Behind Blogs

01/03/2024

Here's "my" latest ghostwritten book--already a book club selection! It's always great to see them come to life. The authors were delightful to work with and the project was a joy.

The Orchid: The Secret Code of Modern Goddesses

01/03/2022

Did you ever see this trailer for the PBS documentary of the book I ghostwrote about a WWII POW's incredible experience as a Japanese prisoner and the aftermath. Quite a story. The book is available here: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Ring-Home.../dp/B01L0MKITY and in looking it up I found it won "The Book Excellence Award in Biography". Whaddya know?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4o1DPHrfF8

The film is now out (VOD) on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6mMgGjCDVA and iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-last-ring-home/id1293691183The Las...

22/02/2022

https://fb.watch/bk6422c6vi/

What an honor to speak at the Model UN and this engagement led me to China to address students AND teachers in a series of lectures on Open Communication, Journalism and the Web (quite the topic to address in that country.)

21/10/2021

I am delighted to welcome my latest author, MahanKirn Khalsa, a world-renowned healer and teacher. We will be working together on her book, part memoir detailing her dramatic life, part sharing her breakthrough work on radical forgiveness. Look for updates here and for the book to be published in 2022.

14/10/2021

I've got a few new articles published in the two editions of Home & Design Magazine. For those who love house p**n, enjoy. I got a very nice note from Talon Builders who loved my short history of their Sarasota neighborhood. https://homeanddesign.net/southwest-florida-home-tours/
https://homeanddesign.net/suncoast-florida-home-tours/

23/04/2021

I'm writing a profile (perhaps a series?) on young Irish poets for a publication "across the pond," working on several interior design articles for pubs stateside, just finished an article on fuel technology for a global company, have a new entrepreneur client whose brand I am helping build and an old client just called with work from Lebanon! All this and I'm homeschooling 4th grade, too

29/03/2021

One of the books I ghostwrote, with the brilliant Sheri Samotin, is getting a lot of attention lately as our parents are aging. "Facing The Finish" will help you have those tough conversations with your family members, so that you may respond, rather than waiting until you must react. https://www.amazon.com/Facing-FInish-Aging-Parents-Children/dp/1977636373/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Facing+the+Finish&qid=1616978323&sr=8-1

Facing the FInish:: A Road Map for Aging Parents and Adult Children

11/02/2021

Hey Everybody who keeps checking out Behind Blogs (dozens of you, I am happy to report.) I am alive and well and just too busy to update the page at the moment (writing for a living AND inventing/teaching a curriculum to a 4th grader is time-consuming) But yes, I am likely available to write your fantastic book, memorable article or great speech. Just send me an email to [email protected] or [email protected] and I'll get back to you to discuss your project. Until then, stay safe! Kitt

16/07/2020

The project on which I worked with the brilliant Minter Dial, "The Last Ring Home," the harrowing story of a WWII POW, (which was made into a PBS documentary) is now an audio book! Find it on Amazon.

14/05/2020

Finally! I just finished a long-form article on Daily Money Management for the prestigious CSA Journal. Many national sources, lots of good information. Look for it in the December issue.

09/04/2020

T'would seem people are checking out my business page, so I best post something: Yes, I am alive, well and working (feel free to hire me.) I'm pulling together a long-form article on Daily Money Management from experts in the field AND teaching art history (and everything else but math) to my eight-year-old. Today's lesson was about the artist Arcimboldo (courtesy of a video sent by the National Gallery of Art and some postcards I had on hand from visiting an exhibit on the artist at The Smithsonian.) My "pupil" and I talked about which of our body parts could be made out of what vegetables (I got a watermelon head and green grapes for eyes.) How's your quarantine going?

