December 2019 Book Haul

Well, here we are, folks! It's the end of the year already, and I'm absolutely flabbergasted that 2019 is OVER. Where have the last twelve months gone?? Somehow, it just feels like we were celebrating New Years' and Easter, and now we're about ready to welcome 2020. SO MUCH has happened this year, and it's nuts, but I'm not going to harp on all that right now. 

Because right now is Book Haul time. Believe it or not, I only got one book for Christmas: C.S. Lewis's Space Trilogy in one volume (from my awesome hubby -- I've been wanting to read that for so long!!). And sadly, I don't have a picture of it. All of the pictured books below were ones that I collected before Christmas. Enjoy!

Emily of New Moon // Emily Climbs // Emily's Quest // L.M. Montgomery -- The last few years have re-awoken my interest in Montgomery's novels. It was super exciting to find a box set of the Emily trilogy since I've yet to read any of the Emily books. 

Minuk: Ashes in the Pathway (Girls of Many Lands) // Kirkpatrick Hill -- I remember reading a few of these books growing up. Girls of Many Lands was a spin-off historical series that American Girls put out way back in the day. I seriously cannot remember if I've ever read Minuk or not, though.

Unlocking the Spell (Wide-Awake Princess, #2) // E.D. Baker -- The first fairytale retelling in this giant pile! I'm a bit disappointed I didn't find the first book in this series, but maybe I'll read them out of order. Don't judge. I believe this book is based on Snow White and Rose Red. 

Bella at Midnight // Diane Stanley -- Another fairytale retelling! This is a Cinderella one that I've yet to read. 

Enchanted (Woodcutter Sisters, #1) // Alethea Kontis -- Fairytale retelling #3 which is based on the Frog Prince. I haven't read this one yet, either. *le gasp* So many retellings, and so little time. 

Fairest Son // H.S.J. Williams -- AT LAST! I've been looking forward to this gender-swapped Snow White story since FOREVER. I can't believe I haven't gotten my hands on it until now. 

With Blossoms Gold // Hayden Wand -- Fairytale retelling #5 and probably one of THE BEST Rapunzel stories you'll ever read. IT IS AMAZING.

The Healer's Apprentice // The Captive Maiden (Haigenheim, #1 and #4) // Melanie Dickerson -- Sensing a theme here? Retelling count up to seven now for this month. I read both of these forever ago, but I don't remember them all that well. And I actually have very few Dickerson retellings, so I was happy to include these to Huntress and Fairest Beauty to make my Dickerson collection add up to four books total. 

Landon Snow and the Auctor's Riddle (Landon Snow, #1) // R.K. Mortenson -- This book looked so fun. Landon gets swallowed by a book. LITERALLY. HOW COOL IS THAT?

Once On This Island (Mackinac Island Trilogy, #1) // Gloria Whelan -- I loved this trilogy growing up!! I'm a Michigan girl at heart. 

Because colorful books -- why not a rainbow?

The Siege (Guardians of Ga'Hoole, #4) // Kathryn Lasky -- Slowly adding to my Ga'Hoole books. Some day I'll actually read this series. 

Pippi Longstocking // Astrid Lindgren -- Another childhood favorite. I can't believe I hadn't picked up a copy of this until now. 

The Family Under the Bridge // Natalie Savage Carlson -- I haven't read this, but it looked like such a cute story! It's about an older man who makes a family with a bunch of homeless kids. 

Shakespeare's Scribe (The Shakespeare Stealer, #2) // Gary L. Blackwood -- I really enjoyed the first book, so of course I'd jump on the second when I found it! 

Wishing Well (The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff, #3) // Jason Lethcoe -- This is another series that I'd never heard of, but the books just looked fun. Yeah, so now I have book #3, but not #1 or #2. #bookproblems

North by Northanger: Or the Shades of Pemberley (Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mysteries, #3) // Carrie Bebris -- I don't think I've read any Austen fanfiction/other authors' continuations. But this one looked interesting, so I thought I'd give it a go. 

Shield: A Prequel to Medallion // Dawn L. Watkins -- Super excited about this one! A childhood favorite by one of my college professors! 

Mik-Shrok (Adventures of an Arctic Missionary, #1) // Gloria Repp -- Ever since I first read this trilogy, I've loved huskies and wanted so badly to visit Alaska. I love these books SO MUCH. 

King's War // Jill Williamson -- I CAN FINALLY FINISH THIS SERIES! I've been dying since this summer to know how it ended once I read King's Blood. 

Bitter Winter // Jaye L. Knight -- When one makes a Christmas order and needs some extra $$ to get the free shipping from Amazon (yes, I don't have Prime), you get the next Ilyon Chronicles book. #noregrets I seriously cannot wait for the final book in this series to come out, Daican's Heir. 

~*~

What books did you add to your shelves this month? Any literary Christmas gifts? I'd love to know! Share in the comments below! 

God bless!

How NaNo Went

I'm not really sure what I was thinking this year. For four years, I ignored NaNo in order to complete my college studies. I missed it desperately, but there was absolutely no time to write 50K between homework assignments.

Once I graduated, I thought: Certainly, now I'll have more free time to write. And last year, that was more or less true. As a mother of a seven-month-old, I still had quite a bit distracting me, but my daughter was old enough where she could sit by herself and play while mommy wrote.

