Character Spotlight: Marita Kadlec

Since Felix got some time in the sun yesterday, it's only fair that Marita take the spotlight today.

Marita Kadlec

Ah, and who is this Marita, you ask? I'm so glad you're curious. Allow me to give you an archived set of questions from Cait's blog, shamelessly borrowed from the no-longer-live linkup, Beautiful People. Here, we will discover more (or less) about this mysterious Marita -- who, somehow, has not been properly introduced before now on my blog.

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1. What’s their favourite food? (Bonus: favourite flavour of chocolate!)

Her grandmother's stew. Hearty and thick and filling and savory, it's just the thing Marita craves on cold nights. Now, chocolate? She definitely seems like a dark chocolate kind of girl. Dark, but still rich and a little sweet.

2. What do they absolutely hate?

Spinning. Marita's convinced the spindle hates her, because no matter how careful she is, she's always pricking her finger and staining her aprons with the blood. There are only so many scars one can put on a fingertip. However, being the only daughter of a spinner, she's expected to take up the family business.

3. What do they enjoy learning about?

She enjoys tinkering and inventing, and she's very curious to figure out how things work and why they work the way they do. She wants to know how she can make things work better.

4. Who is the most influential person in their life?

Probably her grandmother. Inga Kadlec isn't in the best of health, but she's been around basically since Marita was born. With her father away at the gambling tables so often, Marita has learned to rely on her grandmother for advice and friendship. The two of them became very close after an accident killed Marita's mother.

5. What is their childhood fear?

Failing and never earning recognition for what she wanted to do. Even at a young age, Marita was interested in tinkering, but continual failure at her projects made them impractical child's play in her father's eyes.

6. What is something they have always secretly dreamed of doing, but thought impossible?

Marita obviously wants to invent useful things, but she struggles with perfecting her inventions in the eyes of others. Her main goal right now is to complete a mechanical spinning wheel that will take over her spinning for her for the rest of her life. After that? Who knows?

7. What is something he is impractically afraid of?

People's expectations and thoughts about her and what she does.

8. Are they a night owl or morning person?

Definitely a night owl. Mornings do not agree with her at all. She'd rather sleep in as much as she can.

9. Do they say everything that pops into their head, or leave a lot unsaid?

She probably leaves more unsaid than not. She's not a stranger to talking, but she's just not used to opening up deeply to people to let them know what's really on her heart. After being brushed aside by her father so many times, she does have difficulty with trusting people -- especially on a personal level.

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And there we have it! For me, Marita was one of those characters who I had to get to know through writing her and following her around. Part of me expected her to be more hot-headed like Janelle had been in The Rose and the Balloon, but as her character came through the story, she was oddly calm. But reserved. Not so much as Disney's Aurora, however. I feel Marita has a little bit more backbone than that. At least, I hope she does.

One thing that I had fun with diving into her character was trying to find ways to keep her from sleeping. Sleeping Beauty is renowned for her 100 years of sleep, and I thought it would be fun to twist up the story and keep my Beauty awake. That was easier said than done, for Marita dearly loves her sleep -- much as Elizabeth Bennet dearly loves to laugh.

Important links to remember today:

• Add Spindle Dreams on Goodreads
• Instagram countdown to the release!

God bless!

Character Spotlight: Felix Barath

Welcome back to my week of shameless advertising!

I've realized that Spindle Dreams hasn't been much showcased on my blog. I recorded a short dialogue between myself and my Little Writer back in 2015 when I first began working on this story. After that, I remember posting snippets of the book here and here. And then I joined up with Melody's Quote Queste once here, and oddly enough that scene made it into the final edit of the book. Other than that, I've really only posted how much I wanted to publish it and how frustrating it was to hit so many setbacks.

But enough is enough, I always say. And this week, we're going to do this book some well-deserved justice and introduce it properly to the real world. Starting with introducing our lovely main leads. Staring with our humorous and handsome hero. (Also, yay for alliteration!)

Felix Barath

I debated how to do this post for only a few minutes before I decided to sneak into the archives on Cait's blog and steal a month of questions from the long-favorited, but sadly cancelled, Beautiful People.

Let's get to know Felix, shall we?

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1. What’s their favourite book/movie/play/etc.?

Since movies aren't around in the fantastical, fictional time period that I've created for Rohesia, I'm going to have to say books would be the only thing realistic from this list. Felix is typically an on-the-go kind of person, so he doesn't read a ton, but he enjoys short stories full of humor or a how-to book. He was never one to sit for a play or opera. 

