What I’ve Been Doing the Last Month…

Hello All,

I have been extremely sporadic with my posts for over a month now. I’m going to tell you why.

I was nominated for a book award at the prestigious Maine Literary Awards. I went to that awards ceremony with some extreme excitement and trepidation. And while I didn’t win that evening (the award went to the extremely talented Joseph Souza), I had lots of fun getting to know several of the other authors that had shown up to the event. The nomination has also granted me the chance to have a guest author blog on the Southern Writers Magazine blog. I’ll be sending that in at the end of this week.

I worked four days at my day job, took one day off to drive up to Unity and watch one of my best friends graduate (congrats again, Sabrina!), then worked another two days, then drove off to New Hampshire for a work clinic and some crazy hiking with one of my other best friends, and then returned to work another three days. While it was all fun, it left me little to no time to get anything done.

I realized that I only had a month to finish writing a manuscript on a story I started back in 2o10! I had given myself the June 1st deadline as a way to knock myself into gear and not be lazy. And while I was a couple days late finishing the manuscript, I’m happy to announce that “Night Time, Dotted Line” my indie dram-edy’s first draft is finally finished. I’ll be spending the summer and beginning of the fall editing, revising, and formatting. Joy, oh, sweet joy.

This brings me to the blog and some changes going on here.

If you didn’t catch my last Inspiration Through Music post, then you’ll have missed the fact that that blog will not be a weekly blog any longer. I have no time to commit to it each week any more but I would still like to keep it as an occasional blog.

The last Cooking Adventure that I did was some time ago… as most of you are aware. May was an absolutely crazy month for me… as I’ve said several times before. I want to make sure we get summer on this blog kicked off the right way and unfortunately, I’m going to have to abandon my last idea for a cooking adventure which I cooked… and don’t remember much of what happened.

As of late, my choices for the cooking blog have been rather bland or boring, things that are much too easy for me to make. It may have something to do with me grappling with financial woes or just not having enough time. But, I don’t want to let down the devoted readers of this particular blog either. That being said, we’re going to see a Cooking Adventures Re-Boot in the month of June. This week, I’ll be making Rice Krispy Treats or attempting to anyway… and next week, I’ll be making a Lemon Pepper Shrimp with Orzo dish to kick off this fantastic summer weather we’ve been having.

Stay tuned for a post this week. And yes, this time, I mean it.

~KSilva

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Maine Literary Awards Finalist!

I woke up this morning with a migraine. I ended up going back to bed for an hour to get rid of it, sipping at weak coffee, and eating a rather crispy pumpkin muffin.

I drove to work behind someone who was afraid of slight bends in the road. He’d slow down whenever he came to one… and he wasn’t even going the speed limit.

All day at work, I kept saying the opposite of what I meant to say. It got so that I couldn’t even get one sentence out without something not sounding right.

But when I got home, I received some of the best news I’ve ever had. My second novel, Aequitas: Book 2 of The Monstrum Chronicles was nominated in the speculative fiction category at the 2013 Maine Literary Awards. I’m blown away… completely blown away. They said that there were a hundred entries for the various categories. To be one of the finalists in the Maine Literary Awards along with such names as Paul Doiron and Monica Wood and countless others is a tremendous honor. A fellow author with whom I’m thankful to have been introduced to, Jeff Foltz, is one of my fellow nominees. I’m so glad that I can share that category with such a wonderfully talented author.

The awards ceremony is May 30th! I’ll be there to rub elbows with some pretty awesome people and sit trembling as they announce the winners. Words can’t describe how excited I am. Seriously. Excited.

Haven’t checked out my Monstrum Chronicles series yet? Aequitas can be found here on Amazon! Give it a peek!

~KSilva

Goodbye 2012… Welcome 2013!

Wow. What a year its been. I’ve got to say that never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I’d be keeping a blog going all year long… two blog posts weekly. Sure I slipped off the track here and there but still managed to make up for it each time. I’m not that great with being consistent about weekly writings, so this was a big step for me. I had a wonderful year cooking many bizarre and sometimes wonderful dishes, expanding my culinary knowledge and having a few good laughs at the same time. Likewise, I also enjoyed discovering unique and inspiring music to branch out my creativity in my writing and sharing it with you all. I intend to continue both blogs into the new year along with a resolution to try and keep my promises of having Inspiration Through Music up on Mondays and now Cooking Adventures up every Friday.

In addition to the blog, I’ve also published my Kindle and paperback versions of Aequitas, a feat that has had me with my nose to the grindstone since two years ago. I learned more than I can ever imagine about self-publishing, self-marketing, and online marketing and am eager to learn more. I also had some inspiration for some wonderful projects that I hope to continue with into 2013. I joined both Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance and the New England Horror Writers Association, both amazing groups to be a part of with being an author in Midcoast Maine. I organized my very first readings with the Camden and Rockland libraries, both of which were tons of fun. And let’s not forget the other awesome writer’s I’ve met this year.

I’d planned to have both my Cooking Adventure and my Inspiration Through Music up tonight for your viewing pleasure. Alas, I’ve been struck not only by a devilish headache but by the most sinister back ache imaginable… from shoveling snow yesterday morning. (I lifted with my back, not my legs. I know, I know. You’re not supposed to do that. I learned my lesson.) So we’ll be kicking off the new year tomorrow evening with both instead. My Cooking Adventure is in the oven as we speak, and the house smells wonderfully of gingerbread. Mmm-mmm!

To the rest of you, here’s hoping you have fantastic evenings and happy New Year’s celebrations! Looking forward to interacting with more of you in 2013!

~KSilva