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:49:50 +0000

This morning, I did a radio interview with Christopher Gabriel on his program for AM 970 WDAY in Fargo, ND, and it was SO MUCH FUN. The interview is up at Christopher's radio archives. Listen HERE!

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before & after

Katherine — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:30:39 +0000

The furnishings in our house have been going downhill for a while. Kid life has been hard on my decorating skills. We have a great time here and laugh a lot. But let's just say, decor-wise, my house is not even in the neighborhood of its potential. And so, one by one, I'm going to tackle little projects to try and perk our decor back up. For example, today I hung some paper lanterns that have been in storage since our wedding--nine years ago. They're from Restoration Hardware, and we thought they were so breathtaking that we got a bunch of them and hung them all around my mother's backyard. Then, after the wedding, we carefully folded them up and put them away. Until today. When it suddenly occurred to me it was crazy to waste them in a closet. So I hung them up above the bed. Here's the before: And here's the after!

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Katherine — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:22:47 +0000

en fuego

Katherine — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 18:38:45 +0000

Dear Kelly Rae Roberts, Thank you for setting me on fire. I've made another collage, and now I'm walking around today with an excited kind of tickle in my body. It's that same feeling I get when I'm in the groove with a story--a feeling of creation, of expression, of doing something that only I can do. It's nice to use all the senses. For me, writing is really about hearing. It's about the music and rhythm of the language. I hear the stories talking, and I write them down. But collage, of course, is about the eyes--and it's so fun to do visual things. Sometimes it's frustrating to have a brain like mine. Like when I can't figure out what day it is. Or when I've lost my keys again. But when I'm making things, like I am so often these days ever since Lovebomb, it's pretty great. Love, Katherine .

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Katherine — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:27:18 +0000

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crazy cross-Texas love

Katherine — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:49:01 +0000

So last week I fell into a crazy infatuated love. With a chair. A chair I found for 15 dollars on Craigslist. But not Craigslist in Houston, where I live. Craigslist in Austin, which is 3 hours away. What was I even doing looking at the Austin Craigslist? But somehow it happened. And you know how it is with love: Once it's got you, it doesn't let you go. Now, I know very few people who will drop what they are doing to drive across Texas for a 15 dollar chair. I am one of them. And my mom is another. So I called my mom and said, "Wanna drive to Austin with me? Just up and back real quick?" And my mom said, "Sure." So that's what we did. My sweet husband took the kids for the day, and my mom and I set off on a road trip. We stopped by our ranch on the way out of town. Then we gabbed all the way to Austin, where picked up the chair (pix later!) and stopped for coffee at the Nutty Brown Cafe. And stopped by a gardening store: And then drove home under the most amazingly beautiful Texas sky I can ever remember. There are many kinds of perfect days. And this was definitely one of them. Even though the chair itself? When I finally got it? Turned out to be something my husband will tease me about for many years to come.

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Katherine — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:39:51 +0000

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Katherine — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:34:46 +0000

everything's a story

Katherine — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:44:10 +0000

So I inherited some lamps from my grandfather's office last week. Or, actually, I just claimed them out of my mother's garage. They came from this awesome building: my grandfather's building materials company. My mom found the lamps in a storage room there a few years back, and she gave them a home in her garage, but they were pretty beat-up, and nobody really wanted them. Actually, they were very beat-up: But, inspired by the before & after pages at Design*Sponge, I got this idea that I could bring them back to life. So I taught myself how to re-wire a lamp, and I scavenged some matching lampshades--also from my mom's garage. I didn't recognize the shades at first, but after I tore off the ribbons at the top and bottom, I realized these were the shades that sat on either side of my parents' bed my whole childhood. (Sorry, Mom!) True, they were way too dated to use as they were. So if I hadn't fixed them up, they'd still be in the garage. But I did feel a little twinge of regret once I realized that I knew those lampshades. Because once I'd torn the ribbons off, they were kind of gone forever. Then I painted the lamps black, and they became gone forever, too. And then I Mod Podged a really fantastic and gorgeous fabric by SwankySwell onto the shades. And voila! New lamps! Until the cat knocks them over, or the kids use them to build a fort. I do miss my grandfather. And I miss the house I grew up in where those lampshades used to be. And I know that having these re-done DIY lamps in my house won't bring either of them back to me. But when I look at the lamps, at the very least, I'll remember where they came from.

