The Bachelor - Arie

Ari wasn't my favorite. I didn't even learn to correctly spell his name.
He said "Yeah" a lot.
He said "I love you," a lot.
When you accept the post to be The Bachelor, you must also accept the public's scrutiny of you. I just read he's worried about the finale tonight. I predict he picks no one. Did anyone notice Chris H did not ask him if he was in love last night? Well, he didn't. The first ever in Bachelor history.

Here's what Ari did right, in my opinion:

Nice hair, not dyed so the grey doesn't show
Gave Crystal her just desserts on Women Tell All by cutting her off
Didn't eat steroids or work at his buffed body (which it was not)
Looked great in a suit
Did not focus on the women's bikini bodies

Here's where Ari can improve for his next turn at The Bachelor because you know he's coming back:

Learn how to eliminate the words "Like" "Yeah" and "I Love That," from his verbiage
Don't wear black ankle socks after a Fantasy suite date
Take a course in how to express yourself eloquently -- ask pro football players how they do it
Don't tell everyone you love them, it makes them think they are the winner of the contest
If an ex flies to Peru to take away your girlfriend, don't invite him in

Can't wait to see what happens in the FINALE tonight.

Content Validation at Create Space is Driving me Nuts!

Amazon Create Space is driving me crazy! Last year, Kindle was on my sh_t list for removing my titles, thinking I was two-timing them over at Barnes & Noble. That sh_t show was all due to Smashwords who did not remove Barnes & Noble after I unpublished with them months before.

It isn't easy being a publisher. I already spent hours today trying to get my novels' page numbers to start at Chapter 1 and not at the title page. If I was prone to tearing my hair out, I'd be bald tonight.
And this ongoing "war" with content validation over at Create Space is making me wonder what is going on over there at Amazon these days.
I have to think that new Bots were released to detect red flags this last month because I've had several print books with Create Space for years and recently I received notices that my print book had to be suppressed because of non-conformity.
For two books!
I got two emails. Nobody signed their name but that's not surprising.
Getting two "I'm in the doghouse" emails is very strange indeed considering that the only changes I've made recently is to update the covers of both books on Create Space, the Amazon site for print on demand books.

On Feb 11th, I got this email...

AMAZON

Hello kim,

Thank you for publishing with Amazon. 

During our review, we found that the search keywords for the following book(s) create inaccurate or overwhelming search results and impair the customer experience:

Title: The Dream Jumper's Secret: 

Author(s): Kim Hornsby (AUTHOR)

Title ID: 4878570

As a result we have removed the title from the publishing process.

Search keywords that are not accurate descriptors of your book’s central storyline or are completely unrelated to its content may be misleading to our customers and are unacceptable. 

Misleading search keywords such as reference to other authors, titles, promotions or sales rank result in confusion for customers as to why your work is included in search results. 

Please submit a request with the updated keywords to validation-request@createspace.com, our team will update this information for you. Once reviewed we will provide an update within 24 hours.

We appreciate your understanding.

Sincerely,

The Content Validation Request Team

validation-request@createspace.com

Then the next day I got this...

AMAZON

Hello kim,

Thank you for publishing with Amazon. 

I am contacting you regarding the following content: 

Title: The Dream Jumper's Pursuit: 

Author(s): Kim Hornsby (AUTHOR)

Title ID: 5626970

Copyright is important to us – we want to make sure that no author or other copyright holder has his or her books sold by anyone else. 

To publish your book, please respond with documentation confirming your publishing rights within four days

Acceptable documentation can include:

- If you are the author and you are republishing your book after your publication rights have been reverted to you, a signed reversion letter from your former publisher

- If you are the author and you are publishing under a pseudonym, please state that you have the rights of the content along with the pseudonym used.

- If you are the author and your content has not been published anywhere else, please state that you own the rights to the content you are publishing.

- If you are not the author, please provide documentation where the author confirms your rights to distribute the content, such as a signed contract between you and the author granting you the rights to publish the book in the territories, languages and formats you have selected or other similar documentation

Documentation we cannot accept includes:

- A statement by you that you have the publishing rights without verification by the author/copyright holder

- A copyright application for which registration has not been confirmed

If you publish books for which you do not hold the publishing rights, you may lose access to optional services or your account may be terminated. 