THIS YEAR. HOWEVER. My daughter is now one and a half years old, running everywhere, getting into everything, etc. etc. And then we also threw in a newborn on top of that. I was so happy our son arrived early (especially considering my wish to NOT give birth during NaNo), and since he would mostly sleep the first few weeks of his life NaNo would be a cinch, right?

Ha. No.

Let's just say newborns and NaNo really don't mix. There was VERY little sleep involved. I'm a stubborn, crazy idiot who thought she could write 50K while nursing a newborn and keeping up with a rambunctious 18 month old.

Oh yeah -- and get this. A week into the month, my husband started experiencing horrific stomach pain and had to go to the ER for emergency appendix surgery. I'm an extremely emotional person when it comes to the people I love, so the day of his surgery I wrote a grand total of 145 words. *shakes head* That kind of stress I don't handle well.

Thus, it was not an auspicious start to this NaNo. I was behind for most of the month, by about 6,000 words or so. There were days when it felt like I was pulling teeth to get even 500 words out, and all I wanted to do was to go to bed.

I did mention I was stubborn, right? In spite of everything, I didn't want to quit. How in the world could I call myself a decent writer if I didn't even TRY? I was NOT quitting. I ended up doing most of my writing between 10pm and midnight, which was when both of my kids were asleep. Thankfully, my husband was typically doing homework about the same time, so it was nice to have a buddy to work alongside of.

And then on November 29th, I finished my 50K.

After so much stress about writing, it was glorious to finish a whole day early. I'm still a little in shock that I finished.

My advice to those writing mommies out there: NaNo with a newborn really isn't the greatest idea. Unless you're way better with managing your time and making schedules than I am.

But how about the story?

I was working on The Twelfth Kingdom, one of my 12DP retellings. Initially, I began the month with 120K already written on the tale, and the 50K allowed it to grow up to 170K.

And it's still not finished.

My goal originally was to have the first draft of this story completed by Christmas. I doubt at this point that'll happen. So, right now, I'll be so happy if I can finish the book by the end of January. And hopefully wrap it up in NO MORE than 200,000 words. Secret of the Hazel Tree ended at 198K on the first draft, and I would be so happy to finish this book in fewer words.

Ha. We'll see.

But snippets, shall we? I don't think it's fair to drag you through the entire month of NaNo with me and not share a few snippets. Since it's closing in on the end of the book, much of what I wrote would be spoilers, so I'm afraid I have to be extremely picky when sharing these.

~*~

“But what about the shoes?” Bethjasmine asked. She had yet to wear out a pair, but Josette knew their governess’s tirade with the tattered slippers that morning had left a marked impression. “If we keep dancing, they’ll keep wearing out.” 

This time, no one wanted to bring up the option of dancing barefoot. As thin as the slippers themselves were, they were still a necessity when dancing underground. 

“Let them wear out,” Laris grumbled. “The king will keep paying for new ones, since we’ve got to have them. Rancune will be stumped that we’re improving. And Severamer can have a fit when she can’t figure out what’s going on. All of that makes me pretty happy.” 

Issie continued to hug her shawl. “That sounds awfully rebellious to me.” 

Aleevity shook her head. “Well, I never considered myself a rebel, but if this is what it takes to become one, I’m for it.” She caught the look in Nattalaris’s eyes and snapped on it. “And don’t you dare say anything about me agreeing with you. I promise you, it won’t happen again.” 

~*~

A movement of something dark caught the corner of his eye, and he looked towards it. “More coming in that direction, m’lord.” 

Waedan didn’t turn, but tossed his eyeglass at Tarren. “Tell me how many.” 

Tarren accepted the instrument. “It looks like another three regiments or so. Probably close to… Waedan!” The words caught in his throat as the eyeglass exposed the newest threat against Fort Kalt. “They’ve got ladders!” 

Waedan grabbed the eyeglass back. “Pere save us,” he breathed, looking at the black-garbed teams carrying the ladders through the snow. “They mean to breach us.”

~*~

At length, they went over a bump larger than normal, and Tarren nearly cried out as the wagon crashed down on the opposite side. 

“Wait! Stop the horses, A!” Roughly, he grabbed the side of the wagonbed with his left hand. “I’m walking for a bit.” He tumbled out a bit ungracefully, but thankfully didn’t embarrass himself by faceplanting on the road. 

Q leaped out behind him, wincing and rubbing his seat. “Coming with you, friend. I don’t think a body can manage much more of that.” He frowned up at A. “Are you deliberately driving over the biggest rocks and bumps?” 

A scowled from the driver’s seat. “Of course not! You two just have soft bottoms; that’s all. You’d think the time we spent at the fort would have toughened you up some.” 

Q only shook his head. “I still think you should have let me drive.” 

A’s hands tightened on the reins. “You always want to do everything!” 

“That’s because I do it right.” 

“I’m doing fine!” A retorted hotly. “I haven’t driven off a cliff like you said I would.”

“Yet!” 

~*~

Tarren felt his eyebrows lift in surprise. “You don’t approve?” 

“Of the king’s behavior?” Oberran growled. “No, and no. Now mind, he’s my cousin, so I’m allowed to say what I want about him. You keep your tongues clean. But blast the man for a perfect idiot. He’s shown little sense in that situation or in any since.” 

~*~

A declared he didn’t care what the duke called him; he was just interested in trying the Cathair feast. “I’ll go as a pig herder if that’ll get me to the dining table,” he said honestly. 

