Celebrate the Small Things, and early release for Dragonfold and Other Adventures!

Thanks to Viklit, we have this opportunity to give thanks for the small things, like folded laundry and sunshine! Sometimes we get to celebrate some big things too.

This week I'm celebrating these small things:

1. Summer. It's here.

2. Sunshine.

3. Swimming, biking, walking.

4. A super sweet, amazing review of Champion in the Darkness by Miss Jack Lewis Baillot at However Improbable. Thank you, Miss Jack!

5. Stephen Tremp named me author of the week at his blog! Wow! Thanks Stephen!

And

6. An Early Release of Dragonfold and Other Adventures on Monday! (There's more to this story than just excitement, and I'll be sharing that part in my IWSG post next week.)

Azami has a gift with origami. Will she master it in time to save herself from bondage? Find out in "Dragonfold."

Joanne lost more than her honor in the war, she lost her will to live. When bandits attack her homestead, will she stand or fall in "Enough to Do?"

And just who is Captain Wrath under that itchy, false wig? Find out more in “The Identity of Captain Wrath.”

DRAGONFOLD AND OTHER ADVENTURES includes imaginative stories and poems, written between 2008 and 2013. Some of these adventures have been previously published, and others are waiting to be discovered for the first time.

Previously published titles include: “Dragonfold”; “Enough to Do”; “The Identity of Captain Wrath”; and “Embers.” This book also contains a sample of Martinson’s novel, Champion in the Darkness.

Find these previously published stories and more adventures in Dragonfold and Other Adventures, a collection of new and old stories and poems with fantasy and scifi elements.

Available at Amazon in paperback and for kindle. I'll get to working on Smashwords and B&N next.

What are you celebrating today?

Would you be kind enough to give a shout out for Dragonfold sometime in the next few weeks or months?

And there's a giveaway too!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Dragonfold

by Tyrean Martinson

Giveaway ends August 15, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Hiatus on Hold, and Write Club!

I'm putting my hiatus on hold. That sounds odd, but there it is.

However, I will take one in late July - a long, long one. I'll say more about that when I get closer to it.

Something I've been meaning to talk about:

1st RULE: You MUST talk about WRiTE CLUB - Spread the word far and wide so we can involve as many writers as possible. Display the WRiTE CLUB banner prominently on your own blog. Write a post about it. Tweet it. Mention it on Facebook. Heck, send up smoke signals if you can.
So, I'm talking about it. I'm joining in on the fun this year. Last time I voted, but didn't know fi I was supposed to since I wasn't signed up. I've seen Write Club several years now, and I've thought it looked really cool, so this year, I entered and I'm voting.

2nd RULE: You DO NOT talk about WRiTE CLUB – Once the competition begins you are not allowed to solicit votes. All of the writing entries are anonymous, and we want it to stay that way. This is not a popularity contest!
I'm excited to read the entries. Every year, I've been impressed. I don't think I would feel comfortable soliciting votes, and I think this second rule is just plain fair, and I'm thankful that it's part of the contest.

In fact, I'm just thankful for the way that DL brings out the best writing, the best comments, and the best in people around the blogsphere. He's a great guy.

Have you joined Write Club? Know DL? A visit to his site is always worthwhile and thought-provoking.

And now, I'm going to go visit. Somehow, I am going to catch up in the next few days . . . I hope.

Thrill of it All Blogfest, And Congrats to Nancy LaRonda Johnson

The Thrill of It All Blogfest, hosted by Tara Tyler and Heather M. Gardner!

I almost forgot this fest, and I'm thankful for Tara Tyler' timely email that helped me remember. I'm not sure  really hit this fest the "right" way . . . and this time, it wasn't even on purpose . . . sigh. Here goes.

I'm still mostly on blogging hiatus (other than plans for visiting), so I'm re-posting an old post, from the most thrilling experience I've ever had (other than watching my youngest cliff jump last year from 25-30 ft up with her cousins - that nearly gave me a mom heart attack).

So, this is "as-is" and says "last night" when in reality this post is from two years ago in April 2011.

We swam with Manta Rays off the Kona coast last night. With no previous experience snorkeling for my daughters or for me, we slid off a Snorkel and Dive boat, The Manta, with my husband, two professional divers, and 16 other newbies. The sun had just dipped below the horizon before we put on our snorkel gear, and were handed flashlights that strapped to our wrists. My oldest daughter was nervous about getting off the boat. My youngest had trouble with her snorkel mask a few times on the swim over to the dive and snorkel site from the boat. I’ve had panic attacks in open water before, and felt myself shivering, but I stayed brave for my daughters.

