2016 - Planning for the year ahead

On New Year's Day, I like to create a long list of things I want to achieve for the year ahead. Although this is a writing-themed blog, not all of these goals will be writing related.

Here is my list of goals:

1 - Finish my novel "Ink" and complete several rounds of editing and revising on it. It needs to be ready for publication sometime within 2016, and that includes having an ISBN, a cover and formatting for it, whether the extra stuff is done by me or I pay to have someone else do it.

2 - Complete, edit and publish at least two of the novellas I began during this year's NaNoWriMo - the ones that are set in the same world as "Ink."

3 - Begin the sequel to "Ink." Write at least 3 chapters of the novel before 2016 ends.

4 - Begin writing the first of the series of nine novels for the Daughters of Poseidon series. Maybe use this book as my NaNoWriMo novel to write this year.

5 - Do some more work on my middle grade book "The Day My Shadow Tried to Kill Me." I need to make some changes to the plot and get writing on it again. I wrote the original draft for a ChaBooCha challenge, but I'm beginning it almost from scratch this time because of the changes that need to be made, so maybe use it as the book to write during this year's Chapter Book Challenge.

6 - Spend more time writing. Don't let a day slip by without spending at least 30 minutes writing. On most days during the work week, spend more time though. Although a large part of my day is taken up transporting the kids to and from school and making meals, etc, I can still manage to treat my writing as a part time job by committing at least 10 hours a week to writing and 5 hours a week to promoting/marketing/networking.

7 - Finish preparing my collection "Mermaid's Muse" for publication. Make sure it is ready and published in early 2016.

8 - Work on perfecting "The 28 Day Fitness Challenge" so I can get it published. Finish creating the accompanying Food and Fitness Journal. Things I still need to do before finalizing the book: Alter some of the steps in the challenge and rearrange the formatting. Take photos of the different exercises being performed for instructional purposes.

9 - Work on my own health this year. Steps to take: Step up my exercise routine. Try not to do as much as I used to do, but don't do as little as I am currently doing. Find a middle ground. Eat healthier. Lose the pounds I put back on this year. Visit the doctor and find out what other tests can be done to find the reason for my health issues. Keep trying to find a way to cure my chronic pain caused by plantar fasciitis.

10 - Spend more time doing silly and fun stuff with the kids. These are the kinds of activities that will build memories for them.

11 - Start swimming again. And while I'm at it, teach my kids to swim. I can teach them more than they are learning in the few classes they get every other year at school anyway. Help Isabella get to a skill level that will make it possible for me to then teach her how to swim in a monofin (which will help her on her way to her goal of becoming a professional mermaid someday).

12 - Perfect my picture book, the one that came to me while I grieved over the loss of my cat Pagan. I love this book, and I think it needs to be out in the world for others to read. Perfect it and either send it out to get an agent/publisher or find an amazing illustrator willing to illustrate it and save up to pay for it to get done well.

13 - Publish more books through Melusine Muse Press, not just anthologies and not just my own books. Get more editing jobs, more book cover jobs and formatting jobs to help pay for publication of books. Publish another Teapot Tales anthology and another SuperHERo tales anthology. Likewise, publish another anthology in the Kids' Chronicles series of anthologies through Your Kids' Creations.

14 - Increase promotion for the Fae World anthology series and take in more submissions for it. this will be an amazing anthology series when it is completed, but it will never be completed without word getting out about it. It needs submissions to make it spectacular, especially as this is one anthology series that will be choosier about what gets chosen to publish.

15 - Write more on my blogs. Spend time writing a post on at least one of your blog's every week.

 
16 - Work more on creating book covers and improving your skill at doing so. Have more sales on Fairy Magic Photos in order to get more practice at photo-manipulating by creating fairy photo images for customers.

17 - Find out everything you need to know to get your Kickstarter campaign for the resin toy figures of the SuperHERp Tales' superheroes off the ground. Find a 3D artist, find a manufacturer, get the total cost worked out, find someone to design the video and get this campaign going! Children NEED these female superhero toys! So get to it!






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Advice for 2016

Happy New Year!
My 2016 advice for you:

Don't let yourself have any regrets by the time 2016 ends.

- Travel somewhere new. If you can afford it, go somewhere you've never been before, somewhere where the culture is different from yours and the world is more colourful. If you can't afford that kind of trip, go somewhere local that you've never been before. Find out more about the special beauty that your own town or city displays.

- Learn something new. You are never too old to learn a new skill or try a new hobby. Learn how to do something you have never done before. You might find out you enjoy it.

