A SPARKLY DRAGON CAT FAIRY IS NEVER LATE.

Okay, with that out of the way, I have two things too say that, apparently, should have happened/been posted BEFORE NOW, but I am a Sparkly Dragon Cat Fairy, and as such, I can never be late. Just have things post at unexpected times.

*coughcough* Sorry, glitter smoke is bothering my allergies at the moment. *coughcough*

Anywho, first up - The Worth of a King is now available to purchase in paperback! Yay!

I cannot believe how much of a bear and a half this was to get into paperback. This hasn't been as long a wait as Do You Take This Quest? had, but I was dealing with a lost computer at that time. I've just had to fight a swap from CreateSpace to KDP this time! (Though, to be fair, that was a FIGHT.) Anywho, the paperback is out now, and it's just $14.99, and it's sooooo shiny. I went with white pages for the first time on this book, and I really like how they fit with this story. I'm really leaning towards giving them to The Seven Drawers as well. 

Also, as a note, sign-up for the Magic Mirrors blog tour is closing at the end of this week, so if you want to help promote these lovely stories, please get in and help promote them.

Okay, and now for the purpose of this post. 

The next Fellowship of Fantasy collection is out! Yay! I don't have a story in this one (I almost did, as they considered putting my "Cinders" in here, and I also had a cat story involving Laura that I was working on, but had to drop due to time crunches), but I know a lot of the authors who do, and the stories SHOULD be awesome. And just look at that cat on the cover!

Annnnywho, I have a guest post from one of the authors!

Sharon Hughson

·What was your inspiration for your story in the anthology?

It’s been several years since I read through the WARRIORS series by Erin Hunter. This is a middle grade adventure series feature clans of cats told from the perspective of the cats. For some reason, Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities mingled with the cat adventures and my creative brain wondered, “What if it was ‘A Tail of Two Kitties’?” The children’s story I imagined in those days bears little resemblance to the fairy tale-like story in PAWS, CLAWS AND MAGIC TALES. Probably because in the years since working with those struggling readers who enjoyed WARRIORS, I’ve read dozens of young adult fantasy books.

Tail of Two Kitlings by Sharon Hughson

Two kitlings. One tail. A mother's sacrifice and a brother's betrayal. Who will survive the Siamese curse?

Go download and read this lovely little collection FOR FREE, and don't forget to add it on Goodreads. Also, I think there was supposed to be a giveaway, but I'm posting this after the tour officially ended, so I think it'd be pointless to post it. Just go download a free book. And check out the posts that actually happened DURING the tour.

I'm gonna go slink back to my cave and continue editing Red as Snow and revising The Seven Drawers, 'cause I'm so not ready for my own release at the end of the month.

Guest Post - RhoXie Mans

Hello, I am the craziness known as RhoXie Mans, and I blog at Books, Braids, and Born Again.

That pretty much sums me up. And my latest WIP is for the Rooglewood Press short story contest. Of course, it’s a Snow White retelling. Actually, it’s my first fairy tale retelling ever (unless you count a two page Sleeping Beauty one I wrote when I was six). So onward to Day and Night!

The Kingdom of Night and the Kingdom of Day:
Kingdoms bound by a broken treaty and the magical Rules. Two very separate Kingdoms in one space. Nightdwellers and Daydwellers hate only one thing more than each other. The Princess Celestia.

Via Pinterest

Queen Luna of Night:
The narrator of the tale. Also the evil queen. She has made herself cold and distant because of a wrong in her youth. In her step-daughter, she sees a constant reminder of that wrong, but she also sees her husband Ray, King of Day.

Via Pinterest

Princess Celestia of Day:
The daughter of a dying king. A child desperate for a mother’s love. She rules her father’s king as best she can, hated by both Day and Night.

Prince Robert of Dinland:
A visiting royal. The hider of a secret. His visit is of use to Luna, and Celestia knows that.

Buy this awesome cape!

Minister Thanos of Night:
A loyal servant of Night. The only friend of a queen. He served Luna’s father and has only ever made one mistake.

King Ray of Day:
Breaker of a single promise. Husband of a Nightdweller. He lies dying far from his wife and daughter, but he still affects their lives.


And that, my friends, is the cast of Day and Night. Seriously, parts of the story are so sad, but others have this harsh anger and pain. But all of it tells (I hope) a story of forgiveness.

RhoXie
P.S Be sure to read Kendra’s much better post on my blog, Books, Braids, and Born Again!

