Karen Dropps

Wow! It has been a while since I've posted, but with good cause. A lot has happened since my last post. I published another book, I moved up in Martial Arts, and am currently recovering from knee surgery.

First to the good news! My newest book is out! The Dorcha, the first in a three book series starts the adventure for Sarah and her mythical friends. This book was outside my normal of writing about history, but the challenge was too tempting. I had the best motivator and idea machine in my 10yo. We would sit in my car before Martial Arts, where I would tell him what I was working on, and he would add ideas to it. He came up with the idea of Death Turtles and helped me figure out how best for them to combat the evil in the mythical world. He was very proud of this book, so much so, that he convinced his teacher to read it to the class! Now write the next two!

I am now a Brown Belt (for 3 more weeks) and have moved up to the ‘gup’ class. It was an easy transition as my years of sports prepared me for 3-4 practices. I committed to the process and was super excited to move up and learn more. Sadly, the muses had other plans. By week 3 I was out of commission and looking down the bleak tunnel of being on the sidelines.

I was at one of our study sessions (intensive 3-4 hours classes) where we were practicing board breaking. In hour 2 we switched to inside outside kick, one of my least favorite. I twisted my body as far as I could to get the power I needed to break. As I spun and kicked something popped, but I did break my board. I stepped off the floor and I haven't practiced since.

The next day I went to Urgent Care. After some x-rays, it was clear I had dislocated my kneecap. This was not the first time, more likely my 5th time. I always go all out when I play a sport, and this has led to many knee injuries over the years. Well, after over 30 years of sport, it finally said ‘I’m done’. After consulting with doctors and surgeons, it was determined I needed a new ligament, and I was sent into surgery.

I am 3 weeks post op now and the road to getting back looks longer than ever. It is a 6 month recovery, the longest in my career. It has been a hard road, and I am trying to stay positive. I still go to Martial Arts, I just help from a chair. I also am testing to move up, but yet again from a chair. As someone who has spent so much time on the field/court/mat, being away is hard. I try to sneak some extra movements in, but right now, my biggest movement is standing for a few minutes.

It has helped me go back to art and crafts. I keep myself busy drawing and knitting, or other crafts. Today I crocheted patches for a chair that my cats destroyed! I am looking ahead, but the steps are small. It is helping me find different paths to stress relief and has shown me where I belong: On the mat!

I honestly can not remember when I met Eric. We have racked our brains of if there was an exact moment that we met, but for the life of us we can not remember, I guess that's what happens when you meet the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with when you're 14. We attended Bristol Plymouth, the local vocational school and back in 2001, when I was a freshman and he a junior, I would hang out with our circle of friends playing Magic: The Gathering in the cafeteria before school. From these games in the morning, our friendship grew over the years. When he left for college, we kept in touch, and our friendship started to become deeper.

Then my freshman year of college, a snow storm changed everything. I was flying back to Wisconsin from Christmas break, and when I got into Detroit, my flight was cancelled. I was too young to get a hotel room, but could not get out until the next morning. I panicked and pulled out my laptop and logged onto AIM (yes it was that long ago) looking to talk to anyone. There was Eric, online at the same time, and I reached out, looking for any kind of distraction for a long night ahead. We chatted online for hours, he kept me sane in a nerve racking time, and from then on I started to look at him in a different light.

Fast forward to the end of my sophomore year, I start getting calls just about every weekend, and its Eric asking every weekend if I can come to a party. One problem was I was a 27 hour drive away and did not have a license. I would always reassure him that I was coming back at the end of April. I would come up that weekend to Boston to visit.

When I returned home, I kept my promise and went into Boston for a night. I brought along a friend and she kept asking if Eric was a potential romance or just a friend. I swore to her, he was just a friend, and we were just going to have some fun. Well that night, Eric and I found ourselves on a couch in his dorm, and he turned to me and kissed my cheek saying “ I have waited 6 years to kiss you” I smiled and in my typical sarcastic tone replied “ What took you so long?”

From that night back in 2007 we have been together. In 2010 on a cold December night, under the Christmas tree in the Boston Common, he got down on one knee and proposed. Two years later we married, and this upcoming may we will have been married 14 years and dating for 20 years.

I get asked sometimes how we have stayed together so long? My answer is always the same, marry your best friend, that friendship is the strong foundation of your love, that no matter what happens, we are always friends, and can confide and build each other up.

Here’s to a lifetime of laughter, love and friendship!

its Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers yearly conference! I had a great start playing Mimi Crye in our murder mystery game!

Crafting is something I have always done. Though over the past few years, I have been diving deeper and taking on more difficult projects and love the challenges they bring. Crafting is a skill that connects us to our past, for myself, it is something that both my mother and I share. I feel it is a communication between generations as the traditions are passed down. My mother learned from her Mother and mother-in-law, and in turn taught me. side note: My grandmother wrote her own patterns, but used her own abbreviations, so I have had to learn what is the general abbreviations compared to hers, it has been a great adventure!
I have taken on knitting, crocheting, cross-stitch, and many more!
The time I spend on these projects, I never feel is wasted. It helps me to concentrate and to find joy in the mistakes and acceptance in the need that it not be perfect.
One time I made a blanket that I called my mistake blanket (It is great experiment for anyone who focuses too much on perfection) and I crocheted the blanket and its squares mistakes and all, if I added a stitch, it would stay, drop a stich same thing, use the wrong color next, let it be. It was a great project and the blanket though a bit misshapen, it was beautiful mistakes and all.
Handicrafts like these have for a long tome been part of woman's work, and today I see it as a way of taking up space instead of time for women. Crafting once was a way to keep woman in the upper classes busy, but today I see it as a way to slow down and take a break from all the technology around us, and to reconnect with our past.

