A Superhero for Christmas #StoryAdventCalendar

art by Rebecca Fyfe

A Superhero Christmas

by Rebecca Fyfe

Santa Claus shook his head at Dancer. 

"I know you are anxious to get going, but the accident means we won't be able to deliver presents. Prancer and Blitzen both have broken legs, my back is out and the sleigh's landing gear got smashed. I'm afraid Christmas isn't going to happen this year." Santa sighed heavily.

Blitzen looked at Santa intently. 

"Well, I suppose you're right," Santa said. "I could call the Superhero Official Force Task. SOFT might have a way to save Christmas."

Santa picked up the phone and made the call.

"Superhero Official Task Force here. How may we help?" The receptionist at SOFT rarely took any holiday time off.

art by Robert Fyfe

"This is Santa Claus," Santa said into the phone. "I have an emergency. There's been an accident, and I'm afraid my sleigh and reindeer are out of commission. With my back out too, I'm afraid Christmas will have to be cancelled unless you have a superhero there who can save the day."

The members of the Superhero Official Task Force who were on duty all gathered in the SOFT conference room to discuss how they were going to save Christmas. 

Sea Siren offered up her water creatures to traverse the sea, bringing gifts to far-off locations. She even had some waterproof storage for the gifts and toys.

art by Rebecca Fyfe

Ink allowed her tattoo beasts to mist up off of her skin and form into living creatures. "My tiger, wolf and dragons will help," she said. Her tattoo wings burst forth into real ones on her back. "And I can take some gifts too."

art by Rebecca Fyfe

Fire Angel let her huge feathered wings expand across the room. "I can deliver toys too."

Shadow smiled, pulling the shadows in the room around her. "I can form a shadow sleigh and reindeer and deliver gifts. I've been practising, so it shouldn't be too hard to hold the form through the night."

Demon Huntress pouted. "None of my special abilities will help deliver presents." She really wanted to help.

art by Rebecca Fyfe

"Neither will mine," said Warrior Mom. "But I would hate any children to go without presents from Santa this Christmas."

"Well," Demon Huntress had an idea. "I know of a dragon nearby. It's been terrorizing a local neighbourhood and killing people. I was going to head out to fight and kill it, but if you fight with me, maybe we can tame it long enough to deliver some of the gifts."

art by Rebecca Fyfe

"Let's go," Warrior Mom said, and the two of them suited up, grabbed their weapons and headed out.

All of the children with toys from Santa got their toys that Christmas. But for the few children who were naughty enough to try and sneak a peek to see if Santa was real, they got to see something else entirely. They either saw two women riding a dragon, dolphins and whales speeding across the ocean with giant red sacks on their backs, inky black tigers, wolves and dragons delivering their gifts along with a dark-looking fairy of some sort or a sleigh and reindeer made of shadows.

*****

The superheroes in this story were pulled from my creations for "SuperHERo Tales: A Collection of Female Superhero Stories" - Volume One and Volume Two. Volume One is out now and Volume Two will be out in January.

*****

Merry Christmas! I hope you have enjoyed all of the stories in this Story Advent Calendar!

*****

This story is part of the Story Advent Calendar Blog Hop. Every day from December 1st through December 25th, a variety of authors are providing you with one story to read to your child on the lead-up to Christmas. Check out the posts below to see which one to read to your child tomorrow!
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The Teddy Bear #StoryAdvent Calendar

The Teddy Bear 

by Rebecca Fyfe

Tina Diggle and her husband James Diggle had always wanted a baby of their own, but they were unable to have one. All of the children on their street adored them, because the two of them were especially kind to children. Sometimes, Mrs. Diggle made gooey chocolate chip cookies for the neighbourhood's kids, and she would often find small toys to give to the children which she knew each one would love. She knew each child on her street by name.

But, no matter how much the children on the street loved her, she still felt a hole in her heart because she couldn't have a child of her own to raise and love. Mr. Diggle knew how sad this made her. A few days before Christmas one year, he bought his wife a cute little tan teddy bear. It was soft and chubby and had a pacifier in its mouth. He knew it was nowhere near the same as having a real baby, but he just wanted to bring something home that might cheer her up, even a tiny bit.

