Saturday, August 26, 2017

Red Rover, Red Rover


First off, I intend to send out the new covers to the revealers tonight or tomorrow. So, yeah, look forward to that. If there's anyone who signs up after I send out the information, I'll make a second send out on August 30th.

Now to this week's game - Red Rover.
I walked to my aunt's house after work the other day - she lives just down the street from the McDonald's where I work, and luckily, the road between is a non-busy backroad - and arrived just in time to find my cousins playing Red Rover. They managed to hurt themselves within very short order, but it reminded me of a game I did in my Five and Three blog party ... three years ago, a game which no one actually played.

So I'm going to issue it again, since our timeframe is looser.

Red Rover, red rover, let Clara come over...

Basically, the jist of this game is that I'd like you guys to write a short cross-over fanfic.

You can:
Write a scene where my characters go to the realm of another author's fiction.
Write a scene where another authors characters go to my worlds.
Write a scene where my characters meet characters from someone else's book.
Write a scene from my book with characters from another author.
Write a scene from another author's book with my characters.
Come up with something else. The point is that you bring an element of my fiction to another author's fiction, or vice versa.

And, yes, if you're an author yourself, you're free to make the "other author" be yourself, even if the fiction you're merging with mine isn't published yet.

Fun? Fun!

You're free to post it in the comments below or in a post on your own blog, then post a link to said post in the comments. You're allowed to write as many scenes as you'd like.

Four points if it's posted in the comments. Five for each individual post you do on your own blog. If you put multiple scenes in one post, the first is worth five, and each subsequent is worth four.

An extra point to any scene that makes me laugh. Extra two points if I fall out of my chair laughing.

Go forth and write.

Monday, August 21, 2017

Cover Reveal - Scars of War

Hello, world! I'm taking a bit of a road trip today, so I'm participating in a cover reveal for Hazel West. I really adored the first book of this series, so I can't wait to read this one.


What, you thought that I'd just hand over the cover like that????

Hah!

Nope, first you have to read the synopsis.

Synopsis:


After the events on Samhain Eve things have calmed down for High King Eamon and his Fianna. The Unseelie Court is under new rule, and Eamon is happily married—and with an heir on the way! But just when it seems like things couldn’t be better, reports of changelings keep coming into BPAFF (Bureau of Protection Against Fair Folk). With the risk of children being changed out in their cribs, especially when a royal heir is weeks from being born, Eamon enlists the help of Aeden Mac Cool, Commander of Na Fianna, and Cassandra Whalen, Director of BPAFF, to deal with the threat before it escalates. Riots, Faerie rebels, and road trips with the King of the Unseelie—it’s just a typical day, right?

The book is releasing on August 31st. Fun, yes??? (WPFP's birthday, actually. It'll be two years old ... my how time flies...)



SNIPPET TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!

This scene is part of a larger scene, you can find the other parts on this link here, listed in order.

            “Now what?” Rory asked.
            “We wait,” I told him, opening the closet and pushing the fallen clothes and toys to one side before I stepped in. “I’ll wait in here, you should hide under one of the beds.”
            He gave me a longsuffering look before he sighed and lowered himself onto his stomach to worm under the bed nearest the door. “This is going to be one of those plans that backfires on me, isn’t it?”
            “Quit complaining. You know I always have your back, kid,” I told him with a grunt as I fought the door closed. It was tight but I could watch the window through the slats, the most likely way the Faerie would come in.
            “You know this might just be happening because they’re not taking babies,” Rory said, his voice muffled from under the bed.
            “What do you mean?”
            “You know, people usually ward against Faeries with iron over the cradles, and stuff. The most susceptible time for changeling exchanges is the first six months of a baby’s life, but a lot of people stop warding after a year or two at the most if they even bother to go that long. The faeries might just have realized it’s easier.”
            “That is true. In fact it would make more sense for them to do it like this because, as you said, parents aren’t nearly as careful with kindergarteners as they are with infants.”
            “At least I don’t have to hide in a crib,” Rory said and shifted with a slight whimper. “Ow, there’s a dragon poking my back. How much longer do you think we’ll have to wait?”
            “Probably no longer than midnight,” I said, still watching the window and the pale moonlight seeping through. “Now hush.”
            Rory grumbled something else, but settled down. After a while, I thought I heard him snoring and was about to wake him up when I saw a shadow cross the window, playing over the floor of the room. “Rory,” I hissed.
            “Hm, wha’ ow!” he jumped, and there was a thump as he hit his head on the underside of the bed.
            “Hush, I think he’s coming.”

