A Twist of Rapunzel - Cover Reveal!

So this post is late in the day. I probably should have scheduled it last night but ... I had a mess of a weekend and I don't have many brain cells left.

Anywho ... I HAVE A BOOK RELEASING NEXT MONTH!!!! (I know, shocker, me releasing a book...)

Misfortune, the fourth Twist of Adventure, this one a Rapunzel inspired by the Book of Daniel. It's a super sweet and heartbreaking story that hurt so much to write, and I'm so excited to share it with all of you.

Mwahaha.

Not only that, but I'm not releasing it on its own, but I found a fellow Rapunzel reteller who wanted to join the party - Kirsten Fichter with #3 of her Once Upon a Twist Tales - Diamond. I haven't read Diamond yet, but I'm looking forward to it as it's directly connected to the previous tale Spindle Dreams and Eep, was that a story.

Anywho. Awesomeness is awesome, and we have a cover reveal today!!!

Amazon || Goodreads

Diamond leads a quiet life with the woman she calls Mother. There isn’t much to pass the time save for excursions in the forest and one-sided conversations with her pet rabbit, Hobie. Men are cruel beings who care only for themselves and must be avoided at any cost. After all, Diamond’s own father gambled her away once. What other terrible fates might await her if people knew she existed?  

Seth Stendahl is an alchemist with a middling proficiency in the Rohesian tongue. After growing up with and surviving six sisters, there shouldn’t be anything too difficult for him to master – except maybe breaking his leg and being locked in the top of a ruined watchtower.   

Amazon || Goodreads

The day she was born, her kingdom fell, and so she was branded the daughter of blood and misfortune and locked away. Now a dragon plagues the land and her curse may be the only thing that stops it. 

But is she really cursed? 

Both books will be releasing on May 13th, and I can't wait. Blog tour signup will be opening soon, and I will come back later and editing in a link to it. In the meantime, feel free to add both books to your Goodreads TBR and even preorder them!

Kendra E. Ardnek is the self-proclaimed Arista of Fairy Tales. She lives in the Piney Woods of East Texas with her dragon babies and massive herd of mini-giraffes, and she is still waiting for one of of her fifty nutcrackers to come to life and marry her. When not writing, you can usually find her sitting in a random box, and she’s frequently known to act before she thinks.  Find her online at: Website || Blog || Goodreads || Facebook || Twitter || YouTube || Newsletter || Instagram || Amazon  

Kirsten Fichter is a twenty-something Christian writer who loves being the wife to her favorite person ever, mommy to two precious blessings, a piano enthusiast, a dragon buff, a serious bookworm, and an INFP synesthete. Fairytales have always fascinated her, and she has made it her goal to rewrite as many as possible and become known as the “Grimm Dickens” (i.e. mixing Grimm fairytales with a Dickens style). Diamond: A Rapunzel Story is her third published fairytale retelling. You can find out more about her on her blog, A Synesthete Writer.  

Find her online at:  Blog || Goodreads || Facebook || Instagram || Amazon  

A Random Update Post

I feel like I never blog anymore. In fact, I missed my tenth blogoversary last month - and I'd had some pretty fun plans for it.

Life's just had me stretched thin, lately. Hair We Go Again marked my sixth official release within the space of a year, and I'd not had a nice July. My aunt (who'd lived in the upstairs trailer from me, helped with bills, and provided my rides to town), moved out at the end of June, and while I'd known this move was coming, I'd been expecting more fall-timing, so to suddenly have her GONE has added a lot to my plate that I wasn't prepared for. Especially as her air conditioner went out while they were unloading her house into the moving van. Air conditioner has not been fixed, and our houses are connected by a not-airtight door. In fact, I'd call it rather the opposite of airtight.

I also don't have running water in my own house, so I have to go up there to use the bathroom, take showers, and wash my dishes. I live in Texas. So, yeah, heat's been melting me. (Fortunately, the nights have been ... decent, so I leave the screen door open at night - though locked - so the house can breathe.)

In July, I had two back-to-back "vacations." Realm Maker's the third weekend, and then I was a Sponsor at a Church camp (Basically, I was the Responsible Adult who was brought to be in charge of my younger cousins and sister.) the following week. This required two weeks off from work, so I'd requested some extra days in the weeks previous to my vacations. What I'd not asked for was extra days in the weeks following, but that's what I've gotten. Including eating THREE out of the five days of the Golden Braid's blog tour, and I'd only planned to work the last day.