To learn more, please see: 

https://www.createspace.com/Help/Rights/ContentGuidelines.jsp

We appreciate your understanding.

Sincerely, 

The Content Validation Request Team 

validation-request@createspace.com

This last one was almost funny seeing I did not fit into any of those categories and told them so.

 I am the author, Kim Hornsby, and have published this print book with you for years. I'm not sure what I did differently this time to lead you to wonder about my identity but I appreciate that you keep close track of this type of thing.

This email is the one I've used for the last few years and this series of books is self-published by me (Top Ten Press) and always has been. I own the rights to this work and always have.

Let me know if there is any other problem as I'd like to get The Dream Jumper's Pursuit back for sale on Create Space.

Thanks,

Kim

Kim Hornsby Novels

www.bit.ly/kimamzn

Then I got this...

AMAZON

 On Sunday, February 11, 2018, 7:14:44 PM PST, Content Validation Request <validation-request@createspace.com> wrote: 

Hello kim,

Thank you for publishing with Amazon. 

During our review, we found that the search keywords for the following book(s) create inaccurate or overwhelming search results and impair the customer experience:

Title: The Dream Jumper's Secret: 

Author(s): Kim Hornsby (AUTHOR)

Title ID: 4878570

As a result we have removed the title from the publishing process.

Search keywords that are not accurate descriptors of your book’s central storyline or are completely unrelated to its content may be misleading to our customers and are unacceptable. 

Misleading search keywords such as reference to other authors, titles, promotions or sales rank result in confusion for customers as to why your work is included in search results. 

Please submit a request with the updated keywords to validation-request@createspace.com, our team will update this information for you. Once reviewed we will provide an update within 24 hours.

We appreciate your understanding.

Sincerely,

The Content Validation Request Team

validation-request@createspace.com

Twenty-four hours, huh? So I wrote this:

Hello: I have no idea what you are talking about. I can't even sign in to Create Space today to take a look. And today I got another email from Create Space saying that another one of my books was submitted by someone other than me. I'm not sure what's going on over there, but I don't even have keywords in my create space account, let alone inappropriate key words. 

Please clarify what you think I've done wrong in publishing with Create Space. All I did recently, after years of being on CS, was redo the cover. 

Thanks,

Kim Hornsby

Top Ten Press

Author of The Dream Jumper Series

And then this:

Hello Amazon Person at Create Space: What makes you think after years of being published here, that I am all of a sudden, not Kim Hornsby? I am baffled what triggered this email seeing I only was changing the book cover to republish the new cover.

I don't know what documentation would prove I'm Kim Hornsby unless you want me to send my driver's license. Let me know what you need. 

I'm very upset that 2 of my books have been unpublished this week, this one saying you'll give me 4 days but it's offline now, and The Dream Jumper's Secret is unpublished with no warning and no time to correspond to see what the problem is over there.

Very upsetting,.

Kim Hornsby

Top Ten Press.

My books were not for sale on Amazon as print for almost a week.

Hello Amazon: This is very confusing. When you say keywords, what do you mean. I don't think CreateSpace gives a chance to add keywords. As far as I know no keywords are attached to this print publication. 

Please check this matter because the longer my book is not available on CreateSpace, the more angry I get about missing sales. 

I've had this book published on Create Space for years and the only thing that changed this week was a different front cover. 

PLEASE FIX or advise me as to what you are talking about!

Here is a screenshot of my Kindle Direct Publishing Keywords for this book, none of which are inappropriate.

Then I got this ..

AMAZON

Hello kim

Thank you for your response. 

We’ve reviewed the information provided and we are happy to inform you that your book will now continue to the File Review process.     

   

The File Review process ensures that your files were created according to our submission guidelines and can take up to 24 hours to complete.  

Once your files pass File Review, you can either view a digital proof or order a printed proof copy of your title. After the proof is received and you're satisfied with it, you will be able to approve your proof for sale once it leaves our manufacturing facility.   

We appreciate your cooperation in this matter and thank you for publishing with CreateSpace.

Regards,

CreateSpace Validation Request Team

validation-request@createspace.com

I am now able to re-publish The Dream Jumper's Secret after a week of emails back and forth.