            I froze, watching the window as it opened very slowly and quietly; just wide enough for a dark, slim figure to slip through with a bundle clutched tightly to his chest. He went to the beds where we had put pillows under the blankets to make it look like the boys were still there. I waited until he had moved past me before I flung the door to the closet open and leapt out.

And now, finally, the cover!


Hazel wanted me to let you know that all comments that you leave on the participating posts in this reveal count towards a giveaway so ... go comment. Someone is going to win ebook copies of the two previous books, and that someone might be you.

Saturday, August 19, 2017

Bookshelf Overhaul Tag


Okay, first off and heads-up, I've extended the Overhaul giveaway through to the end of October, as I've realized that it's going to take me that long to get through ALL of the edits.

So today, I'm issuing a tag for you guys to fill out. You can do it either in the comments below, or you can take it to your own blog. Comments is worth four points, while doing it on your own blog is five.

1. How long have you been following Knitted By God's Plan and how did you find me?
2. If you've read any of my books, which? And which are your favorites? If you haven't read any, which are you most interested in?
3. If you could redesign any of my covers, how would it look? Feel free to photoshop something, or just describe it.
4. Of my WIP's, which are you most eager for me to finish and publish?
5. Which of my Pinterest Storyboards do you find the most intriguing? 
6. Pick a fairy tale and tell me how you would like to rewrite it.
7. Recommend a book for me to read. 
8. If you and I were stranded together on a desert island, how long do you think that we would survive?
9. What is a project that you're working on that you can't wait to release into the world?
10. What is a burning question that you have for me?

If you fill this out on your own blog, post a link to the post in the comments.

Monday, August 14, 2017

Sleepy Winners!


Well, the blog tour is over, and these three lovely new Sleeping Beauties have been released into the world. Hopefully, they'll eventually learn to take life by the ear and stop sleeping through it, but that's not the point of this post.

The point of this post is finding out who won all of the lovely prizes in the giveaway! Yay! Excitement!

Unfortunately, I'm having trouble confirming both of the entries that won the rafflecopter giveaways, and I need to email them for further confirmation before I can announce them.

I can, however, announce the winner of the comment contest, who will be receiving an early read of The Seven Drawers and Cindy Ellen.

Sarah Taleweaver.

Outpacing the runner-up by about thirty comments, Sarah was our hands-down winner. I have her email, and I'll be sending her prize once I get home from work today.



I'd like to thank everyone who participated in our Thunderclap. That was awesome. Don't know that I'll be doing another Thunderclap - maybe for Worth, next year, but that was awesome. And intense.


However, while that concludes the festivities for the tour, I'm just getting warmed up with my Bookshelf Overhaul. If you haven't yet, please click through here and find out all the details. And, if you have a blog, sign up for the big cover rereveal. Yay!

Someone's gunna win a full set of signed copies of my books...

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Retellings that I Would Like To Write Someday.




Final day of the tour - how did it go by this quickly???? Anywho, I'm going to talk about the various fairy tale retellings that I have running around in my head but haven't written yet (at least not in their entirety). And I couldn't put a cap at seven, so you're getting thirteen, since some versions of Sleeping Beauty give her thirteen fairy godmothers.



1. All the Bookania.
Let's just get that one out of the way - my neverending series where I try to pack in all the fairy tales. I've made it through three books. Twenty bajillion left to go.

2. Red as Snow.
This is a retelling of Snow White that I've written about 3,500 words on, and I thiiiiink I'm about a third of the way through it. The book was inspired by the title, because my brain was tired and was messing with the fairy tale. It is, basically, a role reversal between SW and the stepmother. Snow is nearly ten years her stepmother's senior. But the "Prince," Snow's cousin, Charmel, is the true villain of the story. Yup, dreadfully twisted and I'm loving every moment of it.