(Note on my work schedule - I work part-time at McDonald's, and it's supposed to be three nine-hour shifts a week. This is because I live thirty minutes from town and don't drive, and so, while working, have to crash at my parent's house, who live within walking distance from my work. They don't really have room for me at their apartment, so I like to minimize the time that I'm there. And, with my Aunt moved out, I've had to rely on my other aunt for rides, and her schedule's a lot more rigid, resulting in extra time at my parents' house.)

So, yeah, Hair We Go Again didn't get the launch I'd planned for it, and I'm utterly behind in everything and have no idea how to catch up.

You guys may remember some posts concerning my sister earlier this year. Yeah, that's still a continuing saga. I don't really want to say anything more on the subject, but it's been something on my plate that's been making life frustrating.

I don't want my writing to be about the numbers, I really don't. But, the frustrating thing about growing up and being an adult is that life costs money. And it'd be much nicer if that money didn't require me squatting at my parents' house. I want to give you guys great stories, but life is squeezing all of the time and energy I have for that. I mean, I have managed six releases in the space of a year (I'm insane), and my royalties for the first half of the year have been somewhere over $400 - nothing to sneeze at, as it's about what I made in the WHOLE of last year, and that'd been my best year yet. But it's still not enough to replace my minimum wage part-time paycheck.

I'm honestly not sure how I'm moving forward. I'm working my hardest to get Love and Memory out next year. Not sure how it's going to happen, but it's been three years already since LDTD released, and that's enough of a gap between books. Cost and Song are both too much of a mess to make progress on, but I do have a number of Bookania projects that are high-priority, including book 6, a couple short stories, and A-Parent Loss, the first book of a new series called the Bookania Misadventures. Also Misfortune and The Dancing Princess are both still on my plate, and I'm going to try to have the former out before the end of the year, and The Dancing Princess ready in advance of the Tattered Slippers release, rather than fifteen minutes before it's due to Amazon, as has been the case the last several releases. (Maaaaybe I should spread them out a bit more, but life's too short and I have too many books.)

But what's going to happen next, how I'm going to pay my bills AND keep up with writing, I don't know.

And to those of you waiting on your preorder bundles ... they are coming, but my schedule hasn't allowed me to really focus on any of them. Update on the audiobook - my Microphone has decided that it doesn't like me and won't talk to my computer. I'm hoping that it's an issue with the cord (it wasn't a cheap mic, but that was a cheap cord), but I haven't had a chance to chase down another cord that will fit it (it's picky).

So ... with all that said ... Kendra out, and maybe consider buying a book?

My Beautiful Writing Process

Hello! Just popping in to link up with Cait and Skye's Beautiful People this month.

And, for those of you wondering why I've suddenly become so posty this month after a couple months of near-silence ... it's cause I'm a week from my blogoversary and (now) only three posts away from my 1000th post, and I'm trying VERY hard to make it so I can have my 1000th post ON my blogoversary. If this happens, there will be a giveaway. Of a sort. Feel free to suggest prizes, because I'm not sure yet what I want to giveaway.

1. How do you decide which project to work on?
   It's frequently whim and whichever project is talking to me at a given moment ... but as a published author, I'll admit that "whatever needs to be published next" is also a huge influence on my decision.
2. How long does it usually take you to finish a project?
   It depends on the project's length, my inspiration, and how distracted I might be. So anywhere from a few months to eleven years.
3. Do you have any routines to put you in the writing mood?
   Um, I don't think so. It either happens or I make it happen.
4. What time of day do you write best?
   Typically night. I'll write anytime or anywhere, though. Just put a pencil or other writing implement in my hand.
5. Are there any authors you think you have a similar style to?
   I have no idea. I just ran a number of my first chapters of my currents WIP's through the "I Write Like" website, though, and consistently got Agatha Christie. And The two times I didn't, it was Anne Rice. So ... draw what you will. (Is this a sign that my writing style is solidifying? Because the last time I did a first chapter spin with that site, I never got the same author twice.)
6. Why did you start writing, and why do you keep writing?
   I started writing because it's the Socially Acceptable Thing To Do when you have stories in your head. And I keep writing for much the same reason. It's just now I have a reputation to keep up. You know, being published and all.
   
   
7. What’s the hardest thing you’ve written?
   I'm ... actually drawing a bit of a blank on this one. I have this thing where I delete all recollection of painful writing experiences, much like any woman after they give birth. It was probably also a mundane low-emotion scene because those are torture to write.
   