Then they shed some light on the subject with this:

AMAZON

On Saturday, February 17, 2018, 11:43:47 AM PST, The Content Validation Request Team <validation-request@createspace.com> wrote:

Hello kim,

Your keywords for the related title are: Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Paranormal Romance, Award Winning, women's Fiction 

Misleading search keywords such as reference to other authors, titles, promotions or sales rank result in confusion for customers as to why your work is included in search results. 

Please submit a request with the updated keywords to validation-request@createspace.com, our team will update this information for you. Once reviewed we will provide an update within 24 hours.

We appreciate your understanding.

Regards,

CreateSpace Validation Request Team

validation-request@createspace.com

So I wrote this...

--------------- Original Message ---------------

From: Kim Hornsby [kimhornsby@yahoo.com]

Sent: 2/14/2018 12:11 PM

To: validation-request@createspace.com

Subject: Re: CreateSpace - Content Validation Request

Hello Amazon: This is very confusing. When you say keywords, what do you mean. I don't think CreateSpace gives a chance to add keywords. As far as I know no keywords are attached to this print publication. Please check this matter because the longer my book is not available on CreateSpace, the more angry I get about missing sales. I've had this book published on Create Space for years and the only thing that changed this week was a different front cover. PLEASE FIX or advise me as to what you are talking about!Here is a screenshot of my Kindle Direct Publishing Keywords for this book, none of which are inappropriate.

Keywords

Enter up to 7 search keywords that describe your book. How do I choose keywords?Your Keywords (Optional)

Kim HornsbyTop Ten Press

Kim Hornsby Novels

www.bit.ly/kimamzn 

The one that apparently has inappropriate keywords, is still suppressed on Create Space. And I can't touch it or publish that book.

I wrote this on day 7

I've had this book for sale for years, like this, but I'm assuming award-winning is the key word you don't like. Here are the new key words. I'm sorry it took over a week for you to get back to me.

Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Paranormal Romance, Supernatural Suspense, Suspense

Thank you.

Kim Hornsby 

When nothing happened to get the book back up on Create Space, I wrote to them:

Thank you for your attention.

During my review of this situation, I've found this assessment to be very frustrating because I have not changed my keywords for this title in years. And yet, now you find my keywords aren't acceptable.

I am not sure what is wrong in my keywords, except maybe Amazon doesn't like the word Award Winning. I'm not sure what is going on here except Amazon is preventing me from selling books for WEEKS on end.

Please change my keywords to this:

Romantic Suspense, Thriller, Paranormal Romance, Suspense, Women's Fiction Suspense 

And now, let this strange new claim come to a close so I can sell books again.

Please.

Thank you,

Kim Hornsby

Top Ten Press

I'll let you know when they get the book up and running again. If you are having the same problem with Content Validation, I suggest you keep emailing. If you have a better suggestion, please let me know in the comments here. 

Kim

UPDATE
This problem was resolved when they suddenly published everything again with no additional email or apology, after 3 weeks of being SUPPRESSED.
Lesson Learned: Do not put BESTSELLER in your key words even if the book is a world-wide phenomena.
Good Luck to everyone struggling with this!
Kim

KIM HORNSBY is an Amazon Bestselling Author best known for The Dream Jumper Series, which is optioned for film, with over 400 reviews on Amazon at 4.5 stars.
Sign up for her newsletter to keep posted on news and freebies and contests or follow her on Amazon.

www.bit,ly/kimamzn
www.bit.ly/KimHNews

Romance Reading for Valentine's Day!

Anyone out there need a love story to read today?

Today I'm thinking about love and remembering when love was new, exciting, tingly and fun.
Twenty-six years ago. Probably less because that excitement that comes with a new relationship carried on for years with my husband. Decades later, we have another form of love, an evolved form that comes from years of living alongside each other, raising children together, coming through cancer, and other life-altering events.
I love that my valentine/husband knows me better than anyone after twenty-six years of marriage and still thinks I'm the sexiest woman in any room. I love that I go to him first when I'm sad, mad, happy, confused and he gives me what I need. I love that we count on each other, still laugh with each other, know each other's strengths and weaknesses without having to point them out.
Although new love is exciting, we've worked on a marriage for decades, have taken great care to preserve it, honor it and keep our union sacred, and I wouldn't trade this for anything.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

If you want to read a book series about new love that has bumps and challenges, and spans twelve years, I invite you delve into The Dream Jumper Series. 99 cents for the first book.
http://amzn.com/B00AA4FAJC

If you want a quick read about a rock star who retires in hopes of finding normalcy and discovers a good man to love her for who she is, you'll love Necessary Detour.

www.bit.ly/kimamzn

Or, I have some quick contemporary love stories that will be unpublished soon as I fine-tune my brand as a Suspense author. First one is free...