3. Fair Rosamund.
This would be a historical fantasy. See, I was reading a book about Henry II, and it mentioned a mistress of his named Rosamund ... which happens to be a name belonging to Sleeping Beauty. So, yes, I made connections, and I now want to write a retelling. Someday. I'm not ready to write this story yet - that's how you guys ended up with Poison Kiss.

4. Snowella White
This is a blended retelling of Snow White and Cinderella, leaning closer to Snow White. I haven't quite worked out all of the logistics, but I'm substituting the seven dwarves for seven godmothers.

5. Untitled Rumpelstiltskin Sequel
This story actually dates back to Sew, It's a Quest's original conception, as it was going to be the second book in the "Beyond the Ever After" series that is now the Bookania Quests. Unfortunately, this story no longer fits into the Bookania framework that I have established. But it's well-plotted, about the child that Rumple lost, and is a bit of an allegory. So, fun.

6. Mermaid Footprints.
I have a .... page and a half of this book in my docs files. This is Mynna's story, and if any of you have read The Ankulen, you know that she's the youngest of seven mermaid sisters. As such, you probably already realize that it's a retelling of the Little Mermaid. Except that she leaves the water so she can save her people, not to be with a man, and she just happens to fall in love along the way.

7. The Dancing Princess
This is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, where it's just one princess, not twelve of them. I haven't worked out all of the details, but she might be rescuing twelve princes. We'll see how it goes.

8. Cayra
This book is kiiiiiinda a sequel to the Little Mermaid. I can't say anything more about that, though.

9. Sing, Aling.
My sci-fi retelling of Peter Pan. Aling is the tinkerbell character, and she's half-fairy and half-elf, and not quite accepted by either society. And then a spaceship crashes on their planet. It's gonna be awesome, and I WILL write it for NaNo, one of these years. Probably next year. Worth of a King is on the agenda for this year.

10. Fairer than Beauty
A self-aware retelling of Beauty and the Beast where the girl assigned to the tale had been hoping for the obscure "Fairer than a Fairy" and then proceeds to try to completely derail the fairy tale in an attempt to get the story that she wanted.

11. Untitled Rapunzel Retelling
This is the idea I was messing with when I thought that the next Rooglewood contest would be Rapunzel. It's twist - instead of living in a tower, Rapunzel is trapped underground. No, I haven't worked out all of the details yet. Why are you asking?

12. Colinda and the Swan's Secret
Probably the loosest sense of a "retelling" on the list, Colinda was inspired by Swan Lake, so I'm going to count it.

13. To Perfect a Fairy Tale.
And, finally, I have the book where all of the fairy tales are messed up, and it's up to a young girl named Anthea to fix all of them. Fun stuff.

On The Blogs Today:
Morgan Elizabeth Huneke - Something About the SSS
Interviews:
Rachel Rossano's Words - Kendra
Dreams and Dragons - Rachel
Reviews:
Girls Living for God’s Glory - Twisted Dreams
Sutori no Hana - Twisted Dreams


Giveaway Time!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


There will also be a prize for the person who leaves the most comments across all of the blog posts for this tour - whoever leaves the most comments gets to read The Seven Drawers, the retelling of Snow White that I just finished for the Rooglewood contest, and Cindy Ellen, the sequel to Rosette Thornbriar. Both stories are finished, so you don't have to worry about cliff hangers. Get commenting.

And, as a reminder, any comments that you leave on my blog this month and next will count towards a drawing for a full set of my books, with the all-new covers.

Oh, and free books!
Sew, It's a Quest (Permafree): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/731321
Woodcutter Quince (Free August 8-12): https://www.amazon.com/Woodcutter-Quince-Bookania-Short-Stories-ebook/dp/B00OYGVHP8/

Thank you to everyone who came by and took part in the blog tour - contest and giveaway winners will be announced Monday.

Friday, August 11, 2017

Seven Reasons to Read Rosette Thornbriar




I'm here today to talk about the final Sleeping Beauty, and why you should drop everything and go read it.



