A different kind of shifter

 I admit it, werewolves (or as they're known in PNR. wolf-shifters) kind of bore me. I just think there are way more interesting creatures to shift into. (Do not get me started on those books about peacock shifters and raven shifters. It defies credulity that a fully grown adult can shift into a three-pound bird or a house cat or anything that weighs less than a hundred pounds.)

So when I write about shifters, they're likely to be somthing else. I have a whole series of books spotlighting women who shift into a tiger, a lion, and a snow leopard. The tiger story is called "A Tiger's Heart" and it's included in this anthology, Shifter Time. You might enjoy it. The title is taken from a Shakespeare play because I love Shakespeare and look for any opportunity to use it. It comes from Macbeth, one of my favorite plays despite its cursed reputation. It's a description of Lady Macbeth, who has a tiger's heart "wrapped in woman's hide."  

A Sense of Place

 I've lived a lot of places in my life. My father was in the Army, so at a minimum, that meant we moved every three years at the minimum until he retired. I traveled a lot as a kid, and visited a lot of other states and countries. Now, after five years in Washington state, I live as a digital nomade in Portugal.  Before my stay in Washington, I lived in Los Angeles for decades. L.A. was like no other place I'd ever been and I really loved it there. It became the setting for one of my long-running book series, and I also wrote a whole lot of short stories set there. L.A. had everything a writer could want.

When I moved from L.A. to Bellingham, it was a bit of a weather shock. I moved in January and it was the coldest day my new hometown had experienced in many years. It was 28, and the doors and windows were all open to air out the new paint fumes and allow the movies easy access. It was also raining. The last few years I lived in Los Angeles, it didn't rain much. It rained so much in Bellngham that if you took a shower and left your used towel on the towel rack--it wouldn't get dry. Things stayed damp. Mildew was a problem. Black mold was a problem. The house smelled of sporacide for a month after we started treating the mold we found everywhere. Bellingham was not beautiful in winter. 

But come the fall--it was the most magical place I'd seen in years. The oaks and maples and birch trees exploded wtih brilliant colors. I hadn't seen fall--my favorite season--since I left my parents' home in Virginia. I loved fall in Bellingham.  There were many other reasons to love the city. Located halfway between Vancouver, B.C. and Seattle, it had a park with a waterfall. The best indepedent bookstore on the West Coast, and tons of restaurants. It had a rich history that was literally embedded in its sidewalks--glass squares that provided illumination for the tunnels below--remnant of a dark past when Chinese immigrant workers lived in those tunnels. There was a road that ran adjacent to my bank that led to Canada. It was lined with trees and in the autumn, it looked like a road to some fairyland place.The city was criss-crossed by hiking trails that the deer also used. The deer were not shy and it was not unusual to see one passing. That also added to the fairytale atmosphere.

But for some reason, it was really hard for me to get a sense of the place.  I tried writing a short story set there for an anthology of Pacific Northwest stories called something like Blood and Rain. I failed miserably. I didn't know what was wrong, why it just wasn'tcoming. And then one day I started writing Deus Ex Magical, the first in my "Ostrander witches series, and I realized...my character lived in Seattle. I had taken the name of the series from a friend of mine who lives in Seattle, and I knew the city. And then, I wrote an spin-off story for my L.A. Nocturne series and decided my hero was going to be a guy who grew up in L.A. but hated it. Instead, he lived in the Pacific Northwest, in a town that's modeled on a place called Centralia. Centralia is home to about 18,000 people and it's full of Craftsmen houses and people who own guns and belong to White Nationalist groups. It also has fabulous thrift shops, a real community feeling, and a tiny, family-owned grocery store that showcases apples grown in Washington state. (Cosmic apples are the best I've ever tasted.) 

So the Rezso novels are set in an unnamed PNW town, which works just fine. But now I live in Portugal in a city with hills and cobblestone walks and grafitti and ruined places and incredible history and remarkable beauty. This is my sunset view from the terrace of the apartment I rent. The terrance "sold" the place. I spend more than I want to, but being able to look toward the ocean and see church towers is worth a lot. 

I've been here a little over a  year and I've already written two novellas set here. One is about a vampire killer who goes after a demonic vampire killing immigrants in the Algarve, the coastal area that's home to a lot of Brits and Americans who love it for its heat and similarity to So. California. The other was Second Honeymoon, which is a silly rom com of a story that takes place in a deserted apartment that's basically modeled on mine. Portugal and its second city Porto, don't have the same cachet of other European countries and cities, but it suits me fine. I am a woman of a certain age and the young ones call me Dona Caterina. I sort of like that. Learning the language has been tough. But I feel at home here, and that means I can write the city. Being able to do that tells me I'm at home.

