Waking Up on Maui!

I love Maui!
Who doesn't?

Today I woke on Maui without a care in the world except what time to go diving.
It looks like it's going to be a gorgeous day as the sun creeps over the West Maui mountains behind the house to show its face.


Here's Day 1 of my Adventure:

Checked in by 4:45 a.m. with my friend Cresty, at SeaTac airport in Seattle. It was raining. We didn't get a coffee before the flight, hoping to sleep on the plane. The airport was empty and we sailed through security after Cresty had an early morning pat-down. Two flights later, (In which I slept a total of five hours!) we landed on the Valley Isle. I usually get a bit choked up when I see Maui out the plane window and yesterday was no different. I love this place and have so many happy memories of living here in the 80's and some of the 90's.

Lynn was waiting at the curb with her little rescue dog, JoJo, who did not want us getting in the car and tried to escape if we were getting in. Six months ago, I had found him at a petfinder event and forced him on Lynn who'd just lost her beloved Spaniel, Spencer, so having JoJo terrified of me was a bit disheartening. I jumped in the driver side so Lynn could hold her devoted buddy who kept looking at me and Cresty like we were airport carjackers.
We drove Lynn to work, then had a quick swim off Kaanapali Beach to reflect on the beauty of Black Rock against a cerulean sky and turquoise ocean. Ahhhh.
We then checked out the Lahaina Tennis Ranch for Cresty to play there this week and then went grocery shopping. Safeway Lahaina has things like fresh ahi poke, coconuts, and taro chips but other than everyone wearing their beach clothes (including some guys in only board shorts and flip flops) it looks a lot like my neighborhood Safeway.
I have parking Karma. I'm sorry but I'm that car that gets the spot right near the door of anything and my parkarma was working everywhere we went yesterday.

Two bottles of wine and a cart full of food later, we returned to Lynn's house to have dinner on the deck. But not before her fearful little doggie (who was still looking at us like we were trying to eat him for dinner) ran away! When I offered him a piece of chicken, he shot out of the house and down the street disappearing from view. I imagined telling Lynn that her sweet pet was lost, as I got in the car and started down the street to look for JoJo, knowing he wouldn't come for me even if I did find him. Apparently, when he saw me drive away, he returned and Cresty closed all access doors to the street. Phew!
After that we needed a drink and found ourselves at Kaanapali Beach Hotel (with a fearful JoJo) on his leash, which was a feat in itself, getting him in the car and leashed. But, he had a great time under the table at the Tiki Bar, especially to see his mom was our cocktail waitress. While he ate a hamburger by my feet, Cresty and I had a drink then we all drove back to Lynn's house for sleeps.

Today, is dive day. I plan to teach Cresty to scuba dive. I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow when I check in!

Maui in a Half Sleep!

I'm leaving for SeaTac airport in Seattle in a half sleep.
I'll get up at 3 to catch a 6 a.m. flight so the sleep only counts for half a night, assuming I'm able to sleep because it will be one of those nights where I lie awake thinking about what I might have forgotten to pack for 9 days on Maui.

You'd think I'd be pretty good at packing in my long life but you always forget something, right?

Here's some obscure things I'm packing.

1 snorkel
10 Print Books of The Dream Jumper's Promise
1 huge retractable sign
4 dresses
dirty running shoes
10 pounds of costume jewellry
1 dive card


I'll be blogging daily with photos of my escapades so be sure to follow this blog to see what I'm doing.
I promise to try to bring you along with my words and descriptions.

Maui No Ka Oi (is the best)

National Bestselling Author, KIM HORNSBY, is a suspense novelist who loves to travel, talk and read. Follow her on her Amazon Author Page to see some fun stuff!
www.bit.ly/kimamzn

Review the Books You Read

Hey Gals and Guys!
I read every night, even if it's late, I'm exhausted, and the light isn't good.
If the book doesn't grab the lapels of my jammies and yank me against the Kindle, I usually have a hard time sticking with a story. For that reason, I read Suspense these days.
Twists are the bomb. I love being surprised, saying "I did not see that coming!"
Sometimes books do that for me, sometimes they almost do it for me. When I read, I conjure up what I think the ending will be and if it falls short of my expectations, I'm disappointed and it's hard to write a glowing review.  I try to put my disappointment aside and do it anyways. Endings are very crucial when writing a review that says "I LOVED it!"

Do you review books after you finish? If you read on a Kindle, they turn the page for you and ask you to review but who wants to do that immediately after the final scene? I don't. And who wants to type on a Kindle? I don't.

As an author with published books on Amazon, I shamelessly check my reviews at least 5 times a week to see how I'm doing with the general public. A new 5 star review makes my day. A 4 star is nice and a three star doesn't bother me much because I don't really have many and for that reason, it gives my reviews credibility to have the odd one that didn't connect with my writing or the story.

