The Advent Calendar is live!

I probably should have posted this on Saturday. But it was Saturday.

I forgot.

Anyway, no harm. No foul. The Indie Author’s Advent Calendar is live, and new stories will be revealed each day until Christmas. Click the link to get the stories. And if you want the bonuses, sign up for the email reminders while you’re there. (Cat doesn’t ever spam, and that list will get you nothing but these emails. It’s a safe and very quiet list.)

Enjoy the stories!

The Advent Calendar is Coming!

I’ve done it in the past, and I’m doing it again this year. I’m going to be a part of Cat Gerlach’s Indie Author’s Advent Calendar!

Woot!

What this means is that I have a story that will appear on one of the days in December (I don’t know which day) on the Advent Calendar site. Anyone can just go click on that page starting December 1st and read anything that’s been revealed so far. But if you sign up for the Advent Calendar mailing list, you’ll get daily notifications when the new story is available, plus there will be bonus downloads for email only, including the collected stories in e-book form.

This year’s theme for the calendar is Snow. There will be a bunch of great stories, and you never know what you’re gonna get. It’s possible you’ll discover your new favorite indie author, just in time for Christmas!

So, go sign up to get alerts, and enjoy the holidays!

Indie Author’s Advent Calendar 2018

Flowers in the Winter

I first published this flash fiction on my blog as part of the 2015 A-Z challenge. All those stories came down when my 2016 stories started going up. But when my friend Katharina Gerlach invited me to participate in her annual Advent Calendar again, which has a winter theme this year, I immediately remembered this story and decided to write something related. I’m reposting this here to give that one some context. For those who want to know what happens next in this tale, be sure to sign up for Advent Calendar alerts (the link is on the upper right) so you won’t miss any of the stories! Cat doesn’t send spam, and the list for this calendar only gets notifications about this calendar.

You can start opening your surprises on December 1st.

 

Flowers in the Winter

“Georgie, come inside.”

The red-haired girl frowned as her sister tugged on her arm. “Don’t wanna,” she said. “I want frowers!” She pulled her away and crossed her arms with a defiant harrumph.

“Flowers,” Beatrice corrected. “And you can’t have flowers right now. It’s winter. No flowers ’til spring. Nothing green. No colors. Just snow. That’s just the way it has to be.” The older girl’s voice had a tone of finality that Georgie knew meant business. “Remember what happened last time?”

Georgie didn’t want to remember, but she did. The Wardens came and there was lots of yelling. The men in their bright red coats almost took away father. Mother made Beatrice take her upstairs to hide. And it seemed a lot darker than it should have, like being in the wardrobe with a blanket over her head. The memory scared her, especially the words they used—magic and witch and evil. That’s what finally made her decide.

She frowned at her sister’s offered hand for a minute longer, just for good measure. Then she took it with her own and the two walked together down the snowy path and entered the solarium.

“Now,” said Beatrice, “if you’ll behave and just stay inside, I’ll go to the kitchen and get us some cookies.”

Georgie frowned a bit harder before she finally gave in. “Ok. But I want four,” she was emphatic. “The lemon ones. They’re the best.”

“If mother made them then that’s what I’ll bring. If not,” Beatrice shrugged, “it might have to be shortbread.” She tousled her sister’s hair. “Either way, I’ll also bring milk.”

Georgie sat on a bench in the sunroom that overlooked the back garden and pouted. She hated all the cold and ick of winter. She wanted pretty things. But father made her promise, no more flowers. No more colors. Nothing green… at least not until green started happening on its own. Just snow. Cold and wet and boring and ugly.

Swinging her feet impatiently as she waited for cookies, Georgie wondered if flowers were really the problem. Maybe it was just the colors. What had Beatrice said? Just snow.

“Just snow,” she said to herself as she jumped off the bench to smoosh her nose against the glass. “Nothing pink or purple or yellow. Just snow.”

iceflowersGeorgie was still standing with her face pressed against the window and her fingers tapping lightly on the pane when Beatrice came back with cookies and milk.

Beatrice put the tray down with a clink. “Lemon cookies, as requested,” she said. “And also some lavender short bread. And… Oh, Georgie! What have you done?”

“I didn’t make any colors,” said Georgie. “Nothing green. No frowers. Just pretty.”

“More than pretty,” said Beatrice, shaking her head. “It’s beautiful. But if the Wardens find out, we’ll all be in trouble.”

The girls stood side by side, staring at snow and ice that Georgie had transformed into delicate floral sculptures more detailed than any garden.