Guest Post - Roses with E. Kaiser Writes

Today, I'm here to share with you a series that I'm very eager to read, Thaw by E. Kaiser Writes. The first two books are already out, and the third should be up on Amazon soon. (I don't remember when, exactly, it's supposed to be out, but the first three books release fast). I wish I weren't broke at the moment, because I really want to read these stories, as they're retellings of several wintery fairy tales, including the Snow Child and the Snow Queen. 

Just look at the lovely cover arts!

And to celebrate this release, the author is here to guest post on Roses, an important element in the first and, I think, second books. 

From Whence Came the Roses
 
When we went back to Anderson's original Snow Queen tale one element that really jumped out was the repetition of roses within the tale. -- This wasn't just confined to Anderson's Snow Queen, roses show up in many others including the Red Shoes, (not one of my favorite tales!) at the end when the angel shows up in the room with the girl, (now footless) and also pious; and touches the walls and ceiling with a rose, transforming them into a church.--
 
 So... roses were a major theme in Anderson's mind, and they definitely come out in the Snow Queen. First the childhood friends Gerda and Kai either play together in their rose gardens, or lean over the rose planted window boxes in their second story bedroom windows. 
 
 Later when Gerda is searching for her friend she comes to a house where the lady wants to keep her, so the lady makes all her roses go underground so Gerda will not see them and remember the friend she's searching for. Gerda's tears wakes one the bushes and the rose comes back topside, and tells her that Kai is not buried, for it would have known if he was in the ground. (Anywhere, I guess... the ground is a lot more communicative than we suspected, apparently.) 


 So, roses had to play a part in our tale as well... and as I wrote they began to unfold into a sort of symbol of our Princess Girthild's enthusiasm and zest for life in spite of life's obvious drawbacks. Early in the story "Girta" plays in the garden alone, trying to walk the stone wall of the rose beds. She slips and falls headfirst into the thorny bushes, but when her Nurse pulls her out and scolds her Girta appears more disappointed in her failure to complete the challenge than the fact that she is scratched and her dress torn.
 
 So here they could be viewed as symbolizing life, and possibly illustrating one of the chief differences between the royal sisters. Ilise focuses mostly on the painful, sad parts of life and draws away more than she should, hiding from it all.... while Girta disregards any risk, ignores the possibility of downsides, and rushes headlong into life, blithely certain that her force of will alone will make things turn out right. 


 (Both are of course quite wrong, but how they come to deal with that is another, longer, story.)

 
 Later nurse sets Girta to snipping blossoms as a distraction, and Girta is enchanted with the prospect of going all over the castle giving roses to all the guards. 
 (This childish eagerness to distribute gifts could be seen as more than a simple pastime, perhaps the roses are standing in for the love that Girta wishes to receive, and so she hurriedly hands it out to anyone she can reach?)
 
 When Girta leans over the castle wall and sees young Kai, she throws him roses too... she doesn't differentiate at all whom she reaches out to. (This could be seen as foreshadowing... unknowingly desperate to be loved, she gives it eagerly without the usual precautions.)


When another boy visits Girta eagerly fetches roses for both Ilise and the visitor, blithely handing Ilise a red rose and the visitor a yellow one. Ilise, conditioned to Girta's excitability, simply accepts the gift, but the boy rejects the yellow rose, citing the thorns. Girta is dismayed, but the repercussions of the boy's act will echo long into adulthood for him. In the end Ilise's temper freezes the rose Girta gave to her, but she slams it in a drawer, hiding it away.

 
 Later, when she is grown, both she and Ilise are presented with golden roses, their petals gilded with enamel to look like perfect reproductions of  the original. 
 Ilise receives a white one, the color of innocence, purity and sincerity; but unconsciously mirrors the cool frosty world in which she exists. To her the gift means little, it is simply a trinket presented by a visitor.

Girta's is crimson red; the color of fire, exuberance, and of course, passion. This rose begins to take on more and more meaning in her mind as the tale progresses, until the reader could almost think that she sees it as the return on all the roses, and love, she gave away throughout her childhood. They have come back to her, condensed into a rose that will never die, a love preserved, forever. 
 Toward the end of the tale her view on it changes again, but if there is one thing consistent about Girta, it's changeability.


 Later when Girta is hotly pursuing her search, she comes to the Rose House, which we left with exactly that name. It seems logical that a lady so devoted to growing the flowers would happily christen her home in the same vein. When further along in the story we encounter the only inn in the nearby village of Rasnaburg; called "the Rooster and the Rose", it is not hard to imagine that the lady of Rose House also owns the inn. Possibly this fascination with the flower is a familial thing, since the inn and the house have most likely worn their names for several generations.