Mrs. Diggle thought the teddy bear was adorable. She decided to name it Connor. She set it under her Christmas tree with some of the Christmas teddy bears and presents.

"I wish you were a real baby," Tina Diggle said to the teddy bear, before leaving to get ready for bed that night.

Connor the teddy bear felt very sad upon hearing her words. He wanted only to be loved by someone and to love that person back. But he couldn't change what he was. He had been a teddy bear all of his life. If he could change himself into the baby that Mrs. Diggle so badly wanted, he would. He sighed as he sat under the tree.

"Why so sad?" asked the Christmas teddy bear beside him.

"I wish I was a real baby, instead of a teddy bear, so that Mrs. Diggle would be happy." The teddy bear sighed again.

"Well then, what are you worrying about? Tonight is Christmas Eve. Santa Claus will be coming, and he always lets us teddy bears have one wish."

"Really? What do you usually wish for?" asked Connor.

"Last year, I wished for a name, and the Diggles gave me one first thing in the morning. They named me Chris. This year, I think I'll wish for my vest to get washed. It's looking a little bit dirty lately."

"Those are very small wishes," Connor said. "What if Santa can only give small wishes? What if my wish is too big?"

"Well, you won't know unless you ask," said Chris matter-of-factly.

Connor tried very hard to stay awake long enough to ask Santa to turn him into a real boy, but, long before Santa ever arrived, Connor fell asleep.

In the morning, Mr. and Mrs. Diggle entered the living room to open their presents. Connor the teddy bear was gone and, in his place, a tiny baby wearing a teddy bear costume slept in a special red Christmas sack.

Mr. and Mrs. Diggle were over-joyed to finally have a baby of their own, and Connor got all the love any former teddy bear could ever hope for and then more.

*****

This story is part of the Story Advent Calendar Blog Hop. Every day from December 1st through December 25th, a variety of authors are providing you with one story to read to your child on the lead-up to Christmas. Check out the posts below to see which one to read to your child tomorrow!
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Fairy Christmas Bauble #StoryAdvent Calendar

Fairy Christmas Bauble

by Rebecca Fyfe

"Mommy, how does this Christmas ornament light up?" asked Cameron. He held the pretty red bauble and watched the glowing light that flitted around inside the ornament. "Is there a lightning bug inside?" Cameron had never seen a lightning bug, but he had heard that they lit up at night time.

Cameron's mom smiled. "No, honey. It's not a lightning bug. I think it probably has some sort of light bulb inside and runs on batteries."

"You think? Does that mean you aren't sure?" Cameron asked. "But how does it move around inside the bauble? Wouldn't a light bulb break?"

His mom frowned a little. "Hmm, you have a good point there. Now I'm wondering how it lights up too." She gently took the bauble from his hand. She had bought the bauble from the craft fair just the other day from a fortune teller who had some trinkets for sale to go along with her fortune-telling business.

"Maybe if I see the fortune teller again," his mom said, "I'll ask her about it." She gently hung the ornament on the Christmas tree, and then she and Cameron continued decorating the rest of the tree.

That night, just as his mom was about to tell him it was time for bed, their new kitten raced across the living room floor and jumped into the Christmas tree, knocking over several of the ornaments.

Crash! The pretty red bauble lay broken in pieces on the floor. Cameron walked over to it. His mom told him not to get too close, but he saw something sitting amongst the broken pieces of the ornament.

"Mommy, I think you need to see this."

His mom walked over to join him, already holding the dust pan and broom, ready to sweep up the mess.

The two of them stood transfixed at what they saw amongst the shiny, broken pieces of the red bauble.

A tiny fairy with glowing wings sat amongst the broken pieces. As they watched, she stood and dusted some loose fragments from the ornament off her clothes and flew away, straight out their window.

"Wow," Cameron said. "I never would have guessed that was how they got the light inside the ornament."

"Well, the British call those little lights that decorate houses for Christmas 'fairy lights,' but I don't think even the British would have expected this," Cameron's mom said.