~*~

Josette tried to come to her sister’s aid. “It wouldn’t be proper, Prince Austuce. She’s…” 

“No, forget proper,” Laris snarled. “I’m not afraid of stepping out of propriety, but I might hurt the poor runt! And what would your honored father say if I drew blood on the lord of the Lower Home?” 

“My honored father,” he replied evenly, “was the one who suggested it.” 

Laris’s fingers tightened around the sword hilt. “Then I’ll meet you in the courtyard.” 

~*~

God bless!

November 2019 Book Haul

With NaNo going on all month (post on that to come soon), I really didn't expect to be adding many books to my shelves this last month. November was already crazy, seeing as I had a newborn on my hands in addition to a one-and-a-half year old. Add in a busy week of being with family for Thanksgiving and an emergency appendix surgery for my hubby... yeah, November was nuts. Looking back now, I'm surprised I had any time to go shopping at all.

However, I will say that book mail is DA. BEST. Sometimes, you don't need time to go shopping. You just need to check the mailbox. *grins*

So, here's November's book haul.

Sorry for the dark coloring; I don't feel like editing the pic.

The Rope Trick // Lloyd Alexander - After reading the Prydain Chronicles and the Westmark Trilogy, you can bet I'll pick up any Lloyd Alexander book I can.

Writing Magic // Gail Carson Levine - Who knew that the woman who introduced the world to fairytale retellings also wrote nonfiction? I'm pretty excited about this one.

By the Shores of Silver Lake (Little House, #5) // Laura Ingalls Wilder - The ONE Little House book I didn't have yet. SCORE.

Florence Young: Mission Accomplished (Christian Heroes: Then and Now, #23) // Janet and Geoff Young - I remember reading a lot of missionary stories growing up, and these are the types of stories I want to be able to share with my kiddos.

The Princess // Lori Wick - A friend of mine a long time ago told me this was her favorite book, and I completely forgot about it until I came across this copy in a thrift store. I'm not familiar with the author, but it's definitely a score at a thrift store price.

A Walk with Jane Austen: A Journey into Adventure, Love, and Faith // Lori Smith - The title of this one jumped out to me. I've never read anything like this before, and it's Austen, so I'm pretty excited about it.

The Book Thief // Markus Zusak - I don't normally go for the books that have all the hype, but I've wanted to read this one for a while. And it was $1. It was a no-brainer.

Captive Treasure // Milly Howard - A book from my childhood. I grew up with a lot of books from BJU Press, and I loved them all. This one always reminds me of Lois Lenski's Indian Captive, as both books basically have the same plot.

Silas Marner // George Eliot - Classic in a gorgeous hardback. I'm always up for that.

Sew, It's a Quest // Do You Take This Quest? // My Kingdom for a Quest // Honor: A Quest In // Hair We Go Again // Kendra E. Ardnek - BOOK MAIL. MADE MY DAY. I just realized recently that I've only read the first two books in this series. *le gasp* Now, I can fix that! Super exciting.

The Dragon's Flower // Wyn Estelle Owens - Also BOOK MAIL. I'd completely forgotten I'd won this giveaway until this showed up in my mailbox. A Rapunzel tale worth the read. Review here on KiriBeth.

~*~

And that's it, folks! What books did you add to your shelves in November? Any favorites in the ones I hauled above? Let me know in the comments!

God bless!

October, Princesses, and NEWS

If you hadn't already heard, October is Twelve Dancing Princesses month over at Fairy Tale Central. I've already posted a short story/opening scene snippet on a new 12DP retelling that I DARE NOT go back to with NaNo so close on the horizon. There's just so much about the original fairytale that people overlook sometimes; it's just cool to jump straight in and pull things out to twist in your own way.

Ahem. So, yeah, I'm definitely NOT thinking about that other story. Especially since I'm planning on working on my OTHER 12DP mammoth novel for NaNo. The Twelfth Kingdom is currently 118K words, and I'm really hoping to be able to finish a first draft by Christmas. Maybe. We'll see how November cooperates with me.

But I'm talking of 12DP-- and Fairy Tale Central. Because this month, guys, I had the honor of writing up two book reviews as well as participating in a film group review. It was so much fun! You would think by now that I'd be sick of 12DP, but I'm still feeling ready to jump into more retellings.

Review here on Fairy Tale Central.

First off, I soooo enjoyed getting to read Suzannah Rowntree's The City Beyond the Glass. Set in Venice (which was too cool with gondolas and the works!), this story follows the adventures of three sisters (instead of twelve), but the fairytale vibes are super strong and extremely well-worked. It gets a bit darker at times, but I would definitely recommend this for any fairytale enthusiast. It was absolutely lovely and perfection.

Review here on Fairy Tale Central.

I also reviewed The Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn for FTC. That one... hmmm. To be honest, I wish that author hadn't written it. The whole premise is such a cool idea with a King Arthur and 12DP mashup. IT WAS GLORIOUS. But the execution of the plot, the characters, the legends... it all came across VERY WEAK and it was almost too disappointing to bother with. I struggled with putting this review on FTC only because I wanted so badly to LOVE this book, only to be able to say, "It was a meh retelling." Urgh. PEOPLE. Arthurian legends and 12DP were MADE for each other. Someone do this idea justice, PLEASE.

Review here on KiriBeth.