 

 When at last Girta hotly discards the crimson enamel rose, it is a gift she will not receive again. In time she will recognize it on the gown of another, and she herself will receive a rose of a different color. It is true that sometimes the things we are so certain will make us happy are the very things we throw away, but then can their loss truly sting if they were not really meant for us? One beautiful thing can be admired by many, but truly belong only with the perfect match.
 
 And Girta's zest for life is not done yet, not by a long shot. 
She is much more than any color of rose, and her check-mate is yet to come.

E. Kaiser Writes credits her nearly nomadic childhood for the vast reach of her fictional worlds; she has lived (and gotten to known the locals) in the Rocky Mtns, the Smoky Mtns, the plains, the deep forest, the searing Texas summer and frozen Minnesota north. 

She wears many hats: writer and editor of ad copy, web copy, office correspondence & fiction; a cowgirl, animal trainer, seamstress, jeweler, artist and... authoress!

You can connect with her on her blog:http://ekaiserwritesablog.blogspot.com/
Her website: http://ekaiserwrites.webs.com/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/E-Kaiser-Writes-Author-Illustrator/308540109167073
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/ekaiserwrites
On Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/ekaiserwrites/
You can find her books on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/E.-Kaiser-Writes/e/B006RY1L2E


To celebrate the launch of this series, Elizabeth is hosting a Rafflecopter giveaway at her blog:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1c7f78455/

Pass the Parcel

Cait and Mime over at Notebook Sisters (see button above) are having a blog party this month featuring YA books and authors. One of the games is a pass the parcel thing ... er, a tag, really. Here is my fill-out, and I volunteered to let a girl who doesn't have a blog borrow mine, so her answers will be below. If you want to participate, just head over to the above blog. It's my understanding that there will be terrific giveaways involved in this insanity fun!


1. Name your top 5 favourite YA authors!
Frankly, due to the layout of my library, I spend most of my time in the children's section still ... but I do have some favorites.
J.R.R Tolkien (since Cait and Mime declared him a YA ...)
Matthew Christain Harding
Rick Riordan (mostly because of his name though - Riordan means bard - how cool is that for an author? Oh, and his retelling of mythology is genius)
Bryant Davis
Molly Evangeline


2. What's the last YA book you read and what did you think of it?
By Darkness Hid by Jill Williamson, I believe. I liked it and thought it very well done, and I now want to read the next three books ... and I believe I may take notes from it for the writing of Water Princess, Fire Prince, which follows a similar format (in that the two main characters don't meet until half-way through the book.

3. What's your favourite YA genre? (Dystopian, romance, sci-fi, contemporary, etc.)
Christian Fantasy - if it's well done.

4. Let's talk characters! Pick a character you love and tell us why?
I'll go with Suzie from The Peleg Cronicles. She's just adorable, and her faith in God is so innocent and childlike. Yes, I love the young and innocent.

5. Top YA villain?
Gollum. Tricksie Hobitsies!

6. Top YA couple?
Billy and Bonnie in Dragons in our Midst. They're prophesied to marry, and, for some odd reason, I like those sorts of romances. They're both half-dragon, she has wings, he can breath fire, and they make such a great team.

7. With dystopian on the decline, what do you think will be the next hot-trend in YA?
I dunno. Maybe Fairy Tale Rewrites!

8. What's the next YA book on your to-be-read pile?
Tears of a Dragon, the final book in the Dragons in Our Midst series. (I'm not too sad about it ending ... there is a prequel series and a sequel series ... so I can find out more about this interesting twist on dragons)

9. What's the fastest time you've ever finished reading a book in? (And what was the book?!)
I don't remember.

10. (And now for the burning question) Do you think books should be sorted according to colour or title? (This matters.)

The only thing that matters when it comes to where a book is on my shelf is whether an author's books are all together. Someday I may get a bad enough case of writer's block that I'll pull everything and sort it by author's last name ... but for now ... I'm not worried about it. Color sounds like fun though ... 

And now for Robyn Hoode's answers:

1. Name your top 5 favourite YA authors!  Since Cait said LoTR counts as YA, J.R.R. Tolkien is my favorite author. The other four YA authors are Rick Riordan (I’m looking forward to his Norse series!), Madeleine L’Engle, Cornelia Funke, Anne McCaffrey, and Catherynne M. Valente (just the books about September).

2. What's the last YA book you read and what did you think of it? The Keeper and the Rune Stone by Paige W. Pendleton. I liked it. It only has 24 chapters and she wrote it in a way that made me wonder when she was going to start the story. But then I got to chapter 19 and it turned out that the author had been leading up to the climax the whole time. And she had an item in the story that seemed so insignificant, but it turned out to be so important! It was a good book.

