Mother Lioness - a flash fiction story for National Flash Fiction Day

I write a quick flash fiction story in honor of National Flash Fiction Day. The original story was 784 words long, but I was attempting to write a 500 word flash fiction story so I cut it down to 502 words.

My powers came to me very suddenly.

I took my three kids with me to the park while walking the dog for his evening walk. After a few minutes, Jasper, our collie, stopped suddenly, his body completely still as he stared forward at something I couldn’t see. The fur on his back slowly started to rise until it stood straight up and a low growl emanated from him. The kids didn’t notice any of this and skipped right past us, unaware anything was wrong.

That was the first time Jasper spoke to me, although I didn’t realize it was him at the time.

“Danger!” a decidedly male voice shouted in my head, and I instinctually heeded it.

“Katie, Callum, Jenny, get back here!” I shouted as I ran towards them. I didn’t know what the danger was, only that there was something dangerous ahead.

As I got close enough to my children to pull them close to me, three men came around the corner. Their eyes were deep red. Their skin was pale and I definitely glimpsed fangs on one of them. Of course, back then, I thought vampires were just fictional characters in books, so I had no idea what I was actually looking at. I didn’t need to know what they were to sense that they were dangerous.

Jasper was standing beside us, hackles raised, that low menacing growl still emanating from him, and I heard again, “Dangerous! Must protect!” (Dogs think in very simple terms.)

The vampires were looking at my children hungrily and moving towards us purposefully. That’s when my first shapeshifting occurred. The shapeshifting was almost seamless. One minute, I was noticing claws sprouting from my fingers and the next I was on all four, covered in fur, feeling powerful and very angry.

I pounced on the vampire closest to me, and with one bite, I crushed his skull. He disintegrated then and there.  I kept my cubs, I mean, my kids behind me and used a paw to strike out at one of the remaining  two vampires. I was pretty powerful in lioness form, judging by the five feet I knocked him back.

Jasper was biting the leg of the other vampire, shouting, “Kill! Kill!” I told him to let go, and he did. The two vampires immediately took the reprieve to get up and run away. My animal instinct made me desperately want to chase them, but I had my kids to protect so I stayed where I was.

My children were excited, having seen my transformation and stroked my back all the way home. We probably got some strange stares from people on that walk home, three kids and a dog walking beside a lion. Once home, I changed back into myself.

I thought that this was my new reality and accepted it. But then one day Katy, my oldest, turned herself into a cat right in front of me and I knew that we were all in for a crazy adventure.

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Lucky 7 Meme - from "Thinning of the Veil"

I've been selected for another Lucky 7 Meme, and as I am currently working on several different novels, I can pick and choose which ones I share for this one. Meg McNulty in her blog From Darcy to Dionysus is the lovely lady who tagged me.

How does it work?

1. Go to page 7 or 77 of your current MS/WIP
2. Go to line 7
3. Copy down the next 7 lines, sentences or paragraphs and post them as they are written.
4. Tag 7 authors and let them know.

I'm sharing 7 lines from "Thinning of the Veil," one of my current works-in-progress.
 

She had a very large volume in front of her.  The pages were yellowed with age and the binding was an old, weathered leather with very intricate patterns scrolled all over it.

“According to this, there is a veil between our world and the worlds of other dimensions.  Usually, no one on either side can see or feel anything from the other side of the veil.  Some people have a natural born gift for sensing things on the other side though, which is where we get mediums, clairvoyants and others like them.  There are places where the veil is thinner, and that’s where we get ghost stories from.  Where the veil is thinner, people sometimes glimpse things from the other side, from one or another of many different dimensions.”

I'm going to copy Meg's method of choosing the lucky 7 who I will pass this along to by choosing friends from the #ouatwriting and #storycraft conversations on Twitter.

Jane Isaac - @JaneIsaacAuthor
Susi Holliday - @SJIHoliday
Anna Meade - @ruanna3
Jeff Tsuruoka - @jtsuruoka
Dionne Lister - @dionnelister
Ang - @ang_writes

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Call of the Siren - Form & Genre Challenge 14 #FGC2012

This is my entry into the Form & Genre Challenge #14 at Write Anything. The challenge was to write a 1,500 word story in the first person point of view. This was a departure from the usual for me as I normally write in third person. I have to say that I enjoyed writing this though. I hope you enjoy reading it! Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think. And if you like my story, please vote for it when the voting is open!

Call of the Siren

I felt sand under my hands and grating against my cheek as the darkness lifted from my consciousness. My hair was wet and I could feel every grain of sand against my naked body as though I was lying against sandpaper. My head throbbed and I tried to stand but a wave of dizziness washed over me and I lay still again.

I could hear the ocean’s waves somewhere behind me, and the salty tang of the sea drifted by on the wind. I was still at the beach, but how did I end up like this? The last thing I remembered was finding a private section on the beach where I could lay and relax on my beach towel without being disturbed. I’d brought along my notepad and pen and was hoping the quiet would help me find my muse. I had a deadline approaching and a story to write.

Somewhere from the back of my mind, through the fog of a distorted memory, a face swam into view. I remembered seeing someone. He had walked up to me and asked me about my writing. He had wanted to know about the story I was working on. I remembered now! His name was Aigean.

Thinking it might help me work through some ideas, and because, well, the guy was easy on the eyes, I had started to tell him about my story. I told him all about my story about a girl who finds out she’s a mermaid and falls in love at the same time. I told him about the problems I was having with the plot line. I explained to him how I kept changing parts of the undersea world of the mermaids in the story because I couldn’t decide on how I wanted to portray it or on which portrayal seemed the most plausible.

His kind eyes had looked into mine and somehow I found myself spilling everything to him. I even told him all about my fear that my writing wouldn’t be good enough to share, that no publishers would love it as much as I did. Writing was all I had ever dreamed about doing and the fear that I wouldn’t succeed at it ate at my soul.