2. Is there anything they regret doing?

As of right now, I can't think of anything he'd regret. He's had a good upbringing and education, he's active, he's got a good sense of humor. He desperately wishes he weren't plagued with these reoccurring nightmares, but he has no idea where they came from, what they mean, or how to get rid of them. 

3. If they were sick or wounded, who would take care of them and how?

His mother, hands down. Felix is an only child and is very close to his parents. They waited several years for a child before Felix was born, and she would be the one to stick to his bedside to nurse him back to perfect health from anything. 

4. Is there an object they can’t bear to part with and why?

Samson. His stubborn, mischievous horse. Felix loves him to death, even though many of his acquaintances are convinced Samson will be the death of him. 

5. What are 5 ways to win their heart (or friendship)?

1) Making him laugh. 2) Through his stomach. 3) Engaging in outdoor activities together. 4) Accepting his help when he offers it. 5) Being there to understand and sympathize when he is down. 

6. Describe a typical outfit for them from top to bottom.

Top to bottom, eh? Well, since Felix is a nobleman, he'd wear fine tunics and trousers, some with embroidery when the occasion demanded such frippery; his favorite outfits are ones that allow him to ride his incorrigible mount, Samson, around, particularly with a nice riding hat. However, Felix's silk stockings would normally go ripped and dirtied as he has picked up the odd habit of going about without his boots. 

7. What’s their favorite type of weather?

Anything but rain, really. Windy days are great to get out in, sunny days are great to get out in, snowy days are great to get out in, etc, etc. 

8. What’s the worst fight they’ve ever been in?

His latest fight with his father. Felix hates disappointing his dad, since his dad is basically his best friend, but they just can't seem to agree on what to do about these horrible nightmares plaguing Felix. 

9. What names or nicknames have they been called throughout their life?

Felix's closest friend growing up was his cousin, the Crown Prince Dmitri. However, Dmitri never told me if they'd ever had any nicknames. I feel a little left out knowing this now. 

10. What makes their heart feel alive?

Being needed. He loves helping people and making them laugh.

~*~

Felix was so much fun to write. Honestly, he was my little cinnamon roll from start to finish. I felt bad that I made him go through so much, but I knew he needed it. And he's all the better for it now, I'm sure.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about Felix today! Marita (our fearless heroine) will be featured with another set of Beautiful People questions tomorrow.

Important links to remember today:

• My Facebook Author Page 
• Spindle Dreams on Goodreads
• Book Review by Live. Love. Read.

Questions/comments/fangirling -- please drop me a comment below!

God bless!

(Shamelessly reminding you that I've written another book. Link.)

Cover Reveal: Spindle Dreams

At long, long last, I am delighted to finally share with you the cover we've been slaving over. I cannot begin to describe what a process this has been. My original hope had been to publish the book last October, but so many setbacks pushed the publication until now. As of right now, I'm still working on formatting the Kindle version, but happily, the paperback is all ready to go.

But you didn't want to know about that since the book won't be coming out until next week. You're just here for the cover. I know, I know.

To keep the REAL cover off your preliminary sneak peek, here's the original mock cover I put together when I began working on this story way back in 2015.

It was a good start, but I'll be the first to admit it wasn't the ideal cover that I wanted. Besides, I didn't own the copyrights to the photo, so using that at all was against the rules. I just wanted to have something on hand to inspire me to get the story done.

And guess what? The inspiration worked; the story's done, and we're now publishing it for the world to read!

So, I won't tease you any further, because I know you want to know what cover we came up with. And here, I am very happy to present to you my Spindle Dreams.

Maybe later this week, as part of the promo for this book, I'll do a post detailing what hurdles we had to go through for this cover. My husband was the main hero behind it all; I can only take a small amount of credit for its final look.

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About the book: Marita Kadlec is the only daughter of Rohesia's poorest – and laziest – weaver. Her father prefers to spend his days gambling in the tavern, leaving the spinning up to Marita. She hates the family business because she's constantly pricking her finger on the spindle. She'd much rather be tinkering on an invention that she hasn't had the courage to show anyone yet. A special invention that will rid her of spinning for the rest of her life. 

Felix is a young nobleman plagued with the same nightmare – a giant machine, twisting and clanking, shrouded in fire, bent on pain and death. He's determined to find out what it means, no matter where the answers may lead him. 

This is Sleeping Beauty with a twist like you've never seen it before.

~*~

Be sure to come back often this week to check out this blog (as well as my other social media sites) for book updates, cool posts, and general promotion fun! I'll be popping in onto a few other blogs and I'll share those links as they become available.

For now, please share the cover and add Spindle Dreams on Goodreads! 