Besides those two books, I did an extra 12DP reading and reviewed The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine on my book blog, KiriBeth. THIS BOOK. I'm still kinda bitter over it. Again, a fantastic idea of setting 12DP in the Roaring Twenties and the speakeasies. I mean, where better historically for a group of sisters to dance the night away? HOWEVER, there was a lot of moral content that I had big issues with. I won't go into detail here, but you can read the full review on KiriBeth. I was super bummed. In all honesty, I don't think I could really recommend the book to anyone.

Group review here on Fairy Tale Central.

But let's end this list of reviews on a bright note, shall we? I mentioned above I'd participated in a film group review for FTC? Well, the lovely ladies and I had tons of fun writing up our thoughts on Barbie in the Twelve Dancing Princesses, one of my favorite Barbie movies/kid fairytale films to date. I'm still very much a kid at heart, and this movie shall always be a favorite.

Oh, yes, and I did promise you a bit of news, didn't I?

(My apologies for just an ultrasound pic, but I'm not extremely comfortable with sharing pics of my kiddos on a public blog at the moment.)

Many of you know that our son was due to be born here early in November. Well, he's no longer a November baby since he took it upon himself to arrive a full two weeks and two days early. Baby Joey is doing well, eating like the growing boy that he is, and his older sister absolutely adores him. If my writing at all seems garbled, that's probably because I'm not getting a full night's sleep every night. But he's totally worth it.

I'm still a little in shock that he's already here. It's difficult to look at him and not feel a sudden, overwhelming sense of blessedness. God truly has been gracious to our family -- first, with the birth of our daughter back in April of last year, and now the birth of our son. Every life is precious, and when it's your own kids, somehow, it's only that much more precious. I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Joey will be making NaNo VERY interesting, though. Kiddos come first, obviously, but I'm hoping to get some writing done.

How about you? Any plans for NaNo? Or shout-outs for other 12DP retellings I need to read? Let me know in the comments below!

God bless!

Bayou Curse - A Twelve Dancing Princesses Story

Even though I've been a part of Fairy Tale Central for a few months now, I've yet to participate in Arielle's fairy tale themed writing prompts. Since this month is all about the Twelve Dancing Princesses, I decided that I had to do something.

For some reason, 1920s New Orleans was stuck in my mind when I tried to think up a unique setting. The big steamboats floating along on the water, with lights shimmering everywhere... it just seemed like a perfect spot to stick a 12DP story. I don't know all that much about that particular part of history, so forgive me if the following scene is terribly inaccurate. 

And this is just a scene -- not a full story. You should know by now that I have terrible trouble keeping stories short, and so there'd be no way I could get a whole fairytale down in about 1,000 words. 

This month's prompt... (response image not included because I'm lazy...) 

Bayou Curse

            “Just one night. Can’t we sleep for just one night and forget all this?”

            I shook my head. Whining Bart was at it again. I ignored him, focusing instead on the lights at the end of the dock, throwing shimmering sparkles over the water. Any time now. Besides, I knew there were enough hotheads in our group to silence Bart’s complaints soon enough.

            And just as I suspected, Philip threw a response at him. “Sounds great. Except for the part where we’d all wake up as ghosts.”

            “Pshaw,” practical Simon said quickly. “You know the old man wouldn’t murder us.”

            “Of course not,” Philip replied. “At least, not until he gets what he wants. And then we’d be ghosts.”

            The bickering was something I was used to hearing. But what else could one expect from twelve odd-aged boys, thrown together since their infancy, and all stuck on the biggest, flashiest boat in New Orleans?

            Matthew sniffed. “I have no intention of becoming a ghost.”

            Judas spoke up, the youngest of us, but never one to relish having his opinion glossed over by the others. “Ghosts aren’t real.”

            Philip snorted. “And how would you know? You haven’t seen the haunted streets and harbors of this town enough to believe in one.”

            It was odd, the fact that we’d all been named after the twelve apostles from the Holy Scriptures. It was the only sign of anything religious our master had let slip into his endeavors. I’d never considered myself anything like Peter, especially after I’d heard a preacher on the Diamond Queen – the only preacher ever allowed on our master’s steamboat – say he had a temper and made quick decisions. As the oldest, I was more of a peacemaker and field captain. Typically, the other boys listened to me. I had the strongest fist – they had to listen to me. Everything would fall apart otherwise.

            James and John, the next in line after me, were twins – and very hard to tell apart. I suspected they switched spots every few nights just for fun, but so far no one had been able to call them out for doing so.

            Andrew loved food, especially when the chefs on the Diamond Queen served up a regular Creole banquet. He always got sick eating shrimp, but he ate it anyways.

            Philip, number five, argued every chance he got. He knew the best ways to get under everybody’s skin.

            Bartholomew was the largest in our group, and heard about the size of his stomach often. He complained enough that I didn’t mind letting the other boys rankle him about it.

Matthew, the seventh, didn’t talk much, but he liked to think everything he said was important. Thomas was overly bookish and tried to do everything Matthew did.

Since the name James had already been taken by a twin, boy number nine had gotten stuck with the disciple’s father’s name: Alphaeus. He was the girls’ favorite, skinned darkened from the sun and the best dancer among us.

Thaddaeus hated his name, the water, gumbo, and anything else that threatened to make him smile. Simon didn’t follow in his footsteps and chose to be optimistic and practical – which ultimately proved as annoying as Thaddaeus’s temper to the rest of us.