St. John's school

Katherine — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:12:19 +0000

how stories can save you

Katherine — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:13:57 +0000

Yesterday, after 11 days home with a sick 4-year-old, I went to the school I went to for Kindergarten through 12th grade to give a chapel talk. It's book fair week at my old school, and this year, I am the featured author. They asked me to address the question "Why read books?" And I had 12 minutes to do it. Here's a version of what I said: I wrote my first novel right here, at St. John’s, in sixth grade. I was totally miserable in sixth grade. (Though maybe if my history teacher had worn crazier pants, I might have been happier.) For the record, I loved lower school. And upper school. But sixth grade was bad, and seventh grade was worse. But misery can be useful. Somehow, my two best friends and I had a brilliant idea. We started writing novels—with ourselves as the main characters. We’d suffer through the school week in our real lives, writing to keep ourselves afloat, and then get together for sleepovers on the weekends and read our imaginary lives to each other. In mine, Duran Duran just happened to be driving through my neighborhood in their stretch limo when they got a flat tire. As luck would have it, the tire popped right in front of my house. This was 1985, and so, with no cell phones, they had to find a phone to call a mechanic. And—more good luck—they knocked on my front door, and I was there with my two best friends. And we were busting our dance moves to their Hungry Like The Wolf video. It really didn’t take long before all five band members from Duran Duran—despite my bowl haircut, braces, crippling awkwardness, and the fact that I was twelve—glimpsed my inner beauty and fell horribly, painfully, almost life-threateningly in love with me. And then I had to spend the rest of the novel deciding which one to marry. There was a lot of pressure on me as the main character. Because the math didn’t lie. There was only one of me, and there were five of them. At least four hearts were going to be broken. At least four handsome rockers were going to be destroyed. As you can imagine, it was the best novel ever written. I still shudder when I think about my sixth grade year. But I learned something from writing that novel that has stayed with me the rest of my life: Stories can save you. Stories are essential to the human experience. We turn to them over and over. We use them to pass down wisdom from generation to generation. From the Greek myths to the Bible to fairy tales, we hold onto our past through stories. We use them to comfort ourselves and each other. When my son scrapes his knee, I don’t explain the scientific principles of blood coagulation. I tell him about the time I scraped my knee. And how my mom had to pull out the pebbles with tweezers. And how it really, really hurt. But it got better. And now I have a cool scar in the shape of Texas. We use stories to learn about ourselves and others. There’s a reason we’re endlessly curious about other people’s lives. It’s because it’s essential to our own survival to navigate the subtleties of human society. We’re nothing without the group. It’s vital to learn to read cues, understand motivations, and get the people around us. And we use stories to create hope: to imagine a better future for ourselves. This is easier when you’re a kid. When I was in sixth grade, a very real part of me thought there was a good chance I’d wind up marrying Simon LeBon. If the love was true enough, I figured, it could happen. As you get older, of course, you know your limitations better. Hope is trickier to come by. You become harder to convince. That’s why you have to get good at storytelling—for others, and for yourself. And that’s why the stories you seek out—for comfort, for wisdom, for perspective—get more complicated and more subtle. As you get older and wiser, you need stories that can match you. These days, we find stories in two big places: novels, and movies and TV. Movies and TV have a certain advantage over novels. They tell their stories with pictures and sound. They use images, which are a primary kind of language. We understand images long before we can speak or read. We know our mother’s face, our father’s voice. Images and sound speak right to the heart and reach inside us in a very direct and primal way. Words—and especially words on a page—require translation. We have to recognize the letters, add them up into words, add the words into sentences, and then create our own images and meaning from those sentences. It takes a lot of practice to get good. And it requires effort. The upside is, you get to help make the story. The story gives you the word “apple,” but you supply the image. You meet the story halfway. And another upside is that words are magical. Images are the language of emotions, and memory, and dreams. But words are the language of order and thought and wisdom. Words connect our heads and our hearts. Words can take the chaos of the world around us and distill meaning from it. And we need meaning. We don’t have much time. You won’t believe this, and I didn’t believe it at your age either, but it’s true: One minute, you’re twelve years old and Simon LeBon has just proposed to you, and the next minute, it’s 25 years later. Time whispers past. One more thing that’s true: Nothing is more important than to figure out what a good life is--and do your very best to live it.

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Katherine — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:39:02 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:57:17 +0000

the mother of invention

Katherine — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:22:22 +0000

I'm taking a little time off from writing. Not a lot of time off: just a couple of months. I just need to be creative in different ways for a little bit. Like sewing kinda creative. And re-covering old chairs kinda creative. And cleaning up our house creative. To the extent that you can call cleaning creative. Some people have to write every day. But I need breaks. I need to paint furniture and sew and make collages. I imagine my writing life like a bucket of water. It fills up with stories, and then I pour them out, and then I have to wait for it to fill up again. It's possible that if I wrote every single morning in a rigid schedule I'd be more productive. But I'm just not a rigid schedule person. I write when I feel like I have something to say. And I believe that the arts nourish each other. I am not writing when I'm picking out chair fabrics or sewing halloween costumes for my kids. I'm only writing when I'm writing. But I am living a creative life that keeps itself open to possibilities. And somewhere in the back of my head I can always feel the stories gathering, kind of the way you can feel storm clouds. That said, I've just finished making my son's halloween costume. He wanted to be Fire Man, and his sister wanted to be Water Girl. (He can shoot fire, and she can shoot water.) I love that they made up their own superheroes, and I'm trying like heck to do them justice. I don't technically know how to sew -- at least, not clothes. So I decided to start with a red Power Rangers suit we already had and accessorize. The great thing about felt is that it doesn't fray too much, so you can just cut shapes and then sew them together. They won't hold up forever going through the wash, but they'll certainly do for Halloween Night. (Fire cuffs. And, for me, a new obsession with fringe.) My little guy has been sick with a nasty eye infection for two solid weeks, and we've been trapped in the house, the two of us, that entire time. We've both been stir-crazy -- and I, in particular, have had too little sleep, too much worry, and absolutely no personal time. But having this project to work on gave us both something to do. And reinforced my belief that making things -- for me at least -- can solve problems in a way that nothing else can. (Stay tuned for Water Girl!)