"Do you think the fortune teller has trapped more fairies inside ornaments?" Cameron asked his mom.

"We'll go buy the rest of them tomorrow and free them," his mom assured him.

Cameron went to sleep that night dreaming about fairies and Christmas magic.

*****

This story is part of the Story Advent Calendar Blog Hop. Every day from December 1st through December 25th, a variety of authors are providing you with one story to read to your child on the lead-up to Christmas. Check out the posts below to see which one to read to your child tomorrow!
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Christmas Kitten #StoryAdventCalendar

Christmas Kitten

by Rebecca Fyfe

The tiny kitten shivered in the cold snow as he huddled under a wooden porch. His mother had been picked up by a white van two days ago. The people in the van had been kind to his mother; he'd watched from his hiding spot and seen that they stroked her fur and gave her food.

But it was so cold out here and his stomach was rumbling. He hadn't eaten in so long.

A little girl and boy came out of the house and sprinted down the porch stairs, giggling and laughing. They were bundled up in layers of clothes to keep them warm outside, and they were making balls of the white, cold snow to throw at each other.

The kitten felt warmth coming from above him and he crept out of his hiding place to see what was so warm. The kids had left the door slightly ajar. It looked so warm and dry inside. The kitten decided to sneak into the house and find a nice, warm hiding place.

The kitten saw a large tree decorated with lots of pretty baubles, but he chose to hide under a large couch. It was so warm in here. He settled down to a nice nap, trying to ignore the fact that he was still hungry.

When he woke up, he peered out from under the couch. There was a fat man in a red suit placing gifts under a tree in the living room. The man looked the kitten's way and he was sure the man had seen him. He didn't want to be sent back out into the cold, so he needed to find a different place to hide before the man came over to look closer.

The kitten spotted a large, red sock on the floor. It was too large for anyone to actually wear as a sock and it had a few bits and bobs inside it, but there was enough room for him to slip inside. It was extra warm inside the sock and he knew it was a good hiding place so the man in red wouldn't see him. When nothing happened for a while, the kitten drifted off to sleep again. He didn't even notice when the sock he was resting in was lifted and placed hanging from the fireplace.

In the morning, the kitten heard children's voices. He peeked out of his hiding place and the two children squealed in delight.

"Mommy, look what Santa brought us! I've always wanted a kitten," said the girl.

Her mom looked surprised at first, but when she looked at the tiny, hungry kitten peeking out of the stocking, her heart melted.

"I'll go get some of the chicken left over from last night's dinner to feed him while you two choose a name."

The little girl picked up the kitten and held him in her hands. He couldn't believe his ears. He was going to get food and he was going to get to stay here in this nice, warm place.

"I already love you, little kitten," said the girl to him, stoking his fur gently.

*****

This story is part of the Story Advent Calendar Blog Hop. Every day from December 1st through December 25th, a variety of authors are providing you with one story to read to your child on the lead-up to Christmas. Check out the posts below to see which one to read to your child tomorrow!

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But We're Not Sleepy by Robert Fyfe #StoryAdventCalendar

illustration by Robert Fyfe

But We're Not Sleepy

by Robert Fyfe

“But we’re not sleepy!”

Jenny sat scowling at her mother, arms folded tight across her chest. Tommy was not really an active part of the conversation as what could a three year old add that would be important?

“Santa won’t come until you’re asleep, ” Mommy warned in a kindly voice.

‘How will Santa know? I don’t believe you, ” Jenny said. She was determined to stay up and see Santa tonight.

Mommy swept Tommy up in her arms from the floor, and gently placed him in his cot. She sang him a lullaby and kissed him while tucking his blanket snuggly around him.

“Good night, my cuddle bug. Mommy loves you lots.”

Tommy’s eyes shone brightly and warmly. Then he blinked once, twice and on the third time his eyes stayed closed. Mommy smiled. Funny how he and his sister were so different when it came to bedtime.

She turned to Jenny who had kicked her blanket off the bed and was now doing handstands against the wall.