Judas was the last of us, the final number twelve. His curly hair and twinkling eyes should have catapulted him into the wiles and thrills of feminine favor, but his limp made him an awkward dancer. Unless a girl took pity on him, he was always the last picked.

I could hear James – or maybe John – trying to shush the argument behind me. If it’s one less fight I have to stop, the better. My eyes were too focused on the lump of land and road beyond the edge of the dock. Not one of us had ever stepped a foot past the wooden dock onto land, and if our master had his way, none of us ever would. Our whole lives were wrapped up completely in the Diamond Queen.

The sound of giggles fell on my ears over the sound of my brothers fighting, and I flung out my hand with a hoarse shout. “They’re coming!”

Immediately, a hush and a gentlemanly reverence fell over the boys. Ghosts or not, they knew what was expected of them.

The first feminine form to reach the light of the dock was one I knew well. Mildred Larue always wore a black and gold ensemble, alternating the two colors on her shoes as they wore out each night. She was typically my partner, as she always seemed to be the leader for the other girls.  

Behind her, the girl in pink caught the tiny heel of her dancing slipper between the boards of the dock. I tried not to snicker as she wildly careened, whacking two other girls with her arms as she tried to pull herself free. Doris had never been known for her gracefulness.

Mabel’s laugh preceded her, and I prayed she wouldn’t beat Mildred to the end of the dock. Typically, the girls didn’t care who they ended up with – even though a few of them fought over Alphaeus – but getting stuck with Mabel as a companion all evening was nothing short of a horror for me.

Helen, Mary, Jean, Lucille… the other girls’ names floated by me. Some of them I could pin to faces, but most of them I had to rely on my brothers’ talk of who was who.

Mildred tripped lightly to the end of the dock and smiled up at me. “Ready, Peter?”

I forced a smile. “Enchanted as always to have you at my side, ma cherie.”

The jazz music was already trickling its way down the dock from the Diamond Queen. The spice of New Orleans was thick on the breeze, and I knew Andrew was already thinking about the chefs’ work gracing the banquet tables.

Mildred squeezed my arm as she took it. “Isn’t this fun? I can’t believe how generous Mr. Jerome has been to allow us to come here every night.” She giggled. “The best part is, my father has no clue!”

Of course, she would say that. She had no idea who our master really was, what his plans were. To her and the other girls, it was all part of a game; dancing the night away on the upper deck of the Diamond Queen amid electric lights and soft jazz was the stuff of fairytales.

Only my brothers and I knew it was only part of our curse.

~*~

Let me know what you think below! Where would you set a 12DP story?

God bless!

Merchant of Menace Cover Reveal

The Bookania Quests are growing yet again! We saw the lovely release of Kendra's Rapunzel-inspired tale earlier in August (Hair We Go Again), and now we're getting close to the release of book #6 in this fun, fairytale series!

This is me, shamelessly stealing pics from Kendra's blog.

Believe me, if you're into any type of fun retellings that make you laugh out loud and squeal in delight with all the fairytale references, this is the series for you. Make no mistake about that.

Merchant of Menace is more than just a mere fairytale retelling, however. Do you like Cinderella? Well, that's in here. Do you like Shakespeare? Well, that's in here, too. And guess what? We've also got bits of the Odyssey AND pirates! I'm really excited to see how she combines all of that into one story. And that, really, is what I love so much about Kendra's books. You jump in, thinking you know everything there is to know, but she takes you on the adventure you never saw coming. I mean, throw pirates in with any fairytale and I'M TOTALLY THERE. We don't have enough of those stories.


Anyway, you're here for a cover reveal, aren't you? Well, I won't be one of those bloggers who makes you scroll for an eternity before showing you what you want. *winks*

Here we go.

About the book: Robin has promised Meg her aid in rescuing her lost father and sisters, but that's easier said than done...  

Eep!! Don't you love this cover? The blues, the SHIP, the mysterious tones.... AH! Can't wait. *grins* *and grins some more*

This book does not have an official release date as of yet, but you can still get prepped for it by adding it on Goodreads or checking it out on Kendra's blog!

And, as always, the first book in this series, Sew, It's a Quest, is available for free on Amazon Kindle and Smashwords!

About the author: Kendra E. Ardnek has been writing her own stories since she was a toddler. She fell in love with books, drama, and fairy tales at a very young age - and has been filling notebooks with her stories for years. Joining NaNoWriMo gave her an opportunity to be a published author at 16.

She writes her own blog (knittedbygodsplan.blogspot.com), homeschools, cooks, knits, and crafts when she isn't writing stories and acting them out with her younger cousins and siblings.

September is for Red Hoods and Good Books

Did you know that Fairy Tale Central is celebrating a month of Little Red Riding Hood? I won't give all the delicious details away here, since I think you need to head over there and check out all the fun posts yourself. Besides book reviews on RRH retellings, there's also fairytale commentary, author interviews, and more!

However, I will say that my second book review for the site just went live today, so here's the link for that. Cloaked is a shorter, sweet work by Rachel Kovaciny -- and set in the wild west! I've very much enjoyed both of Rachel's books that I've read so far, both of them from her Once Upon a Western fairytale retelling series. (The other was a Twelve Dancing Princesses retelling, titled Dancing and Doughnuts.) She did a great job incorporating all the original fairytale elements, and all without magic. Two thumbs up!

And, as part of the FTC Red Riding Hood festivities for this month, I've also published a book review for Girl in the Red Hood by Brittany Fichter on my review blog, KiriBeth. You can check that out here.

