Happy Friday and a sweet Month9Books cover reveal~

Welcome to the Cover Reveal for

Tracy Tam: Santa Command by Krystalyn Drown

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Tracy doesn’t believe that Santa can deliver all of those presents in one night with out a little help from science. A flying sleigh can only be powered by jet engines, and Santa’s magical abilities can only be the result of altered DNA. In order to test her theories, she sneaks onto Santa’s sleigh and ends up at Santa Command, the place where a team of humans monitors Santa’s big night. When Tracy attempts to hack into their computers, she accidentally introduces a virus to their system. As a result, three states get knocked out of sync with the rest of the world. Before the night is over, Tracy has to fix time and help Santa finish his deliveries. And she has to do it all with Santa’s magic, which she doesn’t believe exists.

Title: TRACY TAM: SANTA COMMAND
Publication date: October 22, 2014
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Krystalyn Drown

Krystalyn spent thirteen years working at Walt Disney World in a variety of roles: entertainer, talent coordinator, and character captain. Her degree in theatre as well as many, many hours spent in a dance studio, helped with her job there. Her various other day jobs have included working in zoology at Sea World, as an elementary teacher, and currently as a support technician for a website. In the evenings, she does mad writing challenges with her sister, who is also an author. Krystalyn lives near Orlando, Florida with her husband, son, a were cat, and a Yorkie with a Napoleon complex.

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

(Winners will receive their book on release day)

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Tales by the Tree~ Holiday Flash Fiction for you :)

Remember a few months ago when I was prattling on about Christmas in October? Well, the story book has come to fruition and is finally ready for your enjoyment. 

75 stories, each one no more than 1,000 words, have been lovingly collected in this volume. Some are weird, some are sweet, and some are spooky, but all are very, very short!

Available in paperback and Kindle, you can find it on Amazon this Christmas. Enjoy~

More Exciting Stuff Peeps!

The Storyteller Series Blog Tour is about to begin!

 

For the next few weeks, I'll be all over the place promoting my  middle grade fantasy books. I hope you'll take some time in this busy season to visit some of the links below to learn more about the Storyteller Series .

 

~Happy Holidays~

 

November 25^th: Starter Day Party @ I Heart Reading

November 27^th:  Book Excerpt “The True World” @ The Single Librarian

November 29^th: Author Interview @ Michael SciFan

December 1^st: Book Excerpt “The Quest of Galamar” @ The Single Librarian

December 3^rd:  Book Review “The True World @ I Heart Reading

December 4^th: Book Excerpt “The Last Page” @ The Single Librarian

December 5^th: Book Review “The Quest of Galamar” @ I Heart Reading

December 6^th: Author Interview @ Cassidy Crimson’s Blog

December 8^th: Book Excerpt “The True World” @ Bookaholic Ramblings

December 10^th: Book Review “The Last Page” @ I Heart Reading

December 11^th: Book Excerpt “The Quest of Galamar” @ Bookaholic Ramblings

December 12^th: Author Interview @ Majanka’s Blog

December 13^th: Book Excerpt “The Last Page” @ Bookaholic Ramblings

December 14^th: Book Review “The True World” @ Books, Books and More Books

December 15^th: Author Interview @ The Book Daily

December 16^th: Guest Post @ Editor Charlene

December 17^th: Book Review “The Quest of Galamar” @ Books, Books and More Books

December 19^th: Author Interview @  Forever Book Lover

December 20^th: Book Review “The Last Page” @ Books, Books and More Books

December 22^nd: Guest Post and Book Reviews for  “The True World”, “The Quest of Galamar” and “The Last Page” @ Readers Writers Connect and Nicole Y. Walters

December 23^rd: Book Review “The True World” @ Daily Mayo

December 24th: Author Interview and Book Reviews for “The True World”, “The Quest of Galamar” and “The Last Page” @ Emms’ Wonderland

December 24^th: Book Review “The Quest of Galamar” @ Daily Mayo

December 25^th: Book Review “The Last Page” @ Daily Mayo

 

 

~Thank you, Enchanted Book Tours~

October 28 ~ Finding Inspiration

OK, I admit it. I’m dragging in the inspiration department here lately. Working hard on revisions means I’m not creating much new stuff, although I did just finish some flash fiction for Halloween and Christmas. The pressure of the 31 Day Blog Challenge pushing me to come up with new content every day got me thinking about my “inspiration” process. Where do I find my ideas?

So, as I thought about it, I realized most of my ideas, but not all of them, start with a theme. The flash stories were inspired first by those holidays, but secondly by the feeling or the message that I wanted to convey.  I had a general idea what genre I wanted to write in, i.e. gothic, steampunk, but after that, I think my ideas come from a conglomeration of things I’ve been thinking about, heard or read. Things that are stewing about in my subconscious. Going on trips to places I haven’t been, or places I haven’t been in a long time inspire me as well. Seeing an intriguing person can inspire me too.

Because I can’t travel all the places I’d love to go, I’ve found myself creating boards on Pinterest that inspire me.  I can’t say that any one photograph on Pinterest has led me to create a story, but the photos there have certainly helped me flesh out the worlds I’ve created in my head. The same with music. I can’t write with music playing because it distracts me, but the feeling music invokes can definitely be inspiring.  I even created playlists for my books; you can take a listen here.

