Hello! Hi!

I've not fallen off the face of the earth lately. It just feels like it.

I need to figure out how to blog again.

I used to have a post up at least two or three times a week. Now it seems that, unless I have a party going, two or three posts in a month is doing good. And I don't like that. I like talking to you guys. I just don't feel like I know what to say, and between work and editing, I feel so drained at the end of the day, I don't feel like figuring out what to say to you guys here.

So ... I dunno. What would you like to hear me talk about? Writing advice? Writing rants? Behind the scene stuff? Shows and books that I like to read and watch? Link-ups? If so, what link-ups? Tags? (But not the elevensies tag, no matter what name it goes by.) Spaghetti?

Help!

Also, I hope to have the blog tour finalized by next week, but would like a few more people to sign up, in particular on the 22nd, the 23rd, and reviews on the 25th. It's going to be a ton of fun, just you watch!

Someday I Shall Write an Actual Post ...

But today is not that day.

Apparently.

Oh, well, update posts are fun, too, right?

First of all, I had my first-ever podcast interview on Monday. It was awesome. I talked about my multiverse and how all my books are connected. You may find it interesting. Thank you very much, Daniel, for having me over.



For those of you coming here from the podcast about the giveaway, details are on this post. Basically, volunteer to interview characters from Bookania, and you'll be entered to win a complete physical collection of my books. So far, I only have seven interviews lined up, and I'd like at least eleven. (One for each day, and the last day will hopefully be a cover reveal for LDTD, though that hasn't been set in stone yet.)

There's a secondary, lesser giveaway, too, details, again, on that post.

Editing has been going ... well. I sent off part 3 to my Beta's two weeks ago, though I haven't made much progress on part 4. I have however, been working on the rough draft of book 3, and having a lot of fun with that. How 'bout a snippet?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  They entered Mrs. Leodge’s office, and each took a seat.

  “You’re not in trouble, and I’m not upset with you, Clara,” said Mrs. Leodge, immediately. “I do understand what you’re going through, I’ve been there myself. But your defeatist attitude isn’t going to help you.”

   Clara leaned forward and rested her chin against her fist. “I can’t,” she whispered.

  “Clara, what did I just say?”

  “And maybe I don’t want to,” Clara added, looking up to glare at Mrs. Leodge. “Maybe I don’t want to teach myself how to do everything I forgot when I was busy being a wife, mother, and queen for twenty-five years.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I had a life in Rizkaland, it was a good life, and now it’s gone.”

  “Exactly, it’s gone,” said Mrs. Leodge. “That life is gone, but you now have a chance to craft a new life for yourself here, one that could be a million times better, because you won’t have to make the same mistakes you did the last time. But it can also be a million times worse if you just waste it wishing for what you no longer have.”

   Clara dropped her gaze to her lap. “But right now, everything I had is gone and people expect me to pick up the pieces of a life I left behind twenty-five years ago. I thought it’d be fun at first, a fresh start. A life free from responsibility … but I want to go back.”

Thingishness ... Oh, and a shiny sale!

Oh, hello internet, fancy meeting you here.

Just thought I'd pop in with something of an update. I'm currently at my Grandparents (finally) learning how to drive. It's been interesting. So far I've only driven over one curb and backed into one stump, so I think I'm doing pretty good.

I've been hard at work editing LDTD, and hope to send out part three to my beta readers either today or tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. This month I'm also going to make an effort to write an EXTREMELY rough draft of book three, because I need a rough draft to find out what the story's actually about. We'll see how that goes, too

I graduated last week! As in, I now have a highschool diploma. FINALLY!!! We had a ceremony at church and it was awesome. I do, technically, still have some science and history and the Research Paper still to do, and when I finish them, it'll raise my GPA, but now I have a shiny diploma that I can hang on my wall and I can stop answering "It's complicated" when people ask me if I'm still in school. #Awesomness.

And Now the Shiny Sale. Which I completely forgot about until just now.

