Kate Betterton

When I was a kid spending summers at my dad's childhood home in the deep woods not far from Oxford, Ms., our favorite destination was a place a mile or two up the road from Mamaw and Papaw's place, called the Sand Cave. Mamaw's family owned it; she'd grown up on that property; her (more…)

That's Russian for "hello," or "greetings!" Recently someone from Ryazan, Russia, visited my website, sparking my curiosity about the town. I investigated (Wikipedia), and found that Ryazan was situated on the Oka River southeast of Moscow, was, sadly, the first Russian city to be sacked by the Mongol horde of Batu Khan in 1237, and, has a lovely belltower. There were photos of the belltower, including one from the (more…)

I set out to write a novel about one soul's quest to understand "The Truth About Life After Death" (a TV Guide-sized descript could read: "Girl wrestles with Death--and wins.") I had no idea I was going to write a romance while I was at it, but the Muse knew. Why? The Muse is (more…)

A writer would rather write than do much of anything else. Writing is her gift to the world, a legacy and memorial.

There's a story about the king of an ancient kingdom in Asia--Japan or China, I don't remember which. This king is a poet, and he wants to leave a legacy of his (more…)

My second novel is finished. I mean, well, "finished" meaning the entire story is down on the page, the final sentences are written and doing exactly what they ought'er do, every character has grown, and changed, and reached a certain point in his/her tale, poised to follow the road to new adventures. Now (more…)

A few days ago I was noodling on Amazon, and noticed a new review on WHERE THE LAKE BECOMES THE RIVER's page. It was a generous and kindly bit of feedback, by a woman named Carol, out in Oregon. I lived in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle) for a couple of decades before moving back (more…)

On the set of North Carolina Bookwatch, the sound man, discreet as a fine tailor, mikes you by placing a transciever the size of a cell phone just below your waistband at the back, and a tiny mike on your lapel.

The room is cavernous and dark beyond the hyper-brightly lit stage set of (more…)

I'd never appeared on television before. When the e-mail came from Morgan Potts at UNC-TV inviting me to appear on North Carolina Bookwatch,with gracious host and NC book maven D.G. Martin, I decided some web research was in order a.s.a.p. The taping was set for a few days away. The show is a classic and popular literary interview series on public TV, broadcast throughout North Carolina on Sunday evenings.

When I googled "appear on TV", immediately "do's and don't" came (more…)

Recently I was invited for an interview on the Carrboro Book Beat, on WCOM-FM 103.5 LP FM - the Community Radio of Carrboro.
Hosts Audrey and Paul made me welcome. We had an enjoyable hour discussing writing, Where the Lake Becomes the River, publishing, the creative process, and immortality.

Of the questions that were asked, (more…)

Years back, when I lived in Seattle, a certain graffito adorned buildings around town: "The urge to buy terrorizes you." Being a non-consuming sort, the urge to buy in fact did not terrorize me. However, the phrase stuck in my head, much as had a graffito in large white letters painted on the bricks (more…)