Kate Grace's Blog

Just a heads up for everyone. I’ve moved my Internet Self over to www.kategracewrites.com and http://www.abitofgrace.com will be expiring soon. You can catch me on Twitter, Facebook and even Instagram too (lots of pictures of Maddie… be forewarned).

Book 2, 3, 4, etc., are coming along, I promise. And you all have every reason to want to pummel me right now. I promise that won’t be the case once you’ve read them… you’ll forget about the wait.

Thanks for your patience and your encouragement! Keep an eye on the accounts for updates or subscribe to the the email newsletter on the new site… we’ll send out release dates when we’ve got them.

Love, Light & Smiles!

Kate

We’ll be retiring this “site” and blog now that we’ve got the new one up and running for Kate Grace. There’s a new blog and links to her social network profiles. There’s also an email newsletter you can subscribe to for news on release dates, books, shorts and events down the road. 

Check it out:

KATE GRACE WRITES

I know what you’re thinking… “What the crap, Kate?!?!”

A valid question.

So many of you invested your time (and emotion) into reading Burden of the Soul a couple years ago. So many of you have been ambassadors for my first book out on the Web and your social profiles, and I can’t ever thank you enough for that. 

But I could start by giving you the rest of the story, which I will. But first… I’ll answer your first question: “What the crap, Kate?!?!?”

Sometimes life kicks you in the ass. There’s no gentler way to put it. Everyone knows it to be true. But what only some may know, but everyone (I’m sorry to say) will eventually learn is that sometimes life kicks you in the ass, and when you stand up, it kicks you in the ass again. Rinse and repeat for a year, two years. In some cases, more. 

It’s been a “more” case for me.

I’m not looking to turn this into a pity party or to even give any details beyond my wonderfully poetic metaphor found above. I just wanted to give you some sort of answer for your wonderfully posed question.

I say all of this to say very sincerely that I’m sorry. You gave me your time in reading the book. You gave me your time in posting reviews and telling friends. You gave me your time in the emails sent and comments made. I value every moment you have gifted to my little daydream that could. So sincerely, thank you.

It’s taken time (and some pitfalls), but I see now that a lot of what I experienced was necessary so that I have a place to write from. I always knew these characters were going to be put through the wringer. I just had to go through a bit of a wringer myself to meet them where they are.

With all of that said, I can’t give you dates yet. The second I can, I will. I can say that the current Book 1 of the Burden of the Soul series will be coming down in the next few days to be relaunched in a few months with the second installment. It’ll have a new look, it’ll be polished and it’ll be the new start to a series that won’t have “Game of Thrones” or “Sherlock” length breaks in between episodes. 

It’s all getting revamped for a fresh start and to leave the past in the past, which means this will be the last post on the WordPress Blog. There are more “reveals” to come, but for now you can keep track of news and progress related to the Burden of the Soul relaunch on my Author Facebook Page (it’s brand spanking new), myTumblr, or follow me (and say HI!) on Twitter.

More to come, but until then… Thank you to all of you for sticking with me! I’ll make it worth your while.

I can see those Google searches and I’ve read all the messages or emails you guys have sent (and responded to all, I believe). There’s been tweets. There’s been Facebook messages, and I have to say I am overwhelmed by how excited all of you are for Book 2.

So I owe you all a pretty massive apology as it’s now June 2 and Book 2 isn’t out yet, as I had promised it would be. I owe you an apology (I am very sorry) and as much as an explanation as I am able to give. 

Releasing a book, or any creative work, has a ton of back end to it and all of that back end costs quite a bit of money. I am my own publisher, so there is no financial backing for the Burden Series beyond my personal checking account. The number of downloads for Book 1 is absolutely staggering, just mind-blowing. But in an effort to get it in the hands of more people we decided to make it free. It worked for sure (HELLO, GREAT BRITAIN!), but it does mean that it didn’t make money and at the time I could not foresee the events 2013, particularly these last few months, had in store for me. 