Remember last year with the Read to Win thing where some authors and I all ran 99 cent sales over the course of the summer. Well, it's ba-ack!!! And this year, better than ever! Instead of just week per book, almost all of the books will be on sale for ALL of the summer. Can't beat that, can you?

Oh, wait! You CAN!!! If you review any of those books during the sale on Goodreads or on your blog, you can be entered to win a HUGE amazon gift card. Now you can't beat it.

Look at all those books that are on sale! Six of them I know for certain to be good. And LOOK WHAT MY BOOK IS!!! That's right folks! This summer, you can get WPFP for just 99 cents!!!

http://www.homeschooledauthors.com/2016/06/read-to-win-2016.html, and we'll be posting group posts there over the summer. It's going to be Awesome. (And if you didn't read that in Rainbow Dash's voice ... Sorry, my sister loves he show.)

Hey, folks! I've decided to get myself one of those fancy street teams that all I have to do is tell them to post stuff, and they'll do it, and all that.

Of course, to have a Street Team, people have to sign up, which is where you come in! Fill out this shiny form below, and you can be my loyal minions forever. Anyone who joins will have access to free ebooks (should the choose they reviewer route), early warnings about sales and free books, and even first dibs on Cover Reveals and Blog Tours.

And to make the deal even sweeter, I'll send special sneak peeks of some of my unfinished books to everyone who signs up.

So, what are you waiting for?

Things about Kingdom

My internet was not being nice last night, and then my brain was scattered all this morning. As a result, this post is on the late side.

So, basically, I haven't talked that much about the trivia and plot of Kingdom, so I've decided to change that.

- Robin list comes up a few times, and she manages to mark some things off.

- Robin and Robert discover a few more facets of their gifts.

- My favorite chapter would be chapter six, which involves Robin, Arthur, and swords. I also really like four, because Robin and Eric are just so sweet in that chapter.

- The diary entries in Do You Take This Quest are referred to and explained at the end of Kingdom.

- I'm really not sure why this book gave me such trouble. The characters themselves behaved beautifully. The book just didn't want to get written.

- There was a whole dream sequence planned for between chapters 10 and 11 where the whole cast turned into animals. It didn't get written, indeed, it's what tripped me up in the first draft, but I think you might find the animals I'd picked out interesting.
Robin: A red horse
Eric: A large St. Bernard dog
The old man: A lion
Shira: A white dragon
Samson: A yellow canary
Madeleine: A mink

Solomon: An orangutan

Serendipity: An owl

Casperl: An eagle

Doranna: A parrot

Dick and Theo: Herons

Vernon: A beaver

Robin Hood: A wolf

Maid Marian: A swan

- At one point in the writing, I had three different opening chapters, but wasn't sure which one I wanted to use.

- They're all still there, but the one I wrote came up with last is the first one in the book.

- I actually only wrote through to chapter 9 in the notebook. I typed the rest because the notebook was falling a part and I suddenly had more computer time than I used to.

- There isn't much pun presence in this book. There was so much going on, I didn't have time to have them show up. 

- I wanted to bring in the Cloud Sprites Echo and Zephyr in this book, but it didn't happen. They're two of the more interesting of the sisters, Zephyr being the onlyonewhotalkslikethis, as ... apposed ... to ... this, and Echo is based on the Greek myth.

And I'll leave you guys with that, since this post really needs to go up.

Stops on the tour today:

However Improbable: Guest Post - Necessary Elements of Arthurian Retellings, where I tell you the seven items that are required to make your Arthurian Legend great.
Author Blog of E. Kaiser Writes: Author Interview, Where we indulge in a philosophical discussion about fairy tales.
Author Blog of Jenelle Schmidt: Book Review: Sew, It's a Quest, Where she confirms that the book does not have a cliff hanger, despite what you may think.

And, also, I have FIVE books free today, though today's the last day to pick up The Ankulen if you don't have it already.

