Winter is Definitely Here

Well here I am being tardy again with my posting. Time goes way too fast for me. It's very hard to write, edit, do all the holiday thing, etc. Sorry about that.

Now I'm turning my attention to the ABNA contest of 2011. Getting my entry ready. More on this later. I'm afraid the power will go out here since it always does quite frequently when it storms.

Winter has definitely arrived here. We've had nothing but rain and lots of it. It rained 7 days straight here in the desert, which is very unusual. We got two years worth! Now the weather has turned cold today and we had rain all day long, but it is turning into the "s" word now. The dreaded "s" word. I hate that because it is too cold for my blood. I dream of those tropical islands or the 100 degree summer days. The howling north wind has found us again too. It has hardly blown at all for a few months now.

I have read more indie books too, so have those reviews to post later.

Hope everyone's holiday was great and you all have a healthy and happy New Year. And hopefully the economy will get better and 2011 will be more prosperous for us all.

Blessings,
Sunni

BOOK REVIEW - Marigold: Book One of the Elven Chronicles

I finished this book about a week ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's the debut novel of a new indie author, Marya Ashworth, and although this book is for young readers (8-12), I think it could be enjoyed by any age group. The book is full of adventures and activities that young teens could relate to; horseback riding, skating, and listening to music, dances, relationships, shopping and homework. And of course there are adventures with good and evil and bits of magick scattered throughout the pages.

I liked all the characters in this book. They are well drawn and we get a sense of what everyone is like. There's also good description throughout the book, so the reader can easily picture all the places and events in the story.

Our main character Marigold (or Maggie as she likes to be called) is a half human and half elf child and because of this she's always felt different and is very lonely, especially after moving from Ireland to Washington state, so her workaholic dad could start his new job. The kids at her new school make fun of her and she generally doesn't fit in. Maggie is self-conscious of her pointed ears and keeps them covered with her long hair. She hates the school and takes solace in her best friend, a horse named Biscuit.

Marigold's life begins to change after she rescues a boy and is able to follow him to the kingdom of ElvenHome, which is home to the elves. It isn't long and she finds herself enrolled in ElvenAcademy. Here she makes new friends that she shares things in common with, plus she gets to sharpen her magick skills.

Maggie is full of courage as she battles the banshees and rescues her new schoolmates. She is always up to a challenge and tries to do the right thing as events unfold. The conclusion leaves you wondering what will happen next.

Calling Authors Who Need Book Reviews

Listen up - all you author's out there. If you want a thorough, honest review of your book you'll be interested in this post. The following site does book reviews for indie authors, but the book must be published and available on Amazon. They don't take every genre either - but they do take most of them. You'll have to check the following link for all the details. The main thing here is to be patient and professional when you list your book. You'll need to give book title, author name, publisher, genre, page count, a short synopsis, a reason why your book should be picked for review and a link to the book on Amazon. Good luck everyone! Here's the link:

http://llbookreview.com/pick-me/

And remember, it takes awhile to get reviewed, but it's free and we all need reviews, right?

Thanks to all who joined me on Book Brew in Nov

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to thank everyone who came over to take a look at my excerpt that was part of the Book Brew event over at Coffee Time Romance and More Book Blog. And congrats to Sandra Cox,the winner of my medieval fantasy book: The Medallion - Book One - The Prophecy.

Now the nanowrimo is coming to a close again this year and I barely got anything written on the novel I started. Just ended up with way too much on my plate, unfortunately. I hope the rest of you that entered did better than I did.

Time to bundle up and hunker down for the dreaded winter. It's supposed to be 14 here tonight! I hate that! Already counting the days until spring, but I know the trees need to rest.

Fall Is Upon Us - Is this good or bad?

That all depends on your state of mind of course.

Yes, I've been slacking again unfortunately, but I'm just too darn busy at the moment to keep up with everything I have going. Maybe that's a good thing because fall is here and that's not a happy thought for me. I hate having to play with the clocks. What a bunch of silliness that is. Now it's dark way too early for me and even dark lately when I've been getting up in the morning so that I can accomplish everything I have to fit into the day. Before long it is getting dark again and so early now. It doesn't seem like it was this dark at 5:30 pm by Nov in other years, but it must have been.