The Husband Hunt
Christmas in Whistler


KIM HORNSBY is an Amazon #1 Bestselling novelist who lives in the Seattle area and writes books about women in dire circumstances rescuing themselves.

Newsletter Signup for Book Releases & Free Stuff www.bit.ly/KimHNews

Kim's AMAZON site www.bit.ly/kimamzn

Scuba Diving, Mermaid Hair and Wandering Makawao!

I haven't eaten in 17 hours.
I'm still full from lunch yesterday.
Does that ever happen to you?

First scuba:
Yesterday I was determined to get my neighbor and friend, Cresty, out on a dive. I'd promised her if she came to Maui with me, I'd get her scuba diving. We'd tried last week when the Kona storm blew in and it was not great. At all.
After I dropped Bill off at the ferry to Lanai in Lahaina, I rented some gear for Cresty and told her today was the day!
This time we set ourselves up for success, and in we went. The beach was relatively calm, Cresty was not panicking, the water was pretty clear considering the rain and red dirt runoff we've had.
The good news...Cresty got below the surface, horizontal and we went on a nice little dive around coral heads and tropical fish! She did GREAT!
The bad news...I was over weighted by about 10 pounds (you wear a weight belt to get under in this salty water) and my buoyancy control device fell apart at the beginning, which isn't horrible until you try to stay on the surface to talk or breathe. I was too heavy to stay on the surface so I stayed under, but when the connector hose came off in my hand and the jacket started to fill up with water, I considered dropping my weight belt. Instead, I signaled for us to go in to shore. I could dive, I just couldn't get off the sandy bottom. Cresty was done anyhow. She'd signaled she needed a break.
We headed in to shore, surfaced, got caught in a little surf, enough to know that we'd have sand up our bathing suits. Back at the car, we congratulated ourselves on Cresty's first scuba dive! Yay! I hesitate to include Cresty in these photos because it's hard to look presentable after the salt water. I'm okay with looking wet and strange and squinty.

After showers at Lynn's house, we took off in the car to the upcountry area of Maui - part way up the side of the volcano Haleakala, which hasn't been active since 1790. There are lovely towns dotting the side of the volcano and we landed in the cowboy town, Makawao, at a Mexican restaurant called Polli's. Food was ordered, consumed and we took off to walk the downtown and check out the boutiques of the town, something Lynn loves to do. It was now pouring rain and we ran between shops, ducking in to look at gorgeous clothing, jewelry, and high-end boutique items for wear and decor. Galleries too!
Driving home, we hit sunset right at the Pali lookout and stopped so Cresty could get a shot of the peachy blue sky with a giant tangerine-colored ball at the water line. Whales jumped and slapped their pectoral fins in the ocean just off the cliff. Cresty took photos while Lynn and I joked about some inconsiderate man named Walter who would not move his car that blocked the entrance to the parking lot because it was his god-given right to watch the whales. "Zip it!" he told his poor wife.

Back at Lynn's we were tired and over glasses of wine, we settled on the couch to watch the movie Joy, with Jennifer Lawrence.

Today is our last day on Maui, and Cresty has gone off to play tennis at the Royal Lahaina. Lynn is walking JoJo under the cloudless blue sky and I'm sitting on the deck chronicling my adventures. This trip has been amazing! I haven't written as much as I intended, but I've been out there experiencing life, meeting people, hanging with friends, talking, doing, living, which is never bad. I've kept up with my screenwriting lessons and will always remember that I learned the basics of writing a treatment (synopsis for screenplays) on Lynn's deck while staring at Molokai in the distance.
On our way to the airport today to catch our red eye flight, I'm dropping off The Dream Jumper's Promise books to the Lahaina Library -- a book club kit with the reading group questions included. If you like to read print and Barnes & Noble is out of my books, head to the Lahaina Library and ask to sign out the kit.