He’d settled down next to me and listened attentively as I poured out my heart in a way I would never have done under normal circumstances. I hadn’t understood then, why I had opened up so easily to him. At the time, his gentle gaze had seemed to catch me within it and pull the words from me against my will, and yet, as the words came, I realized I wanted to tell him everything.

As I finished telling him about the story I was writing and my fears about being an inadequate writer, I took a moment to study him. The sunlight shone warmly against his tanned skin. He definitely spent time outdoors. His hair was a light brown, full of lighter golden highlights and his eyes were a sparkling blue, or maybe they were green. I hadn’t been able to decide and had compromised by deciding they were teal. His smile seemed genuine enough. And his body was lean and athletic, with just enough muscle to give him a physique I would classify as powerful.

While I studied him, he was looking at me with equal intensity. I wondered what he thought of my long, straight brown hair and pasty white skin. I was pale enough that it would be obvious spending time at the beach, or anywhere in the sunshine, wasn’t something I did often.

My eyes were nothing special either. I had hazel eyes, a mixture of brown and green, but mostly they just looked brown. My lips were thin, but my body wasn’t. I wasn’t too plump, but I had a good twenty pounds more on me than I needed, and I was overly curvy. I wondered why he was talking to me at all.

But he’d only smiled at me and took my hand, pulling me to a standing position. He’d asked me, his voice deep and mellow, if I wanted to swim in the ocean with him.  I didn’t want to admit to him that ever since I had seen a dead jelly fish on the beach as a child and been told about its ability to sting, I had been afraid of entering the sea. It was a foolish childhood fear, and his voice, asking again, felt like a warm heat moving right through me, calming any fear I had, making me want nothing more than to follow after him as he walked into the ocean’s waves.

At first, we only let our feet get wet as the gentle swell of the waves reached out to us lazily and tickled our toes. But his hand tugged on mine to take me further into the water. And I couldn’t seem to stop myself from letting him pull me into the ocean after him. I didn’t want to stop him.

That’s all I could remember. How had I ended up from there, just entering into the ocean with him, to here, lying naked on the beach, waking up from an unconscious state? Had a wave captured us? Had I somehow hit my head? My head hurt and I was feeling dizzy. That made the idea of having hit my head seem more plausible. But where was Aigean?

Thankfully, there was still no one around or my nakedness would have been entirely too embarrassing. I cautiously lifted my head, hoping the movement wouldn’t cause the dizziness again, and spotted my clothes sitting further up the beach, away from the trickle of waves.  I was just lifting myself to my hands and knees when the water from the gentle waves reached my feet again.

That’s when things became very strange. My body started to tingle as if someone had just zapped me with a really low-powered tazer. My legs slid back into a prone position, but I managed to keep my upper body lifted onto my hands. This only helped me to see more clearly when my fingers started to grow webbing between them.  I didn’t have time to freak out about that though, because I could feel other changes occurring.

My entire lower body became super-heated. I should have been on fire to feel this kind of heat, but I looked down at my legs and there was no fire. As the water reached ever higher across my feet and legs, I noticed the changes that were occurring. Scales were appearing one by one on my legs. I didn’t feel them appearing other than that overall heat, but watching them was amazing. They appeared as if by magic. The skin underneath held a bluish tint that was soon covered by the scales as they started to encroach on more and more of my body. Eventually, my legs began to meld together into one, and my mind finally kicked in and told me what was happening. I was getting a tail, and not just any tail either; I was getting a mermaid’s tail.

So much about myself had changed.  Even my already-long hair had grown longer. I felt around my face and didn’t notice any change, but my ears were different. They felt pointier.  And I had some sort of openings on either side of my neck. Gills? I wouldn’t have believed any of this if I wasn’t experiencing it first-hand. But how had this happened?

The tide was slowly coming in, and I knew I would be able to swim out into that ocean, would be able to breath under the waves. But where would I go? I was all alone in this. And just as I thought those words, I heard him call to me.

Aigean! He was singing something soft and soothing. The melody called to me, and I moved myself deeper into the waves, wanting to get closer to his voice. As the water enveloped me, I found myself gliding easily through it. I followed his voice, but despite the allure of his call, I realized I didn’t want to just follow him around. I wanted him to come to me.

With the ease of someone born to it, I started singing. I’d never heard the song before that came so easily to my lips, but I felt its magic as it reached out towards him, ensnaring him as surely as he had ensnared me. I could feel him moving through the water, closer to me.

No, I wouldn’t be alone.

1,433 words

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Once Upon a Time Anthology

My flash fiction story "The Guardian" and Robert's flash fiction story "What Daddy Doesn't Know Won't Hurt Him" will be available in an anthology of Unexpected Fairytales along with 88 other stories! It will be available as a print book or ebook! It will hopefully be ready in time to coincide with National Flash Fiction Day on 16th May (when the WINNERS of the contest these stories were entered into will also be announced).

These stories were all contest entries for the Once Upon a Time flash fiction contest of Unexpected Fairytales, hosted by Anna Meade from Yearning for Wonderland and Susi Holliday from SJI Holliday. They had 88 entries into the contest, and, with the inclusion of their own stories, that will make 90 stories for the anthology.

I have had a read through all of the stories in the competition, and I thought all of them were fantastic works of fiction that used fabulous wordplay and wonderfully creative imagination. Some of the stories were remakes of old fairytales with a twist, one was written as a poem, and some were completely new fairytales.

I will be sure to announce when the book is available for purchase, and I hope that you will go out and buy one!

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The Magic of Storytelling

I come from a family of storytellers.

When I was a little girl, my grandfather lived with us, and he was a storyteller. He often spun tales about his past as a cowboy on a ranch in Texas, and, as children, my siblings and I loved hearing his stories. He had a way of telling the stories that made us listen closely and wonder at all of the things he experienced. Even though he had immigrated to the US from Germany as a small child and moved to California in his later years, he had a slight Texas accent from spending so much time there.