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Katherine — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:36:56 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:18:48 +0000

this chair took over my life

Katherine — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:51:48 +0000

A few weeks ago I fell into crazy love with a chair. Like, I actually gasped when I saw the picture of it on Craigslist. Gasped. And then I drove across Texas with my mom to find it, buy it ($15!), and cart it home. Things seize me like that. In fact, that's how I get most things done -- I feel pulled toward, or compelled by, or obsessed with an idea or a project or a story until I've bought, found, written, or made it. I'm the opposite of methodical. Which is pretty fun. And this chair, like, took over my life until I'd made it mine. I wish I had it under a cloth right now that I could whip off with a big whoosh. But here it is: I'm still not sure what it was about the chair that snagged me. I liked the swoop to the back. I liked the proportions. I liked that it was $15. But I've seen lots of furniture on Craigslist that I thought, with a little work, could look great. Something about this chair was just special. Or had the potential to be. It sat in my garage for a few weeks while I fretted over upholstery fabrics and asked around for an upholsterer. And then before I knew it, I'd picked a fabric, the chair was off at the shop, and I got a call that it was ready. So today, in the rain, my son and I drove to get it. And when I saw it all ready, I gasped again. My husband has already pointed out that bringing lovely things into our house-full-o-kids is a dangerous proposition (we only have two -- but it seems like more). We've already placed our bets on how long before a chocolate handprint gets stamped on the seat. (Husband says 4 weeks. I'm guessing 2.) But I'm telling myself the thrill now will be worth the heartbreak later. (The gorgeous fabrics on the chair and on the throw pillow are both from SwankySwell, by the way!) I always take a kind of funky approach to love. Like, when I was a kid, of all the Beatles, I picked Ringo. And I do the same thing with beauty. I look for more than the eye can see.

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Katherine — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:44:42 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:59:25 +0000

kid-art wallpaper

Katherine — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:29:59 +0000

So, as you know, when you have kids, you acquire a lot of kid art. And a huge amount of it is completely awesome. And the fact that your child made it makes it even more awesome--even if it's only, like, a scribble that you've been told is "a weasel." Last spring, I decided that I was going to turn our house into a kid art gallery and just put those gorgeous things up on our walls. All of our walls. Everywhere. And guess what? With almost every wall covered in kid-art, the house started to feel a little, um, jumbled. At some point it hit me that even when those spaces were clean, they didn't feel that way. So I decided to revise. I took it all down from around the house and smushed it all together in one place: our staircase. Here's the stairway before: And here's the stairway after: And I know what you might be thinking: That with this design move, I've gone from a little bit jumbled to super-crazy jumbled. And for the stairway, that's true. You can't use the stairs without being surrounded, dwarfed, and -- hell -- engulfed by kid art. But the rest of the house? Much better. And I don't know what Martha Stewart would say, but, for me, the staircase is much better, too.

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Katherine — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 01:46:03 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:56:10 +0000

water girl

Katherine — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 03:05:30 +0000

For the record, I'm all for store-bought costumes at Halloween. We've had many at our house. But this year, I got inspired to create. My son said he wanted to be Fire Man, and my daughter instantly said, "And I can be Water Girl!" And I just thought those were such rockin' superheroes for my kids to have invented, I wanted to do them justice. Plus, it got my brain rolling. How would you make a fire wand? Or water hair? Creativity is so much about solving problems. Having limitations -- as I try to remind myself daily -- forces you to think about how to work around them. Limitations like, for example, not knowing how to sew. And, at the same time, enthusiasm can push you past those limitations. I really wanted to make a flowy dress for Water Girl so she would look like water as she moved. And so I just decided to make her a dress and not let the fact that I have never done that before stop me. I just figured it out as I went along and bulldozed over the difficult parts, and -- voila! -- I can now add make a water dress to my list of crazy, unmarketable skills. As well as make water hair. And, of course, attach fringe to anything and everything.

videos

Katherine — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:13:00 +0000

I am always trying to think of ways to bring writing to life online. Here are a bunch of videos that try different approaches.

