Weekly WCS Note #52: I've Been Writing

Anyone know who said that? Get this... Walt Disney. Yup. Mr. Imagineer himself never said our dreams were easy to come by, that we deserve them just because we do or that everything will turn out just the way we want it to... well, because it just will!

That's the major thrust behind the marketing guru's of the last 12 years globally: "You deserve it."

Why? "Because you do." And now everyone thinks they deserve (and can afford) the same car Tom Cruise is driving. Crazy.

I love that Walt Disney understood that real dreams, big dreams, impossible dreams, are all at our fingertips... but only if we have the courage to pursue them.

In my circle of friends, we like to call such decisions... the ones that take courage and that will bring us much closer to our dreams... we call them "the hard decisions."

"Ah yes," we'll say, when it pays off for one of us, "you made the Hard Decision."

The steps I had to take towards being published were Hard Decisions. Nick and I have both made a LOT of Hard Decisions, as many of our friends can tell you... and they are paying off, finally. Some of our biggest dreams are peeking their rays of sunshine around our corner... and there just isn't anything sweeter than that, let me tell you.

So here's my question to you... what did Walt's quote: "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them," mean to you? What did it make you think of?

I wish you all the courage in the world to face those dreams head on... and we'll be cheering you on the whole way there!

xoxo, -K

Feedback

Some of the new material in

Telling the Truth

So many of you ordered your first round of books with "RUSH" Delivery it seems! Because I'm already receiving a great deal of feedback, and I'm so grateful that it's so positive!

"I knew it was going to be good, but it was way way better than I thought"

"read it cover to cover yesterday ... couldn't put it down"

"its so much more than I hoped"

"you are so brave!"

The two comments I'm hearing repeated over and over are: 1. How much material there is (much much more than expected) and 2. How hard it is to put down. I have one reader who has read it twice already.

Dang. Keep up the good work, and enjoy!

Katherine Eastvold

PO Box 292

Camarillo, CA 93011

Dear Reader,

How are we today? I miss you guys so much. Though I'm so glad to finally be published, writing books is just not the same as this email list. I miss going back and forth with you... hearing your stories one week and incorporating them into my note the next week. I don't know how authors do it.

My husband tells me that's what book signings are for, but still... I'm so grateful for the time we spend together with these notes. I'm thinking of kicking up some more Holiday History notes this December... those were pretty awesome, weren't they? And so celebratory. I hope those end up on the schedule.

In fact, why don't we get down to some exciting history now, shall we?

Let's do it! -Katherine

Weekly Note #52

Checkmate!

Okay, so this isn't exactly Weekly Note #52, but that's probably a really good thing. Why?

Because the Weekly Notes Collection ended up being a whopping 380 pages! And that's single spaced.

It's a super fast read, but can you imagine 52 Weekly Notes in a row?

It would be... what... a textbook? Yeah.

Anyhow, Weekly Note #52 refers to the number of weeks it's been since November of last year. That's right. On this Monday last year we were just wrapping up #4: Scary Scary Scary and heading into #5: US Open 'Z'DC?

A whole year.

And may I just say? WHAT a difference a year makes. Here is what I wrote for my greeting exactly one year ago today:

"Dear Reader,

What a week. WHAT A WEEK! Ever had those days when you've been hit with "ick," "ew," "yuck," "you've gotta be kidding," and just plain "ugly" from a variety of levels and you just never saw any of it coming? Well. I just had six of those days in a row. And NONE of the lunacy came as a result of my Halloween Note... who would've thought?

But nothing could get in my way for this week's edition..."

It went on from there. And man, do I ever remember that week. Day 1: Car broken into, Day 2: First of the online public attacks begin, Day 3: kitchen plumbing explodes, Day 4: new online attacks start, Day 5: dryer dies... you get the picture. Blech.

But here we are, a full year later. What a different scenario. On the One Year Anniversary of Scary Scary Scary came the publication of Telling the Truth: The Groundbreaking Articles that Saved Swing.

And now, on the One Year Anniversary of #5: US Open 'Z'DC? I get to announce that my Weekly Notes Collection is finally here!

The Weekly Notes Collection:
Setting Dancers Free

Yes, I know I said it's name would be "Clean and Confidential," but look up there... aaaaallllll the way up there, at the top of this Note. See that header? What does it say...

"Telling the Truth....

Setting Dancers Free...

One Word at a Time..."

Yeah. I didn't catch that. Not even after Telling the Truth was released. Didn't catch that at all.

When it was finally pointed out... well... I felt pretty silly. It had been right underneath my nose the whole time. The titles for the series of WCS books. Wow. What happens if I write a fourth? Uh oh. Better not!