1. My Mom wrote it. As all of you know, my mother's love for fairy tales is what inspired my own love, and so now you can go straight to the source.

2. It's nonmagical. So, if magic is something that bothers you, you have nothing to fear from this tale.

3. That said, the western town of Wunstuponia is absolutely enchanting.

4. Fleur is an adorable, dedicated hero, undeterred by any challenge.

5. Rosette screams when he kisses her.

6. You get to meet Cindy, who will be the protagonist of the next tale.

7. It's short, so it's a perfect read to share with your whole family at bedtime.


On The Blogs Today:
Interviews:
Morgan Elizabeth Huneke - Poison Kiss Feature
Interviews:
Light and Shadows - Puss in Boots (PK Character)
The Music of a Story - Will (TD Character)
Reviews:
The Flowering Vales - Twisted Dreams


Giveaway Time!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


There will also be a prize for the person who leaves the most comments across all of the blog posts for this tour - whoever leaves the most comments gets to read The Seven Drawers, the retelling of Snow White that I just finished for the Rooglewood contest, and Cindy Ellen, the sequel to Rosette Thornbriar. Both stories are finished, so you don't have to worry about cliff hangers. Get commenting.

And, as a reminder, any comments that you leave on my blog this month and next will count towards a drawing for a full set of my books, with the all-new covers.

Oh, and free books!


Sew, It's a Quest (Permafree): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/731321

CinderEddy (Free August 7-11): https://www.amazon.com/CinderEddy-Kendra-E-Ardnek-ebook/dp/B00KZNW2TO/ LAST DAY FOR THIS ONE.
Woodcutter Quince (Free August 8-12): https://www.amazon.com/Woodcutter-Quince-Bookania-Short-Stories-ebook/dp/B00OYGVHP8/

Thursday, August 10, 2017

Sleeping Beauty's Cousins




Day four. I'm here today to talk about a few other fairy tales that bear strong resemblance to Sleeping Beauty on some level or another.



1. The Sleeping Prince.
This one is more of a "Goose-Girl" fairy tale, where a princess is told that if she'll watch over a Sleeping Prince for set amout of time, he'll marry her when he wakes up. Unfortunately, she lets her maid take over for the last few minutes, and ... well, it's Goose-Girl from there.

2. The Crystal Coffin.
This Sleeping Beauty rejected the hand of sorcery, and he trapped her in a coffin until her brother defeated the sorcery. And a random tailor has to let her out of the coffin and she marries him.

3. Fairer-than-a-Fairy.
So, this princess's father did worse than failing to invite a fairy to her Christening - he implied that she was more beautiful than the fairies - he offened them ALL. So she was kidnapped. Isn't her that ends up asleep, though, but her Prince, Rainbow.

4. Sun, Moon, and Talia.
So, I'm cheating - this is an old version of the tale. But it has a few ... weird differences. (1) It's a peice of flax lodged in her thumb that puts her to sleep. (2) The prince ... does a bit more than kiss her, and doesn't even wake her up. Instead, she gives birth to twins, and one of them sucks the flax out of her thumb and THEN she wakes up. (3) The prince marries in the interim, and the wife tries to eat Talia and her kids. (I can't make this up.)

5. The Fairy Gifts
No one sleeps in this fairy tale, but I'm including it because it discusses gifts given by fairies ... and the consequences that can come of them.

6. Snow White.
Yes, I count this as a Sleeping Beauty tale. She meets her True Love comatose.

7. Rosanella.
Just throwing this one in because it's weird. In order to win a contest for the Faery throne, one fairy splits a princess into twelve girls, each with an element of her personality, in order to cure a prince of ficklness.

I don't make this stuff up.

On The Blogs Today:
Interviews:
The Overactive Imagination - Group
Rachel Rossano's Words - Morgan
Books, Braids, and Born Again - Kendra
Reviews:
The Page Dreamer - Poison Kiss
Dreams and Dragons - Twisted Dreams


Giveaway Time!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


There will also be a prize for the person who leaves the most comments across all of the blog posts for this tour - whoever leaves the most comments gets to read The Seven Drawers, the retelling of Snow White that I just finished for the Rooglewood contest, and Cindy Ellen, the sequel to Rosette Thornbriar. Both stories are finished, so you don't have to worry about cliff hangers. Get commenting.

