Here’s my newest release. From 19th of April on, you can now get the third fairy tale retellings bundle on Amazon (Yes, this time it’s even in KU). It will also be available at the other retailers in 90 days. If you haven’t read the tales yet, go and get them:

Today, you’ll also get a free short story from me and I hope you’ll like it. As usual there’s a list of more participants of this BlogHop after my story. Enjoy and leave a comment!

A Day to Remember

The first of April was the first sunny and warm day of the year. Of course the family decided to eat on the terrace. The sky was blue as my baby nephew’s eyes with small white clouds sauntering slowly across it. Birds were singing everywhere, not just in my parent’s garden, and the apple, cherry, and pear tree lifted clouds of white and purple blooms toward the sun.

I loved the day – until my gaze fell on two small red spheres in the midst of the cherry flowers. Cherries? At this time of the year? Impossible! It had to be something else. I set down the pile of plates I’d been carrying to the outside table, turned, and walked closer to the tree.

My jaw dropped. An elephant the size of a small car sat on one of the branches. It’s light gray skin merged perfectly with the flowers. When it turned its red eyes to me, I stumbled backward.

“Folks!” I called. “Hey, folks! You gotta see this.”

“What’s it?” My brother called back. He was just distributing the plates I’d abandoned.

“There’s a bloody elephant in our cherry tree!”

“Yea, sure.” He laughed and kept working. “Nicely played though.”

His kids came running, wanting to know where the elephant was, but when I tried to point it out to them, it was gone, no matter how much I tried to find it again. The kids were rather disappointed.

“That wasn’t a very funny April Fool’s joke,” the eldest, my ten year old niece, said.

“I’d so wanted to see the elephant.” My youngest niece hugged me. “I’m sorry it’s gone now.”

I watched them race over the bloom-covered lawn, avoiding clusters of daffodils and spring snowflakes as well as the sagging crocuses and snowdrops without even trying.

When I turned to glance at the cherry tree a last time, the elephant reappeared as it opened its eyes. Did it really turn invisible when it closed its eyes?

“Neat trick, ey?” It winked at me.

It took me a full minute to regain my wits. Then, I asked, “Why?” And when it didn’t answer, I expanded on the question. “Why did you do that?”

It giggled. It was the strangest sound I’d ever heard, a mix between a blocked trumpet and the squeal of a mouse.

The elephant spread its big ears and jumped off the branch, floating in the air above me. With its trunk, it patted the crown of my head. “April Fools!”

It flapped its ears, and soared into the sky, vanishing in but a heartbeat. And I stood there, staring after it, wondering how it knew where to fly with its eyes closed.

_________________________

More participants of the BlogHop and their stories:

Were’s the Rabid Rabbit Jemma Weir
VI – The Lovers by Raven O’Fiernan
Grit Nearly Succeeds by Bill Bush
Unknown Title by Sabrina Rosen
For a Breath of Air by Nic Steven
Pitch by Sandra Llyn
Bees by Barbara Lund
Bullied by Elizabeth McCleary
Love’s Sweet Prick by Sabrina Rosen

 
#free #stories #fairytaleretelling #publication #eBook #book

Since the next free flash story on this blog will drop on the 28th, this post will be a short one.

Except for January 2021 (personal reasons), I’ve been continuously publishing at least one book since April 2020. Most of them were new releases (5 volumes of “A Gaggle of Stories“, Das geheime Leben der Fabeltiere 1: Meerjungfrauen, Dilaras Wegträumgeschichten, Centennial Sisters (as Leonie Joy)), but there were also re-releases of existing titles (Angel’s Freedom, Victor’s Rage) and bundles (3 bundles with 3 volumes each of the series “Treasures Retold“). Many of these have been published in two languages (German and English).

That seems to be a lot of publications. The problem is that I haven’t written all that much new stuff last year. Except for a handful of short stories and the basic plan for a series and a historical novel, last year was the least productive in a very long time.

That’s mostly my grandson#s fault who had to stay at home due to Covid19. He made me rediscover how wonderful it is to stop working once in a while. I thoroughly enjoyed turning him into an astronaut (see picture) or read books to him.

And then, I got the news that my hubby’s workplace will finally be adapted to his needs. This means he’ll be able to keep working which reduces my need to earn a lot of money. Therefore, I decided to enjoy life more and to reduce the hours I work on my stories. I’ve still got enough material on my harddrive(s) to keep publishing for at least 6 months, but I’ll slow down a bit and concentrate on my family and on writing the best novels I can without pushing myself.

I’m not yet sure how often I’ll keep posting to this Blog, but I promise to keep at least the quarterly free flash stories for the Storytime Bloghop (as I said, the next one is on the 28th of April).

Enjoy life! It’s so incredibly short.

This month the second of my fairy tale retellings bundles will be published on the 19th on Amazon (the other shops will follow 90 days later).

This omnibus contains the retellings of The Hut in the Forest, Hänsel and Gretel, and Sleeping Beauty. Of course, it also contains the originals of those tales in case you don’t know the story, plus three bonus stories going along with each retelling. To round off the bundle, I included a brand new, never before published bonus story based on The Brave Little Tailor and its original. If you haven’t read my retellings yet, you should try them:

A hunted mechanic, lovers torn apart, and a beauty sleeping away her life must discover the truth or die trying…

Once upon a time there was magic. But even in fairy tales, time does not stand still. From mechanical gadgets to steam-driven machines, new inventions clash with old powers.

A young mechanic must evade execution after discovering the Hut in the Forest, slave traders are hunting Hänsel and Gretel, and Sleeping Beauty has to break the curse before it kills her. Will magic be their salvation? Or technology? Or will both only create more havoc?

Find out how your favorite fairy tale characters survive in a world where technology suppresses magic.

I also started a new project that might be of interest to you. A friend of mine sent me three books she very much loves but that have suffered badly over time. They were all partially ripped, one was missing pages, and one was even slightly moldy. I’m doing my best to restore them. You can follow my efforts on my Facebook Page or on Instagram (the accompanying texts are German, please don’t be put off by that; FB has a translation button that works reasonably well).

In the first step, I dried the books (in my oven for 3hrs at 70°C), then took them apart to look at the damage. I’m now at the stage where I reinforce the fold of the paper-sheets with a thin paper so I can start sewing. If you’re interested in my progress, head over to FB or Insta and follow me there.