Happy Blogiversery – Where has the time gone?

It’s My Blogiversery!  Let’s Celebrate!

Where has the time gone?  I wrote my first blog post on April 25, 2012.  Here we are two years later and so much as happened.  I finally published my book, “Allergic to Life:  My Battle for Survival, Courage, and Hope” (How amazing is that?), had a book launch party, and did a meet the author at a health food store. My list of followers continues to grow and I have  met so many amazing authors, bloggers, and others who suffer from environmental or other chronic illness.  I have joined a writing group, PnP Authors, and became Membership Director for Rave Reviews Book Club.

During the past two years I have made myself known on the social media scene despite my fears by:

• had  website designed (kathryntreat.com)
• started an author page on Facebook
• joined LinkedIn
• set up boards on Pinterest
• started tweeting a Twitter
• started a second blog, Be My Guest, for authors (There will be a special gift for those that sign up to follow my new blog.  The names of new followers will go into a hat and my husband will draw a winner).
• and yes even got myself on Tumblr

I have also had a wonderful book blog tour where I was hosted on 12 blogs over a period of a month.

In honor of my Blogiversery, I am having a giveaway.  The winners will be determined through a Rafflecopter Giveaway.   The giveaway starts now and will run through the 25th of May.  There will be  chances to enter more than once. To find out what and how many gifts (yes there is more than one since “it is my second blogiversary”)  are available.  I know my blogiversery doesn’t officially happen until next week but why wait to start the fun!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This flu is kicking me hard.

Hi everyone

I think the fever is finally gone, at least I hope so.  My body aches, my back is screaming out when I try to stand too long, and I have a tickle in my throat that still makes me think I need to cough.

I am forcing myself to sit up for a bit and the most comfortable chair (sad to say) is my office chair with a beanbag heating pad between the chair and me.  My brain is a mess of fog and the desire for even more sleep keeps trying to lure me back to bed.

If I can manage, I will get up my Catch-Up Monday post done later today for publication tomorrow.

I do, however, have a great new post on my “Be My Guest” blog thanks to having done the draft and scheduling it prior to getting sick.   I am hosting the 4th Spotlight Author for Rave Reviews Book, Bruce A. Borders.  I am excited to read his book, Over My Dead Body.  Take a jaunt over there and read about Bruce and his writing.

 

As if I don’t have enough to do.

You all know that I have been working on promoting and marketing my book, Allergic to Life.  I have also recently joined several online support groups as well as Rave Reviews Book Club.  As part of these groups I have met some amazing authors.  I thought that I would be able to work guest posts by some of these authors into this blog.

I have over 80 posts that I have started in my drafts about chemical sensitivity and allergies.  It is hard enough to squeeze all these posts in without adding my other love, writing and Indie Author support.  I started another blog that will be devoted exclusively to guest posts and the occasional interview or review done by me.

Please take a moment to visit my new blog Be My Guest at kathryntreatdotwordpressdotcom.

Jennie Sherwin – In the Spotlight

If you have been following my blog for any amount of time, you are aware of my friend Jennie Sherwin.  Jennie and I first met in Dallas while going through treatment at the Environmental Health Center.  I recently did an interview with Jennie and talked about her book.  When I became a member of Rave Reviews Book Club I invited Jennie to join because I knew she would be a perfect fit.  One of the perks of being a member and an author is the opportunity to be chosen as a Spotlight Author.  I am so excited to say that Jennie’s name was drawn to be Rave Reviews Book Club’s first “Spotlight Author”.  Below is Jennie’s Author Spotlight post.

I want to thank the Members of the Board of the Rave Reviews Book Club for this incredible opportunity to be featured as the club’s first Spotlight Author. You’ve all done a great deal of work to make this club a reality. To Nonnie Jules, Founder and President, thank you for founding the club and giving authors a place to hang their hats among friends. I am also grateful to my longtime friend Kathy Treat, Membership Director, for inviting me to join. Marketing and promotion are challenges for the first-time author. Being selected as the Spotlight Author, who receives marketing and promotion to the social media outlets as well as to print media, is truly a gift from heaven. Last, but not least at all, I send a special thank you to all the bloggers who agreed to host me on their site. I am truly grateful.

