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… » Read MoreIts really true!
Mid October two of my books won awards. First, “Scotlands Guardians” won the B.R.A.G. Medallion for high quality Indie publications and a day later, “Paralan’s Children” was nominated Indie book of the day. I’m very proud of this. Here comes proof so you can believe me:
Now, I haven’t posted in quite a while. You could say it was my daughter’s fault. I always push them to spend as much time outdoors as they can because it’s healthy and trains their imagination. But two of three are in puberty at the moment, and they accuse me of forcing them to do something I’m not doing myself. They are right (partially).
I worked a lot this year (new novels and short stories, becoming an Independent Publisher, Webdesign, several publications, marketing plus a course and much more), which meant I spent a lot of time in front of my computer. Incidentally, it’s a desktop PC and cannot be carried outdoors.
The kids have been on holiday for the last two weeks, and I tried to make amends and be a good example for them. One week we went horse riding on a pony farm we have been visiting for the last few years. By now, the kids are capable enough to go riding on their own (with a mobile in their pocket and us walking somewhere close). The days flew past so fast, I barely noticed.
One questions remains: How can it be that my garden is still a mess despite the time I spent outdoors?
How about you? Do you have a garden? Do you like to roam around outdoors like my kids (if they’re not throwing a puberty-related tantrum)? Let me know and enjoy the golden autumn.
When I drove to the shopping center yesterday, I head the song “Hangover” by Taio Cruz on the radio. For the first time, I really listened to the lyrics and was shocked. There’s a boy singing about getting drunk and linking it. He’s even asking for more. No wonder that so many kids think that binge drinking is OK.
Why doesn’t anyone ever make a song that’s just as addictive (the music alone is wonderful and memorable) about the dangers of alcohol? Why not devote a song to FASD-children who are born with severe handicaps because their mothers drank alcohol during the pregnancy (and it doesn’t even have to be much alcohol since the drug goes through the placenta unhindered and kills the fetus’ cells — mostly brain cells)?
These are the steps of drinking alcohol. Believe me, it’s not much fun at a party to have someone around like this:
Remember that it’s your body and it will have to last for a hundred years (best case scenario). And, what’s worse, your alcohol drinking habits will affect your children directly (FASD) or indirectly (“following in your footsteps”-mentality).
Rant over (for now),
Wouldn’t the header for this post make a great title for a book? So, what happened?
On Tuesday, my day went haywire. First I went to a wonderful exhibition with my husband about a Roman/Germanic battlefield from 335 a.D. It was discovered a few years back and shocked the scientists since they had been sure that Romans had never been this far into Germany since Varus lost 3 legions in 9 a.D. The exhibition was great and we enjoyed it a lot.
Since it took us all morning and the lunch break too, to go there, look at it and return, we had given our middle daughter (12) a key so she could get in when she came back from school at 12am. Unfortunately, she left the key in the house when her friend came and requested her to help catch their sheep (4 of the herd had broken free from their compound).
We spend two hours waiting for the car service to come and open the door to my husband’s car (the key was in the house too) where we had a spare key to the front door. Of course, everybody was starving by then, so I had to cook and walk the dog (which had been in urgent need). Well, with shopping and a few telephone calls, the day was gone before I realized I hadn’t been on my PC at all. Strange feeling but not unwelcome.
Now, I’m back on track. The revision of my newest novel, “Juma’s Rain”, is nearly done and the first 50 pages are already translated. If all goes as planned, it will be available in the usual shops early next year.
Have you ever had a day like this? Tell me. I’m happy about every comment I get.
Hi,
Yesterday, I was interviewed by Voice Over artist Katie Adler. Before the show started I wondered, “How will we fill a whole hour? I’m not really that interesting.” Man, was I wrong. Time flew by, and I even surprised myself with some of the answers I gave. Truth be told, you only get a good interview if the interviewer knows how to ask good questions. I had a lot of fun and highly recommend her site. She has this kind of podcast every first Sunday in the month (mine was a week late due to technical problems).
