Tags and other such trivial nonsense

Some of ya'll who are friends with me on Facebook (or follow my Facebook page) might have seen this picture on Thursday. Yep, that's me with the proof copy of Do You Take This Quest?! Isn't it gorgeous? I'm now going through and doing a final spit and polish before I release it. The most noticeable mistake was the fact that, while Sew, has cream pages, I forgot to Take off of white. Not a big problem though, and easily repaired.

Ah, the feeling of seeing your book in book format. I must confess, I have trouble thinking of my books as being books until I get my hands on one of my CreateSpace copies. (Unfortunately, my pocketbook doesn't allow me to order as many as I would like. I actually don't have a copy of Sew's new cover, and I don't have a copy of Saffron at all!)

Anyways ...

This June I've decided to take part in something called the June Crusade, which his hosted by Anne-Girl. (See my sidebar for a link.) Basically we each got to be paired up with someone else, and then we swapped novels and we each get to critique the other's. (Did that make sense ...)

I got paired up with Eowyn, who blogs over at Inklings Press. I must admit, I have enjoyed my initial read-through of her novel. Now to pull out the red pen (or the comment feature on my Kindle) and start marking it up!

And on that note ... Anne-Girl, as part of the Crusade, has issued a tag for us to do. One where our characters answer questions about us. Fun, eh? My little sis wants me to to do Joan, a minor character in Take, (who will be more important in Kingdom ... and then practically disappear) but I think I'll do Jen, Derek, and Megan instead. Give them a chance to talk for themselves. Of course, since they don't know they're characters (and I would much rather not enlighten Derek to the fact) I've changed the wording of the questions a slight bit. Original questions can be found here.

Jen will talk like this.
Megan will talk like this.
Derek will talk like this.

Describe Kendra in one word. 

Weird. Derek! She's no weirder than Jen! Jen is weird. Weird is part of the job description of author. And actually, Megan, Kendra can be weirder than I can. I agree with you there.

If Kendra had a theme song what would it be?

Oh, that's easy. "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee!" People at church certainly associate it with her. Yes, they do. It's because when she got her fist lap harp, that was the only Christian song she could play very well. She now can play quite a few more. But I wouldn't quite call it her THEME song. How about "Supercalifragelistic ..." whatever that word is. That'll do.

If you could pick an actor to play Kendra who would it be?

How about a monkey? Derek! Anne-Girl wants us to pick a human actress. Well, then, you're the one who knows about the actors. You pick. I heard Kendra say once that if someone did a movie about her life, she'd want to play herself. She would, wouldn't she. But we're supposed to pick an actress ... I was skimming though pictures the other day and saw a woman who looks a bit like Kendra, but I don't remember her name ... Why don't we just skip this question.

What are Kendra's strengths?

Plot twists and conversation. Her humor. She can be SO funny! She can type very fast.

Weaknesses?

"Getting around to things" Yes, and focusing. She's very much a scatterbrain.

What type of laugh does he or she have?

It starts with air being blown out of either her nose or mouth, and then she adds a "hm hm hm" or "heh heh heh" at the end. 

Any strange hobbies?

Writing. Derek! That and collecting nutcrackers. The girl is convinced that one is going to come to life someday and marry her.

What was the weirdest thing she did for his/her writing?

She picked up a pencil. DEREK!! Okay ... how about the time she dressed up in a jacket and pants and traipsed around in the woods in the middle of summer, swinging a stick around like a crazy person just so that she could get a good cover art for her book.

If you could make him/her do one thing differently what would it be?

I would make her focus on one project at a time so that she can actually make progress. I'd make her get a life.

What is your favorite thing about his/her writing?

The way she can become her characters. Oh, yes, that is pretty cool, isn't it. I merely bring my characters to life and interact with them, Kendra can become them - and they not even know she exists. She says most know, though. I like it when she's so involved in a project, she stops talking to people.

Okay ... that was interesting! 

Happy Birthday Mom!

My mom's birthday is this week, and in honor of this, I have decided to do up a post with all of the sheep I've found on Pinterest. My mom collects them, you see. Has something to do with the fact that her name means "Ewe."

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And also, since I'm her biggest fan, I'm going to share with ya'll some of her writing. Sure, she wrote about half of "Saffron's Big Plan" and "Tears, Frogs, and Laughter," but I'm going to share with you some writing that was done long before I even picked up a pencil. (and some of it before she even met my dad!)