   
8. Is there a project you want to tackle someday but you don’t feel ready yet?I have hundreds of these. Yeah, someday I shall write my historical fantasy retelling of the Sleeping Beauty. The one where Henry II is the prince. (I think it's Henry II. The dad of Richard the Lionheart and Prince John, at any rate. He had a mistress named Rosamond.)
9. What writing goals did you make for 2017 and how are they going?
   Going back to my first post of the year, I find:"Mostly Worth and LaM, as I need to finish both this books this year. I'd been hoping to be able to publish Worth this year, but it's not going to happen. Now I'm hoping for early next year. LaM is going to need two drafts (although it's turning out to not be as messy as I'd wanted it to be, so maybe not ...), and I'm hoping for a September/October publication following Worth. (Worth will come first, any way we slice it.)
   
   I also plan to finish three short stories and get them published - "Poison Kiss," "Gift Exchange," and "Saffron's Even Bigger Plan."
   
   Oh, and I have two new co-author plans on my plate, both involving Laura. No details on either, as we speak, but stay tuned."
   
   So far, it looks like I will finish Worth, but LaM isn't going to happen. Worth will likely be my fall release of 2018. One of the three short stories will be released next month, but the other two might still not get written. I have instead decided to focus on polishing all of my old books, and I'll be releasing revisions of Take and Kingdom instead. 
   
10. Describe your writing process in 3 words or a gif!
    
    

Things that I'm By No Means Qualified to Write About (Yet I do Anyway)

"Write what you know."

It's one of the biggest pieces of writing advice touted around the writing community. yet ... honestly, how many authors actually follow it? Writers who write anything interesting that is?

I mean, if I just stuck to what I "know" all of my books would be about knitting and McDonalds ... which probably wouldn't be all that terribly exciting. I mean, it might, but I couldn't get terribly many plots out of that.

So let's talk about what I stubbornly write about even though I don't know beans about them.

Romance
Let's get the big one out of the way. I've never been in a relationship. I've never actually been "in love." I've never even been on a date! (Though I've had a few close calls) So why do I insist on throwing my heroines into the arms of heroes and making sure that there's at least one wedding or at least a proposal per book I write? Whyyyyyyy????

(Because my characters are cute, that's why)

Kissing
As you can probably imagine from the fact that I've never even been on a date, I've never kissed a boy. Yet my love language is touch, and thus, for me, it just feels weird for couples to not physically express their affection, and yes, for (predominately) married couples, that means kissing. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU KISS??? LIPS TOUCH.  GERMS ARE EXCHANGED. THAT'S ALL I KNOW.

Swordplay, Archery, and Almost Any Other Form of Combat.
I own two knives and a staff, and my sister has a bow, but I can't afford any sort of lessons. So I just believe whatever I find on the internet and read in books.

Horses
Actually, I'm not 100% an idiot on this one, as I HAVE ridden a few times, and I've volunteered at few times at the Hippotherapy place where my sister volunteers regularly. So I know a little. And I have an expert on hand if I have questions but ... I'm not an animal person. I used to be terrified of horses. Even now, they intimidate me. So why do I keep writing characters with horses????

Living without Electricity.
I'm the sort of person who's almost perfectly content with the era she lives in. But I consistently set my books in worlds that don't have electricity. And then forget that they probably don't have good lighting at night.

Adoption
I have multiple books with orphans and adopted characters in them - in semi- to modern day. But I honestly don't know much about the process. Outside of the fact that papers are involved. And a lot of money. But other than that, pft!

Attending a Big Church/Living in a Big House
These aren't things that have really played into my published books yet, but they're coming. But while I was in a big church for the first five years of my life, since then, it's been itty-bitty, everyone knows each other and is possibly related churches. And I've lived in trailer homes for about that long. So ... big houses? Wut R those? Yet I put my characters into these churches and houses.

Male POV
I'M A GIRL, ya know? I've never been a guy, probably never will be one, and yet I seem to think that I'm qualified to write from their perspective. *spoiler - I'm really not.*

So what do you write about that that you probably don't have the right?

The Writing Tag

It's been FAR too long since I last did a proper tag (I mean, suuuuure I did the snippet tag back on Christmas, but that was MONTHS ago), so I've stolen this one from Mirriam and Arielle, and let's see how it goes.


1. WHAT GENRES, STYLES, AND TOPICS DO YOU WRITE ABOUT?

Genres?