My brothers, sisters and I felt an almost hero worship for him and believed every word of the stories he told us, despite the rolling of eyes that some of the adults displayed when he started telling one of his stories. One thing I learned from these stories my grandfather told was that stories are a wonderful way to learn about people.

My grandmother was a storyteller too. Her stories were about the different plants she grew and the animals around her home. She told us stories about the squirrels in the garden who would come and eat nuts from her hand and the hummingbirds who would flit to and fro right in front of her face as they came to visit and feed from the hummingbird feeder she had out in her garden. As an animal lover, I loved hearing about the animals in her garden and their frequent visits. One thing I learned from the stories my grandmother told was that stories helped us to learn about our surroundings.

My other grandmother told me stories about my relatives and ancestors, and I had a great-uncle who once took me on a drive from San Jose, California to Bakersfield, California to visit my cousin, and he spent the whole trip telling me stories about the "old highway" trails (even pointing them out to me along the way). He pointed out things of historical significance and would explain how things had changed, both from progress and from earthquakes that had moved mountains and rockfaces. From both of their stories, I learned that stories can teach us about history.

I grew up to have children of my own, and one thing that my children loved was our bedtime routine, because they got to choose a story for me to read to them. Sometimes, they asked me to tell them a "made-up" story, which was a story I would think up on the spot and tell them, usually about children like them with their names and with different adventures they would get into. They loved these "made-up" stories more than the ones I read from books. I hope these stories helped to spark their own imaginations.

Storytelling is magical in that it can teach and inspire. It can create emotion in the listener. It brings our past and our present together and even opens windows into new realities. History is relived. Worlds are built and worlds fall. New creatures are created and extinct creatures are brought back to life. Anything can happen in a story. A storyteller weaves a magic unparallelled.

Do you have storytellers in your family?

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The Guardian - contest entry for the OUAT flash fiction contest

My friends Anna and Susi are running another flash fiction contest, the Once Upon a Time flash fiction contest. The challenge is to write an unexpected fairytale within 350 words.

The Guardian

Cassie found a fluffy orange cat in the bushes outside her bedroom window. He was growling and hissing and looking very grumpy. He was huddled under her bushes and he looked as if he’d been through a fight. He had some small cuts and he was dirty with lots of twigs and leaves stuck in his fur.

She couldn’t leave him like that, so for the next hour, she coaxed and cajoled, trying to get him to come out to her. Finally, with the help of a can of tuna from her kitchen cupboard, she managed to get the dirty and hurt cat to come out from the cover of the bushes. She left him eating the tuna and was surprised when she got up to go inside her house and he followed her right in.

Later that night, as Cassie slept, her window flew open and the dark creature entered. It had been watching her for days.  She was destined to fight his kind, blood suckers, evil fae and demons alike; her birth had been foretold centuries ago. But he would stop her before she ever even came into her power.

A cat lay at her feet and he pushed it aside as he closed in on her. He leaned in close over her, preparing one long, sharp fingernail to slice her throat. That’s when he felt the burning pain of the silver sword pierce his heart. He turned, surprise on his face and saw a boy standing behind him, sword in hand. “Where did you come from?” he whispered as he fell into eternal sleep and his body crumbled into dust.

The boy put the blade back into its scabbard. He leaned over, giving Cassie a gentle kiss to her cheek, and slowly shifted back into the rough orange cat he had been moments before. He jumped back onto the bed and settled against Cassie’s leg. He would protect her. It was his duty.

327 words




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Interview with Author Genevieve Petrillo and Cupcake the Blogging Dog

Genevieve Petrillo is a wonderful and inspirational friend who I met in the 12 x 12 in 2012 picture book writing challenge. She recently turned 60 and has an adorable 5 year old dog named Cupcake. Genevieve is not the only writer in her home as her dog Cupcake writes for her own blog. We are fortunate today as, not only has Genevieve kindly agreed to answer our interview questions, but her sweet little dog Cupcake is also taking part in this interview.

Tell us a little about yourselves.

Genevieve:  
I was born, grew up, played and worked within the same few towns in northern New Jersey.  I was an elementary school teacher for 34 years.  I LOVED being a teacher, and feel very blessed to have spent my days working and playing with kids and actually getting paid for it!  Being around children day in and day out was inspirational!


Since I retired, I keep busy supervising student teachers for Bloomfield College, reading books on tape with Ocean County Volunteers for the Blind, and as part of a therapy dog team with TheraPet.

Cupcake:
I lived all over the place till Mom found me and brought me to our forever home.


When Mom brings me to the Veterans Home, I make disabled veterans smile and remember happy times.  I cuddle and snuggle and get treats. We also work at the public library where kids read stories to me, and I cuddle and snuggle and get treats.

Do you use a pen name? 


Genevieve: No pen name for me! I waited WAY too long to see my name - on a book - on a shelf - in the library – at the bookstore.  

Cupcake:
Before I was rescued, my name was Ka-Ka.  Mom named me Cupcake because I’m so sweet.

Do you have any writing accomplishments to share with us? 


Genevieve:
My first (and hopefully not last) picture book, Keep Your Ear on the Ball (Tilbury, 2007), earned a Moonbeam Award and recently became part of the IBBY Documentation Centre of Books for Disabled Young People.  It’s the story of Davey, a blind 3^rd grader, and his sighted classmates, learning an important lesson about interdependence.  The story is based on the year I spent in a sighted classroom learning from David DeNotaris, a blind boy who changed my “view” of life, teaching, accomplishment, and acceptance. There’s a link to his website on my website.

Cupcake: Mom wrote a story about ME, and I’m hoping it gets published so I can go along on Author Visits.  Then I won’t have to look out the window all day.


Genevieve:
My stories, poetry, teaching ideas, kiddie recipes, and craft activities have been published in lots of children’s and teachers’ magazines, including: Spider, Highlights, Ladybug, Turtle, Creative Classroom, and Instructor.  One of my poems appeared on the NJ ASK, standardized test, and I recently sold a poem to the publishers of an English language textbook in Belgium!