Suddenly, Shasta jerked upright. Had she been asleep, she wondered. What had woken her up? She glanced around the room and then at her clock. Six-thirty, her mother would be home in half an hour. She had to get dinner started or her mother would be upset. Stretching and rubbing her eyes, Shasta managed to get to her feet.

She was almost to the door when she heard it again, someone had knocked on a door. She glanced in the direction of the front door, puzzled. No, the sound had come from ... from her room she realized with sudden fear.

“Who’s there?” she asked, her voice shaking in fear.

She heard the knock again, it was coming from her closet!

Trembling, she edged her way over to the door and flung it open. There stood a little boy – no, it wasn’t a boy, it was a little man.

“He must have escaped from a circus,” she thought, glancing down at the strangely dressed man.

Homgloff smiled. “Yes, you must be very thirsty after walking through the Forbidden Lands of Eternal Mist.” He offered her a goblet of green liquid. “Although most of us call it the Place Between.”

The goblet felt warm as she accepted it, but the green liquid inside was very cold. She had expected water, but this was sweet. As she drank it, she could feel the strength returning to her legs. “What is it?” she asked as she returned the goblet to its owner.

“Just a little something I came up with, a sort of tea.” He smiled for the first time.

Flewder stood up. For the first time Shasta could see the amazing archer who had saved her life. Her jaw dropped in amazement.

It was a boy, maybe as old as eight. His skin was yellow orange and his eyes large pools of chocolate which shone as he smiled down on her. His dark brown hair was short and went every which way, and needed a good combing. He had no shirt on, but a large bow was slung over his shoulder and a strap held a container of arrows. He reached down a hand. “Hi Shasta. I’ve been expecting you. I’m Elroi.”

She shook his hand and then rolled over to get to her knees and stand. She was in for another surprise, for just as she looked up to stand, she realized a pair of hooves stood before her. “Hooves?” she thought. She struggled to her feet and looked down at the boy in astonishment. He had no legs! Well, he had legs, just not human legs. He looked like a goat from the waist down and had four hooves instead of feet.

“Never seen anything like me before, have ya?” the boy giggled. “I’ll bet you think I’m a little boy too. Not true. I’m forty-three years old!”

“Jay,” Rosánna gasped as they stepped into a clearing, “Jay it’s beautiful. This little clearing in the middle of the woods, just you and me, nobody else. I do wish I didn’t have to go tomorrow. I’ll be so lonely after I leave.”

“So will I,” Jay said with a sigh, “you’re so much company. Traveling with the other six rangers on that mission is going to be very boring. That is compared to the last month, even if it is very dangerous. Say, after I get back, I get sort of a vacation. I can come see you then.”

“That would be nice,” Rosánna said wistfully as they sat down on the long soft grass. “I will be looking forward to your visit. I’m positive that you’ll come back from that mission all right. Seven is said to be a lucky number, and you’re the seventh.”

“Yes, you’re right,” Jay said with a quick smile, I’m young and strong and …”

“And you can shoot well, very fast,” Rosánna interrupted.

“Yes, that too. I’ve made it this far and I’m still alive. Why can’t I make it further?” he finished.

“That’s the spirit,” Rosánna said encouragingly.

Big Indie Author Sale

I'm participating in a big indie book sale! 39 books, including mine, are all on sale for 99¢ 

from June 5-12!

Folks, there are some serious steals in this sale. I've read a good chunk of these, and 

I can assure you, any of these you buy, you're in for a treat. I just cashed in on a five dollar gift card through

swagbucks, and I'm hoping that I get the money before the end of the sale!

Here are the books in the sale:

By Luke Alistar

Offset

Catalyst ZX-10

Deep Water

The Offset Trilogy

Daughter of Thieves

By Starlight

The Element of Surprise

The Unseen

Velvet’s Wings

By Kendra E. Ardnek

Sew, It’s a Quest

Saffron’s Big Plan and Other Stories

Do You Take This Quest?

By Katie Lynn Daniels

Supervillain of the Day

Fire and Ashes

Inspector Floyd

Supervillain Hunters, International

Sanctity of Life

By Molly Evangeline

Every Tear

A Captain’s Heart

Finding Faith

Courage

Trust

By Ophelia - Marie Flowers

Zeal Aspiring

By Elisabeth Grace Foley

The Ranch Next Door and Other Stories

The Silver Shawl: A Mrs. Meade Mystery

By Jennifer Freitag

The Shadow Things

By Jessica Greyson

Annabeth’s War

By Aubrey Hansen

Red Rain

Peter’s Angel

By Sarah Holman

The Destiny of a Few

The Destiny of a Galaxy

By Abigail J. Hartman

The Soldier’s Cross

By Holy Worlds

The Sword and the Pen

By Rebekah Jones

A Year with the Potters

By Elizabeth Kaiser

Jeweler’s Apprentice

By Jacob Lauser

Through Crystal Skies and Windy Nights

By J. Grace Pennington

Firmament: Radialloy

Never

By Jordan Smith

Finding the Core of Your Story

Oh, and by the way, for some odd reason, Amazon has been running a sale on CreateSpace books, so

a good deal of the paperback books (mine and Molly's for certain) have reduced prices too!