“Santa has his friends, and they tell him when the children are asleep,” she said.

illustration by Robert Fyfe

“Santa has a spy in the house? I don’t believe you.” Jenny was now trying to stuff her pillow into her pyjamas.

“Oh, it’s true. I think that, in this house, it's Waggs or Ginger. I’m not sure which but one of them I am sure is watching.”

Mommy smiled at Jenny who was now looking questioningly at the big ginger cat that was at that moment sitting on the chest of drawers, pushing her hairbrush closer and closer to the edge until it fell off.

“Can’t be Waggs. He can’t see us from downstairs,” Jenny said while still looking doubtfully at the cat.

Mommy had now carefully removed the pillow and plumped it back up as she placed it back on the bed. She picked the blanket up from the floor and shook the folds and dust from it. Then she slid it over Jenny. She kissed Jenny and then moved to the door.

“He can hear you talking though.”

Jenny lay on her bed and thought about that, and decided that she would stay awake and see Santa. But she wouldn't make a noise, in case her dog ‘snitched’ on her.

Ginger dropped down off the drawers and jumped up on the bed next to Jenny who stroked him.

“You wouldn't snitch on me, would you, Ginge’? You’re my friend.”

Ginger just grinned at Jenny, his deep purr hypnotic and calming as he curled up at her side. Jenny’s stroking began slowing, slowing until her hand slipped down onto the bed covers.

illustration by Robert Fyfe

As the house grew quiet and Mommy and Daddy had gone to bed, Ginger quietly stretched, jumped down onto the floor and then up onto the drawers. He checked on Tommy and then jumped back down onto the floor, walked out the bedroom and to the top of the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, Waggs, the dog, looked up, his tail waving quietly. Ginger blinked twice and then went back to the children’s room.

Waggs listened to the sounds from outside. A gentle breeze carried the sounds of the night: the sound of bells and the sound of hooves on the air. Waggs gave a quiet bark and, there, by his side, a large man dressed in red with a big white beard popped into view.

”Ho, Waggs. Thank you and Ginger for keeping an eye out for me,” he said.

*****

This story is part of the Story Advent Calendar Blog Hop. Every day from December 1st through December 25th, a variety of authors are providing you with one story to read to your child on the lead-up to Christmas. Check out the posts below to see which one to read to your child tomorrow!

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Santa Gets Stuck #StoryAdventCalendar

The reindeer landed smoothly along the rooftop, hardly jarring the sleigh at all. This was Santa's 500,000th Christmas delivery. He grabbed his sack full of gifts for the children living inside the house. Santa walked around the tiny chimney stack.

"I'll never fit in there," he said. "I'd better use the pixie dust." Santa always kept a supply of pixie dust on hand for his Christmas eve deliveries. The magic of the pixie dust helped him create chimneys on houses that didn't have them and make chimneys larger when they were too narrow for him to fit through. He had to limit how much pixie dust he used on each house to make sure he wouldn't run out before the night's deliveries were completed.

Santa took a small pinch of pixie dust out of his pocket. He kept the small amount clasped between his finger and thumb, just a pinch. As he reached towards the chimney to throw the pixie dust in, a few sprinkles of it fell from his fingers and landed on the roof top, nowhere near the chimney. Santa didn't notice.

The chimney rumbled and groaned, though the sound it made was not too loud because it would never work to wake the family inside the house. It expanded to a much larger size.

"Does it look smaller than the last one?" Santa asked Blitzen, peering closely at the chimney.

Blitzen didn't answer. Reindeer understand humans, but they can't speak like humans. Santa hadn't expected an answer anyway.

"Well, I'd better get inside," Santa said. "I hope they have some more cookies and milk for me. My stomach is rumbling again." Santa had a very big appetite.

When Santa jumped into the chimney, he found that something was very wrong. He didn't fit! He fell down the chimney but got stuck inside before he could come out from it inside the house.

Oh no! Santa had no time to be stuck! He had other houses needing his deliveries and he couldn't let the children in this house see him.

Santa hit a button on the watch on his wrist. It signalled the elves back at the North Pole that Santa needed help.