I am obsessed with reviews. Reading my own reviews, that is.

Check out this one:

1.0 out of 5 starsNot bad

ByKindle Customeron April 16, 2015

Format: Kindle Edition

I liked the the characters, but they were SO horny!!! The plot was different from other books 

I've read (that's a good thing). Overall, plot was good, but the characters were NAUGHTY!!!

This review actually made me laugh out loud. I recently sent it to the Ellen Show!
Don't forget to review people, especially if you liked the book.
If you didn't, feel free to keep your opinions quiet especially because a lack of
reviews speaks for itself.

Getting Your Novel Optioned for Film

Tonight I'm speaking on getting optioned for film.

I'm using this blog to organize my thoughts but seeing I just open my mouth when I give a talk and spew on and on, I may or may not use these key points listed below. It works out better if I just have a few areas I need to address during a one-hour talk and just talk and talk and talk, in between those key points. I usually stay on topic. I usually stay focused although once I had dental work that had me spitting and slurping and that was distracting.

I try to not laugh at my own jokes when I speak. I also try to say interesting things to keep the room from emptying. Fingers are crossed that I can achieve this tonight at the Whatcom Writers and Publishers Dinner this evening in Bellingham, Washington.


With a background in entertainment and stage work, I am not usually nervous to speak but more like a racehorse at the gate, waiting to run. My over confidence helps in these situations.

Playing Sugar on Stage

My 3-book Dream Jumper Series is optioned for film and although many books get optioned (reserved contractually) I think that the first film will actually get made. When my super agent negotiated the contract, I asked to be a contributing producer and after promises to not interfere and be obnoxious on the set, I got the concession. I'm doing everything I can on my end to help get this movie made.

Here's my points to touch on tonight and a peek at my talk about how to get optioned:

-Write a compelling novel with a unique story that answers a burning question the general public will be interested in
-Make your characters as real and 3-dimensional as possible, with flaws, idiosyncrasies etc
-Have it professionally edited
-Write a one-page synopsis
-Write a three-page synopsis
-Publish your novel and promote the hell out of it, get reviews, have a compelling cover, make the blurb sound like a movie trailer.
-Write a movie tag line
-Learn how to write a treatment and then write one showing marketability of your story
-Make a Pinterest board if you need visuals, Choose A-List actors in the leads
-Get an agent who specializes in book to film or who has connections in film and tv (send the query, the treatment and even the screenplay if you wrote one!)
-Learn to write for tv and screen
-Learn the Hollywood market, see where your book fits in and will sell

-Hollywood likes novels, especially if they have a built-in following
-You don't need fame to sell an idea, it just helps
-Go for a big agency, find who's taking clients, go for the intern or lowest on the totem pole
-Be easy to work with
-Send your treatment to film companies, producers, directors, agents to a)get representation b)get a producer interested
-Take workshops on writing, improve your craft, watch tv, watch movies, learn the craft
-Pitch like your book is the next Harry Potter
-Don't be rude or aggressive, just be available and interested
-Build up your brand and your book concept online
-Be patient
-Be confident

I was lucky to find an agent with connections who knew a producer and the next thing I knew, we were meeting, talking, negotiating, planning and then a contract arrived. More negotiations, more talk and signing.
My 3 book series belongs to a reputable production company that has awesome connections in Hollywood, I trust the company president, and I'm excited.
Right now, I'm waiting for my project to get out of development and into pre-production and that looks like about 6-9 months. My movie is second in line with this film company and it looks like they are filming project number 1 soon.
I wrote the screenplay hoping that someone who is REALLY talented as a screenwriter, will take the thing and make it awesome. My version is the spec screenplay and every day I hope it's good enough to sell this concept to an A list director who will then attract the A list actors and money. That's how it works apparently. The director comes first.
While waiting for someone to get back to you, dream over here at IMDb to check out actors, directors, producers, film companies etc.

So People, keep perfecting your craft, keep writing, keep hoping, and maybe one day you'll get that call that Dreamworks wants your book and Natalie Portman and Chris Pine are starring in the movie version. It could happen. Why not?


KIM HORNSBY is an Amazon #1 Bestselling novelist who lives in the Seattle area and writes books about women in dire circumstances rescuing themselves. Her book series, Dream Jumper, is optioned for film and now in development.

Newsletter Signup for Book Releases & Free Stuff www.bit.ly/KimHNews
Kim's AMAZON site www.bit.ly/kimamzn

Go for the Gusto in 2018!

Have you made any?
You know...resolutions?
Did you follow through with last year's resolutions? Do you remember what they were? I don't remember mine.
But, that won't stop me from taking stock of the year and plunging into 2018 with gumption and vigor. I am an optimist. And a dreamer.