15/03/2020

With everything closing around us, I'd like to share something to do (besides worry) when you are stuck at home, whether alone or with your kids.
Visit some of the world's greatest museums--virtually. You'll find Abby and I at The British Museum. Cheers: https://www.travelandleisure.com/attractions/museums-galleries/museums-with-virtual-tours

Going into a self-quarantine can have many complex issues and complications beyond having enough food and supplies for two weeks. In terms of entertainment, it…

01/03/2020

For researchers, writers like me, artists, graphic designers and students of history, what a gift this is: Open access to millions of images from the Smithsonian to study, manipulate or use for illustration--all for free! Please pass this info around.
https://www.inverse.com/innovation/smithsonian-releases-millions-of-images-for-publics-use?fbclid=IwAR0nKYCcuxM9Wqi8X7g3n4pfciQZHcYVCNZ_tobWpVDCBxtMmrtRtVyZeyw

Smithsonian has released nearly 3 million images for public use and more.

13/02/2020

And here's another recent article I wrote for Home & Design Magazine, just so you will all know I am back from vacation and strapped to the keyboard. Get in touch if I can be of any help to you.

https://homeanddesign.net/resplendent-renovation/

Being commissioned to elevate a Port Royal spec house into the new owner’s vision of grandeur and luxury was a dream project for lead designer Chrissy Howard and design associate Barbara Schwenk of Jinx McDonald Interior Designs. “The client asked us to create a home that emulates the stunning v

13/02/2020

Back from the Caribbean (sigh) and thought I'd post a couple of articles of the many I wrote for the recent editions of Home & Design (so you'd all know didn't get eaten by dolphins...just kissed.)
https://homeanddesign.net/miraculous-makeover/

Designer Ed Biggs is not a man afraid to speak his mind. When it came to his first visit to the site of a proposed condo renovation, the words he used were “vanilla” and “generic,” and those were some of the kinder descriptions. “I walked through the condo with the new homeowners and I saw

29/09/2019

O My Dears,
Behind Blogs' website is down (I'll get to it, I'll get to it...)
If you need me, reach me at [email protected].
Thanks,
Kitt

28/08/2019

28/08/2019

Another Summer in the books (sigh).
Starting Sept. 3, I am back in the saddle, ready to: Ghostwrite that book in you screaming to get out.
Create that riveting magazine article or the best speech of your life.
Write your company's most persuasive marketing materials. Serve on your panel or speak to your group about how they can better communicate with the written word.
Just shoot me an email at [email protected].

28/08/2019

28/08/2019

04/07/2019

Happy birthday America. I decided to have an underground celebration this year. (I'm at Carlsbad Caverns.) I hope you are having a stunning holiday too.

30/06/2019

I will be out of touch, traveling the Great American West, from July 3 through July 17 with only spotty or non-existent wifi and cell reception (won't that be grand?)
Feel free to leave me a message and I will get back to you when I return. Thanks!
Kitt

11/06/2019

Sorry for no new Behind Blogs postings for a while. Because of the constant rain and levee breaches, three stories of my house flooded, necessitating a new bathroom, kitchen and finished basement. My house wasn't underwater. More like a waterfall from broken pipes and sump pump, but the photo shows what it's like just down the highway a bit from me. The poor farmers...(say a prayer if you've a mind to.)

I'm working like mad to make all the money that disaster is costing me (I'm writing literally 45 magazine/blog articles for clients by the end of July) so if you wonder where I've gone...the answer is nowhere. I am (gratefully) chained to my keyboard and working hard. Glad of the work, happy to discuss even more projects. Send me an email [email protected].

28/03/2019

I am truly delighted to announce my new client. I will be writing for the runaway sensation, Rebel Girls--books, blogs, newsletters and podcasts that highlight the women who changed history by refusing to take 'no' for an answer and the modern women who serve as examples to young kids (5-13) and their parents by carrying on that tradition, serving as examples to young girls getting ready to carve their own paths. Very important work and I'm honored to have been chosen.

16/03/2019

The Future of Work: Don't be a follower: Lead the pack and find your place in the new market for work! This book will show you how.

Does the phrase "side hustle" dredge up visions of spunky future entrepreneurs or workers who don't make enough money in their real jobs to pay their bills? Is the future all about the "gig economy" and the security of working as an employee for a company is a thing of the past? What if we all become freelancers or contract-only workers? Good thing or bad?
A fascinating discussion takes place in a book I ghosted with the great Rolf Ritter. Get it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Future-Work-follower-place-market-ebook/dp/B01CYL344G/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?keywords=The+future+of+work%2Brolf+ritter&qid=1552767226&s=gateway&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Innovative entrepreneur and CEO of People as a Service, Rolf Ritter, examines work as it has been since the Agricultural Revolution, how it stands now on the cusp of a new age, and how technology, global interconnectedness and the gig economy will permanently alter how we do business -- creating ...