For the Rest of the Year

 I've been quiet on here for the last few months because it has been a crazy time. But thanks to a week of reflection and recharging centered around my landmark birthday yesterday, I now have more focus and clarity on what the last third of the year will be like.

There will be more writing!! As well as another run at attaining USA TODAY bestselling status. Yes, I know I already did it back in 2019-21, but USAT bestseller status is like getting a Michelin star. it doesn't follow the chef, it stays with the restaurant. So just because Katherine Moore won it, doesn't mean I can ue it with any of my other pen names. So I've joined a list-aiming mystery/suspense anthology and my story will be A Woman Presumed. 

I got the idea from a fragment of a news story I heard on the radio years ago about an important man who was murdered, along with the woman in bed beside him who was, "presumed to be his wife." Who the story didn't name, as if she was merely collateral damange to the death of the man, whose name I actually HAVE forgotten.  Wish me well on this journey and you know you'll hear more about it as the list run (which will take a year) progresses. 

I'm also continuing to join boxed sets, including those with proceeds going to charity. (I'm a sucker for charity anthologies because I feel guilty not being able to contribute more financially and I've been in a number of anthologies that have pulled in a lot of money for deserving charities. They're a great bargain for the readers as well.) Look for my fairytale retelling of Beauty and the Beast (Hero's Kiss) in a breast cancer anthology coming soon.

I love fairytale retellings and have a couple queued up. One is a retelling of the Snow Queen. One is another take on East of the Sun, West of the Moon. And I'm kicking off a series called "The Sherwood Chronicles" with a gender-bent take on Robin Hood and her merry companions.

I've been playing with a third pen name, Katia Kozar, these last few months, and "she's" starting to get a little traction. In gneral, this pen name is reserved for stories that my regular pen names don't. They're not cozy romances or mysteries like Katherine Moore writers, and they're not romantic fantasy, urban fantasy or the PNR that Kat Parrish writes.

But both those other pen names will be busy too. Kat's launching a series of space opera-y tales set in my Quincunx universe--a tale of neutral "hospital planets" caught in the middle of a territorial war as an exo-virus rampages through human and alien alike. All the hospital planets are named after famous Earth doctors (real and fictional) and the first three books are called, Kildare, Salk, and Paracelsus.

There will also be two more entries in the Ostrander witches series, with Mother Nature (a tale about Roz Ostrander, who's a weather witch) and then Expecting Magic which is about an Ostrander cousin whose talent is somewhat subtle but whose unborn child is already exhibiting talents. I never expected Deus Ex Magical to kick off a series.

I hope to reactivate (and reinvigorate) this blog with a lot more book reviews. Maybe a few movie reviews. (Was anyone else appalled at the arc for Brad Pitt's character in Lost City?) But I'm really looking forward to the |Weird Al Yankovic movie. 

So it's good to be back.

I hope I'll see you here!

Ukrainian anthologies all around...

 I have a couple of pen names and all of them signed up for anthologies to benefit Ukraine. At least the ones I knew about. There are a bunch of them, and I hope they all make a fortune. Here in Portugal, where I've been living almost a year, there are already refugees being housed by residents, and the price of sunflower oil is soaring. In February, you could buy a liter for two euros. It's now more than four euros. 

Also, one of the biggest grocery chains in the country, with markets all over my city--including one in walking distance--turns out to be run by a Russian firm. So I have modified my shopping habits somewhat. It's the least I can do. 

I do not have a lot of money to donate, but I can write. And since one of my pen names has the USA Today bestselling accolade attached to it, I'd like to think that I can add some value. I hope so. 

Here are some of the collections I'm participating in. They're pretty affordable and they all feature new work from a number of terrific writers. 

The first collection is from the New Romance Cafe. I wrote a new Silver Birch story as Katherine Moore, a sweet little romance called, "The Sadness of Sunflowers." You can buy it here.

Here's the blurb:  

Protect the innocent.

Provide for families.

We stand with Ukraine.

Across the globe authors have come together to provide stories filled with hope, heart and understanding, inspired by the events of February 2022.

STAND FOR UKRAINE is a collection of romance, women’s fiction and poetry. Proceeds go to Save the Children’s efforts to provide Ukrainian children with food, warmth, shelter and psychological support.

The second book is SEEDS OF LOVE, which is available on pre-order at the moment. Here is the blurb for this one. You can help us make a difference.

SEEDS OF LOVE is a romance anthology to benefit Ukraine. This collection of short romance stories

is not available anywhere else. 100% of the royalties will be donated to United Help Ukraine, a charitable organization dedicated to helping the Ukrainian people affected by Russia’s invasion. They are a grassroots, entirely volunteer-based organization that provides aid to wounded Ukrainian warriors, assistance to their families, and support to internally displaced people.

This anthology features 48 authors. The stories include various sub-genres of contemporary romance, paranormal romance, dark romance, and romantic comedy. You can pre-order it here.