And, as a reminder, any comments that you leave on my blog this month and next will count towards a drawing for a full set of my books, with the all-new covers.

Oh, and free books!


Sew, It's a Quest (Permafree): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/731321

CinderEddy (Free August 7-11): https://www.amazon.com/CinderEddy-Kendra-E-Ardnek-ebook/dp/B00KZNW2TO/
Woodcutter Quince (Free August 8-12): https://www.amazon.com/Woodcutter-Quince-Bookania-Short-Stories-ebook/dp/B00OYGVHP8/

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Seven Reasons You Need to Read Twisted Dreams


Day three! Halfway through the tour already. How about that. I'm going to talk about Morgan's book today, and the seven reasons that you need to read it.


1. Because Matthew is adorable. Just needed to get that out of the way. Adorable fellow there who needs far more love.

2. So you can find out which is the real world - the fantasy kingdom or sci-fi dungeon.

3. And, while you're at it, so that you can find out who is the real villain. Is it Calandra, who's trying to keep her in the sci-fi world, or the Cantileens who want to keep her in the fantasy kingdom?

4. Because the worldbuilding is brilliant. Or, at least, very intriguing. I like worldbuilding. The Wingans are awesome. #JustSaying.

5. There are dungeon break-outs. You know, just in case that's the thing you're into. I'm about to write a dungeon break-out... once I get these characters INTO the dungeon..,

6. It gets political. It's a book by Morgan. This is a given.

7. It has an awesome theme. Perhaps better than Poison Kiss's. That maaaaaay because I needed TD's message a bit more than I needed PK's. Anywho. Go read this book.

On The Blogs Today:
Morgan Elizabeth Huneke - Rosette Thornbriar Feature
Interviews:
The Destiny of One - Kendra
Reviews:
Reflections of the Heart - Twisted Dreams
The Flowering Vales - Twisted Dreams
Other:
Reality Reflected - Rachel+Rosette Thornbriar - Interview+Review

Giveaway Time!

There will also be a prize for the person who leaves the most comments across all of the blog posts for this tour - whoever leaves the most comments gets to read The Seven Drawers, the retelling of Snow White that I just finished for the Rooglewood contest, and Cindy Ellen, the sequel to Rosette Thornbriar. Both stories are finished, so you don't have to worry about cliff hangers. Get commenting.

And, as a reminder, any comments that you leave on my blog this month and next will count towards a drawing for a full set of my books, with the all-new covers.

Oh, and free books!
Sew, It's a Quest (Permafree): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/731321

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Sleeping Beauty Retellings That I Love


So, bit of a disclaimer here - despite being utterly in love with all things fairy tale retelling, when I sat down to acutally write this post ... I came to the realization that I actually haven't read that many retellings of that particular tale.

I get it - it's a hard tale to turn into a proper story. The plot is all whacky, and it's really hard to develop both the prince and princess properly. But I have found a few books that I rather like, though some aren't 100% focused on Sleeping Beauty. They're all great spins, though.

1. Princess Sonora and the Long Sleep by Gail Carson Levine.
As I'm pretty sure most of you know, Levine's Ella Enchanted is one of my favorite retellings of all time, so I was pretty delighted to discover that she had a Sleeping Beauty tale as well. This story was short and sweet, and I highly recommend it.

2. Midnight Captive by E.D. Phillips.
I read this book for review. It's actually a "sequel" to "The Pied Piper," where he blends the curses of Sleeping Beauty and the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and generally makes things miserable for the two heroines of this tale. It's a bit rough around the edges, as it was a NaNo and a debut, but I still recommend it.

3. Little Daylight by George MacDonald.
This story is actually part of At the Back of the North Wind, but it stands on its own as a brilliant retelling of The Sleeping Beauty. Baaaaasically, instead of being cursed to sleep for a hundred years, Daylight is cursed to sleep all day and wake all night. Also, she waxes and wanes with the moon. It's a beautiful tale.