As with all vacations, I'm eager to get home and see my daughter, husband, dogs and look back on the memories of these 9 days on Maui that I was so very fortunate to have. All year, I forgo pedicures, manicures, haircuts, makeup, eating out, buying things I don't need to justify a cheap plane ticket twice a year to feed my Maui addiction.
Maui is one of my happy places, to be sure.

Thanks for reading, folks and if you haven't read my Dream Jumper series, you may want to pick up a copy of the first book which is 99 cents on Amazon (ebook) this week. There is a really good chance you'll enjoy the book. It's been downloaded over 100,000 times and has very few negative reviews. Just sayin'.

The Dream Jumper's Promise on Amazon
The Dream Jumper's Promise on Barnes & Noble

KIM HORNSBY is an Amazon #1 Bestselling Author who lives in Seattle, writing Suspense and Romance. Find her on Amazon to see how she opened shows for Jamie Foxx and The Smother's Brothers in Hawaii, then became a novelist.

Sign up for Kim's Newsletter to get info on FREE books, new book launches and Kim News!

www.bit.ly/KimHNews

Pineapple Juice, Music and Dance on Maui

Maui is gorgeous, even when its pouring rain.
And it was
Most of the day
When I lived here we'd tell tourists it was just pineapple juice

I worked on Deadly Resemblance on the deck watching the rain. Although they didn't need to be, my friends were quiet until I took a break and suggested we drive north to the Lighthouse to look for whales.

The rain let up once we reached the Nakalele Lighthouse pullout so we walked the uneven rocky ground with JoJo happily trotting alongside his owner. Neither Lynn nor I had ever seen people walking around way up north like this but there were large groups of them, heading towards the blowhole. In the rain.
Having lived here thirty years ago when there were only four stoplights on the whole island, it's hard to see Maui so busy, every inch of it open to exploring people now. I understand how we all want to experience the wild parts of Maui but it's still hard to see this beautiful island so overpopulated with visitors. We knew when they started building so many mega hotels, it was headed this way, thirty years ago. We talked about the impact it would have on the island. How the road would get so busy and clogged, it would take more than the usual 40 minutes to drive from Lahaina to Kahului.
It took us about 1 hour and 45 minutes yesterday to reach the other side of Maui.
We'd gone over to attend a tribute to a wonderful musician and person who'd recently passed away--Fulton Tashombe. Maui Arts and Cultural Center's outdoor pavilion was the venue for the event from 5-8. We went a little early to visit with our friend Neida who runs the gallery at the MACC.
I used to sing and travel interisland with Neida in a band called The Brown Sisters and sisters we were back then. It was incredibly heartwarming to see my friend over a glass of wine as Fulton's tribute began on the stage. The speakers kept the tone light as a rolling photo essay of Fulton's life played at the side of the stage. When three baskets of white doves were released and flew away in a flock, Neida, Cresty and I worried about that one dove that didn't get out and took to the rafters to fret and wait. There were four bands over two hours, many musicians I knew from the old days and the whole 300-person event was filled with musicians and people Fulton had touched as a musician and lovely person on Maui.

During the song, Riders in the Storm, there was an enormous BOOM that had us all going for our cell phones to see if a ballistic missile warning had come in. Some said it was Fulton, some said thunder, but we couldn't explain the noise. Thunder and lightning began soon after that sounded nothing like the BOOM.
We danced, we laughed, we hugged people we hadn't seen in years and Cresty drove us back to the west side in the pouring rain.

JoJo received us like we were zombies, come to eat his brain because Lynn was at work and couldn't protect him. Bill was able to feed him chicken but Cresty and I were not allowed within ten feet of the little guy. Rescue dogs have baggage sometimes and we tried to tread softly and give him a wide berth.


Today we might try to get out scuba diving. The ocean looks calm.

Snorkeling and Bar Hopping on Maui

Day 7 on Maui
We are talking about extending our stay another 3-12 days. Bill knows a doctor who might write a note to say we are not fit to travel.
As if.