Sometimes I get caught up in an idea of the direction I want my life to turn, then remember I'm not 30 anymore. Or 40. Or 50.
 I can't take up a new career that will take years and years to learn and establish. I can't say "Writing for TV looks super interesting! I'm going to take that up!"

Or can I?

Seeing an offered course on January 11th on TV script writing, I thought about signing up, then asked myself why. Am I going to move to LA and write for TV?
Nope.
However, the adventurous side of me that likes to learn new skills wants to take on this challenge of learning to write TV scripts.
It's somewhere fun to go while I procrastinate about finishing my latest novel. And, while I wait for the film company who optioned my book series to be ready to start developing the first movie. I'm a producer on the movie and I really want to get started but sometimes I get ahead of myself and everyone else in enthusiasm and ideas, necessitating a spin around to find something to take on my excitement--channel that enthusiasm into something else until we start talking pre-production. Maybe I should take up screen writing, not TV writing, but the future seems to be in TV and short episodic entertainment, not feature films. Smaller screens, shorter scripts is what Hollywood says.

So, for my 2018 resolution, I vow to dive in to wherever life takes me, keep up the excitement, learn new skills, and not do any more of that self talk that I'm too old to do this or that because I need to start thinking about winding down soon.
I will not wind down.
Resistance is not futile.

Happy New Year Everyone! Go for the Gusto!

My Reading List - 2017

Hey Krowdies! Did you know I refer to my readers and anyone who tunes in to my blog, books, tweets as my Krowd?

Kimmy's Krowd, to be more specific. Whether you want to be a part of a crowd, or not, you're in there. No strings attached. No sign up required. And you don't have to send me a birthday card on May 8th. Just read and review.

I'm not sure why I post my yearly reads except that it gives me a thoughtful reflection on the worlds I delved into by taking on these novels.
I start and abandon as many as I finish and don't list those rejects here because if I abandoned them, I didn't connect with the story, or the writing, or the editing. Or I wasn't in the mood for a vampire suspense, erotic fantasy or anything that begins with a gory crime scene.

I'm specific in what I like to read, just like you. And my current mood factors into it, as well. I read Suspense, Crime, Mystery, Women's Fiction and occasionally a romance or a funny book to break up the heaviness of criminal activities. I don't read anything gory, no torture, and if an animal dies, I stop reading immediately. I write Suspense, as well. Although I've shared space with Stephen King and Dean Koontz on Amazon lists, I do not write blood, gore, crime scenes, torture, horror, and although my characters have problems, open wounds and horrific suffering are not the kind of problems I write about. No animals die. Ever. I consider myself an Empath and I can only take on so much of the emotion as I read. Consequently, I write novels that have a tolerable amount of conflict.

Without further ado, here's what I read, finished, and liked/loved this year as Kimmy's Korner on Amazon (Fiction Only.)
My reviews of each book can be found over here:

KIMMY'S KORNER

Sister - Rosamund Lupton
The Inheritance - Heidi Hostetter
Turtle Moon - Alice Hoffman
Silent Lies - Kathryn Croft
Closing In - Sue Fortin
In a Cottage in a Wood - Cass Green
Fortunate Monsters - Nancy Fulton
The Hideaway - Lauren K. Denton
The Sister - Louise Jensen
The EvoAngel - Ellen King Rice
Last Breath - Karin Slaughter
Settling for More - Lori Leger
A Trick of the Light - Louise Penny
Why Not Kill Her? - Paul Sanders
The Driver - Hart Hanson
Stillhouse Lake - Rachel Caine
The Wildwater Walking Club - Claire Cook
Damnable Legacy - G. Elizabeth Kretchmer
Fathermucker - Greg Olear
Volcano House - J. L. Oakley
The Light of the Fireflies - Paul Pen
Here on Earth - Alice Hoffman
Christmas 911 - Lori Leger
Make No Bones About It - Ann Charles
After You Left - Carol Mason
The Russian Obsession - Nikki Navarre
Revelation - Carter Wilson
Sister Sister - Sue Fortin
Everything We Keep - Kerry Lonsdale
Slave Queen - H. B. Moore
Here's to Us - Elin Hilderbrand
I'll Give You The Sun - Jandy Nelson
A Drop of Ink - Megan Chance
Scorch Road - Toby Neal
Beneath the Surface - Melynda Price
Orphan Train - Christina Baker Kline
The Witch of Napoli - Michael Schmicker
Qualify - Vera Nazarian
Brain on Fire (memoir) - Suzannah Calahan
I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You - Courtney Maum

I initially choose books by price, interest level and professional covers. There are so many I can't read because they cost more than $5 and unless I absolutely love that author, or have it gifted to me, I don't pay more than $5 for an ebook. I stick to a very tight budget and wait for sales on book sites like Book Bub and Fussy Librarian to name a few.
I get a lot of offers to read books and choose randomly from my list of free books for reviews by reading the first page. If it doesn't grab me by the throat, I move on.