The Emergency Response Elf Team got to work right away, loading up their backpacks with things that Santa might need and going through a magic portal which always took them straight to wherever Santa was at the time.

They emerged from the portal in the living room of the house. Once there, they noticed Santa's legs dangling from inside the fireplace.

"I've got just the thing for this," said the lead elf, Tonks. Tonks took out a pinch of the extra pixie dust he had brought along with him in his backpaack and sprinkled it over the entrance to the fireplace.

With a quiet groan and rumble, the fireplace widened and Santa emerged. They quickly set out the gifts under the Christmas tree and then leapt back into the fireplace, where they were magically whisked back to the roof. One last pinch of pixie dust returned the chimney back to its normal size.

"Thanks, Tonks! That was close," Santa said, sending the Emergency Response Elf Team on its way back to the North Pole and returning to his deliveries.

Inside the house, two children were waking up, hearing the jingling of the sleigh bells as Santa's reindeer and sleigh travelled off into the night.

*****

This story is part of the Story Advent Calendar Blog Hop. Every day from December 1st through December 25th, a variety of authors are providing you with one story to read to your child on the lead-up to Christmas. Check out the posts below to see which one to read to your child tomorrow!

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Hope - a story by Sharon Giltrow #StoryAdventCalendar

Hope
by Sharon Giltrow

In a little village not far from here nor there, lived a young girl named Hope. She lived in a rose covered cottage, nestled at the edge of a woods. Every morning she woke to the sounds of the chirping blue jays, and twittering red robins. Life for Hope was good, peaceful and tranquil. Hope was good, peaceful and tranquil and this beautiful young girl had a special gift, she made everyone around her smile. Her smile bought joy to the lives of all the villagers.

But sadly Hope was unable to return the smile of the villagers. Hope was cursed. When she was a baby her mother took her berry picking. She placed Hope’s cradle next to a brook and then went to pick berries. A cloaked figure stepped out of the woods and up to the cradle. Hope, who had only ever known kindness, smiled up at the stranger.

“Oh, my little one, your smile, could light up the darkest corners of the world,” said the cloaked figure as she picked Hope up and stole away into the dark woods.

Hope’s mother returned to find the cradle empty. She cried out and fainted. Later that day, Hope’s father went searching for his wife and daughter. He found his wife sobbing on the bank of the brook.

He began searching the crystal clear water of the brook, where he saw his daughter’s bootie, he feared that his daughter had been stolen and he thought he knew by whom. The locals spoke of a young woman who fled into these woods grief stricken at the loss of her infant daughter and her husband in a tragic carriage accident.

Hope’s father wasted no time. He splashed across the brook and raced into the woods. He had not gone far when he came to a tumbled down cottage where he heard a lullaby.

“Lullaby, and good night, you're your mother's delight. Shining angels beside my darling abide. Soft and warm is your bed, close your eyes and rest your head.”

He rushed into the cottage and snatched Hope from the woman, who let out an ear piercing scream and collapsed to the ground shouting, “Take her, take her, but from this day forth, she will be cursed. She will never know or be able to see how beautiful she is and none will see her smile ever again.” Hope began to cry in her father’s arms.

Time passed and life for the family continued, the curse forgotten. All who met Hope saw a beautiful, gentle, young lady who spread happiness and joy wherever she went.

One day, a travelling artist came to the village. He sketched people from village to village, for bed and board. He was blind and he asked his subjects to describe themselves.

The first cottage he came to was Hope’s. He asked if he could sketch someone. Hope’s parents, believing her to be the most beautiful person in all of the land, suggested her.

“Tell me about your hair,” the artist asked Hope.
~

“Tell me about your face, what is its shape?” He continued.

“Your jaw, your chin, your nose – describe these?”

“Now your eyes – the colour, the shape, the light that shines from them.”

“What would be your most enduring feature?” he finally asked her.

Hope answered each of his questions truthfully and honestly, but the artist was not happy with her description. He asked for a villager to come and describe her.