Today, I got everyone up and out before 9 with snorkel gear in hand. The water looked better and we were eager to have a wonderful snorkeling experience in this week of Kona storms. Parking karma was working and we got a great spot near the walkway to Kapalua Bay. It was cloudy with sunny patches and with snorkel gear in hand we walked to the far end of the bay where the surf wasn't so bad and inched our way in.
This photo was taken when there were no rollers, I guess, because I swear there was large surf.

Cresty did great again considering her fear of the waves and her lungs seizing up with the cold water. We got far enough out that the water cleared and fish could be seen. We went way out on the point and saw a huge sea turtle, then came back in through the surf. Our surf exits are getting better every day!

After showers, we headed out to Fleetwoods rooftop. You know Fleetwood Mac? The drummer, Mick Fleetwood has a restaurant on Front Street on Maui. Our friend Eric Gilliom was playing there from 2-4 and I hadn't heard him play in years. Staring out at the ocean off Lahaina, listening to Eric sing Hana Po, drinking a lavender lemonade was just stunningly beautiful and brought tears to my eyes. These two gentlemen posing with me in the photo below were talented performers I used to work with back in the day when I sang, danced and did musical theater. Twenty-five years later, we are still in the mutual admiration society.

Bill Hensley, Kimberley Horn, Eric Gilliom

Eric's 2-hour set was over all too soon and off we went to Bar #2 - Fridas for fish tacos. The Superbowl was on and we sat at the bar and stayed for a drink and a taco and Justin Timberlake's half time show. We couldn't hear the music but the show looked great.
Back at Lynn's, I worked for two hours, writing, Bill napped, Lynn went to work, Cresty did stuff and then we went to walk JoJo at the Hawaiian burial ground at the Ritz Hotel and down the golf course where Jamey goes in Promise to get his thoughts together. Everywhere I go here, I tell Cresty "this is the place in the book where Tina and Jamey..." Because she's read the first book 3x, she finds it interesting and is now reading Girl of his Dream to reference the Hyatt Hotel from yesterday. She's finding my tour of The Dream Jumper locations interesting.

We headed to Kaanapali Beach Hotel at 7 for a drink, a pu pu, and to see Lynn. For a trio of people over 50, this was what we call bar hopping because it was our third bar of the day! It's hard to smuggle a dog into a bar, even an open air bar where our cocktail waitress is the dog's owner. But I did and JoJo sat nicely under the table while we listened to Gilbert's band play. Bill was called up to sing and hit the high notes like the consummate showman he is.
JoJo snuggled with us in the car on the way home, probably because we had a to-go tub of meat scraps from the bar for him. But, as soon as we entered the house, he ran from us again, not letting us close.






If you read yesterday's blog, there is a guy who bikes around Lahaina balancing a cross and here is a photo of the man at the shopping center! I wonder what his story is.
Everyone has a story.
And that's why I write.

KIM HORNSBY is an Amazon #1 Bestselling novelist who lives in the Seattle area and writes books about women in dire circumstances rescuing themselves.

Newsletter Signup for Book Releases & Free Stuff www.bit.ly/KimHNews

Kim's AMAZON site www.bit.ly/kimamzn

Palm Trees, Barnes & Noble & Gnocchi

Woke to a calm ocean yesterday and I was wondering why we didn't go snorkeling. Cresty was playing tennis and I was blogging though.

I worked on the deck, staring at the ocean. A man walked down the street strumming a ukulele. Not something you see everyday. There is also a bike rider in Lahaina who carries a fifteen foot white cross on his shoulder. We've seen him five times, balancing that crucifix. And a guy who roller blades the highway in only black shorts, his roller blades lit up.

I picked up my friend Bill at the Lanai ferry, we had a lunch on Lynn's deck and headed off to my Barnes & Noble book signing.

I set up my big, honkin' retractable poster and immediately started selling books twenty minutes early. Over the next two hours, I talked to such amazingly interesting, lovely people including a guy named Jim who had a photo of a ghost. It certainly looked creepy and real. And a couple who just got married--her a writer named Holly and him a literary agent. And a retired couple named Rose and Craig who have 4 weeks of timeshare and are waiting for their child to join them on Maui from Israel.

Wonderful people end up in bookstores.