- Appreciate your loved ones and let them know they are loved, not just by your words but by your actions. Do something caring for someone you love. Spend more time giving out hugs this year.

- Live in love instead of in fear. Do something kind for a stranger. Stop making decisions based on the fear of what *might* happen, and start basing your life on love and service to others. Remember that the kindness you send out into the world will always find its way back to you.

- Do something good for the planet. Go out and spend some time cleaning up litter in your neighbourhood or at the beach, give to a charity that aids the environment, spend more time walking instead of driving places. Find a way that you can help fight climate change and then do it.

- Spend some time at the ocean. If you can swim, go for a swim in the waves. If you can't swim, just sit on the warm sand and watch the waves crashing against the shore. Trust me - it's therapeutic.

- Spend more time in nature. This world we live in is a beautiful place, full of its own special magic. Take time to appreciate the beauty all around you.

- Learn to love yourself. This might possibly be the most difficult challenge any of us will face, but it's one of the most important ones. Your body is not YOU. Your appearance does not define who you are. You have a soul, a spirit, a mind, and that part of you, that hidden part, is who you are. Don't let others who can't see that part of you define you. You know who you are; you know your strengths and your flaws, and, deep down, you know you are worthy of love. Embrace this.

- Take care of your body. While it is only the vessel that carries your soul, it can get sick and it can break down much earlier in life if it is not taken care of properly. So only put food into it that strengthens it and nourishes it, and make sure to exercise your body on a regular basis.

- Pursue your dreams. Don't let society tell you what dreams you should and shouldn't have. If your dreams don't hurt anyone else, then by all means, go after them. Start by taking small steps towards them and build from there.

- Create something. Whether it's art, crafts, the written word or something else entirely, be creative this year. It nurtures your soul, and, sometimes, it helps nurture the souls of others too.

- Be silly. Spend some time just being silly. Let yourself be taken over by a fit of the giggles, make corny jokes, and laugh a lot. Laughter improves your quality of life.

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30 Days of Snippets from "Ink," my 2014 NaNoWriMo Novel

During NaNoWriMo in November, I usually share a small excerpt or snippet from each day's writing on my Facebook profile and author page. Normally, on december 1st, right when NaNoWriMo has ended, I collect all of those snippets together into one big post sharing them here on the blog. I'm a little late doing it this year, but here it is.

Please keep in mind that these are all snippets from a FIRST DRAFT. These snippets might not even be in the completed novel, once it has gone through editing, revisions and rewrites. Or they might exist in completely different forms to what you read here.

Here they are:

30 Days of Snippets from "Ink"

Day 1:
Of course, we don’t yet know what else is out there. When I think about how many fairy tale creatures like the taste of human meat, I become very scared for humanity. I like to think that it’s why my powers showed up when they did, so I can do something about it, so I can help save people. Maybe it’s so I can help even up the odds between Normals and Paranormals.

Day 2:
The vampire screeched and released me, moving a step back.

“What the hell are you?” he asked. 

I didn’t answer him. I just spoke one word to my tiger. “Feast.” 

And my tiger did. By the time my tiger tattoo returned to its place on my upper arm, there was nothing left of the vampire. Once the tiger’s teeth had reached his heart, the vampire scattered into a million particles of dust.

Day 3:
“Stop that!” I could feel my eyes already starting to go black, my tattoos felt as though they wanted to come to life. I’d never felt that from them before. I shook my head and loosened my shoulders, concentrating briefly on stopping my metamorphosis. A secret identity wouldn’t do me any good if everyone in the park saw me change.

Day 4: 
The corpse was of a woman, or what used to be a woman. At least, that’s what it looked like from what I could see. She was wearing a short red dress that was lifted up high on her thighs because of the way her legs were skewed. They were both laying at unnatural angles, as though they’d been pulled out of socket and twisted. Her chest was covered in knife marks, as precise as scratches from a cat, only about ten times bigger and deeper. The killer had literally shredded her breasts, even pulling some of the bones of her ribcage loose.

But the worst was her face, or what had once been her face. It looked like something had chewed her face off. Her neck was still intact, but there was nothing but a bloody, pulpy mess topped by long blonde, blood-soaked hair.

I was thankful that I was still outside, because I’d read that the smell of blood would have turned my stomach even more. I didn’t want to find out if it was true.