Cupcake:
Once I ate a piece of ham.

What type of writing do you do? What genre do you write in? 


Genevieve: I consider myself a poet and picture book author.  I am not at all snobbish about submitting my stories to magazines.  Would I rather see them as picture books?  Of course! Is it exciting and thrilling to be in a magazine, knowing thousands of kids are reading my words? OF COURSE! 


Cupcake: I don’t know how to write, but once I chewed a pen and some colored pencils. Mom helps me write my blog where I tell about my life as the pet of a children’s author.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? What was it about writing that drew you to it?

Genevieve: I was always a pencil and paper kid, “making books” every time I found a piece of scrap paper around the house.  As a teenager, I created countless unfinished “novels” filled with teen angst. It was in college that I started thinking I’d really be able to be a published writer.  When I was teaching, the ideas were EVERYWHERE, but I only wrote in the summer, because teaching is a full-time job and 65 part-time jobs combined.


Cupcake: One night, I typed QQQQQQQ when I fell asleep with my ear on Mom’s iPad.)

What books/authors have influenced your writing?


Genevieve: I can’t say there are books/authors that have inspired me – well, OK – Judy Blume, Dr. Seuss, Cynthia Lord, Treasure Island, The Wizard of Oz.....but it was really my 5^th grade teacher Mrs. Nelson who read stories to us every single day right before the bell rang, and always left us wanting more.  In 5^th grade we were certainly too-cool-for-school, but Mrs. Nelson immersed us, pulled us in, and made us love words, stories, language, learning, listening, and imagining.  It’s why I became a teacher, and it’s why I became a writer.  I wanted to make kids feel the way she made us feel.


Cupcake: My favorite stories have dogs in them.  My least favorite story is The Cat in the Hat.  I don’t like cats and I don’t like hats.

What are your current writing projects?


Genevieve: I’m always working on multiple projects.  Right now, I’m part of 12x12in’12, so I am creating a new picture book manuscript each month, which is easy to say in February.  Check back with me in October, when I may or may not have lost my mind.

Cupcake: I’m learning to fetch. Apparently, there’s something about bringing the ball BACK involved.  I don’t get that “coming back” part.)

Do you ever experience writer’s block? How do you get through it?


Genevieve: I don’t feel writer’s block.  I actually set a timer and write for exactly an hour a day. I stop writing after an hour, even if I’m in the middle of a word.  This ensures that I will know what I’m doing when I sit down to write the next day.  I also work on many projects at once, so if one story turns to a rock, I work on something else.


Cupcake: I am afraid of soccer players.  When I see them playing in the field by my house, Mom has to carry me because I turn to a statue and forget how to walk.)

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?


Genevieve: The most challenging thing about writing is getting the work to the right place at the right time, and having somebody say, “We LOVE your work and we want to buy it!”


Cupcake:
I was in the right place at the right time when Mom adopted me.  I was smaller than she wanted and older than she wanted, but it was love at first sight. She said, “I LOVE her! This is my new dog!”)

What do you love most about writing?


Genevieve: I love visiting schools to read my book and talk about being a writer.


Cupcake: Mom also loves going to “work” in her pajamas!

Is there anything that you have learned about yourself through writing/pursuing your career as a writer?  

Genevieve: I used to think that after 100 rejections I’d give up the idea of being published.  I’m well past the 100 mark, and I’m still going strong.  I guess I’m more determined (relentless) than I thought I was.

Cupcake: I love wearing cute dresses.

If you could become one of your characters for a day, would you? (and who/why?)


Genevieve: I’d like to be Chrissy from my story Chrissy’s Terrific Sneakers.  She’s an imaginative little girl who uses her old, outgrown sneakers for everything from a hermit crab cave to a tree house elevator to a water dish for her kitten.  I like how she thinks out of the box, and what writer wouldn’t want to be overflowing with ideas!?


Cupcake:
I am already a character in one of Mom’s stories! Cupcake Learns is about how I went from being naughty to being a good girl and a therapy pet.

Do you have any advice for other writers?


Genevieve: I would tell writers to say YES to everything.  Say yes to ideas that you don’t think will develop.  Say yes to submitting to unlikely places, like online poetry sites, and small magazines.  Say yes to entering contests. And say yes to invitations, which are marketing opportunities.


Cupcake: I would tell writers to always have a dog in every story they write.

***********

Please thank Genevieve and Cupcake for sharing a part of their writing journeys with us by leaving a comment below.

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Susannah Hill's "Phyllis" comes to Wiltshire

Susanna Leonard Hill's book "April Fool's Phyllis!" is taking a tour of the US, the UK and Europe. Phyllis arrived here in Wiltshire, England on Saturday and the very next day, my family and I took Phyllis to visit Avebury. Avebury is home to the largest stone cirle in the world. Avebury's henge is not as well-known as Stone Henge, but it is more accessible. You can walk along Avebury and touch or sit on the stones, which we did!




Here is Phyllis sitting on the Blacksmith's Stone with all seven of my children and my son-in-law.





Here is Phyllis sitting on the same stone with my youngest son Cameron.




Phyllis traipsed with us past Silbury Hill. No one knows why this man-made hill was created.




She was very interested in the pagan tree we came across while we hiked around Avebury.




Did I mention that there were sheep?



Here is Phyllis sitting on a large stone all by herself.




Phyllis refused to sit on the Devil's Stone with the rest of the family. (According to Susanna, Phyllis might have been scared it would recognize her! ;) )



The weather was beautiful and sunny with medium humidity, and it was about 18 degrees, so nice and warm. There was a slight breeze as well.

Phyllis bought a post card in The Henge, a souvenir store close to the stone circles.




On Phyllis' last day in Wiltshire, she spent some time enjoying the daffodils in Swindon.




Phyllis' next stop will be to see Birmingham! By the end of her journey, she is going to be so well-traveled!



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Tag - The Lucky 7 Meme!