4. Twisted Dreams by Morgan Elizabeth Huneke.
Which happens to be one of the books that I'm releasing with. It's an awesome twist on the tale, and I'll be talking about it more later this week.

5. Waking Beauty by Prince Bertie.
For a story written by a frog (which, granted, is an enchanted prince, small detail that), this is a lovely story ... where Talia was cursed to sleep a thousand years, not a hundred and wakes in our modern day. And Morgan le Fay cursed her. That's right. Arthurian mythos here.

6. Heaven Cent by Piers Anthony
The eleventh Xanth novel, and the second to be a fairy tale retelling. A bit mixed around with some elements stolen from Snow White (basically, it was an apple that put her to sleep), and messed up because Murphy's curse made the princess's companion, Electra, be the one who went to sleep ... buuuut, Electra was the one they needed a thousand years later when Dolph awakened her.

7. Sew, It's a Quest by Kendra E. Ardnek
My first published book, and as such, it shall ever hold a dear place in my heart. It was also a NaNo debut, and I'll never call it my best work, but it's a dear story to me and I love what I did with the fairy tale.

Check out the other stops on the tour:
Interviews:
Bookish Orchestrations - Rachel
Georgia Politics - Morgan
Books, Braids, and Born Again - Matthew (TD Character)
Reviews:
Shire Reviews - Rosette Thornbriar
Other:
Reality Reflected - Edmund(character)+Poison Kiss - Interview+Review
Giveaway Time!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

There will also be a prize for the person who leaves the most comments across all of the blog posts for this tour - whoever leaves the most comments gets to read The Seven Drawers, the retelling of Snow White that I just finished for the Rooglewood contest, and Cindy Ellen, the sequel to Rosette Thornbriar. Both stories are finished, so you don't have to worry about cliff hangers. Get commenting.

And, as a reminder, any comments that you leave on my blog this month and next will count towards a drawing for a full set of my books, with the all-new covers.

Oh, and free books!
Sew, It's a Quest (Permafree): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/731321
CinderEddy (Free August 7-11): https://www.amazon.com/CinderEddy-Kendra-E-Ardnek-ebook/dp/B00KZNW2TO/
Woodcutter Quince (Free August 8-12): https://www.amazon.com/Woodcutter-Quince-Bookania-Short-Stories-ebook/dp/B00OYGVHP8/


Monday, August 7, 2017

Seven Reason You Need to Read Poison Kiss


Well, today's the day, folks! The day that I loose my newest book upon the world, not to mention my mom's new book, and my writing buddy, Morgan, releases hers.

Oh, and they're all three retellings of Sleeping Beauty. How awesome is that?


And, in honor of these releases, I'm going to tell you seven reasons why you need to read Poison Kiss right now. Seven reasons for each of Sleeping Beauty's Fairy Godmothers. The good ones, that is. I've banned the eighth one. Hopefully, I won't regret doing that.

(And, yes, there will be posts for the other two books over the course of this tour, but today it's my book. Kay? Kay.)

1. All of the characters are incredibly self-aware and they KNOW that their lives are playing out the various fairy tales. Puss in Boots freely admits that this is the third he's found himself in. Olgerta switches the gifts 90% because she's tired of handing out the same curse over and over.

2. Speaking of switching, Olgerta curses the kiss instead of the spinning wheel, leaving poor Geneva scrambling to provide a cure. And her father has to lock her in a tower instead of banishing the spinning wheels.

3. There are a number of references to the Sleeping Beauty ballet. I did my best to avoid the ballet when writing Sew (I actually stole one element, but ... it was just one element). So to distance this book from Sew, I based it more on the ballet.
You guys are going to have to read it to find out what those references are.
That said, there's also a large reference to the original version of the tale that I didn't get in Sew.

4. Puss in Boots is in it. And the White Cat, which is one of my favorite fairy tales. And the enchanter. Can't tell you what fairy tale he's from, but you'll figure it out.