Anything high concept, but mostly fantasy. So far, all of my published works have been fantasy, from Fairy Tale mashups, to imaginative allegories, to epic portal fantasy. I do have a Superhero Dystopia in my drafts (need to finish that), and I've been plotting a Sci-Fi retelling of Peter Pan in my sister's Mikada series. 

Styles? 

Typically, Multiple Deep Third, past tense. I like to crack down deep into a person's head, but I don't like to stay in ONE head. I've done first person, when it makes sense for the book.

Topics?

Let's see ... the big ones:

Trusting in God and His Plan.

Accepting the talents that God gave you.

Commitment.

TRUE love. (As opposed to "True" love.)

Interpersonal relationships

Sibling relationships.

TWINS.

2. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING?

I've been 'writing' ever since I figured out that was what you were SUPPOSED to do with your pencils (rather than using them as puppets and acting out the stories with them). I wasn't serious until I was ten or so, though, and decided to write a 'better' Narnia movie.


3. WHY DO YOU WRITE?

Because it's the most socially acceptable thing to do with the stories in my head. It's frowned upon to kidnap people and make them act out my stories on pain of death.


4. WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO WRITE?

I do about 90% after midnight because I have a BAD habit of procrastination. BAD.


5. PARTS OF WRITING YOU LOVE VS PARTS YOU HATE?

Love: Brainstorming, plotting, acting scenes out in advance, rewriting, editing. 

Hate: FIRST DRAFTS. I mean, they can be fun ... but on the whole? Torture. I mean, having to to actually turn the movie in my head into words? NOT FUN. *Not to mention the fact that I'm a perfectionist, and even though I KNOW I'm going to rewrite the book, I still have to get everything perfect. Yeah.


6. HOW DO YOU OVERCOME WRITERS BLOCK?

It depends on how pressed I am to finish the book. If my schedule is lax, then I usually take Writer's Block as my cue to step away from the story for a bit. If it's NaNo ... well, then I'll sit myself down and force myself through the scene. It may not be pretty, but the important part is to get something written.


7. ARE YOU WORKING ON SOMETHING AT THE MOMENT?

I am writing book 3.5 of my Bookania Quests for Camp NaNo. I hit 11,000 of my goal of 15,000 last night. It's been taking a slightly different direction than I'd intended, and I'm now expecting closer to 20,000 from the story, to take into consideration this new plot.

SNIPPET!!

“Just what do you think that you’re doing, Pearis?”

Pearis turned to see Robin standing behind her. She arched an eyebrow, snapping the fan shut as she examined her cousin’s wife. “Just what do you think that you’re wearing?”

Honestly, Robin had always been utterly unfashionable when it came to her apparel, but she usually bothered to look nice at balls. At least she wasn’t wearing the leather that she usually did, but a princess shouldn’t wear pants to a ball. Princesses shouldn’t wear pants, period, but that had been a lost battle with Robin.

“My mother’s no longer in charge of my wardrobe,” said Robin, folding her arms over her chest. “Don’t worry, I’ll have a dress at the wedding, as it’s a formal event.”

“And this isn’t?”

Robin gave her head a toss. “That’s why I’m wearing this new outfit that my brother brought me when he arrived this week,” she answered. “Besides, I don’t intend to dance, nor am I here to ensnare the attention of a prince – as you seem determined to do.”

Pearis narrowed her eyes. “Just what does Eric see in you?”

She tried very hard to not notice the exquisite embroidery on Robin’s sleeves and pant legs. The outfit did look very good on her, could even be considered stylish if one squinted hard. If they didn’t notice that she was wearing pants. Bodice and pants were both rich pink, just a few shades softer than her wedding dress had been, with delicate white stitching. The pants were flared at the knee, cut open to reveal pleated white fabric on the sides of her legs. The sword on her belt only served to tie the outfit together.

But, no, Pearis was determined to not notice this. To not notice the confidence, the air that seemed to judge everyone else for their skirts.

“Something, clearly,” Robin returned. “Given that he married me, that’s good enough for me. Now, just what are you doing with that fan?”

“It’s a warm evening,” Pearis pointed out, opening the fan again and giving it a few flutters. She wasn’t about to stand there and explain herself to Robin.

“Don’t fool with me,” said Robin, shaking her head. “I may not be a master of the art myself, but I know that a fan is for flirting." 

I'm also working on writing Love and Memory and Worth of a King. T


8. WRITING GOALS THIS YEAR?

I actually wrote these down the other week. Hopefully, I'll get most of these done.

Oh, Hello 2017

I didn't you standing there. I suppose we should get acquainted, yes?

