New Book Release: 25 Impossible Tales!

25 Impossible Tales of Survivors, Flawed Heroes, and Annoyed Villains: A Science Fiction and Fantasy Collection

 This is a fun book of stories I collected over almost ten years, with unique worlds, interesting characters, and tough dilemmas.

Some of these stories are new to 2022, written during a Clarion West Flash Fiction Workshop in the summer.

Some of these stories were previously published by professional and literary publications like Creative Colloquy, Aurora Wolf, the Insecure Writers' Support Group Fantasy Contest Anthology from the 2016 contest, Book Dreams 1, and more. It was fun to work with these stories again in this collection.

This collection, unlike previous collections, is focused all on speculative fiction genres, from science fiction, paranormal, fantasy, and science fantasy.

The stories are a mixture of Noble Bright and Dark, with some sweet stories that could fit in the YA genre, but also with some heavier stories which mention abuse and trafficking. I tried my best to keep the graphic nature of those themes off the page, but I did give a content warning for tough subject matter.

If you are interested, you can find it in these places:

Amazon

Smashwords

 "Unique world-building and fascinating characters with strong voices."

No matter how hard circumstances are, there is hope for survival, even if it means making one simple choice in the right direction or standing up in the face of impossible odds.

But the question remains: What is the right direction and which way is up?

In these 25 Impossible Tales of Survivors, Flawed Heroes, and Annoyed Villains, we meet over 25 characters faced with impossible odds and difficult choices. Each story offers a unique perspective on what it means to be human, to survive, to live with hard choices, to have purpose, to love, to succeed, and to have hope.

These stories are set in near-future, alternative world, and far future science fiction and fantasy worlds. Some characters fly spaceships, and some wield swords. Some characters are everyday people, and some are extremely strange.

The story lengths range from 300-word micro-fiction stories to full, short stories. Some end with a horizon open, and some with the horizon closed.

CONTENT WARNING: Some of the stories in this book include graphic sword-fighting and fist-fighting. Some contain references to abuse and human trafficking, but I did strive not to include any of those in graphic detail. Due to the nature of this content, you may need to read the stories carefully.

Most of these stories end on hopeful notes, but a few of them end with either a sense of "justice" or reckoning.

Amazon

Smashwords

Invitation!

 Invitations can be wonderful, well-timed, expected, or unexpected. There are so many ways to feel when receiving an invitation.

I was invited to take part in the Indie Author New Year's Live Kickoff Blitz for 2023 by Katherine D. Graham. My first reaction: surprise. My second reaction: gladness.

Invitations create a bubbly fizz of surprise, happiness, and anticipation when they are unexpected yet fitting for who we are and what we love, and the timing works well for us.

I hope this invitation today brings you the sweet, bubbly fizz of surprise, happiness, and anticipation for the event!

You are invited to come to any and all of the events happening for the Blitz! The Youtube channel is Here.

You are especially invited to attend the Science Fantasy Panel happening on January 1 at 11 am Pacific, 1 pm Central Time. I'm excited to take part in this panel with fellow authors Danielle Novotny, Jim Wilbourne, and S.G. Blaise.

What invitations do you love the most? 

Merry Christmas!

 Happy Holidays (Holy Days) to you and yours!

In my recent newsletter, I sent out links to various places for inspirational messages and offered up a bit about Booksprout.

I don't want to repeat myself too much here at my website, but I would like to say:

I hope you have hope this season. I hope you know joy. I hope you have peace and comfort, great books, and wonderful people in your life.

I hope you know Christ as your Savior - not because I want to be aggressive or rude or overbearing with my faith, but because I believe Jesus is the best way to have peace, hope, joy, and comfort.

If you are wondering what that's all about, I will add four links here that I added to my newsletter. They are the Advent Series links from my church - a multi-denominational church.

Advent: Writing the Script

Advent: Casting the Characters

Advent: The Dress Rehearsal (I gave the message that Sunday.)

Advent: The Mary Miracle

Merry Christmas to all! And Happy New Year! 

IWSG December 2022: Holiday Writing and Book Shenanigans

 

IWSG

December 7 question - It's holiday time! Are the holidays a time to catch up or fall behind on writer goals?

The awesome co-hosts for the December 7 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler, Chemist Ken, Natalie Aguirre, Nancy Gideon, and Cathrina Constantine!

HOLIDAYS and WRITING

Holidays are the best time for me to read and to write stories that bring me joy. It would be nice if every aspect of writing filled me with joy, but some parts are simply hard work. 

Sometimes, a book or story will seem to dead end into a cheerless, dark corner by the trash leftover from Halloween, but it's often that I need to shed more light on the story, or I need to lighten up my mood with something fun or silly or just odd. I've written a number of short stories that fit into those categories, and some of them have been stories I've written around the holiday season. 