Additionally, the first book in the series, The Rose and the Balloon, is available on Amazon Kindle for $.99! 

God bless!

July 2019 Book Haul

Typically, I like posting these book hauls on the first of the month. HOWEVER, since this blog will be given over wholly to the REVEAL of Spindle Dreams's cover, I'm going ahead and posting this a day early.

July saw me in a lot more thrift stores, since my sisters were visiting one weekend and we decided to hit a handful of stores while they were here. And then basically all but four of the books listed below I picked up in one day. That's what happens when you've got good thrift stores in your area. Not apologizing.

I just need another bookshelf now...

Anyway, let's get started!

The Scarlet Letter / Nathaniel Hawthorne - To be honest, I do have another copy of this book, but it's in pretty rough shape. This one is perfectly tiny with a dust jacket and gold edging. It's beautiful.

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles) / Marissa Meyer - Now I've got half of the Lunar Chronicles. This is such an interesting take on the tale of Red Riding Hood.

The River of Wind, The War of the Ember (Guardians of Ga-Hoole) / Kathryn Lasky - I had NO idea these owl books had such a big series. These are books 13 and 15!

Andersen's Fairy Tales / Hans Christian Andersen - Eep! Another book of fairytales! I think this may be my first collection of Andersen's.

Inkheart / Cornelia Funke - I read this trilogy a long time ago and (aside from the language!) really enjoyed it. I think Inkheart was my favorite since the author did some things in the second and third books that I didn't care for. *sniff* I would have written it differently.

Ozma of Oz, Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The Road to Oz, The Patchwork Girl of Oz / L. Frank Baum - Books 3, 4, 5, and 7 of the Oz series. Who knew that the world of Oz had so many books?

The Sword of the Wormling (The Wormling) / Jerry B. Jenkins, Chris Fabry - I've got the first book of this series on Kindle, but I've procrastinated starting it because I only had the first book. Oh, look -- here's book two!

Cinderella: Ninja Warrior (Twisted Tales) / Maureen McGowan - I'm familiar with this book from Goodreads, but I don't know that much about it. I was super excited about it until I saw that it's kinda a "choose your own adventure" type of book. Don't hate me, but I don't like choosing the adventure when the author should have already done the work.

Beauty / Robin McKinley - How can I be a fairytale retelling snob without this book in my collection? Not my favorite Beauty and the Beast story, but definitely one to hang on to.

Abandoned on the Wild Frontier: Peter Cartwright (Trailblazer Books) / Dave Jackson - I was only ever able to read a few in this series growing up, but I really liked the missionary/Christian tales. Not super long, but just the sort of clean, inspiring adventure I want my kids to read. This particular one I've actually not read yet.

The Journeyman / Elizabeth Yates - I grew up with this book and its sequel, so it's always exciting to find these little gems in stores. Brownie points for anyone caring: it was published by my college.

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And that's all for July, folks! Have you read any of these books? Any of them on your to-read list? What books did you add to your shelves in July? Let me know in the comments below!

AND DON'T FORGET! We've got a cover reveal and a book tour kicking off tomorrow!!

God bless!

Featuring Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Rose Red, and Rapunzel

Inspiration cover; not the real deal. 

The days are slowly creeping closer to Spindle Dreams's release! I'd like to remind anyone who'd like to participate to sign up for the cover reveal (August 1st) and blog tour (August 2nd-9th). Links are below!

Cover Reveal (sign up closes on July 30th).

Blog Tour (sign up closes on July 31st).

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ALSO, I'm very excited to announce that my very first post just went live on Fairy Tale Central! As part of the month celebrating the fairytale Snow White and Rose Red, I completed a book review on Patricia Wrede's version of the tale. Be sure to pop over there to check it out!

This was a super fun month to jump into Fairy Tale Central. Snow White and Rose Red is a lesser known fairytale, but by no means less exciting or fun. Sometimes, I believe it loses too much of its spotlight to Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, just because of the name similarities. However, it is NOT the same tale.

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And by the by, if you're not already aware of the fact, FIVE new Rapunzel retellings will be hitting Amazon in early August! In fact, the release dates for those coincide (unintentionally) with Spindle Dreams's release. If you'd like more information the Golden Braids tour and release dates, Kendra's heading things up (her main blog is here). Sign up for the tour is now closed, I believe, but there's still time to preorder books and get your hands on these lovely tales!

Aren't fairytales and retellings just the coolest thing? *grins*

God bless!

