A Blog or a Newsletter?

Dearest Gentle Reader--

Just kidding.

Hello!

I wondered what the difference was between publishing on a blog, or writing what authors are now calling a newsletter?  It seems to amount to the same thing.  So I will begin my author blog here and call it a newsletter.  

A Blewsletter.  A Newsblog.  

Whatever we call it, I decided that after hitting the 'submit' button more than two dozen times on Kindle Direct Publishing, I figured it was about time to create a blog to keep you up to date on what I'm doing on the writing front.  I don't know if I'll publish something once a week or once a month, or only when I release a new novel.  Time will tell.  And maybe it'll change over time.

For the last several months, I have been posting on the Facebook page (which you can find here:  https://www.facebook.com/kaylee.patterson.219375/) but if you're not ON Facebook, then this is another option to follow me for updates.

I will create a post here (or maybe a series of posts) that includes all the collected works with book covers, ISBNs (the Amazon version of them), and maybe a little blurb for each.  I'm not sure if I can keep adding to that post as I publish new books, so perhaps separate posts for each novel.  That'll probably make them easier to find, and readers can leave comments after each one.

A bit about me!  

First off, I'll admit it straight out:  KayLee Patterson is a pen name.  

I decided that my real name is too unique and I'm too easy to find on the internet.  Some old-old-old posts from newsletters in other organizations even include my home address and phone number, so for privacy's sake, I chose something that is not my real name, but still something personal.  

My first name starts with K, Lee is my middle name, and Patterson is a family name a couple generations back on my Dad's side.  Easy enough to remember, pronounce, and spell.  All in the win column.

I am the daughter of a Navy SEAL, which gives me a great deal of pride to say.  My Dad lived a fascinating, adventurous life (outside of the military) and was a huge influence on my world view and inspiration to me in so many ways.  He was also a writer, mostly of short stories, and my brother has also inherited skills at writing, and wrote mostly about wine varietals for his shop that he owned.

I grew up mostly in the upper Midwest US, where many of my stories take place, then moved to Western Washington for University.  That's Washington state, not DC.  I met my husband at school (on the 2nd day I was there), and we have three adult kids.

I started writing stories when I was in high school, though all of them have been lost to time, and multiple moves across country.  By the time I graduated, I had moved three and a half times--my college address was a house my parents bought and slowly transitioned into starting in my senior year, and I only lived there in the summers.  After I moved out, my parents moved several more times, as did I, and things just get tossed or lost in the process.  It wasn't until about ten years ago, as a mom of three growing kids, that I was inspired to write a story down so I could find out what happened next.  

To explain, I have struggled with insomnia for most of my life.  Maybe it was anxiety or some other kind of emotional trauma, but I found that I could get my mind to relax by kind of telling myself a bedtime story.  In my mind.  Not out loud.  That would be kind of awkward with my husband lying there, staring at me like I'm nuts while I mutter to myself.

So I imagined a person, a place, and a situation, and just let my mind wander.  Where did she go?  Who did she meet?  Then what happened?

I'd fall asleep before the character got too far, so the next night I'd start again.  

Eventually, I decided I needed to write down the first part so I could find out what happened after.

So that's what I did. 

And that turned into a story.  I sent it off to an author friend of mine, Kate, aka K. M. Warfield, who sent me back her thoughts.  She had some good, constructive criticism, but I wasn't ready to make any changes at the time.  Then I shelved the thing and forgot about it for several years.

Then about five years ago, I had another story that I was writing in my head.  So I wrote that one down.  I built on it over a few weeks and pretty soon, I got to the end of the story.  That became Past, Present, and Future, although I didn't actually publish it for a few years.  

Then I wrote Erik's Bride, which I leaned into more of the medieval history, a passion of mine since college when I joined a living history organization (yeah, you know the one!).  Google was my friend at finding out things that existed in the 10th century--and I created a fictional world based on actual history.  Thus began the Gunnar's Journey series.  They can mostly be read in any order, but there are often back-references to previous stories, inside jokes that are explained in other volumes, and lots of world-building.

On a girls' weekend with my bestie, we were listening to a podcast called Rotten Romance:  (Dry) Heaving Bosoms Who Read Romance Novels.  The four ladies did a Zoom call style review of romance novels during the early months of the pandemic.  Sadly, it looks like they haven't done any episodes in a few years.  They reviewed a book called My Viking Vampire, which they all gave the thumbs-up.  Vikings and vampires, both being hot topics since Twilight and True Blood, inspired me to give it a shot.  I downloaded and read it.  Not bad, but it made me think of something.  The FMC (female main character, for those unfamiliar) loved hanging out with this vampire because they were in Houston, where it was HOT, and he was a vampire, who is cold.  Like snuggling up to your own personal ice pack.  But that thought stuck with me when they had a little romantic interlude on the couch.  He's cold.  EVERYWHERE.  It just made me think about why they warm up the speculum at the OBGYN office.

And that's when I decided I was Team Jacob.

Now, if I were to read a book about werewolves, what would I want them to be like?  What traits would they have?  How would they blend in to society?  Would they be 'out' or still living in hiding?

And that's how I started writing the Lycan Society series.

A few stand-alone novels broke out in between, such as It Happened One Flight, which is the story that I had sent to Kate all those years before.  I pulled it out and worked on it, making the main character less bitter, giving more perspective from the MMC, and making the sister character more personable. (She was really annoying before!)  I debated about whether or not to take the ESP/magical element out of it, but in the end, I decided to let it stay.

So here I am, working on my 29th novel (and a few more that are in various stages of completion). I'm 86k words in and I can see the conclusion on the horizon.  It's not in focus, but I know it's there, so I better get writing!

One last note, which I feel is very important.  I have heard of authors of some novels working on them for months or even years before publishing.  I write several hours a day, I type fast, and I do all my own editing.  I self-publish on KDP.  That means a lot of the process is streamlined, and I've been able to publish quickly, going from blank page to finished novel in a matter of weeks.  One novel I wrote 99% of it in two weeks.  105k words.  480 pages.  It's possible.  7500 words a day for 14 days.  One day, I wrote over 12k words.

I DO NOT USE AI FOR MY WRITING.  

It's 100% me.  Sure, I Google things to check facts, but the rest is all from my mind.

The book covers are occasionally done using AI.  In some cases, I take a photo from my own collection, upload it, and alter it.  A couple of them, I've asked AI to make an image, then I alter it to make it look the way I want.  Those covers might get swapped out at a later date, but for now, I'm working with a limited (zero) budget.

Just thought I would add that for some clarity.

Meanwhile, welcome!  Lovely to meet you.

KayLee