Sound totally crazy? It probably was. The water was completely dark, except for the bobbing lights attached to our snorkel masks.

When we reached the snorkel and dive site, we floated, keeping our legs and bodies straight out around the circle of floats, and our lights pointed down into the center of the ring. Divers below us had lights set up on the shallow (at least 40 feet) shelf beneath us. We saw a ray swooping in circles over by another group. We could hear their shouts of excitement. We waited, and waited, just seeing the edges of the rays outside our circle. Then one swam up to eat the krill attracted by our lights.

The rays do this swooping circle to feed, with their bellies flashing white just below the surface. We were floating right above them. At least 6 different rays visited our circle, coming up right underneath us. One came less than a foot away from me, belly to belly, and I just tried to stay as still as I possibly could. I was scared, but elated, amazed, awed, shivering from excitement and a little cold. I made everyone laugh by shouting into my snorkel, “Holy Cow! That’s close enough. That’s good. Close enough!” as the ray circled again and again, getting closer every time. 

The smallest rays that was saw last night were 6ft across, and the largest was 14ft. Thankfully, "Chloe" stayed down with the divers. I wasn't sure I wanted a 14 ft ray next to me. Maybe if I did it again, I would be braver.

The Kona Manta Rays are the only rays that are safe to swim with in the wild. They have no stingers. They have no teeth. They are very shy, and will swim away if people try to approach them or touch them. However, if they come to feed next to you, and you stay still, you can swim “with” them close.

My youngest daughter, aged nine, said it was the best night of her life. My oldest said it was awesome, definitely one of the coolest things she has ever done. My husband loved it, and surprisingly, I did too. Take that, fear of water!

AND
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Nancy LaRonda Johnson for her new book, Salted with Fire!

The Blurb in her words:

Black magic, murder, insanity, humor, honor and devotion. Salted With Fire is a journey of flash fiction and poetry that shows my (Nancy's) writing transformation from worldly to wanting to please God.

 

Flash fiction is my (Nancy's) passion; poetry is my release. I love creating a complete story, with a beginning, middle and end, with twists, humor, drama, compassion and horror, all under 1000 words. Salted With Fire isn’t just a book of stories and poetry, it is my journey as a writer, from writing only for the mere joy of it regardless of the message, to writing stories that highlight God’s will for people, even if the stories themselves are not religious in nature.

 

Inside are fifteen flash fiction pieces and twelve poems with full-color pictures, and short Biblical discussions after each story.

 

Find it here:  Amazon, Smashwords, and CreateSpace.

 

Oh, and my short story and poetry collection, Dragonfold and Other Adventures is out today at Createspace and Amazon (soon in ebook). Plus there's a Goodreads Giveaway for it! For a mini preview, go here!

Dragonfold and Other Adventures - Early Release in Paperback!

I'm super excited to present Dragonfold and Other Adventures! And now, for the bad news - it was live and on sale, and now it's back "processing" but should be live again by Monday or Tuesday - it's been a crazy weekend, as stated below.

 

Azami has a gift with origami. Will she master it in time to save herself from bondage? Find out in "Dragonfold."

Joanne lost more than her honor in the war, she lost her will to live. When bandits attack her homestead, will she stand or fall in "Enough to Do?"

 

And just who is Captain Wrath under that itchy, false wig Find out more in “The Identity of Captain Wrath.”

DRAGONFOLD AND OTHER ADVENTURES includes imaginative stories and poems written mostly between 2008 and 2013. Some of these adventures have been previously published, and others are waiting to be discovered for the first time.

Previously published titles include: “Dragonfold”; “Enough to Do”; “The Identity of Captain Wrath”; and “Embers.” This book also contains a sample of Martinson’s novel, Champion in the Darkness.

Find these previously published stories and more adventures in Dragonfold and Other Adventures, a collection of new and old stories and poems with fantasy and scifi elements.

Find Dragonfold and Other Adventures at Amazon in paperback!

 

Dragonfold isn't available in ebook format yet, but it will be soon!

Next week,  I'll be here for the Thrill of It All Blogfest on Monday, and Celebrate the Small Things on Friday. On July 3rd, for IWSG, I'll share the early release story. It's been a bit of a crazy weekend, but I think that it's mostly crazy good.

If you're interested, I would love to get some shout outs for Dragonfold and Other Adventures. I am super excited to have it out. It feels like, and is, a collage of my writing over time. Putting it together, I fell in love with many of these stories and their characters again.