5. It's hilarious. Sorry, I can't write a book without a large dose of humor, and this book is no exception.

6. It's surprisingly complicated for being only 11,000 words. It's a fact - I can't write a simple story. My feedback from my betas was about 70% "Kendra, how do you make these sort of connections!!!"

7. It's got a good message. It's a bit spoilery, though, so just ... go read it and find out what it is.

Check out the Other stops on the tour:
Morgan Elizabeth Huneke - Twisted Dreams Feature
Interviews:
The Flowering Vales - Morgan
The Music of a Story - Kendra
Reviews:
Girls Living for God’s Glory - Poison Kiss
Other:
Reality Reflected - Morgan+Twisted Dreams - Interview+Review


Giveaway Time!

There will also be a prize for the person who leaves the most comments across all of the blog posts for this tour - whoever leaves the most comments gets to read The Seven Drawers, the retelling of Snow White that I just finished for the Rooglewood contest, and Cindy Ellen, the sequel to Rosette Thornbriar. Both stories are finished, so you don't have to worry about cliff hangers. Get commenting.

And, as a reminder, any comments that you leave on my blog this month and next will count towards a drawing for a full set of my books, with the all-new covers.

Oh, and free books!
Sew, It's a Quest (Permafree): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/731321
CinderEddy (Free August 7-11): https://www.amazon.com/CinderEddy-Kendra-E-Ardnek-ebook/dp/B00KZNW2TO/

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Game - Guess the Snippet

So, as all of you know, I'm holding a giveaway in honor of my eighth blogoversary and the rerelease of all my covers, and I thought that I might toss in a few games.

Today's is Guess the Snippet, and, yes, it will be open until September 31st. To play, all you have to do is email me with your guesses. Each correct answer is worth a point.

And, yes, you have to email me. Any guesses posted in the comments will be deleted and not counted. You are welcome to discuss and speculate in the comments, though.


And, just to make things difficult, all names are changed to be one of the following:

Maryanne
Petra 
Lucy
Eric 
William 
Richard

But, to make things a bit simpler, the books that I pulled from are all from this list:

Love and Memory
Red as Snow
ROCKS
It's Sci-Fi, People!
The Nine Gems of Virtue
Do You Take This Quest?
The Quest for the Quince
The Worth of a King
Dragon Song
The Seven Drawers

1.
“There you are!”
Petra didn't even have time to brace herself for her mother's hug as she stepped into the common room. Sure, they'd seen each other just a few months before, for their birthday, but that was her enthusiastic mother.
“Hi, mom, Good to see you too,” she muttered, returning the hug. “And hi, dad.”
“Where's your enthusiasm, sweetheart?” asked Dad, as her mother pulled away. “Do I need to have a word with the instructor about your misplacing it?”
“You might,” said Petra. “But my enthusiasm is easily misplaced, and I don't think it was their fault.”
“Mom, Dad!” cried Richard, bursting into the room. “You're here!”
“And your brother more than makes up for your lack of enthusiasm,” said Dad.

2.
“It is often speculated that she poisoned him,” Maryanne mentioned, as she opened the book.
“Indeed, you’ve mentioned that fact before,” said William, cracking open his own book, a massive tome of law. He glanced up with a raised eyebrow. “Should I be worried for my own life?”
She shook her head playfully. “If I killed you, who would handle the politics? I’m in charge of history, you have law. Remember?”
William gave a laugh. “Ah, good, then I shall sleep easy at night knowing that I am so essential to you.”
Maryanne shrugged. “I hate politics.”
From behind her, there was a sharp gasp and then a giggle.

3.
Or perhaps…
She swallowed, willing herself to be calm. “Eric,” she said, “do with me as you will. Just … just don’t…” She let a shudder run through her, thankful for the knife-fueled fear that made it believable. “Don’t kiss me,” she finished, in an inaudible whisper.
He drew back, though the knife was still pointed towards her. “Kiss you? What put a thought like that into your head?”
“You have me here, at your mercy,” Lucy whispered. “Kill me if you must, but just don’t … I’m a pure, virtuous maiden. Don’t defile me.”
She closed her eyes, hoping, praying. Such reverse psychology worked for Bre’r Rabbit. But, even if it did work for her, would the kiss be enough to save her? To save him?
He gave a slow chuckle as he lowered the knife. “You are a pretty thing. I’ll admit that such thoughts have passed through my , would the kiss be ecology worked for Bre'mind from time to time. Yes, that would be a fittingly terrible fate for you.”

