The Secret

I received a surprise text from an acquaintance last night, a woman I don't know well, who read my book recently. She had asked me, a month or so ago, how the book was doing, and I lamented that I've done virtually nothing to market it. Her reply, "Badass doesn't expire!" made me laugh and encouraged me to keep taking those baby steps forward toward my goals.

Her text, last night, indicated that she is going through a surprise divorce and she added, "I keep telling myself that Badass doesn't expire!" And that's the truth, whether you're 15, 51 or 115

Badass (which is the now-ubiquitous term for anything that is cool, awesome, amazing, powerful) doesn't expire. It doesn't fade. It is not only given to certain people and it can't be stolen. We each have an inexhaustible supply of badass, but some of us choose to deny it. We convince ourselves we can't do something because we are too young, old, fat, ugly, poor, unskilled, etc. Countless people have told me they wish they could write a book, wish they could fly an airplane, wish they could afford to go to college, wish they could own their own business, wish they could find someone to love. The list goes on and on. I believe we can do anything that we believe we can do. That is the message from the popular book/movie "The Secret" and there is nothing really secret about it. Believe it, take baby steps toward it, and your goal will become a reality. We manifest our own destiny.

My beautiful niece Leah

Pictured to the right is my badass niece who, through sheer willpower, overcame a childhood of economic deprivation to become a successful attorney. (Yes, she practices in Seattle, and yes she consulted on the legal scenes in "Silent Sky," and yes there is a little bit of her in Reina).

There is no time like the present to start down the path toward your dreams. When the fears and doubts arise, shoo them out the door. Begin today to take baby steps toward eating more healthy, getting that education, learning to boldly live on your own , becoming a derby skater - whatever it is that calls to you. It is not always easy to forge forward, but when you do, the universe aligns with you to make your dreams come true.

XO,Cate

Weapons Training

I've received great reviews from many of you on my new book, "Silent Sky." I also received some constructive criticism in the gentle offer of a couple male friends to take me shooting so I could learn something about firearms. As I intend for my heroine, Reina, to become gradually more badass in each subsequent book, I was anxious to accept this offer to learn about, handle, and shoot some guns.

Yesterday, I went to the local shooting range with friends Dave and Todd. Having never shot a pistol before, they provided full instruction in the safety etiquette of handling them: always treat a gun as if it is loaded, always check its status upon picking it up (check clip and chamber), always point away from people (all of which Reina completely disregards in the book, but hey, it's an action series, folks!)

My first attempt was with a Ruger 22, a sleek gun with minimal recoil. My target is pictured to the right in pink. At 25 feet, all ten shots went straight to the head. After removing the cartridge and laying the gun down on the table, I turned to high fives from Todd and Dave, both sporting big grins and comments like, "She's a natural."

After a couple rounds with the 22, I tried my hand at the Kimber 45. This gun has a much greater recoil, but still I managed to land the first shot smack on the x in the middle of the poor target's chest. I told myself that I was going to put the next one right through the first, and sure enough that's where it went. The third went south a bit, but the fourth drilled right through the first two. That sucker was dead, dead, dead. I turned around again to Dave and Todd laughing and shaking their heads.

After more rounds with the 22 and the 45, I tried a Smith and Wesson revolver and a sweet little Derringer Texas Defender with a hell of a kick. I think I could get hooked on this stuff. The guys at the neighboring table suggested that I try out the club's IPSC, which is a timed competition where you work your way through a course identifying and shooting appropriate targets as they pop up. Fun!

After gathering our targets and cleaning up our shells, we lugged the gear out and headed home. Later, over beers, Todd was telling a few friends about the day and warning the crowd at large "not to mess with dead-eye Oakley Annie."

Well, I figure, that's not a bad thing to have the world know about me . . . .

Hope your day is grand!

xo, Cate

Still True

A New Way to Live

On this day in history, when airplanes were used as weapons and religion was used as justification to kill, I lift my eyes to the sky and continue to believe in the human spirit. I believe we can evolve past the need for weapons and past the desire to kill. I believe we can choose a new way to be human, a way that sees we are all connected as creatures of the universe, with no exclusions.

If you believe that one skin color is more desirable than another; if you believe that one religion is more right than another; if you believe that one style of life is more correct than another, I challenge you to shake up your beliefs. When societies and religions are governed by fear and hate, judgment and righteousness, exclusivity and superiority, they destroy the very fabric of our precious human existence.

Know that deep down we are all made of the same core atomic structure. When we rebuild our world in love and acceptance and inclusiveness, we will all be safe, and we will all be able to fly free, in whatever way we choose, without fear of attacks, military crises, or vengeful retaliations.

It starts one person at a time. It starts with you and it starts with me.

This is a repost of what I wrote last year on September 11. It hasn't changed. With so much strife and violence in our world right now, I felt it needed to be re-said.