These last few months in my personal life have been, quite possibly, the most difficult I have ever encountered. I’ve heard this from a lot of people lately, so maybe you’re rowing a similar boat right along with me. Without going into details of the how, why or whatever – which only leaves me shaking my fists right now and that’s not getting me anywhere – suffice it to say my home is gone, my job is gone and any funding I had set aside for Book 2 is, right now, gone. But hey… Maddie’s still around! 

It breaks my heart to let you guys down in this way, but unfortunately the final stages of production Book 2 requires at this point all require money. It will happen, and I’m fighting like hell to get back up on my feet in general so this release can get back up on its feet as well. It will happen, as soon as I am able. 

I can’t thank you guys enough for all of your support and understanding. It means the world to me, and is a huge part of why I’m still fighting rather than giving up and wallowing in a sea of One Tree Hill episodes (though there have been a lot of those lately). 

Sometimes life sweeps you off your feet. Sometimes in a good way. Sometimes in a way that knocks the wind right out of ya. That’s where I am right now. But I’ll get back up. That I can promise. 

As promised, here is your sneak peek into Book 2 of the Burden of the Soul series. We’ll keep you posted on its upcoming release later next month. In the meantime, spread the word about the first book now free to download on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes and just about anywhere online! 

Enjoy!

1. 

            The rhythm of my feet on pavement felt good, but not nearly as much as Dave’s annoyance at how slow I was running. Well, jogging – when I wasn’t walking. Dave was keeping pace next to me when a woman pushing a running stroller passed us. It frustrated him to no end, but he couldn’t go faster without me and I knew it. So I just turned the volume up on my iPod and continued matching the moderate rhythm of Noah and the Whale with my feet.

The ear bud popped out as he pulled it from my ear. 

“You could at least try,” he said.

“This is me running. I said I would compromise… not try.” I put the ear bud back in and picked up with the chorus out loud for his benefit. “There’ll be fun, fun, fun…”

“You’re the boss.”

He bumped me out of the runners’ lane as he plopped a kiss on my cheek.

Our mutual class schedules were a point of contention before the Spring semester. Luckily, or as aptly planned, Dave’s schedule as a Senior was pretty open for electives at Hunter High School so Brik took the opportunity to put him on full time detail, not that I minded. At least not until he suggested Martial Arts as our phys ed elective.

“I’m not breaking any boards,” I said during our negotiation at the Brownstone kitchen table. Brik oversaw the proceedings.

“’What a surprise,’ said no one ever,” said Brik, having not lost his inclination to sarcasm.  Oliver laughed. Aunt Grace smacked Oliver over the head.

“Okay, then what about weight training?” Dave was intent on making the most of school hours for his training, in his words, and never let up on suggesting the most far-fetched electives knowing full well I would have to attend the class with him. With each new suggestion I so badly wanted to point out his hipster-inspired body frame and laugh. But then again I also wanted to cuddle that body frame later. So, there was that.

“What about Ice Skating?” I offered.  Dave and Brik shared a glance – an unspoken agreement to completely ignore the suggestion.

“Rock climbing,” said Dave.

“Folk dancing,” I retorted. Things were getting ugly.

“I feel the need to remind you that whatever class you decide on you are solely responsible for her safety from everything during that hour,” Brik said, shooting Dave a raised-eyebrow glance. Dave sank back in his seat.

“Not rock climbing,” he said.

Grace leaned over Brik’s shoulder to look at the course offerings, her chin-length brown hair falling forward and blocking her view. She reached up and slid it behind her ear as Brik watched, his features softening and his eyes glancing up to her neck.

The morning I woke up and saw her lying in the hall outside Dave’s door I thought I was still dreaming. Even though we embraced and cried and laughed, it took the whole day for it to really sink in that she was back. It took the greater part of a week to come to grips with Hannah also being in the Brownstone. That was a couple months back and she was still there, keeping her distance from me even still. Generally she clung to Grace whenever Rose would settle for hovering rather than smothering.

I had seen Devin by way of meditation or trance, or whatever you might call it, a couple of times since her appearance at the Brownstone, though it was becoming more and more difficult to arrange meetings like that. Partially because of the overbearing attentiveness of Guardians, now amplified by an Aunt. But also partially because of the guilt I felt to Dave, maybe to Devin. I didn’t even know which.

