It used to hang on a window in my office overlooking the snowy backyard. I completed my first novel, a Middle Grade titled Blurb about a librarian who loves books but who never reads because he is afraid he won't be able to finish the books in one sitting. His friend teaches him about chapters in books, and that he can stop there without feeling overwhelmed. "They are tiny books within the stories," she explains. It is, to our adult eyes, obvious but, possessing an MLS myself, I have seen how intimidating chapter books can be to newer readers.

But, I digress...

Stained glass making never happened, but writing did; and I still own the few pieces I collected during that time. Now, I piece together colorful words to paint pictures of worlds made of glass and fire. They come alive for me on paper in much the same way I imagine Tiffany's imagination breathed life magic into glass.

If I devoted enough time to drawing, stained glass, knitting, or even gardening, I'm sure I could become at least proficient in them. I would never be a Michelangelo or a Tiffany, but that's not what matters. What matters is what medium calls to me in a way that sparks the magic of life. For most of my life, for reasons unidentified and mysterious even to me--it can't be a familial love of reading, because I'm the only writer in a family full of crafters--I have created with words on paper. Ink is in my blood.

Before I leave off, I want to share a doodle-like poem I scribbled while in grad school. 

Sheets of color,
gather

shape
​
in breath and flame.

Shards of pane,
shattered

join

with lead and iron.

Heavens illuminate.

Reverence
fixates

upon a world of glass and fire.

A few years back, I started going by K8 on social media because--you guessed it--there are too many Kates and not enough internet to go around.

Some friends joked about the "magic K8 ball," and the obsession with signing my name with digits, infinity symbols, and fortune-telling toys began. Sure, it's a little cheesy; but it stuck AND it's better than GreatKate998.

After a several year hiatus, during which I focused on obligations in an alternate universe, I shook the Oracle of 8 and asked whether it might be time to refocus on Urban Fantasy. Signs pointed to YES (i.e., the market for UF had stopped sucking quite so much), so, here I am.

In addition to this blog, I have Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram accounts. If you really want to catch me for something, please email. There are not enough hours in the day to drink tea, write, and play on social media.

If you want to find me, just look for K8. Until then, keep being gr8!