Day 5:
I held the dagger like a pro. It was clear I knew how to use it. Black ink from the many tattoos I sported coalesced into dark, inky smoke which surrounded me, weaving through my hair, changing it from dark red to inky black. More of it swirled around my waist. Different shapes could be seen periodically in the black mist surrounding me, shapes of dragons and tigers and more, but none of it fully took form.

One of the tattoos on my face oozed and spun, changing shape, reforming into a dark mask over my eyes. Some of the tattoo ink covered my irises and the whites of my eyes. I knew it made my eyes look completely black.


Day 6:
I suppose if evil was something we could easily see in people, no one would get hurt because everyone would know who to stay away from. But it was never that easy. Evil has always sat amongst us, hiding itself in ordinary faces or charismatic personalities. It could reside in the politician you just voted for in the election, in the neighbor who smiles and says “good morning” to you each day, or in the bank official who helps you secure a loan for your dream house. Evil looks no different than kindness looks on a person’s face. Each heart has its own secrets, and we, the observer, cannot see what those secrets are just by peering into eyes and taking in the way someone appears. Appearances can, and often do, lie.

Day 7:

I watched, horrified, as several large gashes opened up in the man’s chest, crossing from one armpit and down towards his waist on the other side. I couldn’t see what was attacking him; it was as if the very air itself was shredding him. He screamed, and it galvanized me into action.

I could feel my tattoos shifting and forming around me, disguising me. My dragon tattoo swirled into a mist from my thigh and materialized into a large dragon beside me. I knew my tiger was somewhere behind me as well. My dagger tattoos formed into daggers in each of my hands. My other tattoos just misted around me, cloaking me in shadows.

This only took seconds and yet, I could see that the man already had several more wounds opened up on him. It was as if someone was peeling his skin away, one slice at a time. I ran to him, but I didn’t know how to help. How do you fight what you can’t see?

Day 8:
“You’re the one who told me that my powers made me a superhero. You’re the one who told me I should use them to help people, that I had a responsibility to help others,” I reminded Jack. “I can’t help people if I’m so concerned about myself and my own problems that I give up at the first sign of trouble.”

Day 9:
I was frustrated with this whole case. Eventually, I went to bed and had troubled dreams only to wake up to hear on the news that yesterday’s victim had died from his injuries. I hadn’t saved him after all.

Day 10:
“No,” I shook my head. “What do you think about the figure in the smoke? Could it have been a ghost?”

“A ghost? You think a ghost killed that man? No way!”

“So it’s not possible?”

“Well,” she said, “it’s not possible that a ghost did it but there are other beings out there who might have been able to do it while maintaining an incorporeal form.”

“There are?” I didn’t keep the surprise out of my voice.

“Well, yah. Of course. You didn’t think ghosts were the only things out there did you?”

Day 11:
I knew my shoulders were stiff, and I could feel the muscles in my legs tense as if prepared for flight. 

“Um, your eyes –“ Aerin looked worried.

Dang it! My eyes must have been turning black. My body ink seemed to be responding to my moods lately. I concentrated on pulling it back, and looked at Aerin with normal eyes a moment later.

“Uh, what was that?”

“Nothing,” I said, brushing past him.

Day 12:
He led us over to two men who were discussing something between themselves. I couldn’t help but cringe when I saw which two detectives we were about to be introduced to. I grabbed Aerin’s sleeve. 
“Uh, you don’t want the detectives to see me.”

“What do you mean? Why not?” Aerin frowned slightly at me.

“Because I was a witness to a murder recently and they treated me as a suspect.”

He was about to say something back to me, but we were interrupted by the captain.

“Detectives Mason and Detective James, this is Aerin Castle, the consultant I told you about, and this is, ah…” he looked at me, “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

My voice came out as almost a whisper. “Jasmine Storm.” I could see the surprise on both detectives’ faces as they turned to face me.

“Miss Storm is an intern at the Paranormal Investigations Consultancy,” he explained to the detectives while I cringed internally.

“We’ve already met Miss Storm,” Detective James said. “I’m afraid she won’t be able to accompany you into the crime scene.” 

Detective Mason was scowling, but I was beginning to think he didn’t have any other expression.

Day 13:
This crime scene was different than the previous ones in one way; there was blood everywhere. It coated the walls and dripped from the lampshade, pooling under the dresser. It soaked the bed and covered the floor. How could one person leave so much blood?

That’s when I noticed another glaring difference about this crime scene; there were two bodies on the bed, both eviscerated. The smell hit me at about the same time that I noticed the two bodies, a cloying, coppery tang that had me instantly heaving and fighting not to vomit.