I have always loved to read, so it was natural for me to pursue a career where I could share my love of reading with others, which I did as a teacher of English. I liked writing, too, but it took years to hone my craft. I was fortunate to have wonderful mentors. One, in particular, at Random House, the trade publishing company in New York City, literally taught me how to think about writing, always holding the reader in mind and using that focus to sharpen the clarity of my text. My experience at Random House opened the door to a career in pubic health consulting. Working in a busy editorial office on publications for many clients, each with specific needs, gave me the perfect opportunity to gain experience writing or editing books, papers, and articles targeting different audiences at varying reading levels. As a service to all of the writers and editors who might be reading this blog, I’d like to pass along the names of the manuals that I’ve used throughout my career with links to their Amazon pages. They include the Chicago Manual of Style, Words into Type, New Hart’s Rules, Fowler’s Modern English Usage, and Scientific Style and Format.

 

Now to my book: In Intentional Healing…I tell the story of my transformation from a Western-educated woman who worked as a writer and editor in the field of public health to a woman who awakened  to a more Eastern-oriented way of thinking that included a de-emphasis on the individual and ego and an emphasis on collective consciousness and the soul. After bizarre symptoms upended my life, I sought help from Western medicine. No one I consulted could explain what was happening to me. No one, that is, until I met diagnostic detective, Dr. Leo Galland, who tied my symptoms to environmental illness and referred me to a pioneer in environmental medicine, Dr. William J. Rea, in Dallas, Texas, founder of the Environmental Health Center-Dallas. While at the EHC-D, I was introduced to the view held by doctors of environmental medicine that many chronic illnesses are triggered by environmental toxins. During treatment, I unmasked (or became aware of a sensitivity I had not recognized before) for sensitivity to electromagnetic fields. Dr. Rea referred me to Deborah Singleton, founder and director of A Healing Place, and her energy healing team. Energy balancing helped me respond to the treatment program at Dr. Rea’s clinic. With Deborah’s guidance I began the process of expanding my consciousness and understanding the real roots of illness. My journey, which included initiation into Reiki channeling and healing from Navajo hataali, took me from dark nights of the soul to a new way of thinking about illness.

Jennie Sherwin, author and editor

http://jsherwinblog.wordpress.com/

Lunch with the authors

In July I posted a blog titled, “Talking About Published Authors” .  (July seems like years ago and yet it has only been six months.)  So much has happened since my post in July.  My book became available, I have had a book launch party, I did a “Meet The Author” at a health food store near my daughter’s home, and most recently I became Membership Director for Rave Reviews Book Club (an online book club).

Before all these things happened I was invited by Pattimari and Peter to join an online group of authors, PNP Authors.  I was welcomed into this group by an amazing group of people.  The blog post “Talking About Published Authors” features links to an interview Pattimari did with me and a blog post she wrote featuring me and my book.  We have contacted each other and worked together back and forth via the PNP Author website and email.  We had never talked on the phone or met in person.  A few days ago I received an email from Pattimari saying that she and Peter would be in town and invited my husband and I to lunch.  She also asked that I bring them a signed copy of Allergic to Life.

Of course I was very excited to finally get the opportunity to meet these wonderful people in person.  There is one cafe in town where I have been able to dine outdoors and they have one item on the menu that I have been able to tweak to suit my allergies.   I went ahead to get us a table and my husband would join us there.  I arrived at the cafe and my jaw dropped.  I hadn’t been there in quite some time.  I forgot that they put up a tent in the outdoor seating area to allow more customers to eat there during the winter months.  I couldn’t dine in there because all the chemicals and fragrances would be trapped in the tented area.  I went inside wearing my lovely charcoal mask and waited to be assigned a table.  I pointed to a couple of tables in the back of the courtyard outside of the tent and asked if we could sit there.  The answer was no because there was only one way in and out of the tent and that was through the cafe itself.  I began to worry about what I was going to do.  We had people coming from out-of-town to have lunch with us and my options were gone.

