October 12 ~ Rites of Fall

I've been quite today, I know. I'm trying to kick a nasty sinus cold that's stolen my voice.  I did finally get the last of my flower bulbs planted. With any luck, my flower beds will look like this next spring.

 

Just add a few weeds and quack grass, and you'll just about have it right. We grow industrial strength weeds in Idaho.

I did manage to finish a rough draft of my steampunk Christmas story.  It's marinating in the back of my hard drive right now. I have until October 28 to get it posted, so I'm letting it sit for a bit before I finalize it.  I'm semi-satisfied with it.  The 1,000 word limit required me to cut quite a bit of dialog and description that I liked, so I wasn't too pleased about that, but oh well.  Like many of my flash stories, it could actually be the premise for a longer story in the future.

My daughter went with a friend's family to the Haunted Mansions of Albion tonight. She was getting all worked up by watching shows on television about the country's worst haunted house attractions. Oh man.  I hope she's up for it. It looks pretty awful. Glad I'm not going!  Take care~

My Meet the Characters Blogfest Entry

Corrine is my entry for the "Feistiest Girl" character on the Meet the Characters Blogfest today.  Hop on over there and VOTE for her!

 

You'll be my best friend forever :)

 

 

  
 

October 10 ~ Book Cover Love for Hush Puppy

There's definitely a story behind the cover of Hush Puppy. My publisher, Featherweight Press, was kind enough to give me the opportunity to help choose the cover.  They even asked for my suggestions. Originally, I thought perhaps the cover could show a woodland scene with a fallen tree across a creek, since that plays an important role in the story. Other ideas I had were Jamie's red notebook with doodles and scribbles all over it or a diner scene.  Their cover designer did the best they could with my ideas, but when the proofs came, none of them were really what I wanted.

 

In the meantime, I had come across this photo of a young black woman in deep thought. The image was so starkly beautiful to me, I just fell in love with it. It's just as I imagined Corrine, a simple pure beauty that goes much deeper than the surface. I had to have it.

 

As fate would have it, I have a good friend who's a graphic artist who's made all my self-published covers. He took the photo and made a cover, which we presented to Featherweight Press. Although they have a general policy against accepting self-made covers, they decided to use the image and the rest is history. I couldn't be more pleased.

In other news, Hush Puppy continues to receive kudos. Please visit the Children's Book Review website to see the latest review of my young adult novel~

October 9 ~ Feed by M.T. Anderson

I thought I'd share a young adult book review with you today. I recently read online a comment someone made to the effect that adults who read young adult literature do so because they are too immature to handle adult novels. Grr! That really burns my posterior. I want to assure you, nothing could be further from the truth. To prove that young adult stands on it's own in the literary world, I thought I'd showcase a book or two on the blog here from time to time.

This review is one I previously posted on Goodreads.  If you haven't yet discovered Goodreads, please hop on over and check it out. It's like Facebook for book people. And make sure you add me as a friend!

Feed by M.T. Anderson

Woah, unit! How do I even begin to review Feed by M.T. Anderson? As a writer, I’m in awe. As a reader, I’m simultaneously intrigued and repulsed by this vision of what our future could be. This review could be somewhat spoilerish, but I promise not to get into specifics.

Feed is the story of Titus, a typical teenager with a constant internet link running in his head 24/7, encouraging him to consume goods and services every waking moment of his life. Kind of like a permanent Google Glass in your brain. When he meets Violet, he begins to realize there’s a world outside the feed of which he is totally ignorant. When Violet’s feed is hacked, she starts to fall apart mentally and physically and Titus is overwhelmed.

I read a criticism of the book that suggested Titus never changes as a character, but that’s not true. He’s not a likeable person, but that’s the point of the book. He’s intimately attached to the feed. It’s the only thing he’s ever known. Life without it is terrifying. At the very end, when he finally does open his eyes to what’s truly going on in the world around him, it’s too late. Way, way too late for him and everyone else around him. The feed is in every cell of his body. The oceans are so polluted you can’t touch them. Trees are torn down to build air factories in their place. The snow is black. People are convinced by the feed their skin lesions are fashionable, attractive even. There’s nothing Titus can do except stare his own death in the face, and he knows it.

Feed is a highly exaggerated treatise on what could happen if we allow corporations to completely take over our government. Some would argue they already have. Laws and regulations are created and repealed so corporations can sell us more cars and oil and guns and cheap goods from China every day. Sometimes it does seem like Americans just want more and more and more stuff without caring what the environmental or social cost may be. My only qualm with the book is the plot itself is so simple as to be almost non-existent. Boy meets girl, girl challenges boy, they break up, boy is forced to realize his own pathetic existence against his will.