Girl in the Red Hood was the very first novel of Brittany's that I've read, and I really enjoyed that one. I'll be honest, I was a bit skeptical going into it, only because I don't know how to approach this fairytale author who shares my last name. When I began publishing my fairytale works, I kept my maiden name of "Fichter" as my pen name, thinking it'd be a unique name that no one else would have. I mean, seriously. How many Fichters do you know? Can you even say the name properly? Probably not (no offense; it's German). Lo and behold, there's another Fichter out there publishing books -- and not only that, she's doing fairytale retellings, too! How uncanny is that? I've taken to calling her "the other Fichter" but I suppose she deserves to be "the first Fichter" since she was publishing books before I was.

Brittany incorporates magic in her books, so that definitely set us apart, but I quickly found out that we both love a lot of the same things in our books: genuine relationships, clean reads, sweet fairytale elements. I was very impressed. And I'm very much looking forward to reading more of her works. I've especially had my eye on her Nutcracker retelling, Clara's Soldier, for a long time now.

Man, all this talk of Red Riding Hood books makes me in the mood to write one. My Little Writer will have my head if I try to do anything now, but I can't help that a slightly gender-swapped retelling with a lumberjack as the lead has been badgering my brain most of this month.

What can I say? September is for red hoods.

What's your favorite Little Red Riding Hood retelling? Have you read either of the books I've reviewed in the links above? Let me know in the comments!

God bless!

Thirst Cover Reveal

Jill Williamson is soon to be releasing her next book! I've read several of her fantasy books over the years (namely the Kinsman Chronicles and the Blood of Kings Trilogy) and really enjoyed them. I've not read any of her contemporary/dystopian works, even though I think I may have one of them somewhere in my Kindle archives. Maybe getting into this cover reveal will inspire me to dig that out, eh?

In my experience, Jill has proven to be a masterful storyteller, a whiz with complex plotlines, and an author who isn't afraid to handle difficult topics. That sometimes makes her stories slightly less family-friendly than most people would want, but I've been impressed with how she handles those topics.

But let's get down to this cover reveal, shall we?

Book Summary: 

The end of the world is only the beginning. A waterborne disease has contaminated the world’s fresh water, decimating the human race. Seventeen-year-old Eli McShane and his friends flee the chaos and violence in Phoenix and journey north toward the rumored location of a safe water source. They add several to their number, including the mysterious Hannah, who is being hunted by a dangerous man. Desperation brings our the worst in many of the travelers, infecting even those closest to Eli. When division comes, will he be able to hold his group together or will each fall victim to their own thirst for survival?

Join some old friends from Glenrock and Jack's Peak in this thrilling first book of the Thirst Duology. Best-selling author Jill Williamson has brought back the breathtaking suspense of the The Safe Lands series in this chilling prequel that will leave readers panting for the next installment.

~*~

Thirst is the first book of a post-apocalyptic adventure that Jill will be independently publishing in November. As an indie publisher myself, I'm excited to see this book release take on the world; as a reader, I'm not generally drawn toward this sort of genre, but I'm excited to get out of my comfort zone and try something new by a familiar author.

You ready to see the cover for Thirst?

~*~

You can preorder the book on Jill's site here. If you're interested in learning more about this series or any of her other books, you can find Jill and her fabulous writings at any of the following links (purchase links to Amazon not included, because you know how to find those):

• Jill on Facebook
• Jill on Instagram
• Jill on Twitter

God bless!

Let's Talk Diamond... Again

4:30pm on the tenth of September, in the year of our Lord 2019...

Not that this moment will go down in history, but it was definitely a big moment for me. Because I finally finished the first draft of Diamond!

I feel like this book was tougher emotionally for me to write than either of the first two. The Rose and the Balloon was mainly fun and, while incorporating some danger and intrigue, didn't have a lot of heart-wrenching scenes for me. Spindle Dreams was definitely darker, with harder themes, but it, too, didn't make me feel like I was gasping for breath when I wrote the end.

Diamond, however... this story has taken me on an emotional roller coaster ride from day one. For anyone who's read SD's epilogue, they know I had some serious issues to cover with this story. Rapunzel, in many ways, has a lot of darker themes about it that other fairytales don't have. Writing "The End" this afternoon was like stepping off a roller coaster of emotions. It's going to take me a while to recover.

For now, though, my plan is to let the story sit and simmer for a while there in the rough drafts folder, and then I'm going to pull it out and begin the tough process of editing.

Some stats, though, before I leave?

My initial goal was to complete this story with the Rooglewood contest limits -- 20,000 words. Not that I was writing this story for a contest, since they are no more (*all the sniffs and tears*), but since that was my goal with the other books, I figured I should stick to it.

The final sentence of the book made it out to be exactly 23,000 words. Not 23,001 or 22,999. EXACTLY 23,000. Don't ask me how I did that.

Overall, I think this story was the fastest to write. RatB I finished in one summer for the Rooglewood contest (and never entered it), and SD took some months with some years' hiatus stuck in the middle. I don't remember exactly when I started Diamond, but it was sometime early this year. Some of the questions that had been floating in the back of my head from finishing up writing SD finally came with answers. It was then that I actually wrote the epilogue for SD and began penning up the first chapter for Diamond. I hit a few snags with the writing process, trying to figure things out. Once I really began writing, though, it came quickly.