Day 14:
“What are you? Seriously. A witch, maybe?”

“I already told you. I don’t know what I am. I’m something – different.” I couldn’t help letting some sadness into my voice. I hated not knowing anything about my paranormal ability and where it came from. It was lonely, not knowing anyone like myself.

“Your turn,” I said. “Now you get to tell me what you are.”

“Fair’s fair,” he said. When we stopped at a light, he pulled his hair back, showing a slightly pointed ear.

“What does that make you? Some kind of elf?”

Day 15:
“There’s a Paranormal Council?”

“Yes,” I answered, “and they’re known to the world as a company called Paranormal Investigative Consulting. No Normals are supposed to know about them, so don’t let on to him that you know.”

“Why? Would he have to kill me to keep it a secret?” Jack joked.

“Let’s not find out.” I frowned at him.

Day 16:
That’s when Aerin stood in front of me, blocking my sight of the ghost. “Jasmine,” he whispered for my ears only, leaning down so his lips almost touched my ear. “You’re eyes have turned completely black.”

I blinked and concentrated on calling back the ink that had coated my eyes. I hadn’t even realized it had been happening. What if Gina had seen my eyes?

“Did she see?” I whispered back.

He shook his head, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

Day 17:
The shadow moved quickly towards Jack and then just seemed to meld into him. 

“Jack!” I said, “Jack, are you okay?” I took a step towards him.

“Stand back,” Aerin said, a low tone to his voice.

“Help us.” Jack’s mouth was moving, voicing the words, but his eyes had turned completely white and the voice coming from him was high and child-like.

Day 18:
“No,” I shook my head emphatically. “I can take care of myself. Besides, sending someone to watch over my place will be costly.” I glanced towards the hallway, but the detective was still out there on his phone, nowhere near the door, so I allowed my wrist dagger tattoo to ooze off my wrist and form as a formidable-looking dagger in my hand. “See? I can take care of myself.” I sent the dagger back into its tattoo form.

Until now, Aerin had never seen that part of my ability, or, at least, he hadn’t seen enough to connect my ability and my tattoos. I’d just let him in on my secret. I had to trust that he would keep it a secret.

Day 19:
I sipped my coffee and looked up to find Hunter looking at me. I was suddenly uncomfortable. My morning look was not a good one – messy hair, no make-up; I hadn’t even brushed my teeth yet. I started running my fingers through my hair self-consciously.

“You look beautiful,” Hunter said, making me blush even more. I was never very good at taking compliments.

Day 20:
I stepped into the entrance of the alley. The sun was bright, glinting off of discarded beer cans and odd bits of junk here and there. A large dumpster sat to the right about halfway down the alley, a light breeze blowing its stench past my nose. I raised my hands up to cup them over my nose and that’s when I saw something move behind the dumpster.

I took a few steps to the left and forward and a furry head poked out from behind the dumpster, looking right at me. I immediately stepped back. Wolf eyes, unusually large wolf eyes, shone back at me from a furry, grey face. A low growl rumbled through the alley.

“Werewolf,” I didn’t even realize that I had voiced the word out loud.

Day 21:
My wolf tattoo twitched. I’d never felt a tattoo twitch before, but that’s the only way I could describe the sensation. It started twitching and straining and then it misted up off my upper ankle, taking form as a massive wolf by my side.

This created chaos within the werewolf ranks before me. Some cowered and whimpered; some bristled and growled deeper. One, the first one to have shown itself, stepped forward, stiff-legged and snarling.

My ink wolf stepped in front of me, blocking the werewolf’s access to me. I knew that my one wolf against so many werewolves would not be enough.

Day 22:
He grabbed me by my arms. “I am supposed to be protecting you. I can’t do that if you keep wandering off on your own.”

His hands tightened a bit. He wasn’t hurting me, but I didn’t like being held in place either, so I shrugged his grip off of me.

“I wasn’t hurt, and I found out something that might help. Believe it or not, my ability to take care of myself hasn't lessened just because someone is threatening me. You need to chill.”

He scowled. 

“You’re starting to resemble Detective Mason. Are you sure you two aren’t related?” I teased, trying to lighten the mood.

Day 23:
“Your boss should be arriving back at the crime scene right about now. Shall we head back?”

“My boss?”

“Mr. Castle.”

“Oh, him.” I said. “He’s not my boss. He’s just trying to convince me to come and work at his company.”

“He said you were an intern.”

“If I’d accepted his offer of employment, I guess I would have been.”

“You don’t want to work at PIC?”