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A video I made about why I want girls to speak up and join the cultural conversation--that's me reading excerpts from the introduction I wrote for the Kirtsy book (Kirtsy Takes A Bow: A Celebration of Women's Favorites Online). I offered to make a trailer for the book because I felt like my essay captured something so true--and I wanted to say it out loud in a new way. All the images in the video are from the book!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajLSmCduXk4]

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Something true I realized about my sister (both of my sisters, actually) when I was looking through some old home movies:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04u0RTAxLn8]

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These two are from an essay I wrote about my mother called "Things to Remember Not to Forget," which was published in the collection "Because I Love Her: 34 Women Writers on the Mother-Daughter Bond." The Dallas Museum of Art also selected it for their Texas Bound reading series and performed it in March of 2009. The amazing photos in these two videos are from an amazing site of American "vernacular photography" called Square America. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3dytQKtXj0] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26W3SuWHU-g]

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These next two are trailers for my novel Everyone Is Beautiful that use excerpts from the book. These were the first videos I ever did, and I didn't even do them. Mary Swenson took the photos and laid out the text, and Laurie Smithwick of Leap Design (and Kirtsy!) made the slideshows. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPwTrTaZRm0] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVg8kupPO8Y]

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Here's a video I did called "100 Things I'm Grateful For." It's just me and my kids (and my cute sister), trapped in the house on a blazing-hot Houston summer day with a Flip video camera. I go back and watch this one over and over. I love the little details--the lizard, the spinning globe, my children's sweet voices. It really captures something about my life. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNz36Db5864]

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Here's an essay of mine called "The Lives We Hoped For " that I read and recorded and then set to Karen Walrond's gorgeous photos. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVSyVC2pveo]

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Here's another video I made using Karen Walrond's luscious photos. Karen and I spent a morning with our absolutely brilliant friend Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess) while Jenny let me paint the entire final paragraph of Everyone Is Beautiful all over her body. It was absolutely dreamy. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK7eqyry39o&feature=related]

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Here's a video I did of me revising a story. I was trying to capture the sound of it--the quietness of it, and also the energy. I filmed my hand as I wrote all over the manuscript, and the revised text scrolls across the screen... [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKj62znIAlE&feature=channel_page]

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Writing Wednesday I did some videos last summer called Writing Wednesday. They were super-fun, but they were much easier to make when my teacher husband was home for the summer and was taking our kids swimming all the time. Now he's back at work, and I really have to triage my free time--and Writing Wednesday does not often make the cut. Sure was fun, though. Maybe next summer. Here are just a couple. There are others on the blog, though. And on YouTube: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTtR9FcpDrA&feature=related] [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsdJASiemlc&NR=1]

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Here's one from the first time I ever used my Flip camera. I'd done a reading that night, outside in a windstorm, and I was a little hoarse. I think I was just home from a book-tour jaunt, as well--hence the suitcases. A very early attempt to do something with video. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q2kKChQrDA&feature=channel_page]

•••

Check back for more! I'll keep adding to this page!

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Katherine — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:52:41 +0000

gorgeousness

Katherine — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:13:47 +0000

Last spring, the amazing Mary Swenson took these photos for me in response to a quote I sent her from Everyone Is Beautiful. She broke the quote down by sentences, and took a photo for each one. Then we ran the photos in sequence and made a video. But the photos are so amazing, they deserve a place of their own. In the video, they disappear fast and it's on to the next image. I've been meaning to put up these luscious stills for months, and now that I'm finally doing it, I am completely knocked over -- again -- by the rich colors, the movement of the light, and the variety of tones in each picture -- and how they enrich and play off the words. And here is the video. Somehow, the photos lost their crispness in translation. But it's fun to see them in action... [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVg8kupPO8Y]

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Katherine — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:52:18 +0000

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Katherine — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 02:24:00 +0000

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more décor

Katherine — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:05:05 +0000

Here's another before and after. A really awesome mod chair from my grandfather's building materials company that I snagged from my mom's garage a few weeks ago: And now, in my living room, freshly back from the upholsterer's: I've kinda fallen in love with this chair, but it didn't happen until after it got its makeover. When I first brought it to my house, I really couldn't see past the dust and the broken springs. But I had a theory that the chair would clean up well, and so, out of loyalty to my grandfather's excellent 1950s office decor and out of curiosity to see how far a new fabric could take us, I took the plunge. Now I am halfway through my reupholstering project. Two chairs down, two to go. That's been a goal this fall: to perk things up a little around here and make our living room feel less like a toy repository. No major changes. We still have stacks of books and piles of tin soliders everywhere. Our coffee table is still a train table. A dragon castle still sits in front of our fireplace. We still have the rug my son dumped an entire bottle of tempera paint on and the sofa that got painted with Elmer's glue. I've looked at a lot of design sites as I've been thinking about how to spruce up our house, and I've seen a lot of crisply clean and beautiful spaces. But whenever I started to feel envious of how orderly or put-together or artfully arranged those houses were, I'd remind myself how much fun we have here. Our house will never be a showplace, that's for sure. But it's hands-down the best home I could have wished for. And that makes the redecorating project easy. I don't need best. I am perfectly happy with better.