 

 

Oh, and there's a giveaway too!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Dragonfold

by Tyrean Martinson

Giveaway ends August 15, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Celebrate the Small Things and Tiny Hiatus

This week I'm celebrating:

1. Writer's Workshop on Monday! 14 writers, one host (me), and it went well.

2. Lots of exercise this week: I walked 1-3 miles each day Monday through Friday, biked Tuesday through Friday between 6 and 7.7 miles each day, and did some stretching. I'm hoping to do a bit of swimming this weekend, and maybe a short bit of biking.

3. Finished the print proof of Dragonfold and Other Adventures, and uploaded it to Createspace. I'm 90% finished formatting the ebook edition, and will get one-on-one tutoring in creating a linked table of contents this weekend from my husband. (It's official release date is July 3rd!)

4. Looking forward to tonight's dance recital - my oldest will be in a jazz number and a tap number, and my youngest is in a tap number. We've scaled way back from the competitive team days when they danced 5-7 numbers at recitals, but I'm still excited to see them dance.

5. Decided to take a tiny blog hiatus next week. I haven't had a chance to visit enough this week or last, or the week before that. So I'm going visiting, and I'll be back here on Friday for a Celebrate post!

When I get back to posting I should have a schedule for all of July and some of August . . . with the hopes of starting that interview series in either late August or early September.

Writer's Workshop Report and Men of Foxwick Reveal!

Writer's Workshop Report

Despite my last minute panic, all went really, really well! I had jotted down notes for myself and thought through them so many times that typing them up came quickly, and when I presented materials and started discussions I barely glanced at my typed notes.

We had a small group, just 14 of us, but I think it's going to be a good group for later meetings - we're going to meet every 3rd Monday night - I'm excited! The next meetings will run a bit differently than this one, with less presenting by me. (Yay!) I did discover that I am a little more knowledgeable about writing than I give myself credit for . . . it was a pleasant surprise.

There's probably more I could say about that, but I'm going for a short post today so I can show off Cherie Reich's newest book:

 

Men of Foxwick by Cherie Reich is now available! This fantasy short story collection features five men from the Kingdom of Foxwick.

A blind teen seeks a place in the kingdom. A dragon seer journeys to Wintermill to spy on the queen. A sword master’s worst fear comes true when he fails to protect the royal family. A king falls in love with an herb witch, but will she feel the same way? A hunter will rise to the challenge to hunt down a man-eating monster.

For more information about Men of Foxwick, please visit Cherie Reich’s blog. Also, Cherie has a special announcement for her email newsletter subscribers. Click here to sign up for her updates and receive a coupon for a free copy of Women of Foxwick.

 

 

Writers's Workshop Plans and Procrastination

I'm totally writing by the seat of my pants here. I should be:

Getting my notes in order.
Prepping handouts.
Making sure my outfit is ready to go.

For:
A Writers' Workshop

When: Tonight

Where: At my church - One Hope Church.

Who's invited: all writers I know, plus anyone who actually reads the flyers I put up at the library and local coffee shops.

Who's presenting/hosting: Me.

AAAAH! (That's my running around, a little nervous, freak out moment)

What I'm doing right now: watching my oldest daughter do algebra and surfing the net.

Otherwise known as: totally procrastinating.

Oh, yay! She needs my help. I have an excuse!

Oh . . . wait, no she doesn't

 I think I'm going to get my outfit ready - I'm actually going to wear something nicer than jeans and a t-shirt (work attire for the homeschool mom and writer).

And then, I'll finish my notes. (There almost halfway finished)

And then I'll print out my handouts.

Big, deep breath.

Back to work.

Obviously, I wasn't planning to post today, but I'll be visiting belatedly tomorrow, and I'll be back to report on the Writers' Workshop on Wednesday. See you around the 'sphere!

For the Love of Books, and Celebrate the Small Things

Remember my Literature Rant on Monday? This is kind of part two, and the some of the reason for my feelings on the matter.

I love to read a variety of books, from "easy" to "challenging," and I don't think any particular type is better than another.

I think that reading is a gift that shouldn't be lost in an attempt to be more "literary."

The sad thing that I see happening in this world isn't that "people don't read enough classic literature anymore," or that "people only read for entertainment." The sad thing I see is kids labeled and told they can't read higher or lower than a certain reading level. Or kids that I see who have been told they "should" read a certain type of book that they don't like . . . and then guess what? They stop reading, entirely.

When I met my husband, he didn't read any fiction. He only read technical manuals and textbooks. He thought all fiction was boring and he strongly disliked reading. He thought it was "cute" that I liked to read, but he didn't want to join me.