Sew, It’s a Quest

The Woodcutter Quince and Other Stories

Do You Take This Quest 

Saffron’s Big Plan and Other Stories

The Ankulen

And Kingdom itself is just 99 cents (I checked this time.)

So treat yourself to a lovely little adventure and get all of my books today for just 99 cents! What could be a better deal?

I'm Shy ... That Makes me an Introvert, Right?

Everyone knows that friendly, outgoing people are all extroverts and the socially inept people hiding in corners and in their bedrooms are all introverts. And to an extent, that's true.

When strangers meet my sister and I, they will automatically label V as an extrovert and me the introvert. She's the one who'll walk up to a complete stranger and ask them anything and make a new friend in seconds ... while I hide behind her and try to gather the courage to say an awkward "Hi!"

But truth is, she's an introvert, and I'm an extrovert.

And when we tell people this, they don't often believe it.

But whether one is introverted or extroverted is not determined by how easy it is for them to talk to people, contrary to popular belief, but rather how much they NEED to talk to those people. In fact, it is my extroversion that makes me so shy.

You see, when I was a little kid, I was very outgoing. I could talk to anyone - and talk their ears off. And when V was little, she was possibly the clingiest baby there ever was. I have this insatiable need to talk to people, to connect and make new friends - and if you're my friend, you're my best friend. (I had at least five best friends at one point ...)

But I have an introvert mother, grammy, and younger sister. They drummed into me that talking to strangers is bad. Also, I soon learned that people judge by first impressions ... and their first impressions of my rambling on and and on about things that weren't important to them weren't very favorable. I sounded like an egomaniac. Or insane when I started rambling about my made up people in my stories. So I stopped talking. I pulled inward.

At the same time, my sister, being an introvert, is not as dependent upon other's opinions of her. She's a good listener, which is what other people want. She has a bright sunshine smile that just draws people to her. And she's not just any type of introvert, but an INFJ, the Myers-Briggs Counselor. And Counselors have this natural desire to draw people out, help them reach their full potential. But it drains her.

The real test of introvert/extrovert isn't how easy it is for them to talk to people - that's something that is learned. The real test is what they're like after they talk to people.

When I talk to people, no matter who they are, whether they're a new acquaintance or an old friend, I get an energy buzz that's akin to eating too much sugar. When V talks to someone, especially someone she doesn't know, it drains her energy.

Case in point, last Sunday was our church's annual fall fest. We had a huge party (around 70 people, which is a really good crowd for our church) and had fun talking, eating, and hopping around in burlap sacks. There were some new faces that various members had invited to the occasion. V, being her normal, friendly self, talked to most of them, showed them around, while I hung out with the little kids. (For some reason, I don't find little kids as intimidating as my own peers.) Once V had properly broken someone in, I would sneak up on them, she'd introduce me, and I'd talk to them some myself.

When we got home, V crashed almost immediately. (It didn't help that she had to go to work the next day. Yep, she's got a real job. While I'm stuck babysitting and writing books.) I on the other hand, bounced off the walls for some time, played some computer games, read a book, and some other stuff that I don't remember because I couldn't possibly go to sleep after talking to all of those people.

I think that's why I like all of you on the internet. I can stalk your blogs for some time, determine how similar your interests are to mine, and then comment on them to let you know of my presence. But those of you who do comment on my blog, and I comment on yours ... I consider all of you my best friend. Because I like people. People are awesome.

I just wish they weren't so scary.

Via Pinterest

3. Younger Hidden aren't usually allowed in human society. They are physically adult (even if they were babies in dragon form ... but in that case, they spend most of their time sleeping or eating), but they're still mentally children. And they're used to a more violent form of play.