Copyright Notice: Please note that I fully assert my right to be associated as the author of this story, and while it is complete, it may not be finished. This story may be subject to alteration at the author’s discretion. Please do not copy, quote, or post this story or excerpts anywhere in any format. You are, however, free to share the link with anyone who might be interested.

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Update on my procrastination skills, and other events of note

alarm-clock-590383_1280Yeah, so, procrastination.

About that.

It’s still a thing that I do. (For evidence, note that here it is something like 3 weeks after saying I’d post an update in a week. Ha!)

HOWEVER, that is not to say there has been no movement on that front.

I did do a little bit o’ plotting. Not much. Not enough. But some.

Blog Hopperpetualbloghop

Also, I wrote a flash story – one that I really like! I’m participating in the Story Time Blog Hop again this month. It’s a quarterly thing, and being October, all the stories will probably be leaning toward ghost stories, Halloween, paranormal… typical haunted fare.

But these are my friends, so don’t expect ordinary. Never expect ordinary. 😉

Expect to see that story as well as links to the others on October 26 at 6PM. (We are a global group, so we try to make things drop right at Midnight UTC. I’m in the -6 timezone, so I post 6 hours early.)

Advent CalendarKat's Advent Calendar

I’m also planning to participate in my friend Cat’s Advent Calendar again this year. I’ve done this a couple of times in the past, and it has always been a lot of fun.

As soon as I have sign-up info for that, I’ll post it here. To get the stories, you’ll need to join a mailing list… but it’s a list ONLY for the Advent Calendar and Cat never spams.

For that collection of stories, the theme this year is Winter (but not necessarily Christmas). As usual, most of the authors participating will likely have some kind of bonus in the form of an additional story, a traditional recipe, a fun desktop background… something unique. You won’t want to miss out!

NaNoWriMonanowrimo_2016_webbadge_participant-200

Between the Blog Hop and the Advent Calendar, is the annual event known as NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month.  For those who haven’t heard of it, writers (anyone, really) are invited to try to write 50,000 words in November. That works out to an average of 1667 words every day.

50,000 might be a short novel, but by most classifications, it’s a novel. A whole novel (or maybe a good start on one) in 30 days is a pretty significant challenge. With my afore mentioned habit of procrastination, I have never managed to hit that 50,000-word goal. But I’m giving it a shot again this year. (My username there is pearannoyed, so if you’re participating too, feel free to connect!)

The story I’m planning is actually an extension of what I wrote for the Blog Hop. So if you drop back by on the 27th and read that story, you might have motivation to cheer me on for NaNo. Maybe. If you like it.

 

That is, I think, all I have on the table at the moment. If anything else comes up, I’ll let you know.

I almost forgot…

Kat's Advent CalendarLast year I had the opportunity to participate in a writing Advent Calendar hosted by good friend and multi-published author, Katherina Gerlach. As her name might suggest, she is from Germany, the land of Advent Calendars.

This year’s calendar is populated by fantasy writers who specialize in fairy tale retellings. Each of the included stories has been serialized for the calendar, but the whole collection will also be offered as an ebook on Christmas if you sign up for the alerts!

It’s not too late to join the fun! If you’re interested, visit this page to see the story segments that are already available. And don’t forget to join the list on that page to get the ebook for Christmas.

Advent Calendar 2013

advento
Rosa Pomar / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

I couldn’t be more excited! I am part of a group of authors offering an Advent Calendar this Christmas season!

For those who may not know, an Advent Calendar, at it’s most basic, is a means of counting down the days from December 1st until Christmas. It started as a German tradition, but has taken hold almost everyplace where Christmas is celebrated. Many such calendars hold daily surprises for the children they are intended to instruct. I’ve seen them with tiny pictures behind the numbered doors, or tiny books with stories to read. Many people have Advent Calendars with candy or other goodies awaiting each day of the countdown.

Our calendar is being sponsored by Katherina Gerlach, a wonderful fantasy and folk-tale author who publishes in both German and English. She and 5 of her writing friends (yours truly included) will be sharing original stories, character sketches, recipes, and even a few songs. Each of us writes in the fantasy genre, so some of what you receive will be fantasy. But much of it will also be seasonal fare.

I sincerely hope you’ll join the fun and sign up for the calendar. Our commitment is that you’ll receive 25 daily emails, and then a reminder next year to sign up for Advent Calendar 2014. No spam. (Of course, you’ll also have the opportunity to follow any of the participating authors on their own lists, should you choose to do so.)

To sign up, go here. ==>> http://www.katharinagerlach.com/advent2013/calendar.html