I thought this week I would dive into my own writing process. I like to call it the old school process, since I still use paper and pen on my first draft. I prefer a specific pen and a leather bound notebook, and I carry it with me everywhere. My typing has never been fast, but my brain and hand seem to be at the same speed. I can take out my notebook anytime and get some words down on paper. Now, according to my 9 year old, my handwriting is in some sort of code, but I do write in cursive. So a shout out to my elementary school teachers who drilled writing in cursive in all my classes, I actually do use it! I feel I have the freedom to write anywhere, no need for power or WiFi, just a pen and a place to sit. For example, I spent my last flight working on a short story. I had four hours of sitting in a small space, and had inspiration so I got to work and got about half way through the story.
When I am done in the notebook, I get an early edit in as I type it up. I catch somethings, like a change in a name or a continuity problem, I can catch it on this first run through. I then go back to the old school methods and I print out my first draft and mark it up. I have a binder with that copy, and I like to go back when the novel is complete and see how far it has come. In the print up, I can add notes all over, and get a bit of a break from a screen. I also find reading it in print brings it to life without the distractions of the screen.
This week I take the step on my newest novel, from the first draft and add the changes I have found, and I get to see the book morph closer to a final product.
So raise a pen or pencil to the old ways, and bring back cursive!

Two years ago, I decided it would be fun to join my child in Martial Arts, little did I know that this would take me down an amazing path where I found confidence, and strength, but also a love for the traditions of the practice.
I get asked a lot what martial art I practice, when I respond with Tang Soo Do, I get loks of what? did she mean Taekwondo, which leads me to go into a long description of the two practices. The type I study is the more traditional Korean martial art, I usually explain that we learn traditional weapons and Korean culture as well as forms, and sparring. It has a long history, and for me I have taken to forms as my specialty
A form? its a group of moves almost like a dance, that highlight offensive and defensive moves. I am currently working on Pyung Ahn firms which is a group of 5 forms that make up one large form which comes from the traditional Japanese Martial Arts.
I have learned so much on this journey, and as a cultural historian I have found it fascinating the traditons and adaptablitily of the moves and weapons, since for some time, weapons and martial arts were banned in Korea. Take the fighting fan, it is a traditional fan, but when used as a weapon by adding blades, a simple item can be used to defend oneself.
I recently made it to my red belt, which means I have four more belts and three more years to my black belt, and I am looking forawrd to the journey ahead. Its through this practice that keeps me going, I get a chance to grow both physically and mentally, and I have found friendship and purpose through out my time.
If you want to find out more, or want to join in with me I practice at Lane Academy of Martial Arts in Arvada, CO or check around you, its fun and excitin seeing how much you can grow!
and as we say:
Tang Soo!

Every year my little family of three travels East to Maine for a couple of weeks. This time is usually a vacation, but I find myself so inspired when visiting that I carry my notebook and pen around everywhere I go. After a few years of these trips I find an almost spiritual feeling in these woods and see where Stephen King gets his ideas (It is almost like he doesnt write fiction) Being in Maine, away from the drove of life I get a little retreat to write. Be it by the ocean in Bar Harbor or just on the back deck at my Mother-in-law's. I make some great progress on my upcoming novels. Last year it was a hike in Acadia National Park that "The Dorcha" came to light. I was walking along a trail by Jordan's Pond and I could fully see my characters running through the woods unseen from their mythical world to our own, all the while tourists walk by unaware of what is happening a few feet away. I am working on a new novel (sorry no spoilers)called "Who Spilled the Tea?" and look forward to see how Maine will inspire this story.
Above photo: Bar Harbor, where I found a folk singer giving a small concert on a lawn.

When I finished writing my first novel, I had the same dilemma that many writers have: Who should publish this?
I searched high and low for a publisher that fit with my vision. I had experience with a traditional publisher when writing a textbook, and felt I did not have the control over my work that I wanted. I also knew I did not have the skills to self publish my book, in came hybrid publishing. I found a local publisher, Spring Cedars, where I met Audrey who showed me that with this type of publishing I would get to keep control over my work, and that she and her team were there to help me make my novel a reality. With hybrid there is a bit of upfront costs, but after speaking with other authors it came out to about what they were spending for traditional publishing. I asked Audrey why she started Spring Cedars:
"The publishing industry is quite harsh for authors. Spring Cedars was launched to provide writers a better publishing alternative, one that is integrated, affordable, and personable."

I have been so happy with how the work has come about, I have control over my work, I am in charge of my own marketing, and my work keeps my personal touch. I am looking forward to working with them with my upcoming books! So if you are looking for something in between traditional or self, look into hybrid its a great way to make your dreams come true.
Want to learn more about Spring Cedars? check them out here:Spring Cedars