Quickly, but rough emotionally. There's so much of me right now that wants to expand Diamond's story to explore everything I can't in 20,000 words. But I'll restrain myself. And stick to my plan. And maybe re-visit her in a short story.

Ha. Take that, Little Writer.

Anyway, I'm still alive. Diamond is rough but finished. And I'm ready for a nap.

How's your day going?

God bless!

Diamond: Info and Snippets

I am happy to report that we're plugging right along on Diamond! I've been excited about this book for a while, and I know there are plenty of mad readers out there who want this book after reading the epilogue to Spindle Dreams. Have no fear! It's coming!

Eventually.

I'm not 100% sure about my publishing timeline, as much depends on how giving birth to and surviving the newborn months with baby #2 goes. Also, how much trouble the formatting and cover give me. *le blech* But I would love to have Diamond available by next summer, next spring if we can swing it. I just can't make any promises yet. I was ambitious enough to promise Spindle Dreams last fall, and we all see how THAT turned out.

But since we just hit 14K yesterday, and it looks like I'll be keeping this book under a cozy 25K (I hope I didn't just jinx myself with that), I thought I'd hop onto dear old blogger and share some of the story with you all!

This cover is mere inspiration, not the final cover, as I don't hold the copyright for the background photo (please notice the watermark/name in the corner). 

Diamond is book three in my Once Upon a Twist Tales. These are interconnected fairytales retold backwards and upside-down with just a bit of steampunk thrown in for fun. They were intended to be standalone novellas, but Spindle Dreams kinda connected itself to Diamond, so they're not completely standalone anymore.

When considering the fairytale Rapunzel, the first thing I decided that must be backwards was the tower situation. Rapunzel wasn't going to be the one hiding in a tower. Oh, she'd be the usual confined and hidden from the world, but not in the tower. And from there, the story kinda catapulted on its own into what I've now got saved in my rough drafts.

The second most important thing to consider was her hair. I'll admit, I struggled with this for a really long time, and this was mainly what kept me from working on the book for a number of months. I just couldn't figure out why she had long hair. I didn't want to backwards that too much and give her short hair, because that felt like a bad, cop-out Rapunzel. If we're talking Rapunzel, she MUST have long hair and, likewise, have a reason for that long hair. That's the #1 issue with Rapunzel retellings. THE HAIR. And I'll be honest with you, folks. The hair ain't easy. I won't spoil what I settled on for Diamond, but I'm hoping readers will appreciate the hair and the reason.

One sentence summary of Diamond:

This time, Rapunzel isn't the one stuck in the tower, but his secrets may cost her her life. 

Snippet time! Enjoy!

Mother had said many strange things over the years, but when she came home with the news that she’d been framed for murder, that was new for Diamond.

~*~

Erland bowed. “I thank you again, and state to you a good night.” 

As he left the study, a grimace took over his face. The Rohesian language was not easy to master, and doubtless that had been the cause of the countries’ lasting tensions over the last few decades. Not anymore. The rolled parchments he now clutched in his hands were the key to solving all the international difficulties – or causing a hundred more. 

~*~

“Another bowl of pudding, my good man?” 

Seth rubbed his stomach and gave a rueful smile. After the thick cheese sandwiches, roasted vegetables, and first bowl of pudding, he doubted he could fit anything more. “No, I thank you. My stomach eats more than I can hold. Your wife is a wonderful cook.” 

The innkeeper beamed. “Of course, she is. You tell those fellows back in Trothen you never had a better cheese sandwich, you hear? It’s a shame you were the only man here tonight sensible enough to ask for them.” 

Seth saluted him and stumbled off the bench. “It will be the honor of mine. I will tell them of all.” The cheese sandwich definitely held its own proudly in the world of cuisine. 

~*~

At first, Diamond couldn’t make out what it was – Maybe a bear? – but as she moved closer, the hump began to look more and more like a human being. 

It wasn’t until she was almost standing next to it that she realized it was a human. Other than Mother, she’d never seen another human before in her life. With a tremble, she now looked upon her first stranger. It was definitely human, but the shoulders and chest were broader than hers or Mother’s. The head looked pretty normal, except for an extra pair of eyes that seemed to be made of glass sitting on the very top, looking out from black hair that was cut short at the neck. Instead of a skirt, the figure wore trousers that clung tightly to the legs, and a thick tunic that almost touched the knees. Little, dark hairs decorated the chin, and Diamond drew a deep breath. 

This isn’t a woman. 

A man. 

~*~

“Rapunzel,” he called once the trapdoor had opened and her head was in view, “I want to demonstrate to you something.” 

Old fascinations took on new enjoyment when you could show them off to people who’d never seen them before. He made a few colorful smoke bombs and watched her face. 

At the first one, she stepped back. “What kind of magic is that?” 

“Not magic,” he said, the response slipping easily from his mouth. “It’s alchemy.” 

She came closer. “What?” 

“I use different elements and transform them into something else. For example…” He showed her the two tubes he was using. “These two liquids, when combined, evaporate into a smoke.” The cloud he made nearly blocked her from view. 

~*~

God bless!

August 2019 Book Haul

Better late than never, they always say! And considering it's only September 2nd, I'd say I'm really not that late in posting last month's book haul.

It's not a huge haul this month; one reason for that being I was trying to write more in August rather than shop a lot. Thus, the first draft of Diamond (Book #3 of the Once Upon a Twist Tales) is (hopefully) already halfway done, and I only have five new books to share with you.