My sweet friend, Elizabeth Stevens Omlor, tagged me with it! Her blogs are over at Perched in a Tree and Banana Peelin'. You must check her out! 

Alright, so here are the rules to the Lucky 7 MEME:

1. Go to page 77 of your current ms. (Now to pick which one of the manuscripts I am working on to use for this.)

2. Go to line 7.

3. Copy down the next 7 lines/sentences, and post them as they're written. No cheating.

4. Tag 7 other authors!

Okay, so the ms I am working on is called

                                              
Ordinary Magic

Here we go with line #7 of page 77:

Things I write about don’t just become real! Immediately after this thought, Olivia remembered the cats in the front garden.

I’m going crazy, thought Olivia. It’s the only explanation! Yet despite her disbelief, she found herself determined and eager to test the theory out. If her writing was coming to life, the possibilities of what she could do were mind-boggling! She was getting excited just thinking about it, even though a part of her kept telling herself that it wasn’t possible, that there had to be some other explanation for the cats, the necklace and the mind reading.

*****

Okay, I did my part! Here are my Lucky 7 choices!

 Barbara Mack  from Barb's Bookshelf

Kelly Karsner Clarke from Literary Delusions

Jackie Castle from The Castle Library

Brenda Harris from Draw a Circle

Pamela Courtney from My LMNOP READS to Kids

Nicole Zoltack from Nicole Zoltack: Where Fantasy & Love Take Flight

Louise Nottingham from Poetic Louise

Thanks again, Elizabeth! Check these blogs out, guys!


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How Not to Turn Readers Against You as an Author of Series Books

I think a lot of authors don't seem to understand SERIES books and what they are about. They are not about selling a book with no ending. I keep coming across books that are well written until I get to the end and then feel cheated because they're so completely not finished. That just makes me too angry to buy the next book in the series, strictly on principle.


Look at Harry Potter books. Each book had a complete story. Yes, the Harry Potter books had an over-arching story that carried on through all of the books but you never felt cheated at the end of one of the books.

Or you can look at books like My Dead Boyfriend by Barbara Rose. In this book, you get a complete story. Then, if you choose to read the excerpt from the next story that is in the back of the book, you find out that things change in the second book and something new happens to the main characters. The first book has a resolution, and then, in the second book, a new adventure forms from there. The new adventure might be related to the one in the first book, but you are not left, at the end of the first book, feeling as though the story is incomplete.

I don't mind if there is something that carries over in the book. I just don't think EVERYTHING should be left hanging. The book has to have an ending that leaves the reader feeling like they've finished the book.

If the book is well-written and the characters well thought-out and portrayed, then the reader will WANT to buy the next in the series. You don't need to end the book on a cliffhanger with no resolution in order to get the reader to buy the next book. Doing that smacks of manipulation and, as a reader, I can say, it turns me off from wanting to buy any more books from that author.

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Interview with Author Beth Stilborn

I met Beth Stilborn in the 12 x 12 in 2012 picture book writing challenge. She is incredibly helpful to other authors and she's full of great ideas. She agreed to do an interview here so I could share a bit about her and her writing journey with you all.



Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm 55 and I grew up on a farm on the Canadian prairies, and still live on the prairies, although I have lived in a city for most of my adult life. I worked in a university library, in the acquisitions department, for over twenty years – that made use of a skill I’ve honed throughout my life, buying books. My love of the arts is evident in much of my writing. It’s a love that began when I was a small child, listening to my mother sing. My love of pretending has grown into a love of the craft of acting (although I haven’t done as much acting as I would like to do) as well as the craft of writing. My website/blog can be found at BethStilborn.com. Its predecessor now serves as an archive. I also have a writer page on Facebook and cna be found on Twitter.

Do you use a pen name? Why or why not?

I plan to publish my children’s books using my “everyday” name, Beth Stilborn. After a brief flirtation with using my full name in what I thought was a creative way, Elizabethanne Stilborn, I decided that was simply too long and cumbersome, so I reverted to “Beth”. I have hymn texts that have already been published using my name as Elizabeth Stilborn, so I will retain that for any future hymns I publish. I intend to use a pen name based on my great-grandmother’s maiden name, Liv Andrews, for my adult fiction. I want to use different names for the different genres to keep each genre/age group/target audience separate.

What type of writing do you do? What genre do you write in?
I write picture books, middle grade novels, adult fiction, poetry, and hymn texts. Much of my fiction has a linkage to the arts in some way. My hymn texts (and some of my fiction) usually incorporate some sort of call to justice.

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? What was it about writing that drew you to it?

I love stories. I’ve made up stories for as long as I can remember, although they weren’t always written down. Writing, like acting, is a socially acceptable way for an adult to pretend! I did some writing as a teen, including one hymn text that was published when I was 15 or 16, and dabbled a bit from time to time in picture books and other genres during my twenties. I really began writing about seventeen or eighteen years ago, but didn’t have the time to devote to it, nor did I have the training to make the most of it (and I was far too insecure at that point to join any sort of writing group or take courses in creative writing – that came much later).

Two moments in my life are like signposts on my journey, and they stand out in my memory to this day. In one university class, I used to see my classmates’ papers returned with hardly a note on them, while mine were always marked thoroughly with red pen lines, marks, questions. I wondered why the prof was always “picking on me.” Until the last paper he handed back to me. It had no marks on it whatsoever, just a good grade, and the words “Keep writing.” Ah. That’s what the corrections and feedback had been about. Also, one night in the mid 1990s my mother said to me in a phone conversation, “Why don’t you write?” I started a story that night, and I’ve been writing one thing or another ever since.

Where do you get your ideas for your writing?

My childhood, things I see around me, things I wish had been available for me to read when I was a kid, things I hear children say – I get ideas from all kinds of sources. Ideas are everywhere, if you’re sensitive to them.

What books/authors have influenced your writing?