3. What's your favourite YA genre? (Dystopian, romance, sci-fi, contemporary, etc.) Fantasy. With dragons, preferably. No contest. J

4. Let's talk characters! Pick a character you love and tell us why? A character? Only one? I’m going to pick Masterharper Robinton from Pern. I fell in love with him. I love his humor and his light-hearted attitude. My other pick is Samwise Gamgee. He’s so sweet and loyal. So, yeah, I picked two. J

5. Top YA villain? Oh, dear. I’ll have to think about this one. Um… Luke from the Percy Jackson series. Or the Marquess from The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In a Ship of Her Own Making. *gasping for breath after such a title*

6. Top YA couple? I’m going to say Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Though, I also like Sam Gamgee and Rosie Cotton.

7. With dystopian on the decline, what do you think will be the next hot-trend in YA? I hope it’s back to fantasy with fairies and other mythical creatures. J

8. What's the next YA book on your to-be-read pile? Artemis Fowl. When I get to a library.

9. What's the fastest time you've ever finished reading a book in? (And what was the book?!) Well, I read a board-book to my sister in… that’s not what you meant? J Well, I read Eldest within 3 days. That was fast. Not the fastest, but fast.

10. (And now for the burning question) Do you think books should be sorted according to colour or title? (This matters.) Title. I want to be able to find the book I want without having to know what color it is.

Guest Post - Rachel Rossano

I'm pleased to introduce to all of you a fellow homeschooled author and her new book,

Duty: a novel of Rhynan

Brielle Solarius struggles to keep her village from starvation. The men rode off to war and never returned. The remaining women and children face a winter of starvation if they do not find a solution soon.

Tomas Dyrease, the newly made Earl of Irvaine and the village of Wisenvale, owes his good fortune to his king. When that same king demands Tomas marry the impoverished daughter of the late Lord Wisten, he obeys. However, no one warned him that she wasn’t a typical noblewoman.

Duty: a novel of Rhynan follows their journey from strangers to friends as they face complications from their pasts and the shaky politics of a changing regime. Then Brielle is implicated in her cousin’s treasonous activities. Can a marriage of duty survive treason?

It's available on Amazon and Smashwords:

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Duty-novel-Rhynan-ebook/dp/B00BAI41RO

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/281699

About Rachel:

Author of a growing stack of novels, novellas, and short stories, Rachel Rossano balances her time between the chaos of raising and homeschooling her three children and the world of drama and high adventure in her head. With her faithful husband and chief consulting editor by her side, she dreams of many more adventures to come in both of her double lives. Check out her work at http://Rachel-rossano.blogspot.com.

Also, Rachel has written up a lovely bit about 

Plotting, Pantsing, and the Space Between

  When a writer meets a writer for the first time, frequently we ask each other one question. “Are you a plotter or a pantser?” For those of you who do not write, you probably don’t recognize the terms. A plotter is one who plots the novel before writing it. Those who claim to be pantser make the plot up as they go along.

  I have a confession to make. I am stuck in the vast space between.

  I began my writing life as a completely committed pantser. I rambled, I wandered, and my early manuscripts suffered the consequences. As I dug them out years later, I recoiled from the mess and promptly reburied them.

  Still, I persevered because I loved to write. Characters came alive beneath my fingers. The way they took up residence in my thoughts and daydreams thrilled me. So, I wrote and reveled in my characters while I ignored the loose and meandering stories I produced.

  Then one day a friend commented that my plots struck her as simple. Comparing my stories to my favorite authors, I realized she had a very valid point. So, with the best of intentions, I endeavored to plot. I promptly plotted myself into boredom with the story.

  Not one to give up, I tried again. The second attempt didn’t follow the script. My characters rebelled and started doing things consistent with their make up by definitely not what was in the plan. That was when I had a revelation. I needed to plot and pants my stories.

  I tried a new technique for me. I did extensive pre-work on my next project: world development, cultures, clothing, character histories, and (gasp) a bit of plotting. I only developed a very general idea of where I wanted to go in the scenes ahead and a few vague plot points that I had to hit. I set to writing and discovered it worked.

  So, three and a half manuscripts later, I am enjoying this new technique. I even began integrating some editing into the writing process when I was writing Duty. I just have to watch out for those revision loops. They are definitely more of a hazard when editing while you write.

  If you are a writer, what hazards do you have to watch out for in your writing process? If you are a reader, do you like reading about the inner workings of the writing process or do you suspect all fiction writers are a bit mad?

Stay tuned for an interview in a few weeks! (Oh, and a review on the O.Scarlett blog!)