The Book Fair

This weekend I had the enormous pleasure of having a table at the local Diamond Valley Writer’s Guild (of which I am a member) book fair. There was a decent turnout, I sold some books, and I had a wonderful time getting to know other authors. Bonus, it took place in a local artists gallery, and I got to see some amazing art from local painters. Great stuff!

Two of my favorite authors were also there (not that I am biased or anything) and I got some pics of them being awesome.

This is the lovely poet, Judie Mare. She has four books now, all available on Amazon.com.

To find her books, click HERE.

 

This is the very talented and funny Mr. John Hoddy. His little minxy protagonist is a wonderfully engaging character, and I highly recommend his first book, The Bandit Little Red. His second book in that series is coming soon(ish).

To find it on Amazon, click HERE.

I Hope to attend more events like this in the future. As always, I will share the adventure with you, reader. Until next time, happy reading!

 

 

What If. . .

 

This quote was posted on The Writer’s Circle, a group that posts about writing stuff on Facebook (click the picture to go to their page). It inspired a conversation among my writer friends, in which one friend told me about a “what if?” writer’s conference she attended. The speaker gave them the following writing prompt:

• In 12 words or less, starting with “what if” ,  charismatically describe your book so everyone will want to buy and and read it.

Sounds simple enough. But here’s the funny bit-it’s not. 

Here is what I came up with for The Gatestone Chronicles: Fayling

• What if you were the only person who could fix magic?

It isn’t a bad sentence, but would it sell my book? It doesn’t really hit at the real story, does it?

Okay, let’s try again.

• What if a human could save the universe from fairies?

Hmm. I like that one better. Closer to what the book is about, but it vilifies the fay a bit too much.

One more time.

• What if saving one life could magically alter the course of fate?

Okay, well it isn’t perfect, but to be fair I have to keep it to twelve words, so it will do.

 

What about you reader? Tell me what you came up with in the comments below. Happy Writing!

Throwback Thursday

Oh what the heck, I’ll post a day early so I can remind you of my book, Tilted Tales under the guise of the pop culture phenomenon, throwback Thursday. Cheers!

 

Inner Magic

Every living being carries magic at its core,

Even those who never did a mystic thing before.

 

Don’t commit to memory shifty lines of magic spells.

Don’t mix yourself a brew of sense-offending smells.

 

The magic that I mean takes so little skill to cast.

Bet my worldly fortune that you’ve used it in the past.

 

It doesn’t take a wizard to figure what this means:

Loving is a power that is written in your genes.

 

 

 

 <————-Click me!!!!!!

Buy me.

More Glass Than Wall

 

I’m very happy to announce a dear friend’s accomplishment; More Glass Than Wall, the second book of poetry by Judie Mare. This is an amazing journey across the globe, one poem at a time. It is in full color, and is filled with vibrant photos of Mare’s travels. Ever been to Chitchen Itza? Or England? How about Egypt? I had the enormous pleasure of helping with the formatting on this book. It felt as if I had traveled alongside her, though I have never stepped foot outside the USA, and I don’t even have a passport.

If you click on the image above, it will lead you to Amazon.com if you are interested in purchasing it. Before you get sticker shock, be aware that this book is an 8×10 (so not a normal sized paperback) and is in full color. Printing costs on color books are significantly more expensive than black and white. That being said, the book is listed at $21.00.  I encourage you to take a peek inside. Once you get a glimpse, I know you will love it as much as I do.

On a side note, Timmy Tommy Tum is getting it’s final polish and I will be announcing the release soon.

Until then, happy reading!

What I Am Up To

I know, I know, it is really late in the day and I should have posted much sooner. But wait until you hear about what I spent my day doing (then you might forgive my flakeyness). Since it is summertime, my good pal Kristin Swartfager is out of school (she works at a preschool), at which point she switches hats from teaching young-ins to illustrating and arting up the place.

Curoius?

 

I knew you would be. Here is a taste:

Yup. It’s a ball of yarn. This is one of many adorably irresistible images that will appear in our first collaboration, Timmy Tommy Tum. It is a picture book with a rhyming story about a human-like kitten who refuses to go to sleep. Yes, it is for children.

The reason (and my excuse) for being so un-bloggy today is because Kristin and I spent the day refining our work. You will see the results of our cooperation very soon.  Until then, bask in the cuteness of the characters she drew to represent us in all of the books (yes, there will be several more to come) we do together specifically for kids.

In other news, my webpage got an update. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here: authoralsant.com

I will give you updates as our happy partnership produces more awesomeness. Until then, Happy reading!