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Katherine — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:42:40 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:08:14 +0000

something we got right

Katherine — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:37:39 +0000

I spoke on a panel last weekend at the Texas Book Festival with the very charming Jancee Dunn, who has a baby. Fellow panelist and Houston author Gwendolyn Zepeda and I wound up giving her parenting advice. And while we were talking, I heard myself say something very true. It can be so easy to second-guess the parenting choices you've made -- but there is one thing I know for sure we got right: Audiobooks. As babies, both my kids hated the car. Like, any time I drove anywhere for the first two years of their lives, they cried. It was awful. It made me completely crazy. 'Cause Houston is a driving town. If you don't drive, you just stay in the house. So that was my choice: total isolation or baby torture. Until I discovered quite by accident that my infants found Garrison Keillor's voice soothing. Which is not surprising, really, because I myself find it soothing. One day in the car, I turned on his audiobook Lake Wobegon Summer 1956, and the crying stopped. From that moment on, we have never been without an audiobook in the car. Now, at 4 and 6, my kids are audiobook champs. They prefer us to read to them, but they're perfectly happy with audiobooks, too. It's how I make dinner every night--them in the living room, playing trains and listening to the Chronicles of Narnia, or Katie Kazoo Switcheroo, or The Magic Treehouse, and me in the kitchen, listening to NPR. After all this time, I have some favorites for the 3-and up set. Here they are, my Top Five kids' audio books -- though they are just as good for grown-ups. 5. The Tale of Despereaux This story is totally spellbinding -- and way better than the movie. Because, as with so many books, it's not what happens that really gets you -- its how Kate DiCamillo tells the story. And the voice of the story, the way it reveals itself, is magical. 4. Little House on the Prairie Series I was raised on the 1970s TV show, so it's hard not to picture Michael Landon as Pa. But I'm very glad my kids are starting off with the real thing. The books are warm and dramatic and very engaging. My kids love hearing about life in the Olden Days, too. And Cherry Jones, who narrates, has the most wonderful, buttery voice... 3. The Cricket in Times Square My son used to be obsessed with this one. Every time we got in the car, he'd say, "I want Cricket in Times Square by George Seldon!" And I totally get why: it just makes you feel good. The voices are fun and engaging, and the story is sweet-natured. And children of the '70s will appreciate that narrator Rene Auberjonois used to star on Benson. 2. Harry Potter, Books 1-3 A little on the scary side at times, so depending on your kids, you might stop at Book One. But absolutely, completely addictive. We read the books first together, and then listened to the audiobook of Book 1 on a car trip. The kids were mesmerized, and so was I. Shoooowee, that J.K. Rowling can write! 1. James and the Giant Peach (and also pretty much every single thing Roald Dahl ever wrote. Except The BFG is a bit too scary for little ones...) What I particularly love about James and the Giant Peach is Jeremy Irons doing the voices of all the insects. He makes it better than it sounded in your head when you read it as a child--and better than you could do now if you were reading it out loud. Sorry, but it's true. There are so many different insect characters that it can be hard to keep them all straight. But when Irons reads the book, the Earthworm has a thick, deep, earthwormy voice, and Miss Spider has a prim, spiderly voice. Not to mention Aunt Sponge and Aunt Spiker! It's beyond great. I never, ever get tired of listening to this one--and I've probably heard it a hundred times by now. At least.

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Katherine — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:53:39 +0000

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9 great things about my husband

Katherine — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:12:23 +0000

It's my 9-year wedding anniversary this week. (Nine years married, fifteen together.) And so, a nine-best ode to my awesome husband. Here are nine great things about him -- though, really, I could go on and on: 9. The mustache. 8. The pants. 7. The way he is so completely stoked to have a wife who's a writer. 6. The way he wrestles with our kids. And reads to them endlessly. And plays soldiers. And takes them to the library. 5. The way he's completely exhausted at the end of the day, but he fakes it so well the kids never know. 4. The way he always wants to help. 3. The way he always looks for what's right instead of what's wrong. 2. The way he says something funny about every 60 seconds. 1. The sweet and amazing email he sent me on the morning of our anniversary. Which I think I'll just keep to myself.

s i s t e r s

Katherine — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:24:04 +0000

I stumbled on this little moment in our old home movies over the weekend and couldn't believe how sweet it was. And so I made this video. (I'm the little blond sister, by the way...) [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04u0RTAxLn8]

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Katherine — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:42:12 +0000

the girls

Katherine — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:43:56 +0000

I've been feeling feisty lately. The brouhaha over Publishers Weekly's Top Ten books of 2009 -- which had no women authors on it -- has left me thinking a lot about women's place in our cultural conversation. And, as I've been driving my carpools and snaking the grocery store aisles, I've been composing an essay about it -- fully aware of the irony that my life as a busy mom was going to make it pretty much impossible for me to ever write that essay. But then I remembered I'd already written it. Or at least, a version of it. Because last year I wrote the introduction to Kirtsy Takes A Bow -- an anthology that goes on sale this week drawn from the fantastic women's site Kirtsy. I went back and read the essay, and it captured a lot of what I've been feeling this week. And so I called up the editor and asked if I could make her a book trailer. And she said yes. And so, two days of obsessive work later, here it is. Though I couldn't fit the whole essay into the trailer. For that, you'll have to buy the book. Publshers Weekly, this one's for you. Kidding. Guess who this one's for?