I can’t specifically point to books and authors I’ve read that have influenced my writing (although there are many that have influenced my life). What has influenced my writing most has been my association with children’s author and editor, Emma Walton Hamilton. I learned a great deal from taking her online/home study picture book writing course “Just Write for Kids” and I have continued to learn through her monthly teleseminars for her writers’ group, the Children’s Book Hub. Her manuscript evaluations of some of my work have been invaluable. Emma and I now collaborate as co-administrators of the Children’s Book Hub Facebook Group, and that, too has been a great learning experience and has broadened the scope of my reading (as I look for content that will interest Hub members). That can only have a positive effect on my writing. (Any writer or illustrator, aspiring or established, who is interested in joining the Children’s Book Hub Facebook Group can request membership.)

What are your current writing projects?

Without going into specifics, because I don’t like sharing specifics of pre-published projects, I have a picture book that’s submission-ready, another one that’s being evaluated by a freelance editor (this is a second evaluation for this manuscript, I like to get her to look at it after I’ve reworked it after her first comments), three that will soon be ready for manuscript evaluation, and several ideas in the works. I’m working on a middle grade novel – the first draft is done (although the first draft has been through about three different iterations, so I’m not sure it’s really a “first” draft) and I’m working on the revision process. I’m revisiting an adult novel that I thought was finished, but may need some reworking, and I want to get back to another adult novel that has been novel, then screenplay, then novel again. It holds a particular place in my heart, and I want to get at it again.

Do you ever experience writer’s block? How do you get through it?

I’m constantly amazed at how the ideas just flow when I sit down to write, so my problem isn’t really writer’s block, it’s more writer’s procrastination. I’m trying to be disciplined about my writing – this is my job, and I need to treat it as such.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Creating a logical plot arc is one of my major challenges – telling a story instead of just stitching together a crazy quilt of events.

What do you love most about writing?

I love losing myself in another character’s world, looking at life through someone else’s eyes. As I’ve said before, for me writing, like acting, is a socially acceptable way of pretending. When I was a child, I was always pretending to be someone else, trying to get all the character nuances just right, thinking what life would be like for that person. That’s what I love to do now, creating my characters and looking at life as they see it and live it.

Is there anything that you have learned about yourself through writing/pursuing your career as a writer?

I have learned that I have a lot more strength than I ever thought possible. I have learned that I have something valuable to contribute to others’ lives.

If you could become one of your characters for a day, would you? (and who/why?)

Yes, I would. I’d love to be the irascible, outspoken man who is the protagonist of the adult novel/screenplay/novel project. He’s different from any other character I’ve written, crusty but with a heart of gold. He speaks his mind; he’s highly creative; he’s keenly intelligent, both in his field of work and in people-smarts. He works in a creative field, he lives surrounded by creative people. It would be so stimulating intellectually and emotionally to have his life for a little while. (It would be exhausting to be him for long, though!)

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Trust yourself. Write what you care about. Don’t be afraid. Seek feedback from people who know their stuff. Take courses. Write, write, and write some more. Join organizations such as SCBWI. Go to conferences and workshops. Network with other writers. Learn about the building blocks of story – plotting, creating characters. Take acting lessons. Learn how actors get into character, how they develop backstories for their characters. Read, read, and read some more. And, as my prof said, “Keep writing.”

Please leave Beth some comments and let her know you appreciate her taking the time to share with us a bit about her writing journey.



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A Crafty Interview with Author & llustrator Hannah Holt

Author/illustrator Hannah Holt is favoring us today with a craft and interview. She blogs about healthy kid's snacks and crafts over at her Lightbulb Books blog.

First up, the craft: DIY Oval Chalkboard

Create your own oval chalkboard for under $10.



What you'll need:

a 12” by 9” wooden board (sanded, about $4)
black acrylic or wood paint (to prime, $2)
chalkboard spray paint ($2)
a sheet of paper torn from an old over-sized book (free)
½ inch rickrack ($1)
white glue sponge brush
a plastic card a paper towel
this oval pattern (Click "download file" on bottom right.)

Step 1) Prime the wood by painting the entire surface black. Use the sponge brush to create a smooth finish. Let the paint dry.

Step 2) Spray a thin coat of chalkboard paint onto the wood. Let this coat dry and then spray at least one more coat. I recommend 3-4 thin coats. Let dry for 24 hours.

Step 3) Cut your over-sized sheet of paper to fit the board. Then download and print the oval pattern provided here and use this pattern to cut an oval out of the middle of your paper. Be sure to center the oval before you cut. Sadly the pattern is not perfectly centered within the page. My pdf writer was giving me grief today.



Step 4) Using chalk and the cut out sheet of paper, trace an oval on the center of your wooden board.

Step 5) Mix white glue with water in a 1:1 ratio. You'll need about 2 Tbl of white glue and 2 Tbl of water for this project. Paint around the outside of the circle with the diluted glue.



Step 6) Place the paper with the oval cutout over the glue and smooth with the side of the plastic card. You'll want to remove ALL the bubbles.



Step 7) Paint diluted glue over the top of the paper. Dab off excess glue with a paper towel.



Step 8) Put a stripe of undiluted glue around the interior of the oval, and press the rickrack into the glue. Let the glue dry overnight, and you're all done!

And now for the interview part of this post!



Me: Thanks Hannah! With so many kid's craft blogs out there, what made you decide to do one?

Hannah: Well, it's something I love. Also most of the crafts I post on my blog are originals. You can't find them anywhere else. Creativity provides me with a small monopoly that way.

Me: Is it true you provide all your own artwork and photography for your website?

Hannah: Yes. I think that's pretty standard stuff for artist/illustrator sites. Most creative people understand the importance of not using of someone else's material without permission.

Me: With four kids six and under, where do you find the time to make all your creations?

Hannah: We do a lot of drawing together as a family. Most days my kids and I crowd around our big kitchen table with papers and pens to compare doodlings. Just the other day my four year old asked, “Mom, would you make me a maze?” He likes it when I make activity pages because he gets to try them first.

Me: And the babies? Do they like to draw?

Hannah: No. They sit under the table and eat any papers that fall on the floor.