(What I find on my Camera when I give it to my sister to take pictures at the zoo.)

What is it about years? Always sneaking up on us, then running away just when you were making progress with them. Sigh.

Well, 2016 is over, and what a year it was. I don't remember most of it. I think it was mostly work and editing. A bit of writing. I fulfilled my goal of publishing LDTD, though it was a headache and a half to pull off. I can't say that I did very well with any of my other goals. (Refers back to last year's list)

Uh ... focusing ... eheheheh. Occasionally, when the stars aligned properly.
Multitasking smarter. Try being completely insane and heaping far too many new projects on myself instead.
Meeting Goals. I released a book when I said I would. I can claim nothing more than that.
Staying Accountable. I ... tried? Well, I have a group of friends (aka, former beta readers who refuse to abandon a chat thread because I occasionally dangle snippets in front of them) who I've stayed mostly accountable, but I still hesitate to admit how much I've been playing games. I might have spent most of yesterday afternoon doing that.
Promotion. I ... entered WPFP into a contest! (Which it didn't win. Which I didn't mind so much, save for the fact that the book it lost to ... I'd read a few months before and had been very meh about.) I also ran a blog party and a blog tour. Neither were as spectacular as I had hoped.

Some highlights this year include meeting one of my beta readers in real life, finally graduating FINALLY getting behind the wheel to learn to drive (unfortunately, schedules have not been conducive to keeping my practice up, and I'm afraid that I may have forgotten half of what I learned. *growl*), and making good progress on Love and Memory, The Worth of a King, and ROCKS. Also, this year, my mom took on some friends' kids three to four days a week for homeschooling, my job drove me insane, and some personal issues led to my sister having to go live with our Grandparents. This was RIGHT after I fell and sprained my ankle. Oh, and my old computer died and I replaced it with a new one, and now I need money to pay for it.

So last year was a mixed bag. I don't hold hard feelings against it, but I hope this next year will be much better.

Speaking of which, here's my agenda!

School
Yes, I've graduated, no, I'm not done learning. In fact, I intend for this year to be pretty intense, learning-wise. I still need to finish Streams of Civilization II for history, and my parents invested in a year's subscription to Schoolhouse Teachers and I'm expected to take as many courses as I can. I'm currently working on one for Graphic Design.

Editing
Last summer, I invested in a year's subscription to Grammarly pro, and while I have it, I intend to run all of my previously-published books through it. Sew, and possibly some others, will be receiving a slightly stiffer edit as well. I'll be editing them in publication order, and as I finish them, I'll be looking for reviewers. You can probably expect a form for this later this week.

Writing:
Mostly Worth and LaM, as I need to finish both this books this year. I'd been hoping to be able to publish Worth this year, but it's not going to happen. Now I'm hoping for early next year. LaM is going to need two drafts (although it's turning out to not be as messy as I'd wanted it to be, so maybe not ...), and I'm hoping for a September/October publication following Worth. (Worth will come first, any way we slice it.)

I also plan to finish three short stories and get them published - "Poison Kiss," "Gift Exchange," and "Saffron's Even Bigger Plan."

Oh, and I have two new co-author plans on my plate, both involving Laura. No details on either, as we speak, but stay tuned.

Blogging/Promotion.
I'd like to blog here at least once a week, the AA at least once a month, and the O.Scarlett as often as I can. I have a coupld for the AA in a notebook, so all I have to do is type them up. And I'm down to only three "have to" reviews for the O.Scarlett.

With no big releases on my plate, I don't have any tours planned ... but I do have this:

I have this planned for late March. (Not April. My brain messed up. Again.) So far, only a few authors have joined, but I know of several more who hope to, once they have a better idea of their April schedules. If you're a self-publishing author and would like to join - or an editor, cover designer, indie game developer, indie musician... you can click this link.

I also intend to tweet daily and Instagram weekly. For an extrovert, I'm terrible at social media ... and I don't need to loose contanct with my readers. I just need to figure out what to say ...

Life:
With my sister out of the house, chores are a thing (ie, a bigger thing than normal). Also, I'm not working and I have a computer to pay for. I either need to find a job that is conducive to my writing/ride situation, or I need to find a way to make adequet money from home.

If everyone would just buy my books, though, that'd be awesome.

...

I think that's everything. Kendra out.

*falls off the car.*

Quick Survey - Newsletter and NaNo

Hi readers!

First off, today is the last day to sign up for the blog tour/arc reviewing, as I'll be taking down the sign-up forms tonight. You have been warned. Get thyself over to this page now if you haven't yet.