The girls.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajLSmCduXk4]

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Katherine — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:30:50 +0000

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my exquisite mother

Katherine — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 22:09:24 +0000

I have one of those moms who's a superhero. There is nothing she can't handle. She should have been the President, and I'm not kidding. But then I never would have gotten to see her. And I love to see her. So it was a good deal for me that she wasn't the President. But I'm not sure it was a good deal for the world. She just had her 50th high school reunion, and she pulled out a bunch of old photos. Here are a few. I could flip through her old photo albums all day long.

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Katherine — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:37:47 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:53:39 +0000

"winter"

Katherine — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 06:36:44 +0000

Down here in Texas, we have to work hard to create winter. It's not really a season in Houston, exactly. It's more like a series of fronts that blow the heat away for a few months, a couple of days at a time. So holiday decorations have a kind of make-believe quality. Like we're pretending it's winter. We're insisting it's winter, dammit. And the whole city has to work together as a group to pull it off. And we're going to make cider and feel cozy even if we have to run the air conditioner to do it. So, in honor of "winter," my kids and I have been stringing our house with twinkle lights, and making hot chocolate, and cutting snowflakes. Dammit. Just because we're pretending doesn't mean it's not real. (And PS: I accidentally taught my 4 year old the word "dammit" today. And then I went on and on and on about curse words versus regular. And, yes -- there's a 50-50 chance you'll see this conversation in the novel I'm writing now): I said, "We just don't want to use dammit, okay?" "Why not?" "Well, it's a thing called a curse word, and it's not polite." "Why not?" "Some people think it's rude to use curse words." "Do you think it's rude?" "I think you want to be careful who say them to." "Like who? Who can I say them to?" "You can't say them to anybody because you're a kid. Only grown-ups can say them. But they really aren't supposed to. Unless they're really frustrated." "What if I get frustrated?" "Then you say darn. That's why they invented darn." "Darn's not a curse word?" "Nope. Darn's a regular word. A regular word that is like a curse word -- but without the cursing." "Why?" "It just is. And it's a good word, too. Try it out: Darn." "Darn. Darn, darn, darn." "See? Darn is awesome." "Darn is awesome. But dammit's better."

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Katherine — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:09:50 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:17:46 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:29:00 +0000

hello?

Katherine — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 21:36:01 +0000

I can never find the phone. Ever. I spend about half my day circling the house, looking for a ringing cordless. But it's not there. It's buried under something. But I don't know what. I don't know why I can't remember to put it back on the base when I'm done talking. But I can't. So I just bought a wall phone from the '70s. Just found it online. It's exactly like the phone that hung in my kitchen for my entire childhood and beyond. When my mother sold my childhood home, she took the phone with her. We keep improving things so frantically. That's our economy, right? Everything gets new 'n' improved over and over again. Phonographs to eight tracks to cassettes to CDs to iPods. I like new and shiny as much as anybody else, but it does make it harder to reach back to the past. I'd love to listen to some of the mix tapes I saved from high school. But I don't have a cassette player anymore. And some old things really were better. Like 1970s phones. Like holding that big receiver between your shoulder and your ear while you made a sandwich at the kitchen counter. Like twisting around in the 50-foot cord. Like flipping that cord around like a jump rope while your cat tried to catch it. Like the weight of the receiver in your hand,and the satisfaction of clunking it back onto the hook when you've said what you had to say. I've been missing these things for a while, the way you sort of quietly miss your childhood. But as of this week, I have a '70s phone up on my kitchen wall. And I can't believe how much it makes the home we live in now feel like my first one.

my holiday gift to you

Katherine — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:19:47 +0000

One of the most perfect, delectable, romantic movie scenes ever. Happy holidays. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf6e6dY1F0E&feature=related]

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Katherine — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:45:51 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:26:32 +0000

loving this today

Katherine — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:32:56 +0000

I stumbled across this German cover for The Bright Side of Disaster this morning! At first, because of the cake, I thought it must be Everyone Is Beautiful. But there's nobody pregnant in Everyone Is Beautiful--not really, anyway--so I think it must be Bright Side! The German version is extra-fun because I have some relatives in Germany. My mom's father's family moved from Germany to Texas in the 1880s. So far, rights to my books have been sold in the UK, Portugal, Germany, Russia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and maybe some others. (What am I forgetting? I'm always forgetting something.) But this is the first foreign-language cover I've seen. Love the superhero cape and the Super M on the belly!