Then, there are the "serious" stories that seem to beg to be written in December, when the sky grows dim. Even as I long for light, some years I turn to history and faith, and find myself poking at an old historical fiction story or reworking a poem long forgotten. 

For me, it all depends on the year and what else it has brought into my life.

This year, I plan on vacationing from writing other than in my journal from December 22-27th, and I think having a planned timed off is good for renewing the energy I need to write. 

December 26th-January 1st are my prime reading days for the entire year, based on a childhood tradition. I asked for books on my tenth Christmas, received fifteen of them, and read half before I started school again in January. While I don't often read quite that many books every year in that week, I spend at least two days reading to my heart's content.

How do you write and read over the holiday season?

BOOK SHENANIGANS/NEWS

Dark Blade: Forged is completed as a Kindle Vella serialization. The first three episodes are free (this is a Kindle Vella rule), and the whole novel is finished. I will be turning it into a regular Ebook, paperback, and Audiobook in 2023.

Dark Blade: Tempered (Dark Blade, Vol. 2) is my newest Kindle Vella project, with the first free episode out today! I have a more-detailed-than-usual plot outline for the series to keep the serialization driving forward. 

On an "off writing" day, I spent some time playing with my book covers again (they are mostly the same, but Dark Blade: Tempered is new) at Canva and attempting to create a new banner for The World of Aramatir. This is what I have so far, but I hope to create some "marketing" materials for the series as I get into the new year. 

Pre-orders are definitely happening at Amazon for 25 Impossible Tales of Survivors, Flawed Heroes, and Annoyed Villains It was fun to put together, and using some great feedback from some beta readers, I've taken out one of the darker stories and added in a happier one. 

Due to some family wedding plans in the spring (one of my daughters), I have moved the release date up to January! If you are interested in becoming an ARC reader for a free copy, check out my Booksprout Campaign. 

If this is your last post of the year, I wish you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

Giving Thanks!

 

Giving thanks invites reflection, rest, humor, and courage into our lives.

In the autumn, I fall into a reflective season of writing each year. Even as I participate in National Novel Writing Month, I find myself reflecting on my writing: what I write, how I write, why I write. I rejoice over the writing that has gone well (both in success and in personal meaning) and consider the writing that didn’t go well (either not successful, unfinished, or simply hard to write). 

I give thanks for those who want to read my writing. 

It kind of amazes me that people like both the wildness and the repetition in my writing themes. And I feel honored and thankful to have been able to write and to speak and to share. 

I find rest in giving thanks because it is an action and thought process that starts in reflection and moves to giving everything away, a letting go of what has been in gratitude for all that has been a part of my life.

Humor comes into the act of thanksgiving when I let go enough to laugh a little, to find the ludicrous in those moments that I can’t say are really “horrible” moments, but certainly aren’t great ones. 

For instance, I am thankful for the moment after I fell on the ice last week while visiting Spokane, Washington (the colder, dryer, more inland part of the state). Okay, maybe not the searing pain in my knees, hands, and back moment, but the moment after that, when I realized, with some embarrassment, that I was swearing a blue streak and I had scared a huge guy experiencing homelessness - he came out from behind a car, wrapped in layers of clothes and a sleeping bag and edged away from me as I flailed on the ground trying to get up.

Maybe that doesn’t sound funny, and I do feel badly that I scared him, but honestly, it made me laugh at that moment and still does. Who knew I was so frightening when I allowed my old natural childhood tongue to come flying out of my mouth? Who knew a short, overweight woman flailing on the ground could scare away a tall, big guy standing on his feet in a parking lot?

For those who don’t know, I actively try not to swear much in my regular life, but when you start your life with those words in your mouth and brain, they don’t just go away easily. I didn’t even know which words were swear words until I was in elementary school, and there were a few I didn’t recognize as bad words until I was in my 40s, and after I had used them in a message at church…. Oh, yes, there’s a story there, but best saved for another day.

.Courage is invited into our lives when we give thanks, because when we reflect on our lives, we can choose to let go of all that has come before, and choose to step into the moment right now, and into the next moment, with an understanding that all of the experiences past, present, and future, are but fleeing moments in a lifetime where we can give thanks and have courage, and live as best as we can - giving grace to ourselves and others, giving thanks for life itself. 

Because I love God and have been growing deeper in love with God over my life, I give thanks to God for my life, for my writing, for the awesome family members and friends who encourage me. I give thanks to God for being God, for Jesus as my Savior, and for the Holy Spirit breathing life and peace into my soul.

So, when I say Happy Thanksgiving, I hope you have a nice holiday, but I also hope you have time to give thanks and invite reflection, humor, and courage into your life.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!