Anyhow, I promptly re-submitted the new title: Setting Dancers Free: The Weekly Notes that Rocked West Coast Swing.

And I love it... but it's huge!!! Yet I'm using it almost every day as a reference. It's incredibly well put together. As I say in the Afterword, I can't believe I wrote that much that fast... but I bet you didn't think you read that much that fast either!

As I also say in the book, these are the original Notes: not the edited ones I publicly released (only three are still available to the public, in their edited formats, by the way).

YOUR DISCOUNT CODE

Since these books were just published... and I mean JUST published, they aren't available in bookstores or libraries yet. Even I don't have my stash of books yet to sell on my own. So for right now, you're stuck with online sales- but most of you are online junkies anyway, right?

I promised you waaay back when that I'd give you a discounts on my books, and I'm following through on that promise! Just enter the discount code SWAFAXPN at checkout and save 10% OFF your entire order!

Enter SWAFAXPN at Checkout

and get 10% OFF your entire purchase!

Here are the links to each of the book pages where you can apply the discount:

Telling the Truth

(Expanded & Revised Articles)

Setting Dancers Free

(Complete Weekly Notes)

Telling the Truth is 130 pages and Setting Dancers Free is 380 pages... and both are absolute must haves. I take them everywhere I go now.

TAKE NOTE!!!

ORDERING BOTH? To get the discount on both books, you'll have to click through to each link separately and hit "Add to Cart." When you finally hit "Checkout" both books will appear and you can apply the code at that time and it will cover your entire purchase. It's weird, but it's what's available right now.

EUROPE: Not all of you can get it yet. You may have to go through Amazon.com and pay a little more, but as soon as I get my stack of books and my online store set up, I can ship the books to you directly. I have a few Telling the Truth's available now, but I'm still waiting on Setting Dancers Free, so I'll keep you posted.

STUDIOS, CLUBS & TEACHERS: A bulk rate discount is available! Order 10 or more copies and I'll can knock 40% OFF the special retail price for my readers. Just email me and I'll place the order immediately!

What an exciting time this is... and what a perfect time too... just in time for the Holidays!!!

Book Format Perks

The Great Perks

Since we're all used to these Weekly Notes being the only format for my writing over the last year or so, I need to outline a few perks that even I didn't realize came with a book. So here are some I've discovered since the first book came out:

#1: ANONYMITY!!!

Look, unless you order the books straight off my website (which you can't even do yet) I'm never going to see who you are when you buy it.

Buying my books online is just the same as buying my books at Barnes and Noble... I'll never know you bought them. Hey- I get royalties. And that's it. So for those of you who have created "other" names in order to get on my email list... don't worry. You can give any of the online sources your real info and I'll NEVER ever be privy to it. Just sayin'

#2: More Info

I'm getting a lot of feedback from readers saying they are getting a lot more out of the writing than before. That's partly because it's all in one place, which is easier to take in and comprehend, but it's also because I ADDED a lot of info.

These are "real" books everyone, complete with an opening quote, dedications, introductions, afterwords and acknowledgements. I'm hearing that this makes a huge difference.

"I didn't think it could get better, but it did!" is, so far, the number one comment I'm receiving. And I believe that's due, in great part, to all the new features and additions.

#3: One Place, Always

Well, the words are written in stone now. Highlight, make notes, bookmark and come back to it...

I know my emails are big, and therefore, easy to get lost in. As one close friend said, "It's so long that I don't have the time to read all of it, and then I don't know where I left off when I come back to it!"

Well. Not anymore. Enjoy!

# 4: Be IN, not OUT.

People, listen up. My Weekly Notes book is nearly 400... FOUR HUNDRED!!! pages long. And I didn't change a word.

That's right, you've read nearly 400 pages single spaced in the last year... and you wanted more every week, didn't you? But for those of you who don't have perfect memories, well... let's just say, that's a lot a material covered.

I don't care if you disagree with me, agree with me or are even 50/50... I just think it's good to know what's been said, and why the community has changed so much in the last year.

Nearly 400 pages... dang. I'm still amazed I wrote that much!!! But I'm so glad you ate every little word up! Enjoy!

About Katherine

A Champion dancer who fell in love with West Coast Swing in

the early 1990's, Katherine has owned her highly successful studio, become a finalist in both Classic and Strictly at the US Open, written articles for numerous magazines in the community since 1997, choreographed top 5 routines, been on the board for Boogie by the Bay and traveled to over 38 states.

She is not afraid. She loves beauty. She loves truth. And she believes it's knowledge that can bring a dancer more joy than they can imagine on the floor.