Life is too short to  not be grabbed by the throat by a book.

Happy Reading Everyone!



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

Facebook Christmas Story

This is one of those alternate ending stories where you can choose what happens next. The story is from a prompt I had on my  Facebook page, December 19th and I got some wonderful and wacky ideas from my prompt that is in bold below.
www.facebook.com/kimhornsby1



Once upon a time there was a woman who couldn't afford a Christmas tree for her children.

She'd hung a strand of lights that had been in her neighbor's garbage the week before, on her wall in the shape of a triangle! But her children were young and really wanted a tree. A real tree that was decorated and had presents underneath from Santa. The mother knew that she couldn't afford to buy any toys or clothes for the children this year. She could barely pay the utilities to keep the heat on. And already she worked two jobs and had to leave the ten year old girl in charge of the three younger children. The thought of stealing a tree crept into her mind. She would do it if she knew for certain she wouldn't get caught. Going to jail for Christmas would be horrible for the kids now that she was the only living parent with no relatives to take them in. 
So she did the only thing she could do and that was to pray for a miracle! 

First Ending
It was the day of Christmas Eve and the mother was desperate. Maybe she couldn't buy gifts for her children beyond a few food items, but she was not going to let her children suffer because they couldn't pay the $60 for a cut tree this year. She would go out to the woods and cut one down, which wasn't quiet the same as stealing from a Christmas tree lot but still not very legal. When the younger children had gone to bed, the mother told her oldest child she would be right back and digging in her husband's old tools, found a hatchet.
They didn't live far from a greenbelt park and the fact that the moon was buried behind snow-filled clouds worked in her favor. In the park, the mother chopped down a small sapling and when she got it home, she dragged the tree into the house, much to the amazement of the older daughter.
They propped the tree in the corner of the small living room and stepped back to admire their tree.
"Forgive me," the mother whispered to no one in particular. Luckily it was snowing outside and her tracks from the park would be covered by morning.
Then, her daughter screamed.
Looking in the direction of her daughter's finger, the mother saw a small chipmunk clinging to an inside branch. The animal looked frightened. She'd taken this creature's home. Knowing it needed to get outside and back to the park, the mother went outside to where her neighbor's oak tree stood. She dug in a place where she knew were acorns, took a few in her hand and trudged back to her house. The chipmunk was half way to the open door when it saw the acorns in the mother's open hand. The mother laid three acorns on the floor and watching the chipmunk eat the first one, she felt better and smiled at her daughter who was huddled on their threadbare couch.
As the animal ate, it got bigger to where it was the size of a small dog. The mother's mouth fell open. The tree, also, got bigger and sprouted colorful Christmas lights and ornaments. 
By now, the younger children had been wakened by their sister's scream and were watching sheepishly from behind the hall table, their eyes wide to see the magical tree. Not only was a Christmas tree materializing before their eyes but presents appeared underneath. One for each person in their family.
Turning back to the doorway, they saw that the chipmunk was gone. The acorns too. 
The mother looked outside but all she could see was little footprints down the porch stairs and down the walk, headed in the direction of the park.


Second Ending


The next day, she left to go to her early job as a cashier at Wallmart and saw something strange on her porch. In the early morning darkness, a stranger had bought the family a tree and placed on their porch with lights attached and little presents hidden in the branches for the four children. Who had done such a wonderful thing for her family? 
The woman was so overjoyed with the gift from a stranger that she felt the need to pay it forward.
So she went to her job at Walmart and bought Moon Pies with some Walmart money she earned by signing up people for a credit card that day. She left them on the porch that night in hopes that the mysterious person would come back but they didn't. So, she gave the Moon Pies to her children on Christmas morning as a special treat.

Third Ending

 Later that day, her neighbor was putting her gently used tree and decorations on the curb for trash pick up cause the neighbor had gone to Hobby Lobby and hit the 60% off sale, buying herself a fluffier, greener tree. The mother first asked if the tree and decorations were up for grabs and was told she was welcome to them. While she was inside her neighbor's house, a man who everyone called The Grinch, due to his nasty demeanor, stole the tree and ornaments. Dragging them back to his house, the neighbor confronted him and said the mother deserved the tree and ornaments more because of her children. The Grinch started to cry and handed over the box of ornaments.
"Tell you what," the mother said. "If you help me take it to my house, I'll invite you to Christmas dinner." 
The Grinch already had his turkey thawing on the counter and offered to bring the main dish if he could spend the day with the family.
It was agreed and the other neighbor who'd upgraded her tree, even threw in a few extra toys and gifts she'd purchased for her grandchildren but decided against at the last minute.


THE END
 😂😂😂

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



















 

:)