New boots for Christmas!! Can’t wait to see where they are going to take me in 2019.

First of the month/end of the year tabulations show my Instagram account has grown by 95% (that is not a typo! 95%!)!! I dislike working with numbers as a rule, but boy HOWDY! What a great treat to wake up to. Overall, social media for both me and Gizmo have averaged a 37% growth. That’s pretty exciting as I’m converting my marketing education and experience into building my expertise as a social media strategist. (All the links are at the bottom of this page.)

In 2018, I also helped build the social media presence for Bouchercon and WORD, and both have seen excellent growth and engagement rates. I’ve also been asked to present at writing conferences on how to use social media to build author platforms. I love to teach! Comment below if you attended any of those classes and what you took away.

Looking at the end of year numbers, that means almost half of you are new here, so WELCOME!

In case you are NEW new, let me introduce myself…. I’m Kathryn. I was an English professor with a background in marketing (I got bored easily 🤔), then at 37 I survived a series of strokes (two were massive, she’s-not-gonna-make-it kind of strokes, and the rest were manageable) and a little heart surgery. I have a fabulous husband, two sons, and great family and friends who helped me start over and relearn pretty much everything.

After being told on multiple occassions I’d never walk again, you can see what a big deal these new hiking boots are. After a decade of rehab and practice, I walk independently most of the time, and have a gorgeous black Lab service dog to compensate when I’m struggling.

Being disabled from full-time teaching, and having to relearn to read, write, speak, think (it was pretty bad at times, y’all), I started over, reading for fun rather than work, blogging, diving into social media, writing mysteries and creative nonfiction, and now serving on the boards of a number of writing organizations, managing social media for a few big events, and doing public speaking and corporate training on the side–although teaching is still my happy place, so if you are in need of a speaker for your next event…let’s talk.

Adding to the adventure, Hubby did a midlife career change (life starts at 50– so massively PROUD of my man!!), so we sold our home, launched our sons into the world, rented an apt for a few years, welcomed two daughters-in-love into the family, and just six-weeks ago moved two hours away to start over. Steve has a new job as a counselor/therapist for youth in detention, and due to a housing shortage here we are temporary living in a borrowed fifth-wheel.

That’s about it. Welcome to my page. Please introduce yourself. I’d love to know what we have in common.