The second day was sunny, and I nearly got sunburnt. I didn’t expect that much sun in England, not in spring. 
The first stop was Sissinghurst Gardens, designed and maintained by a friend of Virginia Woolf. The different gardens around a central double tower impressed me.
Also, there was a room, called Virginia Woolf’s room, I very much liked. Guess why?
In the traditional cut boxwood hedges, countless Robins hopped around. Some were so tame we could entice them with breadcrumbs.
Later, we drove to Great Dixter. Those gardens were less formal, although there were also the typical flowerbeds framed with boxwood hedges. The combination of colors was most impressive. The strange houses in the picture are oasts (barns to dry hop). The top rotates in the wind allowing air to continuously circle through the barn.
Last, we visited the fisher village Rye in East Sussex. Originally, it stood right beside the sea. Nowadays, it’s nearly 2 miles to the coast. This incredible motorbike stood in one of the shop windows. It’s completely made of willow. An incredible piece of art!
On Friday, I’ll post more pictures. I hope I’m not boring you.
Filed under: important thoughts, private stuff by Cat
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For the last week, I’ve been to Kent in England, GB. It was a wonderful trip. I have to say there’s a reason why it’s called “England’s Garden”. Also, I was lucky with the weather. The first few days were very sunny, and the rest at least dry. Only the last day was rainy, but since we spent it mostly indoors in Windsor Castle, it didn’t bother me at all.
Over the next week, I’ll post a couple of my photos to give you an impression of what it was like. I’m still sorting through my memories, trying to store the multitude of new ideas that flooded my imaginative mind.
Look how close the cars (and we as travellers) were to the end of the ship.
If you haven’t seen the Cliffs of Dover, they’re well worth a visit.
On the first day, we visited Canterbury and walked around the Cathedral. After nearly 1000km travelling by car, it was a welcome break. I loved the way some houses were really, really twisted and wondered how that could happen. My Muse suggested that the houses would run around at night playing hide and seek with the Cathedral. When they return to their place, some are too tired to stand up straight.
I loved the Cathedral’s gardens best. Framed by the ancient masonry, they looked even more splendid.
I’ll post more on Wednesday and Friday, and hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I do.
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I am going on a holiday to visit gardens and castles in Kent, England! It will be the first time since my marriage nearly 20 years ago that I’ll be travelling without my husband and kids. I’m scared stiff to say the least.
What if hubby doesn’t manage to handle the kids? After all, they’re both in puberty and very easily annoyed. What if they have to live on muesli and pancakes for the whole week? What if it keeps raining and our house is flooded? What if my dog stops eating because he misses me so much? What if… But probably not.
My mind knows exactly that everything will go well. It’s just this over-active imagination dumping horrors on me. I wonder how people who aren’t authors cope with these things. I can sit down and write a story where all the bad things happen increasing the catastrophes until the world explodes. After that, I can set aside my worries because my emotional side finally understands how unlikely these things are. But what do you do (no, not you, author. The one beside you)? Let me know, please. I’m curious.
Filed under: Bookworm's Musings, important thoughts, misc., private stuff by Cat
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Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.
Lao Tse
I should take this to heart a bit more. I’m trying so hard to get everything done at once (new WIP, revision, preparation for publication, marketing, private life) that I feel rather drained these days. Before I became an independent publisher, I knew that I needn’t hurry, just work constantly at my own pace. I seem to have lost sight of that, so this quote came at the right time.
Filed under: important thoughts, quotes by Cat
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Yesterday, I discovered a feature on my Goodreads profile that allows me to invite my Facebook and Twitter friends. I was reluctant to use it since it felt a little spammy to me. Then, I thought, “But they’re my friends already and if they don’t want to follow me on Goodreads, they don’t have to.” I clicked the button. This morning, I woke up nearly 100 new friends. My eyes nearly popped out of my head.
Thank you so much, friends!