“What about the 5K challenge?” asked Grace, turning her head. Brik snapped back into his stiff-neck posture a safe distance away from her, adjusting his glasses to make it look natural. “They run in the park. Dave would be running with her, but we could also station posts around their route just to be sure. Seems a safer option than her running off somewhere for water polo or… bowling. Bowling? Really?”

The other Guardians gave nods of approval from where they were – Liv from the kitchen with Rose, Dem from the front hall and Oliver from the couch.

“Do I get a vote?” I asked Brik. In reply he simply marked both class selection forms for the 5K Challenge. “Well alright then.”

Now, a few weeks into the semester, it wasn’t so bad. Everyone else in the class took it more seriously so of course they were way ahead of us, despite Dave’s relentless encouragements to pick of the pace and to go for it, or something. But I just kept to my rhythm and threw a smile to Liv as we passed her appearing to read a book on a park bench.

“Oh come on, we’re going down hill,” I could hear Dave say over my music. “Pick it up a bit, Clara.”

“No thank you,” I said smiling.

We took the tight curves of East Drive around Lasker ice rink soon to be converted back to a swimming pool as the temperature continued to rise. I kept my leisurely pace, knowing full well the hill would turn into an incline shortly. For his sake, I would jog it when we got there.

We finished the route long after everyone else had, passing Dem and Oliver along the way, as well as any number of Guardians I didn’t know personally. With Brik living in the same house as me I started to become more aware of just how extensive the “program,” I guess you could say, really was. Shifts were rotated around the clock and a day off really just meant a day to train. Brik’s phone was buzzing constantly and I found it weird that, in months of being in the same house, I had never actually seen him sleep.

Dave and I headed back to Hunter chatting about normal things, which was a relief. Alli and Cole dating, Dave’s new music finds and general high school gossip. That was a serious perk to having Dave on school day detail – I got to forget I was being guarded and for a few hours of the day felt like I was just being dated. Dave was always game to talk about life whereas the others, Brik in particular, always seemed to talk about its demise.

We got back into the school prepared to accept the prodding of our running instructor, Ms. Crawford. She always directed her disapproval of our performance at Dave, knowing he could do better if he tried. But her face seemed grim as we approached. Sad even.

“You two should head home,” she said, her voice breaking a bit. She turned and walked down the hall having accounted for each of her students as usual. But unlike the usual, her tone seemed sad rather than snarky.

“Go get changed,” she said. “Separately.”

That was more like it. 

“I have to shower,” Dave said. “But I’ll meet you right back here when you’re done.”

“You didn’t even break a sweat.”

“I always break a sweat when I’m around you,” he said, leaning in and giving me a light kiss before walking to the guys’ locker room.

 “If that’s meant to be gross, then… gross.”

 “But you’re still smiling,” he said, the upturned lines of his face catching the shadows as the door swung closed between us. He was right. I couldn’t help but smile.

I liked being so far behind the others because it meant an empty locker room for me. There were only a couple girls on their way out as I was heading in. One bumped my shoulder as she came around the corner and quickly apologized without really leaving their conversation about weekend plans.

 Invisible again, and I took comfort in it.

I was alone in the locker room and took my time in the shower, feeling relaxed and warmed by the water. I took a deep breath and allowed my mind to clear. The familiar deep shadow spread over my closed eyes and I felt my body relax even more. I jerked away from the water and forced my eyes open, not willing to go to that room and potentially meet him there. I had no answers yet. He wanted his sister back and Brik refused to return her. I wasn’t built for diplomacy, and I certainly hadn’t tested the results of entering that spirit-based place naked.

I couldn’t see him again until I knew what I could do for Hannah – or until I was fully clothed.

As difficult as it was to find the time to willingly go to him, it seemed lately more and more like I was being pulled. Even as I walked back to my locker wrapped in a towel I could feel a pleading somewhere inside me. It was like a faint whisper of his voice in my mind begging me to show up. I braced myself against a locker, closed my eyes and pushed back on the pull. I pushed back on his words and his need, willing it to fall back into my unawareness.

The door to the locker room swung open with a bang and I heard footsteps taking frantic, quick steps accompanied by heavy breathing.