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Katherine — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:20:52 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:23:59 +0000

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Katherine — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:28:37 +0000

my new new novel

Katherine — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:32:50 +0000

About five minutes ago, I sent the first three chapters of my new novel to my editor at Random House. It doesn't have a title yet, and it won't come out until Spring 2012. But it's a crazy thrill to have the beginning in solid shape, and to send it off for feedback. I've been watching this new story unfold in little pieces in my head for a long time. I know a lot already about where it's going in a broad way (though the details are always one surprise after another). But it's pretty thrilling to see it all actually happen. Does that make sense? It's one thing to know a character goes for a walk. But it's another to actually write the scene and BE THERE. Here are some photos of the writing I've been doing over the break. Just for fun. This is my process: I type the story, then print it out and carry it in a binder like precious cargo wherever I go. Then, as I re-read, it sparks other ideas in my head, and I write them all over the margins and on the backs of pages. I edit things out and add things in at the same time. Then, after a bit, I type all the changes in and print it out again fresh. I love the pages when they are newly-printed and pristine. But I love them even more when they are scrawled and scribbled all over. Usually I'll use plain-old vinyl binders in black or white. But, for this one, I gave in to my love of pretty office products and bought a flowery binder at Target. At least, until the story gets too long to fit!

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Katherine — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 21:48:20 +0000

GET LUCKY Jacket*

Katherine — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:54:34 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:03:52 +0000

what I'm working on

Katherine — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:18:34 +0000

I'm taking a little break from novel-writing this week to make a video essay for the upcoming Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston. My friend Laura has organized an art show during the conference that will try to honor the amazing things that women are doing online--and the way that having a public place that we can access from our private lives helps moms reach out and tell their stories. And how women telling the truth about their lives can make us all better, wiser, more compassionate people--and make the world a better place. Laura's asked me to make a video essay about it that'll play at the show. This is the stuff of great conversations--hours spent over coffee chipping away at why it's so powerful to hear other women's stories and to tell your own. For the video, I'll have about 2 minutes. But the images, from Shutter Sisters, are going to be gorgeous. And I will certainly try like heck to do them justice.

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Katherine — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:13:49 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:01:39 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:10:20 +0000

time in the country

Katherine — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:12:47 +0000

We've spent time in the country the past two weekends at my grandparents' ranch. This is my favorite place to be.

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Katherine — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 05:21:14 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:06:27 +0000

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Katherine — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 06:11:50 +0000

tracks

Katherine — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:54:59 +0000

My grandparents' ranch is on the Brazos river, a perpetually brown, sandy-bottom river outside Houston. I've paced around its shores on trips to the ranch my whole life, and now we take our kids there and they do the same thing. Its amazing to watch history repeat itself like that, and I'm happy to report that fossil-searching, stick-throwing, rock-skipping, shell-finding, mud-smearing, dam-building, and poking at things with sticks are all still going strong. It's been wet in Texas lately, and I found tons of animal tracks last time we were there. Coyote, for example: And racoon. I love how much their paws look like hands. And deer. I'm pretty sure. And some crazily huge bird with stick-feet bigger than my son's hands: And somehow looking at those tracks got me thinking about all tracks I myself have left on this very beach--in Keds and cowgirl ropers and Adidas. And then suddenly I was thinking about my grandparents, and all the years that have passed since they walked on this beach with us, and how much I miss them, and how much I would love it if they could come back, even just for an hour, and visit us and meet my kids. It seems impossible to me that their lives didn't overlap. Especially when my daughter's eyes are the exact blue that my grandfather's were, and my son's eyes are the exact buttery brown of my grandmother's. How could they be connected so profoundly and never have even met? But I guess that's how it is with the past. It really doesn't leave enough behind.

defining a movement

Katherine — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:17:43 +0000

My friend Laura asked me to make a video for the Mom 2.0 Summit art show that's coming up in February. And here it is! Many thanks to Shutter Sisters for allowing me to use photos from the site. And many thanks to the amazing photographers: Karen Walrond, Jenny Lawson, Tracey Clark, Sarah Ji, Kristin Zecchinelli, Irene Nam, and Meredith Winn. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8K9s7_k3TM] And here is the essay that I wrote for the video: WHAT I WOULD TELL HER: (If I knew what to say.) You are a miracle. And I have to love you this fiercely: So that you can feel it even after you leave for school, or even while you are asleep, or even after your childhood becomes a memory. You’ll forget all this when you grow up. But it’s okay. Being a mother means having your heart broken. And it means loving and losing and falling apart and coming back together. And it’s the best there is. And also, sometimes, the worst. Sometimes you won’t have anyone to talk to. Sometimes you’ll wonder if you’ve forgotten who you are. But you must remember this: What you’re doing matters. And you have to be brave with your life so that others can be brave with theirs. The truth is, being a woman is a gift. Tenderness is a gift. Intimacy is a gift. And nurturing the good in this world is a nothing short of a privilege. That’s why I have to love you this way. So I can give what I have to you. So that you can carry it in your body and pass it on. I have watched you sleep. I’ve kissed you a million times. And I know something that you don’t, yet: You are writing the story of your only life every single minute of every day. And my greatest hope for you, sweet child, is that I can teach you how to write a good one.