Me: Art scavengers?

Hannah: Exactly.

Me: When do you write your picture books?

Hannah: I haven't been as diligent about writing picture books since my twins were born last year. That's one reason I'm excited about Julie Hedlund's 12x12 challenge. The challenge is forcing me to get stories out on paper. So far the stories I've written haven't been very good. I'm hoping with enough pump priming, I'll have a few decent ideas by the end of the year.

Me: Anything else my readers should really know about you?

Hannah: I suffer from chronic foot-in-mouth disease. I have a lot of strong opinions, and I'm all too happy to share them. If I've offended anyone, please know I don't intend it as a personal attack. I love meeting new people with differing ideas. Don't worry about offending me. I have a pretty thick skull skin when it comes to taking offense.

Me: Thanks so much for answer my questions today.

Hannah: My pleasure. Thanks for having me.


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Princess Parade Flash Fiction Contest

I'm running a little contest on one of my other blogs, Princess Parade.  It is the Princess Parade Flash Fiction Contest. There is a prize for 1st place, bought and sent by me. It's in protest against some of the drivel published as stories about princesses for little girls. It can be written for adults or kids but needs to be family-friendly. Find out more about it and the details of submitting over here.

Don't you want the chance to write something that paints its female protagonist as stong, confident and ready to take on the world?

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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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The Faeries' Dance

I was reading from some friends and found out that my friend Tonya submitted an entry to a writing contest. About Fairies. Some of you know that I also have a blog that is all about fairies. I just couldn't pass this flash Fiction writing contest up! So I’m posting it here as my entry to The Fairy Ring Writing Contest. (You can read Tonya's entry here.)

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The moonlight filtered through the trees to my right as I walked along the well-worn path. I loved walking here at night.  This park was more natural than some of the over-cultivated parks closer to my home, and I preferred it to them. It was quieter her too.  Leaves crunched under my feet and a cool breeze lifted my hair gently. I shivered, but it wasn’t because I was cold. I just had an odd feeling settle in the pit of my stomach, like something wasn’t quite right in the air around me.

That’s when I heard the laughter. It was carried on the breeze and just barely tickled my ear with its gleeful sound. It sounded like children were playing on a distant playground, but I knew it was too late for children to be out. My steps faltered. I suddenly wondered if it was safe to be out alone tonight.

But the soft laughter continued to tickle my ears and then I saw the lights. There must have been dozens of them, in every color imaginable. They floated in the air towards me and began to swirl around me, making me almost dizzy as I tried to focus on them. The lights grew and expanded and soon I could see shapes taking form within them. In moments, I was surrounded by dozens of dancing men and women. They all had a faint glow about them and wispy glittery wings on their backs.

They were beautiful and graceful and I felt myself pulled with a wild abandon into their dance. I felt like I could dance forever. The dancing was sensual and energetic and I could feel the movements singing through my veins as if I was catching fire from the inside out. I woke on the forest floor.

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word count: 300 words

I must admit that I struggled a little with keeping my entry to 300 words. You can read my first, slightly longer draft here.

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A Valentine's Day Chance (Short Poem)

My friend Susanna Leonard Hill from the 12 x 12 in 2012 picture book challenge has started a little contest on her blog. In it, she gives us:

A children's story, poetry or prose, maximum 200 words, about unlikely Valentines, posted on your blog (or in the comment section of mine) between Saturday February 11 and Monday February 13 at 5 PM EST. Add your entry-specific link to the link list on my blog so we can all come read your entries! There will be no new post on Monday so the link list will stay up. Instead, I will have a hitherto unheard of Tuesday post to celebrate Valentines Day, and that post will list 3 finalists (or possibly a couple more - you know how bad I am at choosing :)) for you all to vote on. The winner will be announced on Friday February 17 and will receive his/her choice of a copy of Ann Whitford Paul's Writing Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide From Story Creation To Publication or a picture book ms critique from yours truly.

So I whipped up this short poem as my entry. I used to be better at writing rhyming poems, but I am out of practice, and today my brain is also a little bit fried as I am just getting over the flu. But nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this brief entry. It was inspired my animal-loving daughter Isabella. A Valentine’s Day Chance It was almost Valentine’s Day, A day meant for love and romance. But poor Isabella had no one at all To partner with for the Valentine’s dance. Isabella felt alone and sad. She really felt down and blue. She would have continued feeling this way If she hadn’t thought of something to do. Who was it that she trusted the most? Who was it that she loved most of all? Who was it that she liked to be with? Who could she dance with at the ball? There was only one being on this Earth, With whom Bella decided was of worth. So Isabella made her way to the dance With her most beloved of friends, Her adorable puppy named Chance. Tweet

FCG #1: Thinning Of The Veil: The Escape

#1 Challenge

Challenge: Write a short story from the third person POV.
Genre: Open
Word Count: 1500 words
Judges: Jodi Cleghorn & Christopher Chartrand


Please go and vote for my story in the Form and Genre Challenge. Thinning of the Veil: The Escape
How did she get into this? Bella didn’t know how she had ended up in this predicament. Just last week, she was a normal 15 year old girl with a normal life. She talked about boys with her friends and worried about her grades and what to wear to the Spring Dance.

How had things come to this?

“Are you ready?” The voice sounded soft but assured. Bella looked up at the girl who had spoken to her. Gabby was petite. She had died her brown hair jet black and had dark eyeliner outlining her eyes and her very dark purple lipstick accentuated her lips and matched the purple streak in the front portion of her hair. Her expression was serious.

“Yah. Let’s do it,” Bella was as ready as she was ever going to be.
This was the night they were going to escape.

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Bella had arrived here at the Brogden Mental Care Institute scared and unsure. The orderly, sensible world she had known all of her life had seemingly changed overnight.

It all started last week. A sound had woken her from her sleep. At first, she thought the eerie howling sound was just the wind moaning against the windows. But as she sleepily blinked the sleep out of her eyes, she noticed a shape across her room, not two feet from her bed.