That said, the point of this post. I'd like to do a newsletter. Lots of authors have newsletters. So ... I'd kinda like to join the bandwagon. Thing is, I don't really know what to post about, because I don't want to put in the work to write a newsletter if it's not something you guys want to read. So I need you to fill out the form below and tell me what you want to hear about.

Most of the options are self-explanatory, but I would like to say something about the Oils Spotlight. I'm into oils and various other homeopathic things. An Oil Spotlight would be a quick blurb about one of my favorite oils, with stuff like uses, origins, and perhaps a recipe.

The second part of the survey is about NaNo. I thoroughly intend to take part in NaNo this year ... I just don't know what book to write. I've narrowed it down to four options, but I don't know which one to go with.

Dragon Song 
This is a companion to Rizkaland, and you'll get to meet the dragon from whom Amber took the scale. And Saffron from "Saffron's Big Plan" is here. Somewhere. It was originally going to the be the third Rizkaland Legend before Morgan made me write the one that is currently breaking my heart.

ROCKS
My Superhero Boarding School Dystopia is one of my most popular WIP's, and the book that I am seriously considering going the route of traditional publication. But I need to get it written. The main drawback to this book is that I already have a few chapters written, so would either have to rewrite them or go rebel for the third year in a row.

Sing, Aling
My sci-fi retelling of Peter Pan. It's technically part of my sister's series, and I'm hoping that by writing this, it'll inspire V to get back into Mikida.

Bookania Stuff
Not book 4, but this would include a short story about Rosamond and Robert's honeymoon, book 3.5, and Maid Marian's back story, The Lady Made. I kinda need to do this one, but kinda don't want to.

A Post of Randomosity

This is a picture I drew four years ago of 2-year-old Maryanne hiding under a hat. It was inspired by my baby sister, who was hiding under a Christmas gift sack.

I bought a stack of notebooks on Saturday, mostly for 17 cents apiece, though some were 50 or 75 cents. I love back to school sales.

I started writing Bookania #5 in one of them. Maryanne is so cute in that book. She keeps her parents on their toes.

I know, I need to write book 3.5 and 4 first, but 5 was the first one that I came up with after I wrote book 1, so I've been really looking forward to writing it and bringing Rapunzel into the story.

I have some interesting twists with Rapunzel. I think you guys will like them.

I've blew through a HUGE chunk of edits yesterday. All I have left is part 5 and the epilogue. There are some bigger issues I need to fix in part five, in particular the war needs a bit of expansion,

I also did a bit of writing on book two. I'm sitting at just under 2,000 words now, with about 450 for my NaNo goal of 20,000. Just ten more chapters to edit, and then I can blow through writing while waiting for the proof to come in.

I general (yet consistent) feedback that I heard from my beta readers:
Part 1: Okay, interesting world, but I didn't quite connect with Clara.
Part 2: Aww! I like Andrew.
Part 3: Fangirling here. They're adorable together!
Part 4: HOLY SHAMOLIE PLOT TWIST!!! Also: AWWW!!
Part 5: EEEEEEP!!! That epilogue!

I can't wait until I can share this book with everyone. It will be awesome.

Though, I am a bit scared, too. What if the general populace doesn't like it as much as my beta team did???

This series is my baby. I want it to succeed. I want people to laugh and cry over it, just as I have. Water Princess, Fire Prince is just the beginning of the saga.)

A lit bit of story behind the story. When I wrote Clara and Andrew's first kiss, I was at my aunt's house watching Barbie movies (I used to babysit for them), and my uncle was teasing me about how I was getting so many romantic ideas from said Barbie movies, and he mentioned kissing in particular. I fell out of my chair laughing so hard, because I had just wrote the line "You kissed me!"

Writing's fun.

Oh, and I have my younger cousins addicted to Ilyon now. I know the book's supposed to be New Adult, but it's no worse than many of the super hero movies I see them watching. I told my cousin that he needs to bring me his kindle so I can put Resistance on it.

Kendra out. I need to go do more editing. And write up a reference guide for the end of the book. It'll include a bunch of world building stuff, such as the geography of Klarand, and how the water works, as well as the condensed versions of the previous legends of "Alphego's Hill" and "Through the Mountain."

I might actually write Through the Mountain in full one day. It's a bit of a Joash story.

(Although, I'm slightly disappointed at the fact that none of my beta's caught all of the references to Genesis that I made in WPFP.)