At least I can be thankful for the nice few days we've had lately - weather wise. So sunny and mild - no jacket needed. Now I can shout about that! But it won't last. They say we have a cold front coming by Mon. I imagine I'll have to drag out all my stuff and cover the plants soon. So far we haven't been below 40 at night and I wish it would stay that way, but I know better.

Soon it will be time to tuck in and just wait until spring. At least we still have leaves on the trees, actually still some of them are green too. I guess that's good. But around here all it takes is one good wind storm and it will knock off even the green ones. But I could live in a colder place. Although I was cursing the other day when I brought in my garden ornaments and put them in the garage for the winter, along with some tropical specimens I've moved from place to place. It would be a shame to let them freeze at this point. Anyway I had my hands too full, like I always do, and tried to carry too much at once and dropped a turtle and broke it. It's head and a leg snapped right off when it hit the tile floor. I was so mad, but mostly at myself for not making two trips to the garage, instead of one. I was so frustrated that I live in a place where putting things away in the winter is a concern. The tropics were looking real good about then as they will be again when the snow gets here. Ugh! I'm dreading that! But there's nothing I can do about it at the moment. Someday I'll move further south and when I'm still young enough to enjoy it, I hope, or to even care.

OK before this gets too depressing I better sign off. It's past my curfew anyway already. Never enough hours in a day. I think that will be engraved on my tombstone one day along with "normal is only a state of mind" since my husband is always telling me to act normal. So what exactly is normal anyway? I bet everyone you ask will have a different explanation for that one. But that's a whole other subject I can't get into right now.

Night all. Be blessed.

Announcing a blog interview and chat

I'll be discussing my historical book on a blog chat on Mon, Nov 1st from 1 pm - 10 pm
Please come by and log on for a chance to win a free copy of The Medallion - Book One - The Prophecy. This is a medieval fantasy about two sisters separated as children when their parents are killed by raiders coming through their village. I would be happy to answer any questions about my book. Here is the link:
http://coffeetimeromance.com/CoffeeThoughts/november-book-brew-event-my-book/

Feel free to log on at any time during the event.

Sorry for Slacking

Well it just seems like I've had a terrible time keeping up with things lately. October has been a terrible month this year. I lost one of my furry babies a week ago. I sure do miss him something terribly and I think I see him all over the house. I know that can't be because he's in my curio cabinet now in his little urn. My little Wizard will always be in my heart. I've put a memorial album for him on Facebook. Here's the link:
http://www.facebook.com/inbox/readmessage.php?t=1107849551106#/sunnimorris?ref=name

Imagine

Imagine!

Well I must say that word brings to mind a lot of things doesn't it? Mainly I was thinking about John Lennon today and what would have been his 7oth birthday. His beautiful song "Imagine" playing through my mind. Such a shame a great man and song writer left this earthly plane so soon, but I suppose it was his destiny this time around to do so. He must have done what he was here to do.

It's been a week of sorrow - losing two friends to cancer. Both wonderful people. One on Mon and the other on Thurs. This life we have is fragile and we best be doing something useful with it if we can.

I'm very tired and need to just relax awhile. Light some candles and think about this life and how it would be if we all could get along and just be peaceful. Of course I know that will never happen, but I can do my best to live a peaceful existence.

Blessed be.

Advice Paid Off

Well you're never to old to learn new things. Lately, I've been taking my little sister's advice and taking a copy of my latest book around with me. What's one more thing added to the purse after all? Today that paid off because I sold a copy to someone I was showing it too. I wasn't exactly expecting that, but it made my day. The lady was very much in awe that anyone could write a book.

In fact, looking back on this month, I have to say it was pretty good. I had lots of compliments out of the blue, which was surprising. I always try to be encouraging to people and I guess I really must have helped some of them. That really felt good because I do try to give everything I do my all. That's why I get consumed in all my projects, I guess. I don't mind sharing what I know with others and helping other writers realize their dream of seeing a book in print. I think a creative mind would understand that. Maybe.

I really feel things are starting to turn around for me, so we'll see what October brings besides cooler weather. I have high hopes, but then I am always the eternal optimist, even when things seem bleak. I don't know why I'm that way, but in my mind I live by the mantra "things can always be worse." And indeed they can be if you really think about situations.

My website needs re-doing again, my husband informed me today, but I was thinking about re-doing the whole thing anyway - as soon as I get the time. He had some good ideas that I'm mulling over.