The Yellow House Mystery (The Boxcar Children #3) // Gertrude Chandler Warner -- Be honest here, folks. Who didn't grow up with the Boxcar Children?? I can't even tell you how many times I've read these books; but maybe not all the newer-ish ones. My favorites were the first original mysteries and then the later ones named after food. The Pizza Mystery was definitely a family favorite!

Spring's Gentle Promise (Seasons of the Heart #4) and When Breaks the Dawn (Canadian West #3) // Janette Oke -- I'll be perfectly frank with you. I never expected myself to be picking up Janette Oke books. NEVER. However, lately they've struck a chord of curiosity in me and I'm interested in actually reading some of these. I wouldn't consider myself a Heartie (or whatever it is they're calling themselves these days) since I don't watch the Hallmark show, but I'm ready to see what the hype is about.

The Sign of Four (Sherlock Holmes) // Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- Gorgeous hardback copy of Sherlock Holmes for $1? Yes, thank you very much!

Veiled Rose (Tales of Goldstone Wood #2) // Anne Elisabeth Stengl -- Would you believe this is the first ever copy of any Anne Elisabeth Stengl book that I have? *le gasp* After following her writing journeys and Rooglewood contests for so long, it's amazing I've not gotten my hands on her books until now.

~*~

I also added a proof copy of my latest release, Spindle Dreams, but as I wrote that myself, I don't know that I can truly say it qualifies for a book haul post. The Rose and the Balloon isn't a new book, but I do like the way this photo turned out with my two shinies!

Have you read any of these books? What books did you add to your shelves in August? Any new releases you're looking forward to adding to your shelves in September? Leave me a comment below!

God bless!

If At First You Don't Succeed...

(Or What I'm Learning About Self-Publishing)

Spindle Dreams has only been out for a few weeks now -- a grand total of eighteen days, if I'm not mistaken. I was pretty stoked to release this book to Amazon and the world, considering how long I'd been working on it, and also considering how many years it'd been since I released The Rose and the Balloon. A lot of people had asked for more after reading RatB, and I was excited to give them more.

However, I have had very mixed feelings on this new release. For one thing, I've had incredibly positive feedback from the few people who've read the book. My beta readers were absolute saints to read SD on short notice and tell me what they thought. Some of my readers now gush over how much they loved it, and others tell me that they hate me and I've ruined them from reading an epilogue ever again. Both of those responses tell me that I'm doing my job as a writer correctly.

But that's the thing... only a few people have read the book. We're going on three weeks of being published and readily available to pretty much everyone in the world, and I've not sold near as many copies as I expected to. In fact, my reports tell me I've not even sold five copies of Spindle Dreams -- paperback and ebook combined. SD has five stars on Amazon since I've only gotten one text review on the story. On Goodreads, there's two reviews.

I'll be honest with you. That hurts.

Don't get me wrong -- I wasn't expecting to be a billionaire overnight with this book. I didn't expect a million 5 star reviews. It wasn't nearly that way with The Rose and the Balloon. Debut novels, however, I'm realizing do a lot better than seconds. With RatB, I sold enough copies in the first few weeks to make about $50 in royalties. That blew me away. I didn't expect to do that well with my first book, but I was hoping that I would do half as well with the second. Only I didn't.

What went wrong? I've been asking myself this question for the last three weeks. I advertised. I tried to run a fun blog party with promotion posts here on Lianne Taimenlore. I visited other people's blogs when I could. I promoted the book on my Facebook author page. I ran a countdown on both my Instagram page and my Twitter page. What more could I have done?

I'm learning that the world of being a writer and getting published is not all sunshine and daisies. Spindle Dreams hit so many snags for me that delayed its publication; I was frustrated with the book and just wanted it out and be done with it. And that, I think, was my first mistake. I didn't build enough hype about the book BEFORE getting the cover released and the actual story published. In self-publishing, a HUGE part of doing well is just how much and how effectively you market yourself. And I am a lazy marketer, to put it simply. And people don't buy a book they don't know much about.

Also, as an indie author, keeping your name front and center in people's minds is key. After publishing The Rose and the Balloon, I went three years before I got anything else into the book market. Three years. That may not seem like a long time, but for a reader, it's a long time. This is another part of marketing yourself well. Since you don't have a big publishing house pushing your name out there for the world to see, the way you keep your name hot in this market is to keep it active. The best way to do that is to publish something a few times a year. If you can't do that since you're working with bigger books, keep people excited about what you're working on by keeping active on social media. Which was something else I really didn't do. Plus, I've gone those three years with nada.

Please understand I'm not writing this post to garner sympathy or guilt-trip people into buying my books and writing reviews. I just want to be honest about what's happening to me as a writer. And I know I'm not going to be the only one who goes through things like this. My hope is that what I've learned and gone through with self-publishing can help other indie authors grow as well. Writers need to learn to accept the ups and downs of the self-publishing life. When you hit a snag, you pull yourself up by your bootstraps and try again. 

Self-publishing really is a learning process. There will be moments of extreme glory and excitement. There will also be times when you don't succeed. Just don't let those few failures keep you down.

Just try, try again. 

And that being said, I'm working on book three of the Once Upon a Twist Tales, folks. Diamond: A Rapunzel Story hopefully won't take another three years to complete.

God bless!