After the books sold out, we went grocery shopping for ingredients to make Italian gnocchi--something Lynn loves. Back at the house, the potatoes started baking, the wine got opened, the conversation flowed and the four of us eventually prepared dinner.


There is something so decent about a candlelit dinner on a deck overlooking the ocean with good friends. Gnocchi, Salad, Chicken, Wine, Friendship, Laughter...

After cleanup in the kitchen where the dog let us feed him chicken, we had a round table discussion in the living room around the coffee table about world affairs, Bill playing Santa Claus every Christmas at the Lahaina Sugar Cane Train, Lynn's garden, and vaping! Bed came early for the girls while Billy watched golf on the couch.

Another amazing day.










KIM HORNSBY is an Amazon #1 Bestselling novelist who lives in the Seattle area and writes books about women in dire circumstances rescuing themselves. She tweets her dreams most mornings on Twitter under the hashtag #StrangeDreams
www.twitter.com/kimhornsby

Newsletter Signup for Book Releases & Free Stuff www.bit.ly/KimHNews

Kim's Website https://kimhornsby.godaddysites.com

Or find Kim's AMAZON books' site www.bit.ly/kimamzn

Maui Writers, Snorkeling and the Hyatt Pool

I woke on Maui feeling slightly better and my cough didn't seem such a big deal. Yay!

The sky was cloudy, the doves were calling, and I got coffee brewing in Lynn's open air kitchen. Cresty went to play tennis, Lynn was leaving to take JoJo for a morning walk and I worked on my laptop until it was time to drive to Kaanapali to Maui Writers Ink and the West Maui Book Club where a lovely woman and fellow author of Suspense, Elaine Gallant,  had set up a meeting at her housing development's pool, complete with cupcakes and cakepops, something that impressed me to no end.

I erected my big honkin' banner, met some writers and after a brief intro by Elaine, I began my talk. The group had lots of questions along the way, keeping me on track to talk about what they were interested in--how an author balances all the PR necessary to get your book in front of eyes, and getting optioned for film. Many of the group were writers, the rest were readers. I got a lot out of talking to them afterwards.
I was extremely relieved that my cough held off and I didn't need cough drops (which I did not bring, anyhow because I'm a disorganized mess most of the time.)

Back at Lynn's, lunch was being served on the deck. Lasagna and salad was consumed and Cresty and I decided to find a snorkeling spot, regardless of the high surf advisory everywhere. Black Rock was my choice and we actually got in through the surf in the corner of the rock, swam out to the point of land and saw some fish. (As I type this, I'm looking out on a flat calm ocean and thinking tomorrow morning at 9 a..m. is our prime snorkel day and time and if all goes well, Monday, we'll dive again, early.) On the way in to shore, we saw a small sea turtle, which was a highlight. Enjoy this picture of me going snorkeling but if it was yesterday, add four foot waves, and murky water. Man, Cresty is such a trooper for a newbie!
I took Cresty over to the Hyatt to see the flamingos, and penguins and then we found two lounge chairs by the pool where we ordered drinks and our second lunch of the day, accompanied by our first cocktail of the day. We swam through the waterfalls in the clear blue pool water and when we started to notice reddish shoulders, we left, bought a pineapple at a corner store and came home to chillax until sunset.

After putting on a little makeup and clean clothes, we continued on to KBH (Kaanapali Beach Hotel) to the Keiki Hula show, a wonderful highlight on Kaanapali Beach's Friday night. The costumes were fantastic, the dancers were equally wonderful and the place was packed.
Back at Lynn's we got ready for bed and another big day tomorrow with singer extraordinaire, Bill Hensley coming to join the party at Lynn's.
Poor JoJo.

Screenwriting and a Hula Show

Yesterday on Maui, I had a plan.
Stay at the house all day and get rid of a little cough that had crept up on me to make me worried I was battling a cold.
While others in the house came and went, I drank EmergenC and stayed at my laptop most of the day.

I began my Screenwriters' University Course on how to write a treatment, which is like a synopsis for film and tv purposes. My first week lesson was extremely interesting and when I finished the lecture, I worked on the assignment -- write a log line for your script. That one sentence promotional line is super important but I felt good about what I finely tuned to be the log line for The Dream Jumper's Promise.

Set on Maui, a psychic Special Forces soldier feels responsible for an ex-girlfriend’s missing husband and must search for clues from inside her terrifying dreams.