Okay, I need to get off here and get some rest. I need a massage after all the long hours at the computer lately. I'm glad the weekend is coming and I won't have to get up so early. I'm sure some of you know the feeling. It's tough on a night owl. I have to set the alarm for sure when I'd rather throw all the clocks out the window, but that's a whole other subject I can't delve into just now.

Finally got my website updated

Good evening all,

Well it took me way longer to update my website than it should have. What else is new??? Honestly, I've been doing my freelance job all day and thought I would hop on real quick to do my email and update the website. It needed it since my new book is out. Of course I should have known nothing is quick if I'm doing it. As luck would have it, I ended up putting in a wrong link, so had to go back and fix that - not once - but twice. It just goes to show you, haste makes waste as they say.

Then I wanted to go and watch Castle just to relax. Heaven knows I need to do that. I recorded it earlier. But of course my husband is calling me to catch the cat, so we can doctor her tummy and legs. One of our cats is a real problem child and chews on herself until there's no fur left in places. Unfortunately, that's not her only problem either, but that can wait for another post.

Sometimes I feel like I'm living in a rat-race. And what does my husband do, kick back with his feet up in front of the TV or the computer. That's what retirement does for you I guess. It would drive me batty to do that all day - everyday.

Well I'm off to relax a bit before bed.

Gorgeous Harvest Moon Out Tonight

I don't know if any of you take notice of the moon or not, but it's gorgeous tonight. I always feel the urge to go out and dance under it. It's quite tempting and is an act of will to stay indoors. It lights up everything like daylight and the world seems magickal. I wish it stayed full longer.

They were shooting off fireworks tonight in the little town next to ours -a celebration for their Swiss Days. We can always watch them from the patio since there's basically nothing in the way except desert. They place wood cows all over town and decorate them. Pretty comical really.

The crickets are chirping and it's a balmy evening -in the 80's. You would think we had spring coming instead of cooler weather. The only indication that fall and winter is around the corner was the bat roosting under the eave tonight. We have very high ceilings and they like to get under there by the entry way and courtyard - quite fitting when Halloween rolls around. They nest in the cliffs behind us during the day.

On another note, I finally got the children's book printed and it's on Amazon now for sale, with a blurb on my website. I hope you'll check it out. Comments are welcome as always.

Blessings to all. I'm calling it an early night - haven't slept much all week. Have a great weekend! We're planning to take a drive to look at fall color tomorrow.

Absolutely never enough hours in a day!

Here we are at another weekend. Didn't Sept just start? It seems like it and the month is half over already. Went out to a lovely lunch with some friends today, Mexican food, one of my favorites, but of course it was about 3pm before I ever got to the computer today. Needless to say, not a lot got accomplished. I did work at my freelance job and that was about it.

I'm still waiting for the proof copy of my latest book and now think it must be lost in the mail because it's been over a week since the publisher supposedly mailed it out. That has me stumped.

I've made a few notes for my next book and have a lot of typing to do on that. The folder of notes is getting bigger, now just to make sense of it all because sometimes I can't read my own scribbles.

I feel a bit guilty about not spending more time with my elderly cat, so I really should do that if I can squeeze it in somewhere. He's 18 and a half and not well at all. The problem is I have all these deadlines staring me in the face that I have to deal with and I get interrupted more than you know when I'm working. One of the drawbacks of working from home. I think flying up and down the stairs twenty times a day helps to keep the weight off though, if you look on the positive side of things.

I suppose it's time to call it a night again, ready or not, since its almost the bewitching hour of midnight. I usually want to go out and dance under that moon, but that's another story and it isn't full tonight anyway although it's still beautiful. Can you imagine how magnificent it would be to live on Jupiter and have all those moons in the sky all the time, probably at different levels of fullness. Wow! What a sight!

Feel free to become a follower of my blog

I welcome you to follow my blog. I write fantasy books mostly, but read about any genre. My favorites are fantasy, time-travel, paranormal, mysteries, thrillers and the classics. I welcome all fantasy writers or writers in general, as well as readers, to talk about the writing process. Maybe you don't write, but would like to tell me about a wonderful book you've read, or are reading. That's welcome too.

I have cats and love them. I'd like to hear all your cat stories, if you want to share.

