I just got some photos from distant relatives and they were celebrating an early Thanksgiving…with pizza.  I’m going to guess that because of blended families and the annual hassle of getting to each families loved ones, they’ve had to start the week before Thanksgiving to fit everyone in.

My family isn’t much better.  In the weeks leading up to turkey day our plans have changed several times.

But when looking at my relative’s photos, the thing that first caught my eye was the pizza.  The second thing that caught my eye was the fact they all looked relaxed and happy.  I wondered if they had pizza for Thanksgiving every year.  And don’t get me wrong, I think having such an “easy to serve” meal is a great idea.  I just can’t do it.

No stranger to stuffing a turkey and setting a formal table, I thought about how nice it would be to call the local pizza parlor and order Thanksgiving dinner delivered in a flat box.  But then I thought about the many holidays that have come before.

For me, there is something enchanting about adjusting the light coming from the chandelier in the dining room and setting the formal table with our fancy tablecloth, napkins and fine china and crystal.  I’m not keen on making the meal but I sure love eating it.  Of course, that’s probably because I very rarely cook anything that can’t be microwaved.

But the point is, for the few weeks of the holiday season, I do a number of things I’m not keen on doing, but I do them because it’s tradition.  And to not do them seems “wrong”.  And the truth is, I enjoy the outcome and the efforts then seem worthwhile. 

It worries me that my daughter doesn’t seem as bound to tradition as I am.  Especially since I recently learned that a tradition I started in our family was one of her favorite things about the holidays.  I’m sure she’ll carry on that particular tradition, but I’m not sure she shares my enchantment of setting a fancy table or spending days decorating the house with hundreds of seasonal baubles.  How will my granddaughter learn the joy of those acts?  I guess I’ll just have to carry on until she’s old enough to get “addicted”.  And if she doesn’t…I guess she’ll be serving pizza for Thanksgiving.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO ON MY IPOD RIGHT NOW: California Girls by The Beach Boys

Until next time,

KMA367

I’ve been subscribing to Romantic Times Magazine (RT) for almost as long as I’ve been a member of RWA.  When I first started getting RT, there were two monthly columns that were my favorites.  The first was a pictorial of a published/successful author’s home.

I always found it fascinating to see the writer’s office, their kitchen, their favorite room.  Seeing their home gave me insight into the person who created some of my favorite characters and stories. That column was discontinued, so I’ve had to use a different means to see what my favorite authors are about - I visit their websites.  Of course, the website is used to provide information which, in turn, is a way to promote one’s self, and it can all be an illusion.  But…the choices the author makes still provide insight.  The colors the person selected, the shape of the website, the fonts.  I think it’s pretty darn interesting - and one reason why I spent about a year perusing other authors websites and planning MY site before it was built.

The second column that I enjoyed in RT was “Where Are They Now”?  This column was generated by a reader’s inquiry as to where one of their favorite authors had gone.  No new books, no public appearences - poof, the writer had vanished.

I always found it interesting to see what had sidetracked a writer’s career.  Of course, I don’t ever recall any reply saying flat out that the author just got tired of writing.  It was always worded in an upbeat, positive way.  Often the writer was working on a project and expected it to be on the shelves soon.  Others just slipped from the writing community like a thief in the night.  And no, I don’t mean to imply writers who stop writing turn into thieves!

As great as RT is, I wish they’d bring those columns back…

Until next time;

KMA367

You can call me weird, but I don’t “get” the fascination with vampires in books and movies.   And vampires seem to be everywhere these days.  There are TV shows about vampires, there’s a new movie coming out about vampires, and of course all the books.

My daughter likes to read about vampires, and my eleven year-old granddaughter also wants to read about them.  This causes me a big dilemma because my granddaughter isn’t fond of reading and I try to encourage her to do so, but I really don’t want her reading about blood-sucking teenagers.  What ever happened to a pre-adolescent girl’s love of horses?

I just don’t see the appeal of characters waiting to suck your blood.  Of course, I’ve never read a vampire book - and frankly, with my “reading for pleasure” time so limited, I don’t plan on picking one up in the near future.  But I am curious as to what the draws people to these books, movies and TV shows.  I’m ready to be enlightened.

Oh, and please don’t be offended by the fact that when I read your replies I’ll be holding a wooden stake…

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO ON MY IPOD RIGHT NOW: American Pie by Don McLean

Until next time,

KMA367

You might think from the title of this post that I’m talking about books.  But I’m not.  I’m talking about RWA chapters.

The question is:  How many RWA chapters do you belong to (if any) and if it’s more than one, why?

This comes up because today I just renewed my membership for next year to the Los Angeles Romance Authors (LARA).  I also belong to the RWA Mystery and Suspence Chapter (better known as Kiss of Death or KOD), and the Orange County Chapter (OCC).

I started out my RWA partnership with OCC.  It was the mid-nineties and I was told that OCC was THE group to join.  As one of the largest chapters in the organization, I was told their meetings were like mini-conferences…all in one day.  I was not misdirected.  OCC is a wonderful chapter of RWA and the group has many published authors who are always more than willing to share their experience and advice.  They’ve had some of my favorite authors as guest speakers, Dean Koonz and Jackie Collins to name two.  OCC has a number of members who are regularly on the bestseller lists.  I’ve made many friends there.

I learned about KOD at one of the national conferences.  It seemed like a natural group to join since I was writing romantic suspense.  Almost all chapter activity takes place online so there is no traveling with this group.  I’ve found the KOD members to be very knowledgable and very supportive and the online services they offer are really great.