The villager said, “Her hair is the colour of gold. Her face is the shape of love. Her jaw is strong, her chin is soft and her nose is as cute as a button. Her lips are full, and a ghost of a smile lies beneath them. Her eyes are as blue as the cobalt sky. It is a face that makes you want to smile even on the darkest days.”

The artist now had two sketches of Hope, her description and the villagers. He showed them both to Hope and for the first time in sixteen years she smiled and the curse was broken.

*****

This story is part of the Story Advent Calendar Blog Hop. Every day from December 1st through December 25th, a variety of authors are providing you with one story to read to your child on the lead-up to Christmas. Check out the posts below to see which one to read to your child tomorrow!

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"Swallow Me, Now!" by Melissa Gijsbers - Go support a talented new author!

There's only a week left of my friend Melissa Gijsbers's crowdfunding campaign for her new kids book "Swallow Me, NOW!" It's aimed at kids aged 9-12 and is about a girl who is dealing with a new school, a new country, and a new bully. If anyone would like to support it by pledging and/or sharing, that would be awesome.

The project: http://www.pozible.com/project/184562 

She's aiming for a book launch on 25 October in Oakleigh, Victoria, but with only one week left and still only half-way there, she's going to need all of our help.

Here's the information she has posted on the crowdfunding page about the book:

"The story of the project
‘Swallow Me, NOW!’ is the story of Samantha Phillips, a ten year old kid in grade 5 who relocates back to Australia after spending three years in Nepal. On her first day she meets Felicity, the most popular girl at Green Oaks Primary School, who bullies her, first with exclusion, and then escalating to teasing. The story tells the tale of how Sam overcomes the bullies and builds her confidence to find some new friends.
‘Swallow Me, NOW!’ was written during the 2013 Chapter Book Challenge, and draws on my own experiences as a missionary kid adjusting back to life in Australia in the 1980s. I found it very hard to make friends and was bullied, mostly due to differences in experiences, but also due to a lack of confidence.
My younger son partly inspired the ending to ‘Swallow Me, NOW!’ after one incident. The teacher was reading a story about bullying where the bully and victim became best friends at the end of the book. He told me that he just wanted the bully to stop and that he didn’t want to be friends. Looking in to other stories that were available, I found similar endings, or that the bully got in trouble and changed their ways.
The other aspect I noticed was that many stories were trying to get children to solve the issue of bullying by themselves. With my story, I want to encourage children to tell someone if they or someone they know, are being bullied. They may be able to come up with a solution, however they should do this with the support of the adults around them.
My goal with this book is to give children an understanding of bullying as well as encouraging them to speak up if it’s happening to them or someone they know."

The part highlighted in red is highlighted by me to point out that, not only is this a book about bullies, intended to help kids through their own bullying problems, but it was also written during ChaBooCha!

A $6 donation helps her reach her goal and also gets you an e-book copy of the book once it's published. If you want to donate more, there is an option to buy a copy for yourself and have a second copy donated to a local school library.


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The Chapter Book Challenge's Anthology of Fairy Tales - Submissions

As most of you already know, I run the Chapter Book Challenge (ChaBooCha) in the month of March, every year. This past March was the second year the challenge has run. Membership, which is completely free, went from 23 people in the first year of the challenge to a little under 100 people in the second year. We had published authors and agents guest posting and we had many prizes throughout the challenge. The challenge is to write a book, a complete first draft, of an early reader, chapter book, hi-lo book, middle grade book or YA book from March 1st through March 31st.

I have had some really great feedback from the members of the challenge, and I really love running this challenge. The members who also joined the Facebook group have been really helpful to each other and have helped each other immensely throughout the writing process. I am very happy to continue running this challenge.

However, all of the prizes, with the exception of a few donated by guest authors, given out during the challenge are bought and mailed by me. Granted, I can run the challenge without the prizes, but I love adding prizes into the mix. And I think the members like the prizes too.

So far, word of mouth has been great in helping the group grow, but I also would like being able to do a bit of advertising for the challenge to get more people to join in the coming years. I already pay for the domain names for the challenge, but I'd like to build a proper website for it and do all of the other things that running something like this more professionally will require.