So, I started a campaign to turn him into a reader. I read him snippets of books out loud in the car. I told him how my favorite books were like my favorite movies. (He really likes movies.) I read him half of Ender's Game, and he finished it. I read him half of The Hobbit, and he finished it. I read him half of Watership Down and he finished it. 

When our girls were little, he read aloud to them, and had fun doing the voices. He told them stories. Then he wrote a children's book of stories that he made up with them. (It's on our bookshelf, but can't be found anywhere for sale - it's called The Adventures of Thumper and Brim)

He went from hating reading fiction to loving it.

I wish I could do that same for everyone I meet who dislikes reading . . . but what I really wish is that every kid and every adult could read for the love of it, and for the love of stories and books. I dream of a world where books are available for every person in every country, and libraries have to work hard to keep the books on their shelves because they're being checked out all the time.

Today I'm celebrating: books; books without labels. books that we know are the best because they are thought-provoking, fun, educational and entertaining all at the same time! They lift us up out of whatever circumstances we are in, and show us a new horizon.

Oh, and I would like to extend a personal thanks to all those librarians who have made my reading life rich!

How do you share  your love of reading with your friends and family?

And what are you celebrating today?

Indie Life - Celebrating an Upcoming Release!

DRAGONFOLD AND OTHER ADVENTURES will be out July 3rd! I received the proof copy just last Friday, and I'm working through the last kinks . . . and I'm totally excited to see this story and poem collection in print.

The Blurb:

Azami has a gift with origami. Will she master it in time to save herself from bondage? Find out in "Dragonfold."

Joanne lost more than her honor in the war, she lost her will to live. When bandits attack her homestead, will she stand or fall in "Enough to Do?"

And just who is Captain Wrath under that itchy, false wig? Find out more in “The Identity of Captain Wrath.”

DRAGONFOLD AND OTHER ADVENTURES includes imaginative stories and poems, written between 2008 and 2013, by Tyrean Martinson. Some of these adventures have been previously published, and others are waiting to be discovered for the first time.

Previously published titles include: “Dragonfold”; “Enough to Do”; “The Identity of Captain Wrath”; and “Embers.” This book also contains a sample of Martinson’s novel, Champion in the Darkness.

I'm not going to have an official blog tour, or anything like that, but any opening day or opening week celebrations or shout-outs would be highly appreciated. Thanks! 

Anyone else have celebrations to share?

Good "Literature" - Warning: This is a Rant

Warning: This is a rant.

Second Warning: I wrote this post several months ago, set it back in my list of "to publish" stuff and then forgot about it. (I still feel the same way, but the heat came from a moment that I'll be explaining on Friday (Wed has a different planned post).


Literature comes from a Latin word that means "of letters". We've taken that word as a society and twisted it to mean, "books with snob value that lesser mortals will never enjoy."

Admittedly I like to read some classic literature, but I don't like to define certain books as "literary" and others as "fluff." I think those are dangerous and foolish definitions that ruin reading for everyone.

Why do we need to put up a boundary between "good" "literature" and "bad" "literature"?

Why can't we all just read books and enjoy them?

I happen to like Scifi books by Orson Scott Card; fantasy books by Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, and Jessica Day George; classic fiction by Charles Dickens; plays by Shakespeare; poetry by modern poets and classic poets. I like YA and MG books because they have amazingly well developed characters and usually hopeful endings.

I don't like books that expound on the misery of the human condition like Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, or Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. I wish I could take back the time in my life when I had to read those awful books for university English classes.

However, I still like Hamlet and Macbeth . . .which both show human suffering and misery, but end with justice. To Kill a Mockingbird is an awesome book that doesn't pull any punches when it comes to real, painful issues, but it has a bittersweet ending that I love.

There's nothing wrong with books that get into real life woes, I just don't like the ones that leave us with the feeling that hope is futile. A number of books on the "good" literature lists are books that start and end in the misery of the human condition with no hope offered. In those books, the characters don't appear to learn anything, and the story ends not far from where it begins even if decades have passed. And yet, because the prose writing is beautiful and some group of stuffy professors decided they liked it, it gets the seal of "quality" literature.

Given the choice between "life is misery and that's all there is" books and books that show character development and end with a brighter horizon, why does it surprise the literary snobs that so-called "literature" is being overlooked for "fluff" fiction?

Belated Heroes and Villains and Celebrate the Small Things

Heroes and Villains Belated (See below to see my villainous late excuse)
This fest is hosted by Jackie at Bouquet of Books and Dani at Entertaining Interests.

