Authors and Writing,Chances,Life,Publishing

Book Giveaway!

Would you like to read my book, GIVING MY SELF TO THE WIND?   If so, you can win it for FREE! Starts in a few days, and goes for a few weeks. Just in time for the New Year. Goodreads Book Giveaway Giving My Self to the Wind by Kathryn Atkins Giveaway ends December 20, 2017. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter Giveaway   Give YOUR self to the wind . . . and receive the gift of love. GOOD LUCK! [caption id="attachment_479" align="alignnone" width="225"] The Author[/caption]
Authors and Writing,Bucket Lists,Fear,Hacking,Life,Living

Published!

This published book, Giving My Self to the Wind, is a way to say ‘I was here.’ I stole that idea from Thomas Kail, the director of Hamilton. I hope he doesn't mind if I borrow it because it's true. A headstone doesn’t do it, and I cannot hold my kids responsible for substantiating my existence. My 298-page (!) book opens with a quote by Gustave Flaubert that also explains why I wrote and published Giving My Self to the Wind (GMSTTW): “The art of writing is the art of discovering what you believe.” Isn’t that why most people write? The collection's title...
Life,Living

HIbernate to Old, Please

How I wish I could hibernate for the next thirty years — no make that twenty — so I could suddenly wake up feeling old and being okay with it. Gray hair: check. Wrinkles everywhere: check. White eyelashes: check. Liver spots (ugh): check. I’m all here, but I’m calm in my old age and not fighting to be a young old person coloring my hair, wearing ingénue clothes, working at breakneck speed to keep up with a race for new technology that I cannot win. [caption id="attachment_2146" align="alignleft" width="223"] THE PATH[/caption] And there I would be, coming out into the...
Life

Messy Drawers

This is a terrifying time of year for me. In order to get ‘the holiday thing’ done, I now find myself faced with bedroom, kitchen, and office drawers that make me want to throw up. They symbolize my disorganization by distraction as I dart to the next task without closure on the last. During the year when I have a moment, I’ll madly clean out a drawer and either throw things away or whisk them to their proper place. Afterward, I am smug and smitten with my new pristine storage area, and beam every time I open the drawer to...
Life,Living

Flamenco Recital

Con El Alma Dance Recital The night before a recital. Flamenco practice done. The dancers are ready. Their hair in buns. Their feet are sore From practicing every night. Excited and happy, Their goal is to delight. Filled with elation. Full of anticipation. Feeling exhilaration. There’s never a temptation To back away. No way, no way. Attack. Stay. Dance. Sway. Sweat ‘til you’re wet. Don’t forget. Don’t forget! Smile. Grimace. Spin. Keep the beat. More heart. More heart. Feel the passion! Meet your art. The newbies in awe Watch the seasoned dancers dance. With hope, with work, We may have...
Authors and Writing,Birth,Chances,Life

ADOPTED

[caption id="attachment_479" align="alignleft" width="225"] Kathryn  at 18 months[/caption] It didn’t start out to be about me, but it was. In fact, it’s not about me! But LOL, it is about me. And it’s about lots of other folks like me who were adopted without knowing who their real parents were. And still don’t. A reporter in the HARO (Help A Reporter Out) space needed a few quotes about adoption. I replied that I was willing to help her. The reporter, Chandra Evans, interviewed me and the result is in this article, which turned out to be quite a lot — more than I thought...