So what inspires you? I’d like to know…

 

Christmas in October ~ Fantasy Short Story Treat for You

This is my entry for the Merry Minion Christmas Anthology - a 1,000 word short fantasy story. I'm sorry it's so short, but those were the rules. It could have easily been longer. In fact, I had serious doubts I would get in under 1,000 words!  I hope you enjoy it~


Title: Spell Spinner Christmas

Author: Lisa T. Cresswell

Ebook: yes



Lindy slipped on the icy pavement and crashed headlong into the cobblestones. The boys surrounded her, still panting from the chase. They waited for Ticker to catch up, unsure what to do with her. Lindy really didn’t want to wait around for him. She tried to ignore the stars clouding her vision and the overwhelming pain in her temple. Struggling to stand, Lindy saw the world whirling around her; the wharf, the dirty alley, and the curious collection of ugly street urchins. Ugliest of all, Ticker stepped up and grabbed her by the coat.

“Where’s my money, thief?” he shouted, loud enough to hurt Lindy’s ears.

“I never took your stupid money!”

Ticker rifled through the pockets of Lindy’s jacket.

“Ha! That’s a laugh. You’ve been a thief since the day you were born. What’s this?” he said, pulling a long golden chain out of Lindy’s blouse. A large pendant dangled on the end of the necklace.

“No!” she cried, as he yanked the chain hard enough to break it. He threw the bauble on the pavement and smashed it beneath the heel of his boot.

“Maybe you’ll think before you steal from me again, wench,” spat Ticker.

A fiery rocket screamed by Ticker’s head and exploded with a loud pop behind them. Fireworks. Lindy had seen them once at the fair. High above them, another fuse was lit. Lindy gazed up at the Chinese airjunk moored at the dock. Someone on the junk, a black-haired Asian boy about Lindy’s age, released another rocket. It zipped through the pack of boys, scattering them like rats.

“What are you doing, you crazy Chinaman?” demanded Ticker.

The boy on the junk leaned over the railing, waving another lit rocket.

“I’m blind as a bat so you’d better shove off!”

“He’s bleeding bonkers!” yelled Ticker as he dodged another explosion and ran off after his friends.

The boy on the junk cocked his head, listening to the sound of their fading footfalls. He grabbed a rope and swung down to the wharf where Lindy was picking up the pieces of the crushed pendant.

“Ruined…it’s all ruined,” she muttered, searching the cracks in the cobbles for all the bits.

“What’s ruined?”

“Me mum’s spell spinner. She needs it. I dunno where I’m gonna find a new one.”

“Maybe I can fix it?”

“But, you said you were blind?”

 The boy laughed.

 “I’m blind, not completely useless. Let me have it.”

 He stripped off his fingerless gloves and held out his hands, waiting. His almond-shaped eyes stared off into nothing.

 “It’s pretty bad,” she said, looking at the crushed metal bits in her hand.

 “You’re in luck. I specialize in ‘pretty bad’. C’mon.”

 Lindy poured the remnants into his outstretched hands. He felt each piece carefully, assessing the damage.

 “It’s supposed to go together like this,” said Lindy, showing him how the pieces fit in his hand.

 “That part is certainly broken, but I have something we can use instead. Come aboard and I’ll fix it.”

 “Um,” Lindy hesitated. “We haven’t properly met. I’m Lindy Wainswright from Piccadilly.”

 “Chang Peko from the South China Sea. Call me Peko.”

 “Nobody comes from the sea, except fish and mermaids,” teased Lindy.

 “Don’t tell my uncle that. We’re traders. We’ve traveled all over. Are you coming?” Peko climbed the rope ladder onto the junk, the spinner parts clutched tight in his fist.

 “I’m not sure if I should.”

 “Are you really a thief?”

 “I prefer the term ‘wealth liberator’,” said Lindy as she cleaned the mud off her leggings and straightened her jacket. Peko smiled.

 “Well, come back tomorrow and I’ll have it ready for you.”

 “All right,” said Lindy, already feeling a little remorseful she hadn’t climbed aboard. “See you tomorrow…Peko?”

 “Yes?”

 “Thanks for helping me out, with Ticker and all.”

 “It was my pleasure,” said Peko with a bow.

Lindy hurried home as tiny flakes of snow started to fall. Tomorrow was Christmas. She hoped her mother wouldn’t notice the missing spinner.

The next day Lindy returned to the wharf to see Peko helping several other men loading cargo on the junk. She snuck up behind him and waited until he was alone. She thought she had fooled him, but he spoke first.

“Hello, Lindy. I’ve got your spinner fixed.”

 “How did you know it was me?”

“Your footsteps are hesitant, like a bird about to flee,” he said. “Oh, Merry Christmas.”

Peko had rethreaded the spinner on its chain and now wore it around his neck. He lifted it over his head and handed it to her. She looked it over.

 “It’s perfect,” murmured Lindy in wonder.

 “What’s it for?”

“It makes magic. Want to see?” she said before she caught herself.

 “Yes,” he said, looking toward her without focusing on her face.

 “I brought you something to say ‘thank you’.”

 “What is it?”

 “I nicked it from the Professor,” she said, digging a small box out of her rucksack.

“Lindy, you really shouldn’t ...”

 “I know Peko, but I wanted you to see London just once. I’ll take them back when you’re done.”

 “What are they?” he asked, as she opened the box.

 “Spectacles. Put them on.”

 Lindy handed him a contraption consisting of several lenses on what appeared to be a pair of eye-sized telescopes.

 “Spectacles don’t work for me.”

 “Shh, just do as I say.” Lindy twisted the spinner and let it fly into the air over Peko’s head where it hovered, showering him with a golden light.

 “When you help others, your dreams will always come true,” she whispered to Peko. The lenses on the spectacles began moving and rearranging themselves, trying one combination, then another. Suddenly, Peko caught his breath in shock.

 “I can see! I see you!” he gasped.

 Tears leaked from Peko’s eyes behind the spectacles, down his cheeks.

 “C’mon, Peko. Let’s go see London,” said Lindy, taking his hand with a smile. “Merry Christmas.”