“I don’t work well with authority.”

“They’re not an authority.”

“If they work with the police, they are,” I covered, almost having forgotten that Normals like Hunter were not supposed to know about the Paranormal Council.

Day 24:
“Understood,” I said, “but, since this guy is out there following me and taking photos of me, I’m not going to be standing around twiddling my thumbs and waiting for him to make his move. As long as you understand that, then we’re good.”

Hunter looked like he was about to say something, but he was interrupted before he got the chance.

“Don’t bother, Detective. I’ve not known her long, but even I know you’d be wasting your breath to argue with her,” Aerin said.

It was good to know they understood me enough to at least have learned that much about me. My mom used to say I had a stubborn streak so wide a person could walk across the Atlantic Ocean on it.

Day 25:
I had managed to evade them both and gain some freedom from their male interference, even if only temporarily. Hunter and Aerin were going to be pissed. A pleased grin spread over my face and I walked with more of a jaunt to my step at the thought. 

It would be good for them. Someone needed to keep them on their toes. Why shouldn’t it be me?

As I walked, I pulled out my phone and rang Jack. 

“Hi, Jack. Feel like getting some lunch?”

“You ditched your police escort, didn’t you?” Jack knew me so well.

Day 26:
The guys were being really quiet. I snuck a peek at them and found them both staring intently at my exposed side. I couldn’t tell if they were more interested in the tattoo-in-progress or me, but I got the impression they both worried that any sound from them might mess up Jack’s concentration and ruin my tattoo. They didn’t know Jack very well. Nothing broke his concentration when he was working on a tattoo.

Day 27:
I burst from the bathroom. If I had looked in a mirror at that moment, I knew exactly what I would see: black hair, demonic black eyes, blackened lips, black eye mask and inky black smoke swirling all around me in a stormy torrent, as though hurricane winds were blowing around me. My new tattoo, the sword, was in my right hand, held low and my wolf was beside me on my right. My tiger was beside me on my left.

I didn’t even look at Jack. I just moved straight for the door, filled with a sense of purpose. We hadn’t been home for long, so the killer had been here recently, maybe recently enough that I could track him. Or, at least, my wolf could track him. He was already sniffing the ground around us by the time we reached outside.

Day 28:
My wolf leapt at the creature. I couldn’t see what was happening, only hear the battle and watch my wolf attack something that only appeared to me in short glimpses. It looked like he was biting down on something and hanging on at one point, so I knew he could somehow affect the creature, as intangible as the creature seemed, but the creature was also doing damage to my wolf. I could feel him weakening. He would return to his tattoo form soon, and I could still barely breathe past the pain. I wouldn’t last long without my wolf.

Day 29:
The wolves came back to me, circling around me and just watching with eyes that glowed in the faint light. I knew that the smell of my blood as it seeped from the wounds in my stomach, would most likely urge them into a hunger frenzy. Blood had that effect on werewolves. But they just stood there. I recognized the alpha from the pack I had met in the alley, just before I felt myself falling and everything went black.

Day 30:
I let my wolf materialize beside me, which he did in a cloud of inky black smoke.

I could feel Bryce’s arm against my back tense. I felt his power sweeping through me as he tried to assert his dominance over my wolf, but my wolf wasn’t a werewolf, my wolf wasn’t even a real wolf, so he had no power over it. I patted my leg and my wolf came to my side and leaned against my legs, lending me its support.

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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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The Girl Who Danced in the Snow #StoryAdventCalendar

art by Rebecca Fyfe

The Girl Who Danced in the Snow
by Rebecca Fyfe

Isabella twirled and spun as icy white snowflakes fell around her. A giggle escaped her as she threw her arms up while she rotated.

“Isabella, we need to get you to school now,” said her mother. “Come on. There isn’t time for dancing.”

Isabella stopped spinning and followed her mother down the road to her school. When school let out for recess, Isabella threw her arms up in the air and started twirling and spinning, making herself dizzy. She laughed and squealed with joy.

Some of the kids laughed at her, but a few joined her and leaped and danced in the falling snow right alongside her. I love to dance, thought Isabella.

She danced and twirled all the way home, and her mother didn’t once complain once about how much longer it took to get home because of her dancing.

While sitting at the dinner table that night, she ate her food and watched out the window at the drifting snowflakes. Snowflakes know how to dance, she thought. Look at how they spin and leap, twisting and gliding through the air like little sparkly ballerinas. I wish I was snowflake.