I also collect faeries and have always been a night owl. I try to keep a positive outlook about everything. If I undertake something I think is worthwhile, I will persevere until the job is completed, to my satisfaction, no matter how many times I get knocked down in the process. If you fall into this category, I'd like to hear your stories too.

Blessings,
Sunni

My thoughts on e-readers

I was in the shower this morning thinking about the commercial I saw yesterday. I'm sure a lot of you have seen the one with the two gals in the beach chairs, on the beach, reading on their kindles. The kindle e-reader has really come down in price. I think it was being advertised for $139, or some such price, and if I remember right when they first came out a year or so ago, they were $359. Now that's quite a difference, which led me to wonder if they were indeed selling very many of the devices. I also wondered how the people felt who paid top dollar for the new devices when they first came on the market. Of course the people who have to have the newest things probably bought the kindles knowing they would go down in price the longer they were available for sale. That seems to be the way it is with just about everything electronic.

I also wondered if anything could ever go wrong with them and cause you to lose all the books you have stored on them. I imagine it could fail, just like any computer, after awhile. Would the books be able to be recovered somehow, or perhaps backed up in the way we back up our computers to an external hard drive or Cd's?

My thought is that I will never own one of the devices and there are several reasons for that. The least of which would be product failure, although that would need to be considered by anyone giving this some thought. If the books were not able to be recovered, would you have to purchase them again, once you replaced your e-reader? A very good, legitimate question.

Now that being said, my main reason for not going out and splurging on one would be because I like the old fashioned book. I love the smell and feel of a book, and turning the pages the old fashioned way. The e-readers seem so clinical to me, although I know they are able to hold lots of books one tiny device. What will happen to the libraries, and things of that nature, if everything starts being produced in e-book format only? I keep an extensive library in my house and it's such a cozy room to be in. I love sitting in my chair in there and reading, surrounded by books and a couple of my cats. I would really hate for all of that to go away.

I think I'm probably living in the right time now because I'm sure a couple generations from now perhaps the old fashioned book will have totally disappeared, or be such a rarity it will be hard to get your hands on one. That would be one big shame!

A holiday is like any other day in my world

Hello there,

Well it hardly seems like a holiday at all. In fact, I can't believe labor day has come and gone already. I worked as usual. I spent most of the time editing on my book when I wasn't cooking or cleaning. I'm re-editing my proof, so my children's book will be delayed a couple of weeks. I honestly think I could edit until doomsday and still find the need to edit. However, I can't let it get published when I've left quotation marks out in two places. That's what happens when you get rushed, but then it seems I'm always running a rat race at my house. Long story short, I'm rewording other areas too as I go through it again. Good news is, I'm a little over halfway through, so hoping to finish it up in the next day or two, if the creek doesn't rise - as they say. Around my house things can change quickly, so I never really know if I'll have a flood and get called away or not.

I'm a rather tenacious person and if I didn't have a househld to care for I would have the book finished by now. It was my intention to upload new files by today or tomorrow. Really I should know better. Instead I find myself running up and down the stairs twenty times a day. My ofice is upstairs, for any of you who haven't guessed. To look on the bright side, at least I'm getting excercise everyday.

Today I cooked more than I usually do, so it took me an hour to cleanup the kitchen, which was an hour I didn't really have for such things, but what can you do? We are taking care of the old man next door, who has bone cancer and lives alone, so I wanted him to have a nice meal.

I hope everyone had a nice holiday. Tomorrow is back to the trenches as I try to work on my book edit and on the edit of a book I'm doing freelance. More next time.

Night time Ramblings

Well I'm still waiting for my proof which won't get here until next week now. I was hoping to get it read this weekend to see if I need to make any changes, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Kind of have my hands full now anyway, but wanted to start writing and it will be distracting to go back to the finished book.

A friend left for Idaho yesterday and today I found out another guy I know has terminal cancer. What a bummer. The old man next door has terminal cancer too. Don't know which one will go first, but I'm pretty sure they'll be gone by Halloween or Thanksgiving. It just goes to show you that this life is short and you never know what's coming. It's best to seize the day, or the moment, or whatever you have, and fill it with what counts. I try to live by that, but sometimes it's hard to do. Been trying to take the old man, Bob, some food etc. and check on him because he's all alone. He has a grown son who lives out of state that visits once in awhile, but he just trashes the place and doesn't pick up after himself. His father sure can't do it. A lot of times he can hardly move or get out of bed all day.