SEEDS OF LOVE is only available for a limited time! Stand with the people of Ukraine and get your copy today!

And finally, I have contributed a story as Kat Parrish to BBB Publishing's Ukraine anthology LOVE IS ETERNAL. It will be out at the end of the month and is

available for pre-order for 99 cents right now. My story, "Hunter's Kiss," has never been widely available before. It's a modern magic retelling of Snow White. You can preorder it here for only 9 cents.

If you don't want to buy a book, consider donating to Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen, which has been in Poland feeding refugees since February. 

NPR posted a terrific list of organizations who are providing aid to the people of Ukraine. Find it here.

Etsy.com is making it easy to support Ukrainian artists by purchasing digital goods--artwork and cards and the like. They're waiving selling fees. The prices of some of the artwork is heartbreakingly low. Here's their landing page for Ukrainian artists. 

A Dance of Blood and Magic

 

More vampire stories. These are stories that have both witches and vampires in them. I went urban fantasy here again because I am very interested in the politics of the situation and not so much in the witch and the vampire exchanging bodily fluids.

My story is called, "City Girl Watching," and it's about a family of witches in New York who are descended from a Dutch witch who immigrated when the city was still called New Amsterdam. I did a ton of research for it (almost none of which shows) and got really fascinated by the sheer forward-thinking of Dutch law at the time. (Women kept their own names after marriage, they could own property., The English were scandalized.) 

The collection is called  A Dance of Blood and Magic and you can preorder it here.  Right now, it's exclusive to Kindle.

I like the cover of the collection which includes a lot of different writers with letters after their name like NYT bestselling and USAT bestselling. (And that's one of the annoyances of having multiple pen names. My cozy romance and PWF name, Katherine Moore, has the USA TODAY bestselling accolade, but I can't use it with my other pen names!!!  

First Bite is coming soon...

 I never intended to start writing about vampires. I have never read Dracula, and I've never been able to watch Coppola's movie all the way through either. My favorite vampire novel is probably Salem's Lot. I like vampire movies, although they tend to be the offbeat ones, like Only Lovers Left Alive and Byzantium.

But one day a story idea popped into my head and it wouldn't go away and here I am, ten years later, still writing vampire stories. My vampire stories tend to be...different...from the standard PNR-style vampires. I tend to think in terms of practicalities. What would it really be like if we shared the world with creatures of the night? Would there be dry cleaners who specialized in getting blood out of clothes? Would vampire athletes compete with human ones? How many old vampires would still be sane.

"Vampire Occupation" is a story I wrote for an anthology/boxed set called First Bite, and I guarantee it's not exactly like the other stories. Although it is the story of a love triangle. 

Basically, my story is Red Dawn with vampires. A virus has decimated the human population at the same time the rush for a cure has created a new type of vampire. And now they've taken over...The tory I envision is actually going to end up to be sort of a menage tale, which is not something I usually do either. But somehow, it seems appropriate.  First Bite will be out soon, and you can preorder it here, across all the ebook platforms.

Love not War--Third Ukrainian anthology

 I didn't intend to sign up for three anthologies with deadlines ASAP but I did. For this one (writing as Katherine Tomlinson), I've been assigned a subgenre. (All the writers got different ones so all the stories won't be samey-samey. Mine is rom-com. 

Here's the sales pitch:

𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄, 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑 | A charity anthology for the Ukraine Crisis Fund

.

18 authors have come together to write 17 different romance stories of all sub-genres and tropes.

LOVE, NOT WAR releases 05.24.22

ONE CLICK ➜ https://books2read.com/LOVENOTWARCHARITYANTHO

Add to your TBR: https://bit.ly/3pKoTm2

All proceeds will go to benefit affected communities in Ukraine, with a focus on the most vulnerable, including children, who need access to food, medical services, and psychosocial support. It also supports humanitarian assistance in impacted communities in Ukraine and surrounding regions where Ukrainian refugees have fled.

Cover designer graciously donated by: Black Widow Designs

PARTICIPATING AUTHORS:

A.R. HALL

CASSIA BRIAR

DEE GARCIA

EMERY LEEANN & ELIZABETH ST JOHN

EMILY ROSE

HAZEL GRACE

JEN STEVENS

JENSEN REED

KATHERINE MOORE

M. JAMESON

M.R. LEAHY

N.M. BLACK

SARA A. MOSIER

SAVANNAH SLOAN

SUKI WILLIAMS

SUMMER O’TOOLE

YOLANDA OLSON

AMAZON US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TZ859D4

AMAZON UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09TZ859D4

AMAZON AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09TZ859D4

AMAZON CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09TZ859D4

BARNES AND NOBLE: https://bit.ly/3tV3DLR

APPLE: https://apple.co/3ITWeTg

KOBO: https://bit.ly/3tzjHCF