That night, while she was in bed trying to get to sleep, something tapped at her window. Isabella slipped out of bed and went to the window, but she couldn’t see anyone out there. She opened it a tiny bit and a little snowflake drifted in.

The snowflake giggled. In her surprise, Isabella almost missed the tiny little face on the snowflake. It had eyes and a mouth, and its giggle had been light and soft, almost like the memory of laughter.

“You like to dance. We’ve seen you,” said the snowflake. “Would you like to come and dance with us tonight?”

Isabella loved the idea, but she didn’t know how she could go outside in the middle of the night and dance with the snowflakes.

The snowflake jumped up into the air and drifted on invisible currents over to land gently on Isabella’s shoulder. “I just have to take care of one thing before you come with me,” the snowflake said, and that’s when Isabella noticed she was shrinking. Her nightgown was changing too. It turned into a beautiful, sparkling and shimmering frosty white ball gown. When she was as small as the snowflake, the snowflake stood beside her and Isabella noticed that the snowflake looked like a beautiful girl in a similar pretty white ball gown.

“All snowflakes look like me. People just can’t see us as we are, because they are so very big and they don’t know how to see through winter magic.” The snowflake answered Isabella’s unspoken question.

The two of them jumped into the air and let a slight breeze carry them outside where they spent the night dancing with other snowflakes, spinning and twirling, gliding and leaping all night long until the morning sun peaked through the clouds.

“Time for you to go home,” said the snowflake.

“Thank you,” said Isabella. “I will never forget this night.”

“You will eventually. People always forget about the magic when they grow up,” said the snowflake with sorrow in her voice. “But promise me you will never stop dancing, especially when it’s snowing.”

“I promise,” Isabella said.

Isabella climbed back into her bed and she began growing until she was her normal size again. Her pretty white ball gown changed back into her nightgown, and, as she started to fall asleep for the few moments she had left before her mother would come in to wake her, she promised herself, “I will never forget about the magic. And when the snow starts to fall, I will always dance in the snow.”

*****

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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Sale on Custom Book Covers

Some of you know I make custom covers for myself or others. I use stock photos, and sometimes I use photos I photographed myself for stock photos. (I have a large family and many props, so there is a lot of variety for models.) I also take scenic photos wherever I go.

Having a custom cover made can be costly. That's why I learned to do most of the work myself. When I have difficulty with something or don't have the skill to crate exactly what I want, I turn to my husband who has been doing photo-manipulations longer than I have.

Well, we've had a minor, but expensive family emergency this past month. Our kitten, new to the family, somehow managed to break a bone in his paw. We don't know how he broke it. One minute he was fine and speeding around the house, as kittens do, and the next, he was favoring his right front paw and unable to put any weight on it. We took him straight to the vet where he had an x-ray and we found out he had broken the middle bone (metacarpal?) in his paw.  The poor thing has had to remain in a crate for the past three weeks.

He just had his follow-up x-ray at the vet's, and his bone is healing but not completely healed. The vet understands that, even being in a crate had not kept the kitten from leaping and running, despite his broken paw, so she has given him permission to be on room-rest, as long as we keep an eye on him so that he doesn't jump too much.

All of this was very expensive, which, under normal circumstances, would have caused us a bit of a financial strain, but we would have been okay. But this time of year could hardly be considered normal circumstances. Our 5 year old turns 6 in two days' time. My eldest daughter turns 23 on the 26th of December, and, of course, Christmas is nearly here.

My children do not NEED anything. They have more than they could ever need, and we have decided that this year, presents will be small and simple, and most likely hand-crafted. But it will still be a stretch to pay all of the bills this month after paying all of Loki's vet bills.

That was very long-winded, wasn't it? Well, I am explaining all of this in order to explain why I am running a huge sale on my custom book covers. (They are made using photos, not illustrations.) If you would like a custom book cover made for you, as long as it is not immensely difficult and complicated, I will make it for you for $25. You contact me and tell me what you want, what vision you have for it. If it's do-able, I will agree and you will pay the money through PayPal. I will then make your custom book cover, and you may have up to three revisions after the orginal. I will make you an ebook cover, and, for an additional $15, you can also have a print cover version of it. Your book cover will be sent as png, jpg and psd files.

Here are some examples of previous custom book covers:

I also create fairy photo-manipulations (and occasionally mermaid photo-manipulations for people to print as gifts. (sent to you as png and jpeg files). Check out Fairy Magic Photos on Facebook and go into the folder with the photos "by Rebecca" to see examples. I am having a similar sale on these.














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