Write Boldly

Via Pinterest

I have noticed something very sad about the Christian fiction of today, especially the stuff published mainstream.

When I compare it to the works of non-Christians, it just doesn't measure up. For example, I thoroughly enjoy the Percy Jackson books. I love Percy's snappy voice, as someone who has always been fascinated by mythology, the research that Riordan puts into the series is absolutely delightful. About a year ago, though, I ran across a book called Spirit Fighter, by Jerel Law, a Christian fiction about angels and Nephilim with a description that reminded me a bit of Percy Jackson.

And as I read it, that's pretty much what I found. A Christainized version of Percy Jackson (down to the fact that they were going in quest of the boy's mom, who had been kidnapped) but without Percy's snappy voice, and Annabeth had been replaced by the boy's younger sister ... and she just didn't measure up. Perhaps had I read the book in order, I might have connected with the characters better, but I had read Lightning Thief just as haphazardly, and I still ended up more impressed with that series. And while Riordan's books are well researched, I felt like Law was just making things up as he went along. Sure, the Bible doesn't have much to say about the angels, but I'm pretty sure they're not very much like how Law presented them.

Maybe there isn't enough talent in Christian circles anymore, but I don't think that's the case because there are still many authors who I recommend without batting an eye, whose work IS good, Jaye L. Knight, Bryan Davis, Jennifer Freitag, to name a few. However, so many Christian writers, perhaps myself included, are lazy. They think that having a Christian label with automatically get them sales. After all, there is so little literature being published for us, we're happy to read whatever we get.

Uh, wrong answer. To quote Lewis: We don't need more Christian literature, we need more Christians writing good literature.

We, as Christians, are called to excellence. We are to do things, with God's help, to the best of our ability. And that means, that as authors, imitating other authors and presenting characters with no development but just mouthpieces for our well-intended sermons just isn't going to cut it.

We need to write the books that can change the world. We need to write characters with flaws and strengths, who will live the messages we wish to present. They need to fail and fall, but, with God's help, get back up and carry on. You need to write stories that, though they may be gray, reveal sin for what it is in all its ugliness, though still showing how beautiful it can appear.

We need to write stories of hope and forgiveness, stories of pain and loss. We need happy endings, sad endings, and bittersweet. Most of all, we need endings that point to the True Ending, when Jesus will ride triumphant to victory.

We need writers bold enough to step beyond the line of mediocre, and to write new, original stories. We need authors who aren't afraid to step outside of the boxes that limit us. Gone are the days when we are limited by publishers who only care about what will sell. We can write those weird books that don't really seem to fit any genre. This comes with its evils of course, as the lack of filters allows some pretty nasty, even unedited books to get through, giving us a bad name, but that's why we must rise above the mediocre and polish our stories so that they shine far brighter than even the traditionally published. We don't have a big publishing company standing behind us to tell the world that we are good. We must be good.

And ... that's what's been on my mind the last few weeks. Your thoughts?

Writing Update at Long Last

Last year, I did a pretty good job of updating ya'll about my writing once a month, until I got buried in Ankulen edits and became busy with other sorts of posts.

But I suppose you guys do deserve something of a update to let you know where I am in the writing world.

So, anyways.

For some reason, my brain just melts in summer, and this year, since I combined it with working, I did not get very much great writing done. HOWEVER, I have managed to bring Kingdom's second draft almost to the point where the first draft stalled. I'm liking how the story is flowing, a lot of the characters are getting some pretty good development ... especially Robin. I didn't mean for this to be "her" book, but she seems to be taking over, despite not having any POV. Most of the time, you see her through Eric's favorable eyes, or you get Arthur's rather overwhelmed opinion.

Also, the short stories are ... coming. Currently, Eric is at Casperl's house in Woodcutter Quince. I'm liking the scene, but um ... little secret here ... I'm not good with all-male scenes. I'm getting better, but despite the fact that Eric almost writes himself, Casperl ... doesn't always. I think that if I just sit down and push myself through the story, it won't actually be that difficult, I just haven't had the gumption to push myself through.

With Gift Exchange, I'm a tad bit more stuck. It's going to be a sweet little story, with good character development for the twins - perhaps the last time Robert fans will see him in full action, but ... even though I know exactly what I want to do with the book, it's slow writing, and I realized that I was going the wrong direction, and had to back up a few paragraphs to correct myself.

We'll not talk about Saffron's Even Bigger Plan. Despite the fact that I, again, know exactly where I'm going with the story, it only has half a page of writing.