As her eyes focused, she decided she must be dreaming, because what she was seeing could not possibly be real. The creature before her was standing about 6 feet tall, covered in a combination of scales and fur, and had a feline snout with the fangs to match. It was making an odd sound that was a cross between a howl and a moan. Long, sharp claws stretched out from its fingers. Its wide eyes looked frightened, but it’s appearance was ferocious. Bella was about to leap from her bed and run, but at that moment, the creature blurred from her focus and slowly disappeared.

A bad dream. It must have been just a bad dream.

Or at least, that’s what she told herself. But it had only been the beginning.

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Later that day at school, Bella had been sitting through a particularly boring math lesson when she heard a strange hissing noise. She peered behind her but didn’t see anything. When the hissing noise returned coming from the right, she looked over only to see another freakish creature. This one looked like someone had patched together pieces from a man and a lizard and had come up with something that didn’t quite match. A scaly, green arm with claws on one side was accompanied by a very human arm on the other side. The head was a lizard’s, but with all-too-human eyes and a human intelligence peering out from them. A lizard’s tail swished side to side from a human torso and lower half, but like the arms, one leg was lizard, one was human. A snake-like tongue flicked from the mouth and a slow, hissing noise emitted from the creature.

Why was no one looking towards it? Couldn’t anyone else see it?

The clawed hand rose up as if to strike Susie Mayfield who was sitting to Bella’s right. Before she could even think about what she was doing, Bella leapt from her seat. “No!!!” she shouted as she reached up to block the strike. The clawed hand came down and scratched Bella’s upraised arm. Three gashes appeared where the claws had torn her skin, but they weren’t as deep as they felt.

Bella screamed in pain, and the entire class, at last, looked her way. The lizard-man raised its arm again but was already starting to fade away. In seconds, it was completely gone.

Everyone was staring at her in complete silence, and she recognized the surprise and fear in their faces. She also saw confusion and she knew then that no one had seen what she had seen.

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The school nurse cleaned up the scratches on Bella’s arm. And that’s when the questions began. Had there been any trouble at home? Anything she needed to talk about? Was she feeling any stress lately? How was school? And many more questions were asked in this vein. She answered honestly. Everything was fine at home. Her grades at school were good. There wasn’t anything to talk about, because she knew if she mentioned the two creatures she would only sound crazier than the nurse already thought she was.

Throughout the week, more creatures kept appearing to her, and she was the only one who seemed to see them. She even saw one of the strange creatures (and they all seemed to take on different forms) attack a boy at school, but it had just gone through the boy as if it had been a ghost with no physical presence at all. But then, she wondered, how had the lizard-man actually scratched her? The wounds were not as deep as they should have been with those razor sharp claws, but they had still pierced her skin.

Several times, she had confronted or run from the creatures she had seen, and people had started to talk. She could see the looks in her own parents’ faces. They thought she was crazy.

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It had only taken one week for her to end up here at the Brogden Mental Care Institute. Her parents were scared for her, not knowing what all of her outbursts had been caused from and fearing for her mental health. The doctor at the center had told them she was having a mental breakdown, and they had admitted her to the center.

One good thing had come from being forced into this virtual prison. She had met Gabby.

Gabby had been in and out of mental institutions her whole life. She was a daughter of a senator and his wife. She had two brothers. She had been having visions her whole life. And her very respected-in-the-community father was embarrassed by her.

Gabby wore black clothing and black make-up, and, even when she wasn’t having visions, she never seemed to be altogether present. Bella thought that, if Gabby’s visions were real, then it must have been all the years in mental institutions that had finally driven Gabby a bit insane. But Gabby was sweet, and Gabby had been the first person to believe her.

Isabella had begun to believe that she really was going crazy and that the things she kept seeing were just a product of an overstressed mind, but, from the moment she met Gabby, having been put into the same room with her at the Brogden Mental Health Institute, Gabby had believed her.

Gabby had asked her why she was there, and when Bella, a bit unsure of herself, had cautiously described what she had been seeing, Gabby had told her, “What you see is real. I know because I’ve seen them too.” And from that moment on, their friendship had been firmly established.

And the two of them knew immediately that they had to get out. Something in the world was changing, and if they were the only ones who could see it, they were the only ones who could stop it. And the Brogden Mental Care Institute felt like a prison, but more importantly, it did not feel safe.

And that's why they were breaking out, tonight.

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This is my entry to the Form & Genre Challenge #1. It is very rough. I hope you enjoy reading it despite it being a rough draft! If you like it, please let me know. It's the beginning to a much longer story that has been calling to my writing instincts. I think I might have already missed the date it was due for the challenge, but I decided to take part in it anyway, even if I'm late!



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I Was Awarded the Liebster Blog Award!

I have won the Liebster Blog award from a new friend from the 12 x 12 in 2012 group, Anna at Green Tea & Toast.

As part of the award, I have to share five things about myself, then pass the torches on to five other worthy bloggers. So here goes:


1. I have lost more weight than I weigh and will never, ever gain it back. I'm actually a bit OCD about my eating and exercise habits now.

2. I am incredibly insecure, not just sometimes but ALL THE TIME. But I try and ignore it and get on with putting myself "out there" regardless.

3. My favorite color is blue, but my favorite color to wear is green (due to it looking better with my red hair and freckles.)

4. I feel closer to some of my Facebook friends whom I have never met in person than I do with most of the friends I see every day.

5. Robert and I met on-line nearly thirteen years ago. We recently celebrated our 10th anniversary.


The Liebster Award is designed to help drive traffic to blogs with fewer than 200 followers. It's a tough decision with so many fabulous ones out there, but without further ado I’m awarding them to…

1. Donna Martin's blog On The Write Track

2. Barbara Mack's blog Barb's Bookshelf

3. Kayecee Spain's blog Life Over Here

4. Kriss Morton-Weekley's blog The Cabin Goddess

5. Marie Patchen's blog Mynx Writes


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