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Katherine — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:55:57 +0000

mine

Katherine — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 18:02:21 +0000

The images in the Mom 2.0: Defining a Movement video that I made all came from real photographers--women who are working on their craft every day. I am not a real photographer. But I did sneak in one of my own photos when I made the video. Just one. This one's mine. It's a heart I made for my daughter on a day when she was performing in an assembly at school, but I wasn't allowed to be there. (It was Grandparents' Day! Only room for grandparents!). I so wanted to be there! And I was far more nervous than she was at the prospect of her reciting a memorized paragraph in front of a giant auditorium. But it made me feel better to make this and know that she had it with her. She , of course, did great at the assembly. As is so often the case with mothering, I worried over nothing. But she still keeps this heart in her backpack, and takes it with her to school every day. And I'm so glad she has it.

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Katherine — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:53:08 +0000

http://katherinecenter.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/cropped-jacket.jpg

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Katherine — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:07:05 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:09:04 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:42:50 +0000

SJS girls @ Brazos

Katherine — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:45:15 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:51:06 +0000

surreal

Katherine — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:54:10 +0000

Plenty of surreal things have happened in my life. But I'm not sure I've ever quite felt anything like it feels to look at this: It's my first novel, The Bright Side of Disaster, in Czech. It is indescribably bizarre to flip through a book that YOU wrote--and not be able to read a word. Not even guess at what the words might sound like. The title in Czech translates to "Everything Bad Is Good For Something." Which I love like crazy and I'm going to print up on a bumper sticker. And one last thing: there's an obese one-eye cat in the story named Dr. Blandon, and they put him on the back cover! Which is just about as good as it gets.

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Katherine — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:21:28 +0000

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Katherine — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:46:09 +0000

my exhausted heart

Katherine — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:58:59 +0000

We've been sick for two solid weeks around here. And I am a champion worrier. I can worry you under the table. You don't know what worrying is until you've met me. If I could take my worrying to the Olympics, I'd bring home the gold, baby. I'd have my own line of sneakers. Though, sadly, of course, I cannot take my worrying to the olympics. But I can take it--and my two stuffed-up children--into our bathroom with a box of tissues, run the shower, and call it a "sweat lodge." Which is what we did today. And I can let that worry bring my blessings into sharp focus. And I can give thanks for my little ones and their beautiful hands. And I can promise myself, again and again, not to take even one single second for granted.

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Katherine — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:30:13 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:20:06 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:27:05 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:34:47 +0000

mom 2 OH!

Katherine — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:56:08 +0000

Mom 2.0 is here! And yep, since I live in Houston, all I have to do is zip over in the morning

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Katherine — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:10:10 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:26:19 +0000

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Katherine — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:38:01 +0000

art for Mom 2.0

Katherine — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:45:26 +0000

It's been a long month of sick kids (and parents) at my house. And even though I knew there would be many, many, many of my favorite people at the Mom 2.0 Summit last weekend, I had to scramble pretty hard to get there. But I made it. And it was so good in so many ways. Something magical happens when you get so many amazing people in one place. And watching my video up on the big screen at the opening of the conference was pretty magical, too. I love like crazy the theme of Mom 2.o this year: What You're Doing Matters. Partly because I wrote it (and felt so honored that the Mom 2.0 Girls chose it as a theme), and partly because I SO believe it. And seeing the art show, with all those ordinary mom moments from daily life in a place of honor up on a wall in a gallery -- it was powerful stuff for me. Here's the art I contributed: I Mod-Podged old dictionary pages on a canvas and then wrote the words with a paintbrush and black acrylic. It'll be sold at the Mom 2.o online art auction (proceeds go to Haiti), and I'll post the link when I have it. By the way, here's the piece of art I meant to contribute to the Mom 2.0 art show: But after I finished it, I was kinda looking at it, thinking, "Not bad!" -- when I noticed that little upside-down bird above "brave." And, yep: Turns out I painted the words on an upside-down canvas. Oops. But I also contributed some other art! I painted on the women who came to the art show. Anybody who wanted one got a word -- or several -- on her body. Here's the beautiful Laurie Smithwick's arm: All to say, it was a heck of a weekend. And that -- really and truly -- is not even the half of it.

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Katherine — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:02:12 +0000

EIB-UK

Katherine — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:09:47 +0000

GET LUCKY Jacket*

Katherine — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:16:08 +0000

German Bright Side

Katherine — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:27:15 +0000

German Bright Side

Katherine — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:17:29 +0000