Now, if some of you have actually read stories by me and liked them, please stay informed by joining my newsletter (you’ll get a full YA Fantasy novel by me plus two short stories by fellow authors as a reward). It’s guaranteed spam-free. I’ll only mail when I’ve got news for you (releases and special offers). Sign up now. Thanks.
Filed under: important thoughts, misc., private stuff, promotion by Cat
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Here is my latest release, “Paralan’s Children“, a YA soft SciFi story. Hopefully, you’ll like it. It’s available for 99ct as a special introductory price until tomorrow, 23rd of May. Then, the price will go up to $4.99 for good.
Fresh from the academy, ambitious Galaktipol officer Vera Staven has been transferred to the only human settlement on the ice planet Paralan. Aside from smuggling, crimes are rare and the suicide rate is high. But something at the latest find nags at Vera, although no clues indicate it’s anything but a suicide.
When native Galaktipol officer Joloran Durim Brunàhgan meets the mother of his wee-ones for the yearly egg-opening feast, he doesn’t know he’s facing the worst case of his career. The next morning, fifteen Paralan wee-ones went missing, girls only. A catastrophe for the natives. Joloran hurls himself into the investigation, but he can’t get the murder of two wee-ones out of his mind that he couldn’t solve many years ago.
Paralan and humans harbor prejudices, making it hard for Joloran to follow all clues. Against his will, his superior requests support from the humans. POK Vera Staven is assigned to him, the only woman in the human Galaktipol station on Paralan. And time is running out. With every passing day, the probability of finding the wee-ones alive shrinks. But only as a team, Joloran and Vera might have a chance. Can they overcome their prejudices and cooperate, or will they find these children disemboweled in the icy wilderness of the planet’s far side too?
Get your copy while it’s cheap.
and enjoy the day,
Filed under: Release Day, young adult by Cat
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Could you please vote for my booktrailer for “Scotland’s Guardians” on You Gotta Read (if you don’t like mine pick one of the others, but please have a look)?
This would help me so much.
Thank you.
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It’s Pentecost today, and I feel more down that I have in quite a while. Everything related to “Paralan’s Children” is ready to go. I even managed to get a few people to request a pre-publication copy for reviewing (if you want one please contact me at reviews_at_katharinagerlach.com, replace _at_ with @), and now I feel drained. All energy seems to be gone. When I look at the amount of work that still needs to be done for the next few books (I’ve got two more novels and several short stories lined up for publication this year, plus an anthology for Holly Lisle), I wonder how other small publishers manage. Don’t they have a life?
I know this feeling will pass (especially when I manage to sleep some more), but at the moment I’m feeling blue. I hope you are feeling better. Please let me know what brings you down in the comments.
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I am giving away three printed, signed copies of my novel “Scotland’s Guardians”. Anyone can enter, I’ll ship worldwide.
Blurb
Since Bryanna grows up in Scotland, she is familiar with hobgoblins, selkies and kelpies from the tales of her mother country. But she is very surprised when she starts seeing these creatures one day. Is she hallucinating? Before she can ask her father’s advice, he is kidnapped by a woman whose scent seems awfully familiar. Instead of calling the police, Bryanna follows the kidnapper and lands smack-dab in the middle of the adventure of her life. It’s just as well she knows the old legends and myths well. The world she lands in is murderously dangerous. And even if she survives the journey, she is fated to kill her father.
Please spread the word.
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The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time unlike, say, brain surgery
Robert Cormier
I love this quote because it describes my favorite part of noveling: revision. Revision is the time when I turn my broken first draft into something I can be proud of. It is the time to see what I have learned during my last project, too. It’s surprising to see how many things I learn while writing first drafts, but I never notice them before revision. It’s also the stage where I get to fiddle around with cover art. Since I’m Indie publishing all the creative (and the boring) stuff is up to me. Three hoorays for independence.
Filed under: important thoughts, quotes by Cat
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