My favorite heroes are too many to name so I'm going to go with one childhood favorite and one recent favorite.

Peter Pan - He Can Fly! - was my favorite childhood hero. He was fun, he was clever, and he could fly. For a kid with serious flight envy, what more could I ask for?

Hiro Nakumura of Heroes is one of my recent favorites. He experiences such joy in his abilities at first, and then, even after he discovers the problems with time travel, he makes things as right as he can. His friendship with Ando keeps him going in the right direction - at least so far. I'm watching via Netflix way late, so don't tell me if the show's writers ruin Hiro. I don't want to know. I just watched the episode where Hiro, with his memory wiped to age 10, has rediscovered his purpose in a Kansas comic book store with the help of Ando and two comic book guys. "Best. Day. Ever!"

Villains:

Hook is both a childhood favorite, and a recent favorite. I liked the old Hook from the animated feature, and then I liked the retake on Hook by Dustin Hoffman in Hook, and now, I love the next look at Hook in Once Upon a Time. (I'm also a little behind in this, so don't tell me about the last four episodes).
He's willing to switch sides to look after himself, he's charming and arrogant, and devastatingly handsome. (or at least he thinks so)

My villainous late excuse: The last two days (Wednesday and Thursday) I was torturing (testing) homeschool kids for the state. I was a test proctor (for some reason the word "proctor" evokes the worst images for me). My kids tested in their grade level rooms, and I proctored tests for fifth graders. Yesterday during the math section, there were tears; it was the worst testing session I've ever experienced as a test-giver/proctor. On the upside, we had some great recess/break times - lots of Everybody's It Tag and running. A few kids said they wanted me to come back next year. I was a hero and a villain, all at once. It wasn't comfortable, but thankfully we don't have to do it again for another year.

 This awesome hop is hosted by Viklit!

 

This week, I'm celebrating:

1. Testing is over for another year! Yay! We survived!

2. Swimming three days this week so far.

3. Testing is over! Wait, I already said that . . .but it's worth saying twice.

 

 

 

IWSG - Fill the Glass

 Brought to us by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and supported by Sheena-kay Graham, Suzanne Furness, and Laura Eno.

So, I had a few stressful weeks. Somewhere in the midst of them, I stopped writing.

I thought, hey, I can forgive myself for that, right? I mean, it's been stressful, and when I'm stressed, I cuddle with my family, and sometimes blank out the world with a lot of reading (that I don't really have time for, but I do anyway).

But I stopped writing. I stopped writing, when maybe it could have helped me stay a little less stressed.

And when I wanted to start again, I struggled.

It felt like everything was all junk, all . . . well, I stopped swearing 16 years ago and I don't want to start seeing the world through a glass-half-empty outlook again and that's what swearing does to my mind so . . . I won't say what I was thinking.

I realized what I was doing, letting those annoying insecurities eat into my brain and my soul, and I decided to look for ways to fill the glass.

Somehow, I think that decision led to the following events. Or, at least, the fact that I noticed the following events.

That morning, I met a fellow neighborhood walker who is a published author, and for the first time, I told her about my book. She just seems so professional and amazing, that I admit I was afraid to tell her before . . . and she told me she had a tough time marketing for several years before she started speaking at conventions, and having phone interviews with radio stations. She told me to start using e-mail to promote my book - just ten minutes a day, one bookstore, organization, group, radio station, etc. at a time, and then she told me to keep writing.  Her most recent success, Vegan in 30 Days: Get Healthy, Save the World, is on my mom's bookshelf and I've read it, even though I'm not vegan. (and yes, that's a picture of Sarah on the cover)

And then, I met a new friend (or at the very least a kindred spirit), and she and I had this awesome conversation that included homeschooling, classroom teaching (we both like both kinds of teaching), and our passions (she's really into science, I love language arts), and she gave me ideas for marketing my book, and gave me huge encouragement. Wow! (The idea: sending information about my book to each homeschool co-op in the area and ask if I could do an author talk/book signing - there are at least 5 within easy driving distance.)

And if, that wasn't enough to get me started again, I meandered over to my book page at amazon, and thought I could use a little book review uplift (hoping that there were no negative reviews that had popped up in the night), and whoa . . . look a review I hadn't seen before, that somehow I had missed, from the daughter of a friend . . . a five star, seriously sweet review! Wow!

So, I sat down and wrote in my journal. And then, I revised a chapter and wrote a completely new one for Champion in Flight, Draft #2.

I'm back, and I'm filling my glass. Now, there's not question about whether it's half empty or half full.

How do you fill your glass?