CE Restaurant - Robin and Robert

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Memorizing Hebrews 11 was hard. Reciting the first ten of those verses in front of my entire congregation ... well, it had been a bit nerve-wracking to say the least. At least I hadn't done too terribly. Uncle S. said that I only missed five words and one phrase ...

But as prize I get a gift card to Mardel's, which I plan to use to buy a new Bible (because my old one is falling apart.)

It's all over now, and I'm at my favorite Chinese restaurant. It's the one place that doesn't charge supper prices on the weekends, so when we eat out, we eat out here. And it's buffet, which means we get to eat as much we like.

I make my way back to my table, my plate heaped with all of my favorite foods, sesame chicken, broccoli  and carrots, egg-rolls, mushrooms ... you name it, if it's not spicy or involving shrimp, I have it on my plate. In my other hand I have a bowl of egg drop soup, which is my favorite soup in the world (although chicken noddle makes a close second)

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"How in Bookania does Push use these sticks to eat?"

I stop short and turn to the speaker. As far as I know, I'm the only person who uses "bookania" in everyday speech. Sitting at the table next to me are a guy and girl about my age. They're obviously related, since they have the same brown hair and eyes and ollive complexions. They're both dressed in medieval get-up. He has a bow and quiver on his back, and she has a sword on her belt.

She's obviously the one who had spoken, and she has a chopstick in each hand, with which she's trying to pick up an egg roll. He's watching her with evident amusement.

"Do you need help, Robin?" I ask, raising an eyebrow, realizing the identity of the pair.

She starts, then turns to me, her eyes narrowing. "And I suppose you're an expert at eating with sticks?"

"I like to think that I am," I reply, nonchalantly. "It's against my beliefs to eat Chinese food with American utensils. So, would you like me to teach you how to use them?"

Robin throws down the chopsticks and grabs her fork instead. "No, thank-you. I'll just eat like a normal person instead, Kendra."

"I wouldn't mind lessons," said Robert, raising his eyebrow at his sister, while I giggle. I would hide the giggle behind my hand, but both of my hands are occupied by holding my food.

"Mind if I sit down, then?" I ask.

"Not at all, you're our author, after all." Robert gives his sister a look that clearly communicates the fact that he doesn't approve of the fact that she's sticking out her tongue at me.

"You know that's not lady-like," I mention, as I set down my plate and bowl and sit down in the empty chair.

Robin rolls her eyes. I pick up an un-opened package of chopsticks and pulling them out. "The secret to using chop-sticks is the fact that you only use one hand, not both of them. The bottom one doesn't move, just the top one."

Robert quickly picks up on it, but Robin, when she does decide that it wouldn't be the end of the world to imitate her author, only succeeds in getting a splinter in her hand.

.....................................................................

 Don't forget to send Robin and Robert an interview! So far, they've only received one, and I was hoping to have a really big shin-ding!

And tomorrow, I have a really big announcement. I won't tell you what it is, but it's going to be big!

Character Encounter - June 2013

And now we have arrived in the merry month of June and I'm waiting for the pilgrims to arrive.

Bookania day is coming quickly, and Cousin Tenya is coming over today and she says she's bringing the full cover art on a key, so we'll be in business. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that the short story will be ready in time. Grr ... Writer's block. I know exactly what I want to have happen ... but ...

Wait! I have an idea! Yes, I think this is good. Well, we'll see if this can get the story written and ready! (oh, and I'll need one or two critiques who'll be able to turn edits back to me within a day or two. It'll be a short story, maybe 5,000 or so words)

Oh, and so far, Robin and Robert haven't received a single interview, (except for one promised one). Please hurry up and send yours. They would much prefer to not be swamped at last moment!

Anyways, you're here to find out where you're going to encounter your character.

Restaurant

Back in January I had you encounter your character at a fast food. Now I want you to do it at a sit-down restaurant. I don't care whether it's a buffet or a place where you have to order. Both are good.

So go for, my friends, and encounter!