Wednesday, November 5, 2014

COVERED UP WITH KATHY LANE


Back to school favorite:  pens or notebooks? Pens, definitely. Don’t know why, but I love collecting unusual pens. I have more pens on my desk at work than I will ever use. I keep the neatest ones in my desk drawer so they won’t walk away. Back before computers, (yes, there was a before) I enjoyed seeing the words come out of the end of my pen, one by one. There’s just a magic to it that’s different from typing. Not that I don’t appreciate the speed of the electronic age. Going back to hand-written manuscripts would be hard!

 

Hiking or jumping in a pile of leaves? I’m too much of a girly-girl to enjoy jumping in a pile of leaves. I’ll take working up a sweat on a long hike over bugs and dirt and bits of leaves getting in all the wrong places any day.

 

Halloween or Thanksgiving? Ooh, that’s a hard one. Both holidays mean a lot to me. I grew up in a simple time, back when Halloween was all about jack-o-lanterns, scary stories, and kids dressing up and having fun. Oh, and candy, candy, candy! The big thing was Trick or Treating, and in our small town it was a family affair. Everyone knew everyone, and running around in the spooky dark dressed as a bedsheet ghost while gathering candy wasn’t as dangerous as it is today. Or if it was, we, as kids, weren’t aware of it. Halloween holds some of the happiest memories for me, ones that I’ll always treasure. I may not Trick or Treat now days, but I still have a grinning pumpkin on my doorstep.

Thanksgiving brings its own set of memories. We always gather for a big family feast—turkey, dressing, and all the trimmings. We have a big family, but it’s close-knit, and we have a lot to be thankful for. 

 

Hot buttered rum or hot chocolate? This is an easy one. For me, chocolate always trumps alcohol of any kind. I’m not much of a drinker anyway. Besides, hot chocolate is one of my comfort food favorites. These days, I’m in such a rush that I usually grab a package of mix and cup of hot water. But I still remember the days when I heated up a cup of milk and added the good old fashioned Hershey’s chocolate powder—or better yet, syrup. Yum!

 

 

Who's book (besides one of yours) are you most looking forward to reading?

I’m always on the lookout for new books from my favorite authors. There are the old favorites; Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Meljean Brook, Nalini Singh, and Kresley Cole, among others. Then there are the new authors I’ve recently discovered, like Rachel Aaron and Anne Bishop. Both of these ladies have created excellent worlds that I look forward to visiting again. Rachel has several books, but the series I’m hooked on right now is the Heartstrikers. Nice Dragons Finish Last is book 1 and is a great read. I’m eagerly awaiting book 2, One Good Dragon Deserves Another, due out this Fall. Anne’s world of the Others is well thought out and has a haunting quality that grabs the reader at the get go. Books 1 and 2 are out, and book 3, Vision In Silver, is due in March, 2015.

 

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