DETAILS: Spindle Dreams Cover and Release

At long last, Spindle Dreams is making its way into the published ranks of Amazon! Although this book, overall, didn't take that long to write, it has taken many, many moons to get to this stage. I am so happy, and I cannot wait to share this Once Upon a Twist Tale with you all. I can't say it out loud that SD holds a spot closer to my heart than The Rose and the Balloon did (mainly in fear of what Nicolas and Nicoline would do to me if they found out), but I'm still so excited to see this project FINALLY to completion.

Here's what you want to know...

I will be releasing Spindle Dreams's cover LIVE here on my blog and my other social media sites on August 1st. I intend to run a blog tour from the 1st all the way to the 9th of August, upon which date I shall be publishing Spindle Dreams LIVE ON AMAZON.

Do ya hear that, folks? OUR PUBLICATION DATE IS AUGUST 9TH! 

Below are two Google forms available for sign-up. You do not need to feel any obligation to sign up for either, but I would appreciate any publicity you can give me concerning my newest release. One form is ONLY for the cover reveal happening August 1st. The other is for the blog tour. Please sign up as you wish.

Sign Up for the Cover Reveal!

For the cover reveal, all posts must be on public blogs anytime during the 24 hours of August 1st. After the cover is live on your blog, you may share it across the interwebs as you wish. I will be sending cover, book info, and author info in an email for bloggers to post as they wish. Please sign up soon if you'd like to participate in the cover reveal, but I should be able to send the reveal information to bloggers up until July 30th. 

Anyone who doesn't have a blog and would like to share it may do so once they see it live on others' blogs and social media sites. I just don't want the cover sneaking out before it's meant to.

Sign Up for the Blog Tour!

For the blog tour, I'm offering several options for posts: a character interview with either Marita or Felix, an author interview, or a guest post by the author. No limit on interview questions, but all questions must be submitted through the form above by July 31st. 

I will also be offering a few PDF copies of Spindle Dreams for review; the catch on that is, your review MUST be published during the blog tour. Once you sign up for a review, you should have the PDF in your email within a day or so. Again, the deadline on that is July 31st. I won't be able to send out the PDF after that day. Spindle Dreams runs around 26,000 words and is easily read in an afternoon or two.

Any questions/concerns/fangirling? Please comment below!

God bless!

June 2019 Book Haul (And Announcements)

I'm not sure how many of you have noticed this, but I haven't done a book haul post since (I believe) March. The reason? Because I didn't have any new books to post as a haul.

It's very sad, yes, but I'm also very happy to say that I've added two new books to my shelves in the month of June -- so I can do a book haul post! Small, but it's a post.

Anywho, what with moving and vacation, these last two months have been absolutely crazy, but in a quick local bookstore trip, I managed to find two books that I've been looking for for quite a while. (Sorry, Google images will have to work for this one, since I didn't take one myself.)

The Candlestone and Circles of Seven // Bryan Davis

I've had the first book in Davis's Dragons in Our Midst series for I don't know how long. I've read through most of this series (including DIOM as well as Oracles of Fire and Children of the Bard) at one point, but I don't recall most of the series, unless you count some epic moments with Walter. I've been wanting to re-read all of them for a while, but when you've only got the first book -- let's face it, it's not that enticing.

Bryan Davis hasn't typically been a favorite author of mine, but I recently started reading his Dragons of Starlight, and suddenly I'm more interested in reading more. I did not care for Echoes from the Edge or the Reapers trilogy, but his dragon stories are pretty interesting (from what I've read).

Well, there's the grand book haul, and now I just have three more things to say:

ONE

Spindle Dreams is on its way! I've hit a number of snags dealing with the cover and formatting, but I believe we're on top of all of that, and yesterday I ordered the official first proof copy to check for any last errors before we release the cover.

Thus, COVER REVEAL IS COMING SOON! I'm super stoked to finally be sharing this with you guys. It's taken way too much time to get to this point -- I'll be the first to say that.

TWO

I have joined the ranks of fairytale enthusiasts over at Fairy Tale Central! I was super excited to see this pet project of Christine, Arielle, and Faith take off a few months ago, and I've been pretty religious about keeping up with their posts. And this month, Hayden and I have joined up to help write posts and do odd jobs for our wonderful fairy godmothers. Since I'm mommy as well as writer, I will probably be posting there the least out of the five, but I count it such an honor to be included.

Fairytales are just awesome, ok?

And...

THREE

Today, July 5th, marks the official 22 week mark of my second pregnancy. I'm still in shock that God has blessed our family with another baby, and I can't wait to meet our little one in early November! It's going to be fun seeing our daughter be a big sister -- she loves babies!

God bless!