You can find the short stories I wrote (two 500 word flash stories) on Katie’s site:
Short Story Sunday with Katie Adler
and while you’re there listen to the replay, or listen to it here:
Have a great day,
When I tried to set up the audiobook I prepared, I found out that I have to have the eBook in place first. So I used most of the week to publish a two-story collection (roughly 25 pages) outside my normal schedule. The eBook “Heroes Wanted” contains two short stories:
Life™ – Divisions of Myths and Legends
or How to order a dragon
Mondays are hard in any office. When Siegfried von Xanthen is calling before opening hours, the day at Life™ – Divisions of Myths and Legends goes downhill for Rose.
A Different Perspective
Romans attack, and Freyja flees with the women of her clan while the men fight, including her beloved Thordal. Can Allfather Odin help Freyja to save Thordal’s life?
As an eBook, “Heroes Wanted” is only 99ct — as an audiobook it’s bound to be much more expensive (but you get nearly a full hour of audio for the money). I’ll post a link as soon as I know when the audio will be available. It will take some time to get approved and everything.
Have a great day,
Have you ever been to the Baltic Sea? I went very often when I was a kid. My father’s side of the family lived a long time in the (then) GDR, and he had friends that we visited every year. There was a forced money exchange of 25 DM per day and grown-up (1 DM for one GRD-Mark), children were a little less expensive. So, staying there for a fortnight with 2 parents and 4 kids was just as expensive as flying abroad would have been. But I gained some of my most favorite memories there (despite possibly spying neighbors). Those memories sparked “The Witches of Greenwitch”, the novel you can get for free if you join my no-spam mailing list. This is what it looks like (except these days there are many more people around, bathing in the sun or the sea).
Beach at the Baltic Sea, photo taken by Ostsee-Action.de
I am officially leaving the day after tomorrow and will spend two whole weeks there with no Internet access (yay), no writing(boo), no husband (boo), my kids (yay), my brother (yay), his wife (yay), and his boys (yay again).
Unfortunately with the upcoming anthology, there was so much to do that I did not manage to schedule posts in advance. So you’ve got to live without me till the beginning of August. I promise to be back shortly after my birthday. I think I’ll post some pictures when I return.
Enjoy the summer,
I am doing the happy dance today. There were so many good things that happened today (and one unshared older news) that I just have to tell you.
Two of my short stories have been accepted for (paid) publication in anthologies in the US.
(SQUEAL)
One story will be published in an anthology by Freedom Forge Press, the other made it into the “Think Sideways Writers Anthology” of writing teacher Holly Lisle. Isn’t the cover just awesome?
The Adventure of Creation
Think Sideways Writers Anthology
Also, my Wattpad story “Swordplay”, a YA fantasy murder mystery, made it into the final round in “The Write Awards 2013”. This contest is looking for well crafted stories on Wattpad, and the competition was fierce. We started out with nearly 100 participants and have been narrowed down to 10 by now. Mid-August, they will announce the winner.
And finally, my novel “Scotland’s Guardians” passed the first round of judging for the “Kindle Book Review: Best eBook 2013 Award” and is now a semifinalist in the Young Adult category.
All these good news make up for the fact that I don’t get much done with the kids on holiday.
Have a good time,
I am going on a holiday to visit gardens and castles in Kent, England! It will be the first time since my marriage nearly 20 years ago that I’ll be travelling without my husband and kids. I’m scared stiff to say the least.
What if hubby doesn’t manage to handle the kids? After all, they’re both in puberty and very easily annoyed. What if they have to live on muesli and pancakes for the whole week? What if it keeps raining and our house is flooded? What if my dog stops eating because he misses me so much? What if… But probably not.
My mind knows exactly that everything will go well. It’s just this over-active imagination dumping horrors on me. I wonder how people who aren’t authors cope with these things. I can sit down and write a story where all the bad things happen increasing the catastrophes until the world explodes. After that, I can set aside my worries because my emotional side finally understands how unlikely these things are. But what do you do (no, not you, author. The one beside you)? Let me know, please. I’m curious.