4.
“Just about,” Maryanne answered. “One moment.” Lucy felt one last poke as the final pin slid into place. “There we go. Run along with you – and, Eric, make sure you take care of her – and behave yourselves. You may be marrying tomorrow, but that’s tomorrow and not today.”
“Noted,” said Eric, standing and offering his arm to Lucy. She took it wordlessly. “Now let us get out of here before someone notices us and insists on giving us a chaperone.”
At the door, however, he paused, and Lucy realized that his finger was on her pulse. “Why, Lucy, your heart is racing.”
She ducked her head as her cheeks grew warm. With her darker complexion, blushing wasn’t as obvious as it was on the constantly-red Maryanne, but he was staring at her very intently.
He gave a low chuckle. “Interesting.”

5.
She got the sensation that someone was watching her. Looking up, she saw, just down the hall, a young man, a servant by his garb, but one that was clearly high-ranking. Her breath caught as she recognized him.
“Richard,” she breathed, hastily gaining her feet.
His eyes went wide, and for a moment, her heart faltered as she thought that she’d been mistaken. But he shook his head. “Milady, I … I’m sorry … I…”
It was him.
For a moment, they both just stood there, staring at each other, neither daring to say anything that might ruin the moment. It was so tempting to just rush into his arms, let him hold her, and then rush away never to be seen by any of her family again. To get away from her duties and rules.
It was only her duty and those rules that kept her rooted in place.
“I’m sorry,” he finally repeated. “I … I didn’t realize that anyone was in this hall, and when I saw you there … are you all right?”
Petra lifted her chin. “Of course I am.”

6. 
Lucy had just picked up the hotel telephone to call home (because far be it from Eric to be at his own house when he could be at hers, especially when they had guests) when Maryanne slunk into the room.
“Who are you calling?” the girl asked, in that annoying tone of hers.
Lucy set the phone down and closed her eyes. “I was hoping for a few minutes where I could be left to myself.”
“With a phone,” said Maryanne, plopping down on the bed next to Lucy. “You’re not alone when you have a phone. Were you calling home to complain about how terrible we are? Oh, come on, Petra, that’s no way to talk about your hosts. After all the trouble we’re going through to make sure you’re having a fun time…”
“I promised I’d call home and tell them everything that’s happening,” Lucy answered. “Honestly, I’m having fun, and I appreciate you letting me come with you. I’m not calling to complain by any means.”
“Sixteen and your parents still expect you to check in with them?” asked Maryanne. “Don’t they trust us to take care of you? We told them we would.”
“I’m not calling my parents,” said Lucy. “They trust me to take care of myself.”
“Then who are you calling?” asked Maryanne. “You said you were calling home.”

7. 
“You're a long way from home now, aren't you Lucy?” Petra asked, as she entered the main quarters.
Lucy glanced up, something akin to a smile pulling at one side of her mouth. “Yeah, I guess you can say that. I'm never going to see home again. Never going to see my family again. It's the least of my problems.”
“I'd hate to never see my family again,” said Petra, shaking her head. “In fact, it's possibly my worst fear. That I'll never see them again. It's possible, you know, when you're always traveling. The universe is a big place.”
“Just this part of it is big enough,” said Lucy.
“It is, isn't it?” Petra agreed. “But are you sure you won't miss your family?”
Lucy shook her head. “We were your typical royal family. No one ever paid attention to anyone else.”
“And you ignored everyone else, too? Right with the rest of them?”
She shrugged. “No, I tried to be nice to my younger brother – the only one younger than me that I could be nice to. I guess I do miss him. Pity I couldn't bring him with me. He didn't have anyone else to pay attention to him. And he didn't have a future painted out for him like the rest of us did.”
Petra shook her head. “Oh, I guess I do pity him. I hate it when my future isn't painted out for me. Too uncertain.”
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