I’m sure this is Anderson’s point though, that once you sell your heart, soul, and government to consumerism, there will be no way of turning back the tide. Your life will become shallow and simple. It will consume you until all your money is gone and then discard you. Need health care? You aren’t much of a consumer, so sorry, you’ve become a bad investment. Oh? Would you like to buy some overpriced jeans?

October 8 UnCommonYA Author Melissa Wray is in the Emerging Writer Competition~

 

Creative Kids Tales and Ford Street Publishing are hosting an emerging writer competition.

Uncommon YA author, Melissa Wray

is on the list!

It would be great if you could check out the site and vote. All support is greatly appreciated.

VOTE HERE!

Check out the Creative Kids Website and you can read a few exerts from different pieces of her writing.

Melissa Wray Emerging Author

 

 

 

If you want to connect with Melissa just follow the links!

 

Dream Big … Read Often Blog

Facebook

Goodreads

 

 

CJ Burright Blog Stop #7 on the Hush Puppy Tour

 
 




CJ read Hush Puppy early on and wrote my very first review. She's a real sweetheart and you should all be her friend on Goodreads. :)  She's a Swoon Romance author, so we'll be like cousins when I become a Month9Books author with the publication of Vessel in 2015.  (The two are imprints owned by the same publisher.)

She picked up right away on the Romeo and Juliet references in Hush Puppy as being a harbinger of hardships to come, but maybe not in the way one might expect.  There's no double suicide in Hush Puppy, thank goodness!!

Come on over to CJ's blog and see what she has to say~

October 6 ~ Fantasyland

Working on the fantasy series Storyteller is so much fun. I'm working on the last book in the triology now. The writing is hard work, but the imagining is worth it. And finding Pinterest is any fantasy author's dream come true.  I love making boards for my books or boards just for inspiring photos. You won't find any recipes or crafty stuff on my boards, except for maybe the occasional smoothie.

Lily Lightfoot and Ironclaw ~ my fairy heroine and her trusty steed, not to mention the Northern Portal Keeper of DuraDor~














Formorians ~ the evil minions of Lord Kane, bound to find Lily and stop her from saving the True World~







Peter Everheart ~ Lily's elf guardian and fast friend









Come on over and visit my boards ~ there's so much lovely art over there for inspiration.  And since today is #SampleSunday on twitter, here's a treat for you from Book III ~ enjoy~

GALAMAR AND THE HARPY, ASHTAROTH

 

     Galamar knew the story of Ashtaroth. All elven children did. Their mothers told them the fairy tale without fail so that they would learn the dangers of vanity and greed.  No one wanted to end up like Ashtaroth. She had been a beautiful elf maiden once, but her heart was tainted. She loved no one so well as herself. She had many suitors, but none could satisfy her need for more wealth. She discarded them, knowing there would always be another to replace him.

     One day, Ashtaroth was riding in the forest and came upon a raven at a pool where she stopped to let her horse drink. Strangely, the raven spoke to her in a silky voice.

     “Oh My Lady, thou art so lovely.”

     “I know.”

     “’Tis a pity thou wilt wither and age one day.”

     Ashtaroth scowled at the thought.

     “I know a way to preserve youth’s beauty forever.”  The raven hopped to a higher branch.

      “Oh? What is that?”

     “You must give me something first, before I’ll tell you,” said the raven.

     Ashtaroth had no intension of giving a silly talking bird anything, but she was intrigued.

     “What do you require?”

     “You must give me your heart – that which you have never given anyone.”

     Ashtaroth laughed out loud.

     “How could I love you? You’re nothing, but a lowly, common beggar.”

     “Have I begged you for anything, My Lady?” The bird’s voice was demanding. “I have only offered you eternal beauty. What say you?”

     Ashtaroth knew she had no need of her heart, shriveled as it was, but she still didn’t see how she could ever pretend to love the raven.

     “If you give me what I desire, you will forever have my heart,” she told him.

     “Very well.”

     The raven flapped his wings and screeched at the top of his wee lungs. Ashtaroth felt a lightness in her being she hadn’t felt in years and she knew instantly the bird had kept his word. Her reflection in the pool was beyond compare.

     “I will take your heart now,” said the raven. Horrified, Ashtaroth dug her heels into her horse and fled, but it could not outrun the raven. It flew after them with the speed of a falcon and easily overtook them, cursing her.

     “A broken promise is never forgotten. May you forever look like the contents of your heart, Ashtaroth!”

     Instantly, her body sprouted coal-black feathers, her arms became wings, and her face became twisted and hideous. She became a harpy with a sharp beak where her lovely face had once been. People ran from the sight of her. So fierce and mean was her countenance that she was eventually captured by the elves and chained to the ancient tree, Terah Tahan, to prevent anyone from entering the Portal.