I did go out last night and had way too much mexican food. We met some friends at this new place that opened up and the food was terrific. I rarely eat that anymore anyway, so if it's in moderation I guess it's okay. That's the only kind of food my family can agree on when we all get together, which isn't very often. They eat that a lot in TX. It's no wonder almost everyone is over weight. Most of the time I try to stick to salad if I can. anyway this restaurant last night had one downfall and that was a table of kids run rampant. They screamed and ran around all over and the adults simply ignored them. It looked like pigs ate at that table and not children, with food all over the table, floor, chairs, etc. I felt sorry for the wait staff. I know we would have gotten killed if we acted that way when we were kids.

I think it's probably a good thing I never had any kids. Having kids doesn't mean they'll be there for you when you get old, like a lot of people think. Kids do grow up, move away, and have their own lives. I like to write and tell children stories, but then send them home to Mama. I think I would be to much of a disciplinarian in todays world. I have too much of my grandmother in me. She'd always tell us "children could be seen but not heard from, so you couldn't speak unless spoken to." I think all seven of us grew up all right in an atmosphere like that.

Ok, I better get with it. It grows late again and, even though I'm a night owl by nature, I have to halfway watch the time. I hate being a clock watcher, but I posted a sign above my desk - at eye level - that says "Watch the time" so I don't get myself in trouble all the time with the rest of the family. So I'm off to do my night chores which include giving my old cat a pill, scooping cat boxes, locking all the doors, etc. so I can get to bed and listen to Coast to Coast until I doze off.

Blessings all,
Sunni

Finally finished my children's novel

Well, I can hardly believe I've reached the end of the road with this novel. The writing process is such an ordeal at times, especially editing over and over again to get it all perfect. Now as if all this editing wasn't enough by itself, I still had the cover to do after reading the ms a jillion times.

Then silly me, I decided to use the wacom tablet I got for my birthday to design the book cover. I've always used photoshop, but this was a real learning curve. Actually once you get the hang of it, it's kind of fun although very intense. You're actually painting pixels on the computer screen. It's really neat how it works. But it's a real challenge to keep things straight. And also to remember which color you're using, although that can be fixed if you make a boo-boo. In that way it's like oil painting. The bright colors are very hard on your eyes, though, after awhile. It's kind of like seeing spots after someone's been taking pictures or coming in out of the bright sunlight. In fact it was so intense, I had to take a day off in between when I was working on it. I think it turned out real well considering it's my first stab at it using that tablet, and it certainly fits the theme of the book which is what I was going for. I'll post a pic here and let you be the judge for yourselves.

So what do you think? I uploaded this book to my publisher today, so if my files are in order I'll be recieving my proof soon. It should be out the end of August or first part of September 2010. You can read an excerpt at my website if you like. http://www.faeriemoundbooks.com

All feedback is welcome and appreciated.

Now it's on to my next venture. Until next time, blessings to all.

The Editing Goes On

Well, I'm still editing which I guess is no surprise. The book desperately needed commas added so while I was doing that, on the umpteenth read through, I changed a few other things as well to make it read better. I still have about a hundred pages to go and then I'll be tackling the cover.

Some days it's slow going and I don't get to it at all, so when I do I try to edit at least two chapters before I have to quit. If it was up to me, I'd just stick with it until it was finished if I had to stay up all night. But alas, it's not up to me.

I'm still hoping to have it to the publisher by the end of August, but that hope is dwindling more everyday. What can I say? I know this story front to back and back to front from reading it so many times. Of course that's the way with all my books. I've read them all fifty times before I'm ready to get them published.

I already have thoughts for the sequel buzzing through my head, as well as thoughts for the sequel to the medieval story I wrote last year. I have so much writing to do, if I can get out of editor mode, and find all the scraps of paper I've made notes on along the way.

I better get back at it. It's already 10 pm here and it won't be long until I have to quit for the night. I simply hate that. I'm a night owl and do my best work in the wee hours, but I have to keep the peace.

Hopefully my next post will be announcing the new book. Wouldn't that be nice?

Still Editing My Next Book

Well as my life goes, I'm still working on the edits for my last novel. I was buzzing along and then went back over it again, and then a third time, each time changing or correcting something else. I'm now on chapter two going over it a fourth time. Hopefully this one will do it. I also have the manuscript out to a couple people to read and give me feedback. Still planning on publishing it sometime in August 2010, but next month is approaching quickly.

I'm also designing the cover and using a new program for that, so it's slow going. I didn't get a lot accomplished today. Unfortunately, I can't work on this full time since I have a life going on here as well. Sometimes, I simply have to take a book and go downstairs and read, after dinner and the dishes are done. And as I do this, I think about all the things I need to do - like update my website, and finish my edit, and write. But my husband thinks I'm obsessed with my "projects" so I have to make my appearance downstairs, on some evenings, even though he's engrossed in politics or on the net himself. Anyway, eventually I'll finish everything - I hope.

The book I'm reading now (Cloud Chamber by Michael Dorris) was so very boring and finally started getting good after the first 150 pages. I know why it was boring - too much narrative and very little dialogue. Just goes to show you how important dialogue is to a story. A writer should never go on and on with pages of rambling narrative. If I wasn't persistent, I would have put the book down long ago.

If anyone would like, you can check out my book page on Facebook at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/?tid=1487649949721&sk=messages#!/pages/Adrift-in-Fantasy-Realms/134266636610429?ref=sgm

I'll post an excerpt to my new book on my website soon, so stayed tuned.

Until next time. Never give up what you love to do.

Sunni

Finished Novel Three - My First Children's Book

Hi everyone,

I'm exhausted and really have neglected this blog. Shame on me. The ABNA contest is over and I edited and polished my entry and will be publishing it in Aug. This will be my first kids story. I'm now working on the cover while a couple friends are reading the novel for any last minute changes.

I have an old cat who has seizures, among other problems, and he fell out of the cat tree this afternoon with another seizure. That's about an eight foot drop. I'm thankful he didn't hurt himself - that's all he needs.

I've been trying to get some online freelance work too so that takes a lot of time plus I'm working on another story. There's no time for everything and I constantly run on about four hours of sleep a night. I'm getting too old for this. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this and updating my website on a regular basis. I'll post a short excerpt from my new book soon.

Good News and Bad News

Well I made it past the first cut in the ABNA contest so I'm very happy about that. A couple of my friends and my sister didn't so that was sad since we all put a lot of time into writing.

I'm dealing with a sick cat right now so can't really write more than that at the moment. I think his time has about come to leave us and that's very hard. Any of you cat lovers who read this will know what I'm talking about there. I've had him since he was a kitten and he'll be 18 on May 6th. Poor darling.

I'll update soon on other things.

I Entered The ABNA Contest For The Third Time

Well let me tell you it's been a long two months for me. Trying to get my book finished in time for the contest and dealing with all my family issues. I lost one of my dear cats on the 7th of Dec. so that was a blow but he was 17 years and 7 months so had a pretty long life. Now his brother pines away for him, poor thing. They were from the same litter. He has lots of medical problems anyway so I've had my hands full.

Then the announcement for the contest came, which I was expecting, so it was onto polishing and more polishing. And the polishing was after I had to add 30,000 words to the manuscript in two weeks. It was a story I had originally written as a short story in 2005 and wasn't long enough for the contest at its present length. Of course I could have taken the easy route and just entered the one I did last year since they let self published books in the contest this year but I wanted to enter something new. I've been burning the midnight oil on all that and am completely wiped out.

I'm entering Y/A this year - my first year to do so - but it was the only thing I had finished enough that I could polish in time since I opted to enter something new. Hopefully I'll make the first cut but what will be - will be. At least I'm entered and can catch up on my 700 emails now. Oh my! A daunting task since I have to read them all. I'm so behind on my email that I should be ashamed of myself. I owe notes to a few people but they know what my writing life is like. Thank goodness. Of course my house needs a good cleaning too etc. etc. etc. And I have three manuscripts left to read and review since I promised that before the holidays. You know how it never ends. Sometimes I think I bite off way more than is do-able but that's just me. I do eventually get to it. I'm glad most people are understanding.

I guess I'm hopeless because I'm already jotting notes down for the next book. Sigh... I guess they'll join all the other notes I keep in my writing folder for now.