I’ve moved!

Check out my latest posts at www.kaystrom.com/blog .  And be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss my upcoming posts on writing, global issues, and everyday observations.  I’ve so enjoyed having you follow Kay’s Words.  Come on over and follow me on my website~

Laboring Through the Day

When I was young, my parents told us kids that Labor Day was a day set aside for families to labor together. Clever spin. Every year, on the first Monday of September, we were awakened early to start a day of cleaning out the garage… or weeding the garden… or scrubbing floors… or canning peaches… or whatever.

Funny thing—even after all these years…

***Read the rest at www.kaystrom.com .  Click on “blog.”  And please click on subscribe. See you at my new blog address!***

 Kay

The Equalizer Returns

 

Kay’s Words has moved to www.kaystrom.com  (blog)

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In my former life, I did some writing for two TV shows: Murder, She Wrote and The Equalizer.

 

Yep, The Equalizer. Anyone remember that one? Tales of a former secret agent who tries to atone for his past by offering his investigative services for free to whoever needs help? I know, I know, it does seem an unlikely writing fit for me. (Don’t ask. It’s a long story.) But the thing I loved about that show was that the head writer was a committed follower of Christ. He managed to get some of the most amazing Christ-honoring scenes into the show.

Well, now that long-ago. . .

Read the rest of the article on www.kaystrom.com  (blog)

Moving Day~

***My blog site has moved to new accomodations:  my website!  Please come on over.  It’s so nice to have everything in one place, but I really want to have you there, too!  Please stop by www.kaystrom.com and click “blog.”***

Today, just for fun, I’m throwing in a little word play:

• I had to laugh and tease my pastor a bit last fall. He sent out an email reminding us about…  (Ooops!  Come on over to see the rest of  Signs of the Time.)   www.kaystrom.com

Lazy, Busy August!

You gotta love August! It’s the month of sunshine and vacations. The year’s break to kick back and slack off, to eat hot dogs and potato salad off paper plates. The month to go to the fair and eat a frozen banana on a stick, to ride the Ferris Wheel—and whatever they call all those new upside-down-make-certain-your-soul-is-in-God’s-hands rides. It’s the month to pig out on watermelon, and tomatoes still warm from the garden, and zucchini from everyone else’s.

So, what’s with all the writing business in this lazy month? The third and final book of my Blessings in India trilogy, The Love of Divena, released. I finished the sample chapters for another book. I met a great guy who’s interested in pursuing one of my movie scripts (I had to edit it). I got my India visa squared away. Oh, yes, I’m also scrambling to complete the children’s church curriculum I’m writing with a friend.

Smoky helping with my book signing at the fair

But August is also the month I’ve finally taken an important step: I’m revamping and moving my blog. (Yep, that’s why I’ve been off-line for a month. That and all the above.) Instead of my two blogs—Kay’s Words and Grace in Africa—and continually struggling to update my website info on a regular basis, I will be doing it all on in one place–on my website! (“It’s about time!” my web-building friend Michael Reynolds says.)

Stay tuned. And feel free to chip in your two cents worth.

Hey, you gotta love August~!

 

 

Merrily, merrily, shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.
~ William Shakespeare~

Words, words, words

To writers and readers and all other citizens of the world:

 What you say matters, but not as much as how you say it.

 

My friend Joycelyn sent me a YouTube link with the message: A goose flesh moment.

I don’t usually click on such links. I get too many of them and life is too short. But because it sent shivers up Joycelyn’s back, and because I respect her judgment, I clicked on it.

 

A homeless man with a sign sitting in a public place.  Now and then a plink as a passerby tossed him a coin.  Until…

No, I won’t tell you.  You should watch it:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Hzgzim5m7oU&vq=medium

 

Change your words,

Change the world.

 

While You Are Twiddling Your Thumbs. . .

“Owwww!” As I helped my husband turn the mattress, my already injured thumb got yanked and twisted. I cradled my throbbing hand and moaned, “It sticks out like a sore thumb!”

Original? Nope.  But its oh so appropriate.

Most of us speak (or roar or whisper or moan) common idioms without giving them the first thought.  I mean, really, there’s nothing unique about a sore thumb.  Yet people have been saying “it sticks out like a sore thumb” to describe something oddly out of place since at least the middle of the 16th century. Maybe that’s the whole point.  We all understand the awkwardness of a sore thumb.  

Look at how well these other thumb idioms also work: 

• If you’re tired of being under his thumb, take charge!
• I keep dropping things.  I’m all thumbs today!
• Your plants look wonderful!  You obviously have a green thumb.
• No transportation?  Don’t thumb a ride.  Hitch-hiking can be dangerous. 
• If you thumb your nose at the idea, you had better be ready to offer one of your own.
• Thumb through this new magazine.  If you like it, you may want to subscribe.
• The board gave your proposal a thumbs down?  Maybe you can bring it up again later.
• As a rule of thumb, I plant my garden in May. (I hate this one! It came from 17th century English Judge Sir Francis Buller who allegedly ruled that it was A-OK for a husband to beat his wife with a stick, so long as it was no wider then his thumb!  Ugh!)