I'm hoping the instructor of this course either has some ideas to make it better or thinks it works.

Cresty, my travel buddy went to a beach and when a big wave came in, it brought this turtle! She was in heaven. I love traveling with positive, happy people!

We continue to try to make friends with skittish JoJo, to no avail. He will let me give him a treat if Lynn is present but won't let us touch him unless we're in the car. Even leashing him for a walk is impossible as he runs away from us. Poor little guy.

At sunset, we dropped off a poster for my book signing at B&N on Saturday, then went to Kaanapali Beach Hotel to meet my devoted reader Ray and his lovely wife Diane. Good times! The hula show at KBH is wonderful and free, every night. Just drink. Over Mai Tai's I tried to convince Ray to review my books, telling him how important it is to Indie Authors.

This morning, I'm speaking at Maui Writers Ink, a group of authors here on the West Side of Maui, and will be talking about my writing process, publishing and getting optioned for film. I'm looking forward to meeting some writers here and talking about books!

More tomorrow...

The Road to Hana

It's hard to find a place in this house to see my screen without the reflection of palm trees and blue sky. Or me, because I'm all lit up with the sunshine. Lucky me.
I'm on Maui.
Sorry.
Not sorry.
When I'm not on Maui, I live frugally to be able to afford a cheap plane ticket here. While on Maui, I stay with a friend, work when I'm here, and can totally justify these excursions for lots of reasons. Here's one:
I write books that are set on Maui. I NEED to be here to put food on the table.
Yup, that's what I'll go with this week.

Yesterday was our day to drive to Hana, and if you've ever done that excursion, you know it's as gorgeous as it is twisty and challenging. Two of the three of us get car sick, so pills were taken for motion sickness, a picnic was packed, and off we went at 8:30 hoping to get ahead of the pack on the road. The stretch of narrow, twisty miles from Paia to Hana is well known to be a driving challenge. With 600 curves and over 50 one-car only bridges, it's slow going. I have not done the road for maybe 15 years but was eager to re-live the good times I've shared with Lynn on trips to Hana in the 80's and 90's. I knew the road would be busy. Maui is about 5 times busier than it was when I lived here. Maybe more.
We took it slow, bypassing all the waterfall pullouts and only stopped along the way for banana bread with chocolate chips and mac nuts once we got close to Hana. Without anyone in front or behind us on the road, it was a beautiful drive of stark jungle greenery and rain forest vegetation until reaching Waianapanapa Park where we hoped to swim off the black sand beach and walk through the caves. After a picnic of veggies, chicken, cheeses, avocado and banana bread, we found the caves closed due to falling rock and the black sand beach being pummeled with waves.

High surf advisory.
No matter. Continuing on to the town's business district (somewhat of a joke because the town is 5 buildings) we stopped at Hasegawa's General Store--a packed to the rafters landmark--to send postcards to our children back home. Miles later, at Oheo Gulch where I used to swim in the seven pools under the waterfalls, we discovered that they are closed to swimmers now. Flash floods, liability and all that. Luckily we didn't pay to enter (something new) because Lynn has a park pass.

Stuffing our disappointment way down deep, we walked the loop to see the now tired-looking, muddy pools, and reflected on how debilitatingly humid it was. We could hardly breathe. Even the dog was panting and voted to not hike.
At a roadside stand, we bought coconuts, had a hole machete'ed out, and with a bamboo straw, drank our cocowater.

Note: You cannot drive and drink from a coconut, especially on a bumpy road. You must stop the car and finish your drink, then continue on.
Driving the back side of Maui to Ulupalakua, was beautiful and without traffic.
Maui Winery looked like fun until we realized we couldn't wine taste with a dog, the driver couldn't wine taste (me-the most avid wine drinker) and we were more hungry than thirsty.

The car found the road through Kula, Kahului, Maaleaa, Lahaina, Kaanapali and home.
Back at the house, we baked a lasagna picked up at Costco and ate on the deck by candlelight, tired from being awake moon-viewing the night before.

Today is writing and working on my first lesson for Screenwriter University.

(As I type this, the tsunami warning is going off and I'm trying to explain to Cresty that it's the first of the month and that's normal.)