I will also be keeping the challenge free to join.

For these reasons, the members of the Chapter Book Challenge are joining me in creating an anthology of fairy tales. The fairy tales are flash fiction pieces with a minimum of 300 words and a flexible maximum word count of 700 words. The fairy tales range from alternate versions of traditional fairy tales to completely new and original fairy tales. All stories are kid-friendly but are still interesting reading for adults. We have had many of the members turn in stories for it so far, and some have offered some black and white illustrations for the anthology. The anthology will be offered in both print and e-book formats, and all profit from the sales will go towards the Chapter Book Challenges.

Anyone who is signed up as an official member of the Chapter Book Challenge (sign-ups now would go towards next year's challenge as this year's has ended) will be allowed to submit two stories for the anthology. The sign-up for the anthology, allowed if you are signed up for the Chapter Book Challenge, is here and the Facebook event for the anthology, which can only be joined after joining the Facebook group is here.

Deadline for submissions for the anthology from Chapter Book members is May 1st, with some extensions allowed for a May 7th deadline. The title of the anthology, the cover and the inside illustrations are the next step after the stories are all in and ready. I can't wait!

I will let everyone know when the anthology is ready and available for purchase. I'm really excited about the project and have been loving the submissions for the anthology so far. I know everyone is going to love the anthology!

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Insecurity - Insecure Writer's Support Group post for April 2013 #IWSG

I almost missed the IWSG post for April. It had to be written today and it's now late evening and I only just remembered due to some terrific people who are also part of the IWSG group leaving me comments on the last post today, wondering where this month's post is. (Yes, I know that's a run-on sentence, but this is a blog post, not a book, so deal with it.)

Today, writing about insecurity seemed appropriate. I just completed the Chapter Book Challenge. I run the challenge, so I had a lot of stuff to deal with over on the ChaBooCha blog, on the ChaBooCha Facebook group and organizing prizes to send out. And I did all of this while also writing a complete first draft of a chapter book. I am not very confident about the story though.

Most of the Chapter Book Challenge members are at the stage where they are exchanging their stories for critiques, and I am not confident enough in my own story to be willing to share it yet. I'm not confident enough in any of my stories yet to share them. I know they all need revision, and I know that, through critiques from others, I will be able to get some perspective on where the revisions are most needed.

But there is that awful niggling voice in my head that tells me my friends and critique partners will lose respect for me when they see how awful those manuscripts are. Once they read what I have written, they'll think to themselves that I shouldn't even be bothering. Part of this insecure feeling comes because, well, on these first drafts, maybe those thoughts would be partly right. They need a lot of work. But my stories aren't meant to be perfect on the first write. The first draft is meant to get the story down and then revision and editing and re-revision have to take part in making the story stronger. Beta readers and critique partners and eventually an editor all will take a hand in making my stories shine. I shouldn't feel this worry about what my friends will think of me if they read my first drafts; instead I should be hoping they will come up with some great insight as to how I can make my stories stronger.

The other part of this worry comes from the fact that I have read some really wonderful books out there, books I can not even hope to write to the level of, but I have also read some really poorly written self-published books out there. Most self-published books are terrific, but a few writers are so eager to be published that they publish before their writing is ready for it. They have the basis of what could be a good story but instead it lacks the necessary element to draw the reader in to the story. They have some brilliant writing, but it's mixed in with a lot of tedious writing. They could be so much more, but they jumped the gun and published too soon, without enough revision and practice. I worry that I will do the same, or that I will never be able to make my stories shine enough to be published.

But I have to stop letting those niggling thoughts bother me and get back to the writing, to the editing and to the revising. I am a little bit in love with each of my stories and it is my job to shine them up enough so that when others read them, they will fall in love with them too.



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Procrastination - Insecure Writer's Support Group post for March #IWSG

This is my fourth monthly Insecure Writer's Support Group post. The IWSG is hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. The purpose of the IWSG is:

 "to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!"

