Sunday, August 25, 2013

The Wolf's Red Rose

It started with a simple writing prompt two years ago. The prompt came in an email from Writer's Digest as way to keep writing during the holiday season. The prompt was to rewrite a fairy tale in 1,000 words.  I was immediately inspired and then the story grew because I was excited by the story. So here we are 2 years later and I finished the story, I edited the story and made it into an ebook which is on sale now on Amazon.

Why make this story an ebook as opposed to trying to get the story published by a magazine? It's all about length (we are talking story length here). The Wolf's Red Rose reaches over 9000 words. Many magazines have restrictions on length and want only stories that are 4000 and below.  With Amazon, Kindle Direct Publishing, it makes it easy for me to put books for sale even if they are short stories and right now since I am beginning in my publishing career, I am getting my name out in the world. No, I don't make any money from Amazon by talking about them and sure I might get some Google hits from just mentioning them but I only mention this because there are other writers out there who are also starting out. Okay enough about business mumbo jumbo let's get to the book.

Book Cover
 
Yes, I think some of the language in this story is very beautiful. And it was that very reason why I decided to finish the story just because of the sentences I wrote. Sometimes, I really do amaze myself. The Wolf's Red Rose  is a retelling of the well known fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood" and in short it is about WHY the wolf ate Little Red Riding Hood and Grandma. Perhaps Red and her Grandma angered the wolf. There is a lot more to the story than the wolf just ate them.

This is the book cover my husband and I worked on. I drew the picture and he colored it in and did some special effects. This time I used a preloaded font, this one of my favorites and I use it a lot. The font is called "Papyrus."

Although, this is a retelling of a fairy tale, I would not think it is appropriate for very young readers. Not that I am an expert but this PG-13 type of story.  There are no bad words just one mention of making love and very little blood.  I listed this book for $.99 but if you are a prime member you can borrow it for free. 

It is a quick reading story with talking animals, poetry, lies and love so why not check out The Wolf's Red Rose on sale through Kindle bookstore. Kindle offers a free app for android, PC, and even Apple so all you really need is the Kindle app to read the story.

Until we meet again, the wolf carries his across  the frozen tundra.



Saturday, August 24, 2013

Fall is Coming

Even though my computer is only a few steps away, I just have to play with my new  toy. I got a tablet case with a keyboard. I have to get used to typing with such a small keyboard. Now the  next step is to get the word processing app for the tablet. I can get the app for $15 from Amazon. So far the keyboard is working pretty  good, my fingers other keys so my spelling is horrible. Hey at least I should have no excuse not to write on the go now.

So what is new in my life? Well August is filled with lots of appointments and getting ready for school. I have my wisdom teeth coming in and now I have to have them removed. I had one removed years ago. According to the dentist, I am super freaky because I have 2 wisdom teeth in the top. So yeah lucky me. I also published "The Wolf's Red Rose" it is available on Kindle. I promise the next post will be all about it. You should see the book cover, I think it is fucking awesome. My husband and I worked on it together.

I got a reject and I get rejects plenty of times but this one annoyed me. The editor said there were too many errors and not ready for publication. Here's the kicker, he didn't tell me what the errors were. Why say it if you're not going to expand upon it?

Okay enough about me, take care of yourself and each other. See you next time (that's what's Jerry Springer says at the end of each show. I used to love watching the Jerry Springer Show)

Sunday, August 4, 2013

August for the Future

So now it is August, this summer has flown by at incredible speed. July- well that was month that was filled with non-stop action. From hanging out at the Bryce Jordan, to shooting off fireworks at home while drinking beer, to hot sultry days filled with swimming, sun poisoning, bee stings, yard work, my birthday and my daughter had to have an appendectomy. I am glad to say I am glad to see July go. With the end of July, the weather changed dramatically. It feels like September and not the dog days of summer. According to the weather channel, the highest temperature my area will see this week is 77 and I am not complaining.  I was supposed to finish my latest ebook and publish it in July but that did not happen because not only was July an exciting month- I am my own worst enemy.

I am a slacker. There is no question about that. When I sit down to write, I actually write very fast and get stuff done. I hate editing and I pretty much dread editing. So another round of slacking. There are no good excuses because I am poor at time management and I am slacker. Case in point, I know there is work I want to do but I find myself washing dishes. When dishes need to be done I am doing something else. I have been like this forever and I really don't think that is ever going to change. I do get this done though. I finished writing my latest ebook and now it is time to edit which for some reason even though I hate it, I will work on editing quicker because of how I edit. I will read through it and make minor corrections. I will do this several times and then I will do the big edit where I read it out loud and make more corrections. All the while the story is fresh in my brain and I will think of things to make the story better. One last edit and that is the grammar check. Okay I am on the fence with grammar check, it is one of those nice things that point out those stupid mistakes that your brain fixes when you read something (especially me since I will start memorize everything). I finished the story last night so I won't be looking at it until tomorrow at the earliest but preferably Tuesday. And this paragraph is unbearably long....

I hate exclamation points.  I just read a book it is written for younger people anyway the author uses a lot of exclamation points.  Something about exclamation points which makes me think of this overinflated excitement.  I don't know but I really hate exclamation points! See how that is just so bizarre.

For today that is enough let the sun swallow you and the crows carry you home.