The hostess being the resourceful person that she was had a solution.  She opened up the gate to the courtyard and brought out two small tables and four chairs and set them up on the sidewalk area in front of the Cafe.  She came in an out of the cafe to serve us and check on us.  What a wonderful young woman!

Lunch with Pattimari & Peter

This just goes to show how creative and kind the staff are at Toni’s Courtyard Cafe.

Allergic to Life receives a 5-Star Review

I am excited to share with you a 5-Star review that Allergic to Life just received from Nonnie Jules at Rave Reviews Book Club. I am excited to be a part of this book club. As a group we read the selected book and review it and then post our reviews individually as well. Nonnie Jules posts her own reviews on her own page of the site, Nonnie’s Reviews.  These reviews are separate from the Book Club’s Reviews, Current Book Selection, or Author Spotlights.

I am honored that Nonnie Jules chose my book as one of her books to review on her page.  Please head over and read her review of Allergic to Life.  For those of you are avid readers or authors, joining the club is free and the main membership requirement is to read and review four books during the year.

Rave Reviews Book Club

One of the myriad of things I have been doing this past month is becoming a governing board member of a new Book Club, Rave Reviews Book Club founded by Nonnie Jules.  The club is open to authors and readers alike.  There is no fee to join.  To keep your membership, you must review four books during the course of 2014.

This is a great way for authors to get more spotlight on their works through features and reviews as well as sales, as members purchase the book(s) for review. When someone becomes a member of the club, their book(s) automatically goes into the selection pot.  Then, our Governing Board makes suggestions from that pot and then a vote is taken by the “GB”.  It is also a great place to find new and exciting books to read as well as participate in drawings and giveaways that will be featured throughout the year.

I am excited to be in on the ground floor of what I think will be a great Book Club and look forward to reading and reviewing the books of others.  I have talked many times how books took me away and continue to take me away when things are not going well with me or my health.  It is my intention to continue to highlight a book or author once a month here on my blog.

The Rave Reviews Book Club Governing Board has chosen Daydream’s Daughter, Nightmare’s Friend by author Nonnie Jules as our first book to read and review.

If you want to be a part of this new Book Club please, check out the FAQ’s and Member Information.

Best of 2013 Giveaway Hop – And The Winner Is!

I have been talking about Scott D. Southard’s “A Jane Austen Daydream” for the past week.  I chose Mr. Southard’s book to giveaway during the Best of 2013 Giveaway Hop and featured an interview with him as well.

My Rafflecopter giveaway ended at 12:00 a.m. today.  I am excited to announce that the winner is Heather Burgess.  CONGRATULATIONS HEATHER!  The book will be going out in tomorrow’s mail.  I hope you enjoy the story as much as I did.

Allergic to Life gets a review from The-Labyrinth

I just read a wonderful review from fellow blogger Miche at The-Labyrinth for Allergic to Life.  Miche also suffers from chemical sensitivity, other allergies, and a severe allergy to mold.

I truly appreciate that she took the time to read my book and learn my story of what brought me from a regular woman who went and did what she wanted to someone who became “allergic to life”.  Please take a minute to visit Miche, read her review, and sign up to follow her blog.  Miche writes amazing blog posts and has been a champion for students with disabilities at her university in Australia.

Under the weather is an understatement

Hi all

I am sick.  I have a sinus infection and my lungs hurt.  I am trying to take it easy but there are  a few deadlines coming up that I need to continue to promote.  The plan is to spend a little time here in the office and then a lot of time back on the love seat.

Before I head back to the love seat, I want to remind you that:

1. The December Kindle Fire Giveaway ends on Wednesday.  If you haven’t entered, please check it out.
2. The Best of 2013 Giveaway for a signed copy of Scott D. Southard’s book, A Jane Austen Daydream, ends on Wednesday.  My Rafflecopter Giveaway is set to end at 12:00 a.m. on Thursday.  It is a great book.  If you haven’t entered, you might want to check it out as well.
3. I have decided to extend the discounted price of signed copies of Allergic to Life on my website through the end of December.  I use priority mail so probably the last day I can mail them with a chance of them arriving by Christmas is December 18th.  I also have been in communication with my publisher about lowering the price of the e-book.