Procrastination. It is the bane of my writing life. And it's entirely my fault that it is. I think fear plays a little bit into the reasons for why I procrastinate - fear that I won't be good enough when all is said and done, that my writing will be lacking. But truthfully, I think plain laziness also takes part in why I procrastinate. I love writing, and when I am on a roll, I will write a lot. But once the writing is done, I would much rather start a new writing project than go through the mind-numbingly boring task of editing my story and making it as perfect as is possible.

So, at this rate, I will have about twenty novels written by the end of the year and zero that are worth publishing. Not very good numbers to be looking at.

My husband and I were discussing this fact last night. He asked me, "Where exactly do you want to be five years from now? Do you want to be a published writer? Do you want to be teaching writing? What is it that you want?" To be honest, I want to do both, five years from now. But that means I have to start taking my writing seriously, again. I thought I was taking it seriously when I started writing in earnest a couple of years ago. And I was taking it more seriously. But to be really serious about this as my career, then I need to put forth the effort to make sure that the words I am writing will someday be seen and will be worth being seen. And that means I have to spend time perfecting my words, making the stories I write become more than just interesting; they have to sparkle.

On another topic, there is still time to sign up for the Chapter Book Challenge if you think that spending the month of March writing an early reader, chapter book, middle grade book or YA book might be the thing for you. It's a really informal challenge, but if you sign up for it, you are automatically entered in the Kindle giveaway. And there is a great line up of guest posts from published authors and agents and many prizes being given away throughout the month. There are just two days left to comment on the guest post from Angela Ackerman in order to be entered to win a copy of her co-authored book "The Emotion Thesaurus" (as long as you are also signed up for the challenge). You can also get some great ChaBooCha web badges for your blog or website. There's a ChaBooCha Facebook page, a ChaBooCha Facebook group and a ChaBooCha Twitter page, and we post about the challenge using the hashtag #ChaBooCha. We have over 80 people signed up for the challenge so far.

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Join the Chapter Book Challenge 2012!

Those of you who have been following this blog know that I have been joining challenges and submitting my writing to competitions quite often lately. The most recent challenges I have joined are the 12 x 12 in 2012 challenge and the Picture Book Marathon. Well, I am adding to that list now, and I want you to come and join me.

As you already know, I am currently working on three different YA paranormal novels,  and many children's picture books. There is another type of book that I have been wanting to try my hand at, in part, because I have children who are the right age for this type of reading - the children's chapter book.

Yes, I know and have read about what a difficult market it is to break into, but I don't really care about how difficult it is to be successful at writing and publishing a chapter book. I just want to write one of the chapter books that have been sitting in my mind whispering "write me" whenever I have a quiet moment.

During NaNoWriMo last November, I managed to write 50,000 words in 14 days and finished with 75,180 words for the month. A chapter book uses considerably less words than that, and so I am hoping that I will not only be able to finish a complete chapter book by the end of the month, but also be able to do a serious amount of editing on it. This will also be a learning process for me as writing a chapter book is a far different process tha writing a novel for an older teen or adult.

And that, in a nutshell is what the Chapter Book Challenge is all about. The goal is to write a complete chapter book in the month of March, starting on March 1st and finishing on March 31st.  I am running this challenge, but be kind to me as I have never run one of these before. I already have some prizes ready to be awarded during the challenge, and will be setting up the terms for being in the running to win the prizes soon.

I've even lined up a published children's chapter book author for a guest post/interview on the Chapter book Challenge blog. I am working on getting guest posts and interviews from more professionals in the industry to help all of us along during this challenge.

I would love for you to sign up for the challenge. The official sign-up form can be found here. (You need to be signed up through the official form in order to be eligible for the prizes.) You can also sign up for the Chapter Book Challenge Facebook page where I will post useful links as I come across them and our Chapter Book Challenge Facebook group where we can all help each other out with ideas, tips and general conversation about our chapter books.

Now that you know about the challenge, I dare you to join us! You won't regret it!

If you are a published chapter book author already or an agent who deals in chapter books or has in the past dealt with them, then I am asking you to please join us and offer your help with a guest post and/or interview.

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