Okay, that’s my thumb list.  What is your favorite… or least favorite… idiom?  Any particular reason?

“It’s like Tolstoy said. Happiness is an allegory, unhappiness a story.”

Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore

Me and the ALA Convention

I don’t do a lot of book signings these days, but when I was invited to sign my soon-to-be-released book The Love of Divena at the American Library Association convention in Anaheim, I couldn’t say no. I mean, librarians would be there. City and county and school librarians.  Some of my very favorite people in the world!

The Love of Divena is the third and final book of my Blessings in India trilogy.  The series follows two families through 20^th century India: one a family of “untouchables,” the other the high caste Christian-in-name family that owns them.

Okay, back to Anaheim (home of Disneyland, for those not in the know). The Anaheim Convention Center is huge!  So when I saw that Abingdon Press’ booth was at the far end of the hall, my spirits sank.  Books, books everywhere.  How many people would keep walking the aisles until they got to me? 

Well, as it turned out, lots of folks did. I started signing at 9:30 a.m. and didn’t stop until the last book was gone at 12:10.  And people were still in line. 

I met library folks from all across theU.S., and from many other countries, too: Ireland, England, the Virgin Islands, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Kenya, India…  People were so excited to see that the series was set in India.  And everyone asked if I had been there.  Fortunately, I have, because  many knowledgeable people wanted to engage me in discussions. 

Most frequently asked questions: 

• How many times have you been to India?
• Answer: Eight.  Ninth time this coming October.
• Is this a Christian book?
• Answer: “Yes, but not tacked on Christianity that hits readers over the head.”
• Is it suitable for young people? 
• Answer:  “Absolutely! Acceptable and also historically accurate.”  

“Sign me up for next year!”

Me

On Writing: This and That from Here and There

Do you like writing info? Sound bites?  Stats?  Bullet points?  Then you are sure to love this post.  Since the info compiled here has been gleaned from various sources, I won’t bet the rent on it.  Still, it is interesting.  And thought provoking.

•  Over 70 percent of books published in the world are in languages other than English
• About 1.5 million books are in print in the U.S. at any one time.
• The top 10 book publishers in the U.S. control about 88 percent of the market.
• The New York Times reported that “According to a recent survey, 81 percent of people feel that they have a book in them…and should write it.”
• This means that over 200 million people in the U.S. want to write a book.
• Last year, according to Bowker, 764,448 titles were self-published. That’s a mind-boggling 181 percent increase from the previous year.
• California has approximately six times the number of small presses as anywhere else.
• Colorado and Minnesota are the self-publishing runners-up.
• Religious books represent a significant share of today’s publishing market.
• More and more spiritual and religious titles are crossing over into mainstream bookstores.
• Women buy 68 percent of all books sold.
• Most readers never get past page 18 in a book they have purchased.

Interesting, huh?  Do you have any stats to add to this list? 

“When I want to read a good book, I write one.”

Benjamin Disraeli

Before Freedom… The Better News

Okay, I promised that in my follow-up post on human trafficking, I’d pass along some good news. Here goes:

• Myanmar (Burma) not only has a significant traffic problem, but also trafficks girls and women to other Asian countries. The positive? The government finally acknowledged the problem and is trying in significant ways to address it.
• The Czech Republic has introduced a series of anti-trafficking laws and is actively convicting traffickers.
• Iceland, Israel, and Nicaragua all made progress this last year in facing up to their countries’ trafficking problems, and all are taking major steps to fight it.
• Lithuania gets high praise for punishing trafficking criminals, for improving its system of identifying victims, and for actively investigating crimes and prosecuting the criminals.
• United States State Department’s just-released report on Human Trafficking ranks it as one of the most active countries in combating human trafficking.  Still, it needs to better collect local, state and federal data so it can better monitor trafficking trends.
• Finland prohibits buying sexual services, but only from trafficking victims.
• Sweden has a unique law that criminalizes the ones who purchase sex. Passed in 1999, the law targets only the purchaser, not the victim. The penalty is a fine or up to six months in prison.  As a result, the country’s trafficking problem is small.
• Norway, seeingSweden’s success, is preparing similar legislation.

Yea forSweden!  Its approach has proven to be the most effective by far.

How can sex trafficking be defeated?  By severely punishing the ones who profit form it. By arresting its customers. By offering a way out to those held in its bondage. By creating good alternatives for at-risk girls and women.

“We need to ensure that all survivors have that opportunity to move past what they endured and to make the most of their potential.”

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton