The Red Velvet Suit is a magical story. The present Santa Claus is ready to enjoy his retirement years so it's time for his son to go and have his own red velvet suit custom made at Jack Frost's Tailor Shop. Only, when he arrives he finds Jack not there. Instead, Jack's daughter, Crystal Frost, takes Chris' measurements and promises to make him a suit worthy of Santa Claus. When Jack returns for a fitting he asks Crystal on a date. Unaccustomed to dating, Chris relies on Crystal to choose the restaurant. Their night out is marred when an evil elf nearly breaks Crystal's heart. Chris rescues her and the truth about what's happened to Jack Frost is revealed. Can Chris, Crystal, her mother, Santa and Mrs. Claus save Jack and Christmas? Find out in The Red Velvet Suit, available on Amazon, Kindle, and at other online book retailer sites such as Barnes & Noble.Thursday, December 6, 2018
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Try a A Major Production for Christmas
Kelly reads this novella every year!
Available on Amazon, from Barnes & Noble and other booksellers, and for Kindle.
Tuesday, December 4, 2018
Sunday, December 2, 2018
RE: The Man Who Invented Christmas
Last night John put on The Man Who Invented Christmas which is a movie about Charles Dickens and how he came to write one of the most definitive Christmas story ever, A Christmas Carol.
At first I was a little put off in regards to Dickens being portrayed as a kind of goofball sort of fellow with issues, but I bit my tongue, stayed in my chair (always difficult for me since I'm not a TV watcher), and gave it the benefit of the doubt.
It got interesting when Dickens whipped out a pocket notebook and wrote down the name Marley. What writer doesn't have pockets or a purse full of things like interesting names, place names, ideas, brief bits of conversation overheard while waiting in line for one's coffee, or in the bathroom where you tend to hear the most interesting things?
And then the characters came to life and talked to him, spouting lines, and offering critique and their own opinions. What author doesn't have these mental and, sometimes, out loud discussions, debates, and arguments with their characters as they are developed? What author isn't accompanied everywhere he or she goes by his current cast of characters all offering their views and suggestions?
Yes! I was soon thoroughly drawn into this movie because it was no longer about Dickens, it was about the writing process every writer/author goes through, the struggle, the blockages, the misplaced anger at the very real people in one's life when things aren't going well, the regrets for one's actions when you're angry with your own thought processes for failing you and lash out at whoever is nearest at the moment. I've seen the baffled and bewildered looks on Kelly and John's faces, and my co-worker's faces when I've gone to work literally in tears because of a fictional character!
I kind of liked Scrooge in this movie and how he convinced Dickens that people can change.
In a way this movie reminded me of the recent P.T. Barnum movie (musical) where the character was kind of bizarre to me and not like Barnum much. I didn't feel this handsome dude playing the part was much like Dickens, but once the Christmas Carol characters sprang to life and began dogging him, I forgot about that. I successfully managed to suspend belief and fall into a movie, laughing and, yes, crying in multiple places. It was like seeing my life as an author brought to life by these actors with a different era, gender and story.
The movie made this author feel good...but I don't know how Charles Dickens would have felt about it!
At first I was a little put off in regards to Dickens being portrayed as a kind of goofball sort of fellow with issues, but I bit my tongue, stayed in my chair (always difficult for me since I'm not a TV watcher), and gave it the benefit of the doubt.
It got interesting when Dickens whipped out a pocket notebook and wrote down the name Marley. What writer doesn't have pockets or a purse full of things like interesting names, place names, ideas, brief bits of conversation overheard while waiting in line for one's coffee, or in the bathroom where you tend to hear the most interesting things?
And then the characters came to life and talked to him, spouting lines, and offering critique and their own opinions. What author doesn't have these mental and, sometimes, out loud discussions, debates, and arguments with their characters as they are developed? What author isn't accompanied everywhere he or she goes by his current cast of characters all offering their views and suggestions?
Yes! I was soon thoroughly drawn into this movie because it was no longer about Dickens, it was about the writing process every writer/author goes through, the struggle, the blockages, the misplaced anger at the very real people in one's life when things aren't going well, the regrets for one's actions when you're angry with your own thought processes for failing you and lash out at whoever is nearest at the moment. I've seen the baffled and bewildered looks on Kelly and John's faces, and my co-worker's faces when I've gone to work literally in tears because of a fictional character!
I kind of liked Scrooge in this movie and how he convinced Dickens that people can change.
In a way this movie reminded me of the recent P.T. Barnum movie (musical) where the character was kind of bizarre to me and not like Barnum much. I didn't feel this handsome dude playing the part was much like Dickens, but once the Christmas Carol characters sprang to life and began dogging him, I forgot about that. I successfully managed to suspend belief and fall into a movie, laughing and, yes, crying in multiple places. It was like seeing my life as an author brought to life by these actors with a different era, gender and story.
The movie made this author feel good...but I don't know how Charles Dickens would have felt about it!
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Shop Small Saturday and So Forth
I was invited to participate in a pop-up shop at Blue Umbrella Books in which 3 author/artists offered their books and art for sale during Shop Small Saturday. Ryan McCarthy and Joseph Seal combine their artwork and writing. Ryan is a manga author/artist. Joseph has illustrated the cover and done some interior art for his novella The 100-Year Wind. Meanwhile, I drew a pen & ink drawing of Kip, the fox kit, a character in my new novel The Worth of a Woman, however, I had my 3 Christmas novellas and my 4 Christmas anthologies with me as I had at the Congregational Church earlier in November, plus all my current pen & ink black squirrel art prints, plus the fox, the chipmunk and the vampire bat (sounds like the beginning of a bad Halloween joke!)
Curiously, I sold more prints than books.
Maybe I should ditch being an author and just draw!! (Right! Like I could ever stop writing! As I was drawing the rest of a racon and the beginning f a great horned owl this evening and tonight a new beginning of the Garnet and Quella Memento Mori novel was running through me head.)
I needed to relax today because I haven't been feeling well since Sunday night. I was doing better this morning after getting more sleep than normal, so of course I ran out and did some Christmas shopping and other errands before work today, worked all afternoon, then came home and began drawing after dinner...after a prolonged snuggle with a very needy and affectionate Revere whom I'd left napping on a pile of my sweaters in the dining room...the mystery of his disappearance one morning last week finally solved! Black cats blend right into black sweaters in a dark house. I only noticed him today because he lifted her head as I walked right by him and I caught the flash of his white fur from the corner of my eye and jumped.
I am finished with the initial raw first draft of White Bishop Among the Pawns. I was surprised by some information that was revealed near the end of this novel- it has to do with Six, a dark and rather sinister character who appeared in Black Knight, White Rook, the second novel in the Romney Ivy series. I need to go back and make a few changes near the beginning of the book to bring the ending into alignment with it because I wrote his character as being one thing, but he's actually another thing. I also have to fill in more about Ivy Welsh great uncle who was also in the second book, and who comes to Massachusetts in this one to provide wise counsel for Romney and his allies.
Tonight, I was amazed how the drawings are just coming to life on the paper after an 18-year hiatus drawing. I got two boxes of brand new Hunt 102 crow quill pen nibs by Speedball...my all time favorite drawing pen nib. The racoon is in black and white. The great horned owl will have color. I've inked in two of three layers of his irises. Trying to get the right color golden yellow.
I'm enjoying doing both writing and drawing in my spare time, and wish I had more spare time so there could be more flow to my work rather than choppy, rushed hours after dinner interrupted by household obligations and needy cats wanting to play. Well...one day I will be retired...hope the hands and eyes hold out that long or I will be bitterly disappointed!
Curiously, I sold more prints than books.
Maybe I should ditch being an author and just draw!! (Right! Like I could ever stop writing! As I was drawing the rest of a racon and the beginning f a great horned owl this evening and tonight a new beginning of the Garnet and Quella Memento Mori novel was running through me head.)
I needed to relax today because I haven't been feeling well since Sunday night. I was doing better this morning after getting more sleep than normal, so of course I ran out and did some Christmas shopping and other errands before work today, worked all afternoon, then came home and began drawing after dinner...after a prolonged snuggle with a very needy and affectionate Revere whom I'd left napping on a pile of my sweaters in the dining room...the mystery of his disappearance one morning last week finally solved! Black cats blend right into black sweaters in a dark house. I only noticed him today because he lifted her head as I walked right by him and I caught the flash of his white fur from the corner of my eye and jumped.
I am finished with the initial raw first draft of White Bishop Among the Pawns. I was surprised by some information that was revealed near the end of this novel- it has to do with Six, a dark and rather sinister character who appeared in Black Knight, White Rook, the second novel in the Romney Ivy series. I need to go back and make a few changes near the beginning of the book to bring the ending into alignment with it because I wrote his character as being one thing, but he's actually another thing. I also have to fill in more about Ivy Welsh great uncle who was also in the second book, and who comes to Massachusetts in this one to provide wise counsel for Romney and his allies.
Tonight, I was amazed how the drawings are just coming to life on the paper after an 18-year hiatus drawing. I got two boxes of brand new Hunt 102 crow quill pen nibs by Speedball...my all time favorite drawing pen nib. The racoon is in black and white. The great horned owl will have color. I've inked in two of three layers of his irises. Trying to get the right color golden yellow.
I'm enjoying doing both writing and drawing in my spare time, and wish I had more spare time so there could be more flow to my work rather than choppy, rushed hours after dinner interrupted by household obligations and needy cats wanting to play. Well...one day I will be retired...hope the hands and eyes hold out that long or I will be bitterly disappointed!
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
NaNo Novel Validated Last Night
Last night I reached 72,000+ words written of my NaNo novel, White Bishop Amid the Pawns (tentative title), the 3rd in the Romney & Ivy series. I hit 50,000 words on day 6, knowing I was going on a short vacation and then would be crazy busy at work catching up when I came home, and doing a holiday bazaar, a Wordsmiths meeting, and the upcoming Shop Small Saturday event at the local indie bookshop. I really bogged down/slowed down, but got back on pace last night.
Yesterday, before retiring for the night at 11:30PM, I was able to validate my novel and download my Winner's certificate, #7 in seven years. I began writing a NaNo novel every November in 2012. I enjoy the challenge. Most years I have typed like a fiend, the ideas just flowing. This year, seven years older and with more distractions in my life, more things taking up my free time, I'm not sure I'll finish the novel by November 30th, but I'll give it my best shot.
Meanwhile, the gold Finalist in the Best Book Awards decals arrived today to apply to the front cover of The Hanging Man and Other Stories. I stuck one on the front of my copy and took a bunch of stickers to work with me to hand them out to my co-workers who have copies of the book.
Last night I talked to my big sister who is a playwright and children's writer for just over 2 hours. We discussed my new novel The Worth of a Woman, which was a complete departure from my usual genre and style of writing. We also talked about submitting to magazines, something I should be doing but have never had much interest in doing. Maybe in 2019 I'll give that a go. It was fun talking to Lynnmarie and catching up. We live on nearly opposite sides of the same town but don't see one another much. I work too many hours and she doesn't drive. But we do occasionally meet up as she is a WhipCityWordsmith, too.
Now, if I could just get my brother to write something then he could be a Wordsmith like his sisters are!
Yesterday, before retiring for the night at 11:30PM, I was able to validate my novel and download my Winner's certificate, #7 in seven years. I began writing a NaNo novel every November in 2012. I enjoy the challenge. Most years I have typed like a fiend, the ideas just flowing. This year, seven years older and with more distractions in my life, more things taking up my free time, I'm not sure I'll finish the novel by November 30th, but I'll give it my best shot.
Meanwhile, the gold Finalist in the Best Book Awards decals arrived today to apply to the front cover of The Hanging Man and Other Stories. I stuck one on the front of my copy and took a bunch of stickers to work with me to hand them out to my co-workers who have copies of the book.
Last night I talked to my big sister who is a playwright and children's writer for just over 2 hours. We discussed my new novel The Worth of a Woman, which was a complete departure from my usual genre and style of writing. We also talked about submitting to magazines, something I should be doing but have never had much interest in doing. Maybe in 2019 I'll give that a go. It was fun talking to Lynnmarie and catching up. We live on nearly opposite sides of the same town but don't see one another much. I work too many hours and she doesn't drive. But we do occasionally meet up as she is a WhipCityWordsmith, too.
Now, if I could just get my brother to write something then he could be a Wordsmith like his sisters are!
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
A Nice Surprise This Evening
Well, I can't boot up the laptop and not check my email, so I went there first and after rolling my eyes began marking as spam all the ridiculous Viagra and Cialis pitches, silver singles nonsense, and other crap when I chanced upon an email from Best Book Awards (sponsored by American Book Fest) advising me that The Hanging Man and Other Stories had been honored as a Finalist in the Fiction Anthologies category.
I am now an Award-Winning Finalist in the Fiction: Anthologies category of the 2018 Best Book Awards sponsored by American Book Fest." This is my official statement.
"By placing in in this year's awards, you have beat out 75% of your fellow entrants." Not bad for a local author who self-publishes (and drew her own cover art for this book besides!)
I am thrilled to make finalist after having reached semi-finalist status two years in a row in the Chanticleer Awards (Ozma Award semi-finalist for Black King Takes White Queen 2016, and Paranormal Award semi-finalist for Out in 2017)
You can check it out on http://americanbookfest.com/generalfiction/anthologies.html
I will do a happy dance as soon as my feet hit the floor again!
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