I have two writing contests that I plan to participate in this year, Anne Elizabeth Stengl's Beauty and the Beast collection, and a cats in space sci-fi thing hosted by E. Kaiser. I know what I'm writing for both of these, and while I actually have Fairer than Beauty started, I still need to settle on a title for the sci-fi one. It's going to be about an alien people who are a cross between cats, vulcans, Chinese people, and computers finding earth for the first time and incorrectly assuming that cats are the intelligent life forms. It will be interesting, but I still need to figure out what I'm doing with it.

Speaking of Catlins (the name of the cat/vulcan/Chinese/computer people), they were huge characters in my sci-fi novel last November, and I'm sure all of ya'll are interested in hearing what great progress I've made with that story ...

Eh ... there hasn't been any progress. The story is just sitting on my desktop grinning at me with it's 50,845 words and 99 pages. But my mom and I sat down and did some plotting, (as well as some pretty cool worldbuilding for the fantasy sequel) and I think that I can write myself out of that block ... although I did have a panic session as I forgot who had the next chapter and I couldn't find notebook where I had written all of my notes.

But, the notebook has been found, so progress can resume. I'm really looking forward to sharing this series with you.

I finished the first draft of Water Princess, Fire Prince this year, perhaps my biggest achievement. However, as I've sat down to rewrite the story, it has ... resisted my attempts. The sequel, which I also decided to plunge into a rewrite, has not had the same problem. I've been wanting to start this rewrite for some time, however, and it is a story that I have finished four times already, so it's not surprising. I've wracked up 16 notebook pages, which isn't bad considering the time I've spent on it.

(Petra, stop tormenting Ashley. You're just going to regret it when you find out ... uh, I can't tell you what you're going to find out, spoilers and all that ...)

Also in notebooks is The Nine Gems of Virtue. I've almost finished the first chapter of this rewrite, and I won't hesitate to say that my version is better than my mom's. I don't have a huge infodump of backstory, but I do have lots of hints that reflect all of the worldbuilding and plotting that Mom and I have put into the story.

I also have Mermaid Footprints in the same notebook that I had written Sun Jewel Contest (a notebook that also contains the opening of Jeptha's Hill from back when it was going to be an book in the series, and some prewriting for future Bookania Quests. That's one lucky notebook there, something from all of my big three). So far, it's doing pretty nicely. Jen's on the scene at the moment, and it's interesting to see how she has matured since The Ankulen.

Speaking of the Ankulen, I know I told ya'll that I would try writing a sequel entitled Anka Jenifer. Well ... I've changed my mind. Instead, you guys will get Tales of Ooladada. Jen and her siblings will enter that series in book 3, and I think you guys will like it.

I believe that's about it, unless we mention the fact that I did break through on some block in HaV Academy, and now have three chapters for Roxanne, and one for Fiona, until I wrote myself into another block ... but I like most of the words I added (except for some random bit about a cow ... that is going to go ...).

Also, I broke my Ankulen back in January. I didn't mean to, but my sister was trying to hit me with a frying pan, and I defended myself with my hand (as I usually do) and the ring took the blow. My mom let me raid her jewelry box to find a replacement ring, and while I did find one, I'm not allowed to wear rings on any fingers besides the ring and pinkie fingers at work, and since I wear my Ankulen on my middle finger, I would dutifully leave it off. Except one day, I didn't place it where I normally do, and now I can't find it.

Currently, I'm wearing an heirloom ring that my Grandma gave me custody of on my eighteenth birthday to see if I can get the juices working, because I honestly believe that my lack of an Ankulen has been a good deal of my problem.

Also, speaking of work, I quit my job. Yesterday was my last day.

I've had the job for nine months (pretty much exactly) and I just felt that it was time to move on. For now, I'm going to focus on my writing and becoming officially done with school. I'm going to go visit my cousin Tenya (the one who designed the covers for the Bookania Quests) for the next two weeks, and when I get back, I'll start hunting for a new job, with the condition that I can start on December first. (I don't want to balance a new job and NaNo like I did last year, as I believe that's what happened to my inspiration for that story.)

Yes, I'm going to miss the steady income over the next few months, but I've found that I'm the best inspired in autumn, so hopefully I'll get some good words in, perhaps get the short story collection completely out. Also, I'm looking at getting my GiraffeCrafts knitting business up and rolling, which will be exciting.

So, on that note, a plate of eggs and bacon that I crocheted.

I'll be selling these (minus the plate) for 5.00 a set.