“Dave?” 

There was a pause and then a change in direction. He swung around the corner of the lockers and stopped when he saw me, his chest rising and lowering with each breath. I stumbled back and yanked at the towel, pulling it tighter in shock.

“Mr. Mitchell?” My breath quickened. “You can’t be in here.” 

He came at me fast, his hands reaching. The whites of his eyes stayed with me as I looked back and forth for a break in the lockers to run, but he was too fast. His hands grasped my forearms completely unaware of the fact of where we were or how I was dressed.

“Please, you must,” he said. “You have to do it, you have to.”

Warmth bled through my body as that dormant part of me I had encountered on the other side months ago woke up at the alarm. I could feel its awareness for the first time in my physical world rather than a dream-like state and it startled me. I fell back and, with one hand, reached to the wooden bench below, but my guidance counselor’s hand pulled it back with a jerk. His sleeve slipped and I saw the edge of a far too familiar tattoo on his arm. He saw me looking.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said in desperation, but he shook me.

“You do,” his voice was guttural and urgent. “You do know. You know, don’t lie to me.”

He pushed at me with each word, his fingers tightening around my arms, digging in and causing my instincts to leave the towel and start to fight back.

“I DON’T know,” I growled back. “Let me go.”

I was loud, intentionally. 

The door swung open again and I heard his quick steps before he came around the lockers. As if seeing the frozen, still images of a flipbook, I watched as Dave grabbed Mr. Mitchell by the shoulders of his perfectly ironed button down and threw him against the lockers. Dave’s hands switched to the man’s collar, throwing him against the locker repeatedly. It took only seconds for Mr. Mitchell’s shock to subside, and the man twice Dave’s size began to fight back.

“You’re a child,” he said through clenched teeth, throwing Dave against the opposite locker. “You don’t understand. We’re ruined unless she…”

“Unless she, what?” Dem appeared from the shadows, the dim lights outlining his steady shoulders. The treble in his voice, and more than likely the recognition of his physical force, made Mitchell jump back. He gathered himself and patted down his shirt, looking at the shadows where Dem’s silhouette stood.

“Demetrius… even you have to recognize it, there’s no more time,” Mitchell said, seeming to break with tears forming. “We’re lost unless she just does it already.”

There was a cold force behind his words. Dem walked out of the shadow toward him, raising his arm.

“And you forget she’s still just a girl,” he said, raising his hand to Mitchell’s mouth.

“You can’t…” Mitchell’s plea was cut short as Dem pressed down on something in his hand, releasing a mist that silenced Mitchell and sent him to his knees. Dave lunged forward and caught Mitchell’s head just inches above the wooden bench. For a beat we all took deep breaths. I was on the ground, my back against a cinder block wall. I was shaking.

“Are you okay?” Dem seemed so calm. I felt the need to match his energy, or at least try. I exhaled, clasped the towel around me and nodded.

 “I can do it,” Dave said, looking up to Dem.

“But you shouldn’t have to,” said Dem, gently. Regardless of the circumstances, he was somehow always kind.

Dem pulled a pocket knife from his coat and swung it open. Dave lifted Mitchell’s limp arm and pulled back the sleeve of his crisp shirt, exposing the tattoo. 

“You shouldn’t watch, Clara,” said Dem.

I straightened myself, though still on the floor, and looked right back at him, taking a deep breath and letting it go.

“Go ahead,” I said. “Do it.”

He nodded, then slit through the barcode tattoo on a diagonal. Not deep, but deep enough.

There are lots of questions coming in about the sequel to Burden of the Soul, and I can’t thank you guys enough for your patience while I told life obstacles and writer’s block to “Put up your dukes!”

Book 2 (title still a secret) will be released digitally at the end of May. Some retailers take longer than others so possibly early June in some cases (cough! iTunes, ahem!). The paperback will release at the end of June. 

But we’re going to give you all a little nibble this week! We’ll be posting Chapter 1 of the second book right here on Thursday so keep your eyes peeled! And for those who haven’t read the first book in the Burden series, it’s free to download right now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, iTunes and just about anywhere eBooks are sold. 

See you guys Thursday!

It took a bit to get most of the distribution channels to play nice, but some are coming around and I’m happy to announce Burden of the Soul (Book 1) is now free to download! Help us by spreading the word and letting any of your friends know. Send them to Smashwords, iTunes or Kobo right now for their free digital copy. As others get on board and allow the book to be marked as free I’ll post those links as well.

And don’t worry, you’re not missing out on any bonus material. All bonus material leading up to the launch of Book 2 this Spring will be released right here on the blog. So keep an eye on this site or like the Burden of the Soul page on Facebook to get notified when bonus chapters and sneak peak excerpts go live.

Now, it’s back to the writing cave for me!

I can’t thank you all enough for being so supportive and patient as I work on the sequel(s) to Burden of the Soul. I’ve gotten some comments here, posts on Facebook and questions lately about when the next book will release, so I wanted to take a second and give an update.

I had set a release of late 2012 as my goal and worked on the sequel to meet that deadline, but as I was writing I was less and less satisfied with the story. I put it aside for a bit to address why I was having such trouble with this one when the first seemed to jump out of my finger tips and stick the landing. I realized that the problem was with me… I was writing passively. I was unsure, and so these characters became unsure as well. And then I became fearful of failure.

As a writer, the goal of constantly improving never gets shelved. I have read each and every review, post and email the Burden of the Soul readers have put out into the world and taken each opinion to heart in hopes of making the series better. When I took a step back from writing Book 2 to get to the core of the problem, I realized just how fearful I was of failing and how distracted and disconnected from the characters I became because of it. So I change stuff of. I changed my process. I changed my perspective. I changed my attitude. Since changing it up and approaching the rewrite I am charged again. At the risk of linguistically dating myself, I am completely STOKED about these characters, this story and the direction.

With all of that said, I need to give you all an official apology and humbly ask for your patience for just a bit longer. The next book will release by Spring 2013 and the third late Fall 2013. I’m writing straight through to ensure you all never have to wait this long again.

Burden of the Soul was not just my first book, but also my first step into publishing. I learned a ton and a lot of that came from you guys. When the sequel(s) release they will be top shelf because of all you’ve helped me learn. As a thank you (and an attempt to buy your forgiveness), a new edition of Burden of the Soul (Book 1) with bonus chapters will release near the holidays in December. This edition will be completely free for download until the release of Book 2.

I am so sorry I wasn’t able to make the deadline of this year, but I promise all of you this extra time will make not only for a better sequel, it will make for a better series and I have all of you to thank for that. So thank you! Thank you for sending the emails, posting reviews and sharing the book with friends. Thank you for helping to mold me as a writer.

As always you can shoot me an email, post on Facebook, comment here or find me on Goodreadsif you have any questions or want to chew me out. I welcome all of it!

Artist Rachel Buse offers an inspiring talk on “Makers Block” and how to get out of it.

I’m working on a bit of a bonus for all of you wonderful, oh-so-patient Burden of the Soul readers to tie you over until the release of Book 2 later this year. Just a little fun to give you more from Book 1.

As I wrote the book, I focused on Clara and most is told through her perspective. But each character has a story. When they leave a room things are still happening. Their stories progress. It just happens to be within Clara’s life they all converge.

So for some end-of-summer fun there will be bonus reading as a great big thank you to each and every one of you who have supported Burden of the Soul, spread the word about it and waited patiently for this author with a day job and a labrador puppy to get a move on with the next installment.

We’ll release three new chapters to Book 1… each one from a section of the book you already read through Clara’s perspective. But this time, you’ll see it through another character’s point of view. Two are already selected: Dave and Brik.

Here’s the fun part: YOU all get to pick the third. Comment here, Tweet me or post on our Facebook wall which character you want to hear from in Book 1, and include your reason why. Each vote will count and the character with the most votes/best reasoning at the end will be our third character.

There are only two rules:

1. Devin is off limits.

2. So is Rex.

(Sorry, y’all. You’ll hear from them later!)

We’ll keep this sucker open until This Friday, July 20 at 9pm EST. Comment on this post, post to Facebook or Tweet me. Each counts for one vote… so get creative!