That brings me to LARA.  It was a strange fluke that brought me to LARA.  I saw a flyer advertising an upcoming guest speaker at a LARA meeting and the contact person for that event had the same last name (a very unusual name) as someone I work with.  When I checked with the man I work with he confirmed the contact person was his wife.  Small world, huh?  Anyway, Lynne encouraged me to come visit LARA and I did.  Again, I found a wonderfully supportive group, fabulous guest speakers and the meetings are always informative and the members friendly.  This group is growing every month.

So, today as I turned in my application to renew at LARA the thought crossed my mind…Do I really need to belong to three RWA chapters?  I don’t make it down to the OCC meetings much anymore.  In fact, earlier this year I let my membership at OCC lapse and had to re-join. 

When I started writing this blog post, I had decided to let my membership to OCC go.  But as I wrote about the organization and began thinking of the friends I’ve made and how they welcomed me and the experiences we’ve shared I realize I can’t let go.  So I’ll gladly keep my membership.

But is it normal to belong to “so many” chapters?  I’m not sure.  How many RWA chapters do you belong to and why?

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO ON MY IPOD RIGHT NOW:  Sway by Dean Martin

Until next time,

KMA367

Today, residents and first responders in Southern California are going to take part in the largest earthquake preparedness drill ever.  By the time I get to work, the “earthquake” should have struck and I’ll be thown into an immediate disaster.  At this point, I have no clue what I’ll be doing.

I’m no stranger to earthquakes and for most of my life never feared them.   That all changed with the Northridge quake in 1994.  For my husband and I, that jolt made it’s appearence by throwing our bed about a foot in the air and then the whole house violently shook for about 30 seconds.  We were lucky.  The house suffered minor damage and neither of us were hurt. 

We couldn’t reach our families but we did the best we could to assist neighbors and prepare for the long shift we knew would be coming our way later that night.  Our department learned a lot from that earthquake, but that incident happened over 14 years ago.  Now, when the ground starts to slip and slide, I pause…just to see how bad it will get.  Fortunately, recent quakes have been relatively minor.

Today we train.  Because here, in Southern California, we know the “big” one is coming and we need to be prepared.  I’ve got my emergency kit ready.  How about you?

Until next time,

KMA367

I’m not sure if it’s the fact I’m rapidly approaching the time when I can rightfully order a “Senior Meal” at Denny’s or if it’s just that I’m in touch with my feelings, but I’m very protective of our senior citizens.

Today I conducted a Neighborhood Watch meeting in a mobile home park in my Basic Car Area.  The park is restricted to senior citizens.  I had a turn out of about 36 people (which is a pretty good turn out). The manager of the facility was the one who had called and asked for the meeting after several of the residents had fallen victim to what we call “distraction burglaries”. 

So I arrived armed to the teeth with various fliers on senior safety.  The main point I tried to get across to my audience is that the criminal element often focuses on the the elderly as victims.  There are various reasons why this would be (no need to list them here to give people ideas), but I’m sure you can figure them out.

Not too surprising to me was the number of the attendees who had already experienced being the victim of some sort of crime.  Education is key.  Within the next week or so, I’ll be updating my crime prevention tips and I’ll be focusing on senior citizens.

But even if you’re not quite read for the Denny’s Senior Meal I hope you’ll take the time to review the safety tips - you’re never too young to be safe.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO ON MY IPOD RIGHT NOW: Chasin’ That Neon Rainbow by Alan Jackson

Until next time,

KMA367

Hi everyone;

Well, it’s been a few days and we’re still trying to figure out why I can’t reply to the comments you’re leaving on my blog.

In the meantime I’m going to throw out a couple of totally unrelated random thoughts.

First, my daughter replied to my blog Boys Will Be Boys (talking about badness two of our dogs did).  I will say Jaimie is taking full advantage of the fact I can’t reply to her blog post.  She pointed out when we were considering bringing Wyatt into our home there were a number of “signs” that indicated he should come live with us. 

At the time, we already had four dogs and bringing in a fifth was crazy thinking.  But these “signs” convinced us it was the thing to do.  Now I can’t remember what the “signs” were - and obviously it’s a moot point.  But the fact my daughter is gloating about the fact that the little dog that was “destined” to come to our family has run amok shows me she secretly harbors a jealousy about the whole situation and especially her little “brother” Wyatt.  And before you think I’m being serious - let me assure you I’m kidding.  I don’t care how we wound up with Wyatt (signs or not) he’s just high spirited…

My daughter is my best female friend.  My best male friend is my husband.  I’d be lost without either of them.

On a totally unrelated note…I have it set up on my computer through Google that I’m alerted if anyone should blog about Kathy Bennett or there is a story about Kathy Bennett.  My name is quite common, so I get lots of notifications about OTHER Kathy Bennetts.

This morning I was a little startled to see an alert reading, “Kathy Bennett has ten children…”  Uh, no, that wouldn’t be me - even if you count the four-legged kids.  But that story got worse when it turned out that three of those ten children were in prison.  Uh, no, that wouldn’t be my children.

I was pretty darn strict when bringing up Jaimie.  She didn’t like it, but she’s turned out to be quite the responsible adult.  There were a few shaky moments in her teen years…I seem to remember threatening to handcuff myself to her and go to school with her that way if she couldn’t stop talking in her high school classes.  (I never threatened anything I wasn’t willing to do - and she knew it).  Thankfully, I never had to make good on that threat.

But now she is a wife and mother and, as I said before, my best friend.  We often laugh about the fact that, as the years go on, she becomes more and more like me.  Oh, wait - I laugh and she’s in despair.  And I’m still laughing!

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO ON MY IPOD RIGHT NOW:  I’m That Kind of Girl by Patty Loveless

Until next time,

KMA367