Back in the Saddle

The weather has turned on us already, here in the Northwest, and it seems as if summer has gone. As I look over my shoulder, I wonder, where did August go?

With my son, John

It feels as if I frittered it away - a spontaneous week-long trip to Canada, lazy afternoons by the lake, evenings of music and margaritas, maybe a few too many episodes of the inane-but-hilarious "Arrested Development."

But isn't that what August is for? Remember those childhood summers where the only thing you rushed to was the sound of the ice cream van before it faded into the distance? Remember charging the end of the dock and cannonballing into the lake? Remember lying
on your back at night looking for shooting stars? It is worth trying to recreate that carefree mentality for the sheer happiness it brings.

The well-laid table

Although I have a lot of stuff I didn't get done in August, I am easy on my failure to achieve. No guilt here. I know that a break from stress leads to greater productivity and creativity and produces a heightened sense of well-being. And what the hell, it's a lot of fun too!

So, if you haven't had enough relaxation this summer, get out there and enjoy the last holiday weekend. Work can wait a few days. And come September, we can all get back in our respective saddles. I'll be on track again, promoting book number one, writing book number two, and developing my new publishing company. See you then.

Be safe and be chill!

xo, Cate

Be Badass

I had a great time signing books this weekend at the Arlington Fly-In. Books were flying off the table, so to speak, and I am excited that many new readers will meet my heroine, Reina. Several people have told me SILENT SKY should be made into an action flick and I agree. My protaganist is definitely just in the beginning stage of total badass . . . .

And somehow, that has morphed into a new motto for me. Be Badass. What a great way to live. It is just another way of saying, Live life all the way to the edge. Whatever you're doing, whether it be making pie crust, or dressing up to go out to dinner, or buying an extra sandwich to give to the guy with the cardboard sign on the corner, do it with all the mindfulness and attention you have.

And you don't stop until you're done. You keep living life right past the margins, all the way to the edges.

THAT is so badass.

xo, Cate

Clouds beneath your wings

Wow. It has been a whole month since I last posted here. Well, it has been a bumpy ride, with my father taking sick suddenly and then passing away unexpectedly. Eulogies and out-of-town family and the emotions that go with the whole business - we've all rested in the sadness of that experience. And then we move on.

If there is one thing that the death of a loved one reminds us, it is that we must treasure the people in our lives. I have become aware of how easy it is to take others for granted. When someone is in our life regularly (child, friend, sibling, significant other, etc.) we forget to notice them as we did when they were new to our lives. We become accustomed to the way they walk, the depth of their eyecolor, the funny way they laugh, the shine on their hair in the sun. We are distracted by all the other things in life and forget to appreciate that exact moment that we are in, right now, with them. I consciously stop myself at times to be still and notice, to reopen my eyes and see/be love right then and there.
I like Susan Sontag's words: "Pay attention. It's all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager."

The other reminder that death offers is that we must seize every opportunity to live life as fully as possible. I personally have been postponing some of my dreams, and I am now consciously moving forward to realize them. As Joseph Campbell said, "Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls."

So, I've flown through the weather of this last month and am at cruise now with the clouds below my wings (less turbulent up here, you know!) And what am I doing to move forward? I've committed to spending a couple days per week promoting my book. I've committed to working on the sequel (thank you all who have inquired about it). I'm contacting bookstores and pilot shops to carry my book. I'm creating book club questions for SILENT SKY. I'm doing book signings three days next week at the Arlington Fly-In and Airshow (looking for someone to wear a catsuit to draw people in to my table - any takers??)

How about you? Is there a dream you have been waiting to realize? Dream realization requires action. Go. Act. Do. Is there someone in your life with whom you may have become too comfortable? Love realization requires attention. Notice. Appreciate. Cherish.

Fondly, Cate

Fighting Fires

DC-10 dropping 13,000 gallons of slurry at a time.

A friend and blog follower lives near the Thompson Ridge fire that is devouring acreage in New Mexico. He tells me he has moved pictures, legal papers, and other valuables to his hangar in case the call comes to evacuate now.

Here is a pictures of a VLAT (Very Large Air Tanker) joining the dozers, tankers, helicopters, tenders, crew, and volunteers in fighting this monster fire.

This picture amazes me. What a testimony to the human spirit - the inventive spirit that developed this technology, the bold spirit that braves extreme dangers to fly these machines, the intrepid spirit of the souls who fight these fires to help their fellow man, and the caring spirit of humans worldwide who cry in sadness when they hear of total strangers perishing in fires and other disasters.

My mother (whom I have often called a saint) has always stopped to pray when she hears a siren. She offers up a prayer for whoever is in need at that moment. I love this philosophy. It is good to care. It is good to feel compassion. It is good to recognize our human connectedness. And, I guess, it is good to own an airplane hangar, just in case . . . .

xo, Cate