28/02/2019

I've been getting lots of requests for the book I ghosted with the brilliant Sheri Samotin on dealing with end of life issues--from both sides of the conversation: What your senior loved ones would like you to know and what you should be aware of as the adult child of an elderly family member.
It's a tough road to hoe, but this book really does provide a roadmap.
Get it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Facing-FInish-Aging-Parents-Children/dp/1977636373/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Facing+the+finish&qid=1551391834&s=gateway&sr=8-1

28/01/2019

I'm very excited that these modern-day explorers may soon reach the site where The Endurance sank beneath the ice in Antarctica. It was because I so wanted to see Elephant Island, where Shackleton left his men when the ship broke up, that I convinced an expedition company to take me with them and spent weeks aboard writing my Antarctica article. At 3 am one dark morning, I got to see Elephant Island and salute the brave men who almost died there:

LONDON, Jan. 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Weddell Sea Expedition, which is funded by the Netherlands-based not-for profit charity the Flotilla Foundation, is pleased to announce that it has successfully completed the scientific research programme at the Larsen C Ice Shelf and is now sailing towards the site of the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's lost ship Endurance.

The Expedition's research team of world-leading glaciologists, marine biologists, and oceanographers has collected extensive measurements, samples and survey data around the Larsen C Ice Shelf and A68 iceberg, which will provide new information on this very remote and little studied extreme environment.

The Expedition vessel, S.A. Agulhas II, is now sailing towards the site of the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's lost ship Endurance, which was crushed by sea ice and sank in the Weddell Sea in November 1915. From its current position, the S.A. Agulhas II still has 120 km of sea ice to break to reach the search area, pushing the S.A Aghullas II to her limits. However, with ice and weather conditions currently looking favourable, the Expedition is hopeful of being able to reach the search location in the coming days.

The search area has been defined by using the precise and detailed records kept by the Captain of Endurance, Captain Frank Worsley, who used a sextant and chronometers to measure the exact location of the ship in 1915. On arrival at the wreck site, the team will deploy Ocean Infinity's Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) and Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) from S.A. Agulhas II and attempt to locate and survey the wreck on the sea bed. If Endurance is found, the wreck will not be touched or disturbed as its protection and conservation is of paramount importance, but images and footage of the vessel will be collected.

Further updates regarding the search for 'Endurance' and the continuing scientific research of the Expedition will be provided in due course.

The original Endurance Expedition had set out from the UK in August 1914, hoping to achieve the first land crossing of Antarctica from the Weddell Sea via the South Pole to the Ross Sea. However, Endurance became trapped in the dense pack ice and the 28 man crew had no choice but to abandon ship. After months spent in makeshift camps as the ice continued its northwards drift, the party took to the lifeboats to reach the inhospitable, uninhabited Elephant Island. Shackleton and five others then made an 800-mile (1,300 km) open-boat journey in the James Caird to reach South Georgia. From there, Shackleton was eventually able to mount a rescue of the men waiting on Elephant Island and bring them home without loss of life.

29/12/2018

I spent the day sorting, filing and clearing my computer in order to backup all my files (including the 15 books I've ghosted, mountains of articles, websites and courses I've written and literally 16,000 photos) onto a 5 TB drive to start the new year fresh. The drive turned out to be defective. Arrggh! 2018 was a pain-in-the-arse to the end.

24/12/2018

From our family to yours, an Irish Christmas blessing...
The light of the Christmas star to you,
The warmth of hearth and home to you,
The cheer of family and friends to you,
The hope of a childlike heart to you,
The joy of a thousand angels to you,
The love of the Son and God's peace to you.

Praying for safety for our country and peace in the world,
we wish a Merry Christmas to you all.
God bless us every one.
-Art by Lyn Bywaters