A Few More Random Things

- I like talking about random things
- It means I don't have to think so hard.
- Do You Take This Quest? is fully formatted now ...
- I'm now waiting for it to show up again on my Kindle so I can read through it again.
- Oh, and I need to figure out how to convert word documents to PDF files on my Mom's computer.
- I worked on The Ankulen some this morning, too.
- The Ankulen needs severe work on its first several chapters. After that, it flows pretty well
- I mean, don't you think it's a bad thing when not even the author can get into a book?
- I like where I begin it, and what happens ...
- It just needs to flow better.
- I also read through book 3 this morning - and had to read portions aloud to my sister.
- She thought those portions very funny.
- A half-asleep Robin is a very funny thing.
- Arthur's not sure what to make of Robin, though.
- I love the closing scene for Do You Take This Quest?
- Rocks or feathers?
- I worked on the notebook version of Water Princess, Fire Prince. 
- Clara is teaching Andrew how to ask a girl to dance is a funny thing indeed.
- I can't wait until she gets to the actual teaching him to dance.
- The plot is thickening!
- I like popcorn.
- I realized that Jakob, a major character in WP,FP is flat too.
- But at least he's not a main character.
- I think I'll be able to beef him up on the computer, though.
- I can't wait to introduce Granite!
- He just might be one of my favorite male characters.
- He's a very complicated person.
- I want a sword for Christmas.
- And a pair of Fairy Wings.
- My mom is funny.
- This post needs some sort of picture.

- That'll do.
- Even though it has Sew's old cover.
- I love Robin.
- She has lots of great lines.

A few random Things

- My lap top is completely dead.
- RIP Algebra Black Clickety Clack.
- I've only two chapters left to enter into Do You Take This Quest?
- Then I'll be only waiting for my editors to get through it.
- Robert and I had a nice long talk yesterday about what it would take to get him to go on another quest.
- We ended up having to knock out every ally he has.
- I don't think I could do that.
- Least ways, not and have the book have a happy ending.
- My brother used to have a dusty keyboard.
- He doesn't anymore.
- For sake of easiness,  my brother will henceforth be known as Sam the Scholar on my blog.
- There's a story behind that, but I don't think I want to expound it.
- My brain hurts.
- V. Kathie will stay V. Kathie, but I'll call my littlest sister Sunshine.
- My sister and I are writing a book together.
- It's quite interesting, really, thanks to our very different writing styles.
- We're writing alternating chapters.
- I hope our readers don't get dizzy.
- V, I don't write present tense.
- Okay, well I do (thinks of the Interruptions) but they are not for long sustained periods of time.
- The interruptions in Take might not make sense until book 3.
- Don't forget there's a guessing game for book 3's title!
- "Don't worry Father, I left my pet dragon in my own Reality."
- That's a line from one of my books that's been rolling around in my head.
- It amuses me.
- The girl who said it amuses me too.
- Anyone know how to keep one's characters from jumping on one's bed?
- I like big pillows!
- I ain't never been known to use bad English!
- But that's usually only when I'm talking.
- It's funny. I can go from a sophisticated English accent, to a low down Su'then one in moments.
- I have a pair of triplets in one of my books who the two ways to identify them is the color they wear and the accent they use.
- The eldest of that set used to be my favorite character.
- I think she's still number four.
- I need to figure out what to do about her King. He's flat.
- I was talking to the Cloud Sprites last night, and I learned that Bookania hasn't had a proper sunset in at least three hundred years.
- I think I'll put the explanation to that in book 3.
- I stole the explanation from Greek mythology.
- But I really doubt that any of you will be able to guess which one until I reveal it.
- Sunrises are beautiful, though.
- Three of the cloud sprites are mentioned in Take.
- Two appeared in Sew.
- I din't mention the name of the first one you saw in Sew. 
- But I do mention her name in Take. 

- I have no idea what that picture's there for.
- It's just there.
- I did some knitting last night.
- I play a knitting auntie in the play that my sister wrote.
- I'm also the narrator.
- My brain hurts.
- I ought to get back to writing Take.
- Good-bye!
- Did you know that Good-bye came from "God be w' ye?"
- I'm considering going back to saying the full thing.
- God be w' ye!