Unrelated Friday

I couldn’t think of anything to say today, so this isn’t going to be a very long post.

Source.  Copyright Capcom.

First off, happy Thanksgiving to any Americans who happen to be reading this.

If you haven’t heard, Anne McCaffrey passed away on Monday.  Her stories will always have a place in the recesses of my mind and though she didn’t know me, I came to know her through her books and I’m glad for that.

It was Davin Malasarn’s birthday on the 16^th, I think, and J.C. Martin’s on the 23^rd.  I’d like to say happy birthday to both of those awesome people.  On a similar note, J.C. is holding a contest on her blog that has a bucket-load of prizes, so hop over there and join in.

Finally, the Intern has revealed her secret identity!  If you haven’t heard, here is a link to the blog post doing the revealing.  She landed a publishing deal, and therefore shed her anonymity.

That’s all from me.  Enjoy your weekend.

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The Doll

First up, click here and look at those pictures.

Creepy much?  Yeah.  My blogger-buddy J.C. Martin has a novelette called The Doll that features the very island (and legend).  Creepy dolls, black candles and more.  I read it a while ago when J.C. gave it away via her newsletter.  If you haven’t had a chance to look at it, you can buy an ebook copy for $0.99 here and $2.99 here.

But there’s more.  J.C. has launched a contest on her blog (click here to go there) in which she gives away a bunch of things (including… wait for it… a Kindle Touch – though this is only applicable if The Doll manages to sell 400 copies by November 1st).

I read it quite a while back, so I can’t write a very useful review of it, but I do remember that I quite enjoyed it, and judging by the amount of positive reviews, others did too.

Join the contest on her blog and spread the word.  Who knows, maybe someone will win a Kindle.

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Birthday Bash Blogfest!

J.C Martin's awesome blog is officially one year old.  To celebrate, she is hosting a blogfest.  Here are the rules as posted on her blog.

Write a story (or a personal account) that begins with the phrase:
“A lot can happen in a year…”

The catch? It must be a drabble, i.e. exactly 100 words long, no more, no less. The starter phrase will not be included in your word count.

Some guidelines:

• Proper nouns (names, etc.) count as just one word, e.g. ‘New Mexico’ is one word
• Hyphenated phrases count as one word, e.g. ‘self-defence’ is one word
• I shall be lax with conjunctions: you may count them as one word! 

I'm not sure when I was supposed to post this, but it seemed like a good idea to do it on the actual blog birthday.  So here is my entry:

“A lot can happen in a year…”
Those were the words my mother had uttered when I told her I wanted to train with the Knights.
“We’ve been fine for ten, mother.”
My father died when I was little.  My sister and I were all that my mother had left.  We often worried that bandits would attack our homestead.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to fight them off.  But if I trained with the Knights, I could protect my family and my land.
I returned home, after a year, armed with the skill to fight off bandits, but I had only cinders and rubble to defend.

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Stories for Sendai Release

I’ve always had a soft spot for Japan, so when the earthquake, tsunami and subsequent disasters hit them, I really wanted to help. However, I was pretty much broke, and any contribution would have been, as put so nicely below, puny.

What really hit me was how the Japanese people reacted after the disaster. They didn’t run around, looting and pillaging. They moved in an orderly fashion, following the directions given. Really a great example to follow.

When J.C. announced the creation of Stories for Sendai, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. So I thought and thought, trying to come up with something. I think I wrote three stories before I got one that seemed right to me. I sent it in and waited.

I was really glad when I heard that my story had been accepted. This is my first published work, and I’m glad that it can be connected with such a noble effort.

Yesterday, Stories for Sendai was officially released. If you haven’t bought a copy yet, go over to Amazon (or whichever place also sells it; i.e. Take2 if you’re in South Africa) and get yourself one. You get 19 short stories and a poem, plus you get to help the people of Japan. A bargain if I ever saw one.

Anthology Information:
One of the largest earthquakes ever recorded hit the city of Sendai in the Tohoku region of Japan on Friday March 11. The magnitude 9.0 quake unleashed a deadly tsunami that slammed into Japan's east coast, leaving a swathe of devastation in its wake. Thousands of people lost their lives, and many are still missing or injured. Thousands more have been left homeless and destitute.
As a testament to the generosity of the world's citizens, emergency appeals have been swiftly set up in the aftermath of the quake, but I'm sure many of you, as we did, had the same thought: our donations seem so puny. There must be some other way we could make a difference!

With that in mind, Stories for Sendai was born!

Here’s a link to Amazon for the print and the Kindle editions.

Finally, there is even a prize draw!  Email a copy of your receipt to storiesforsendai (at) ymail (dot) com, and be entered for a draw for cool prizes! Here’s what’s on offer:

1 x $10 or £10 Amazon gift voucher

1 x First Chapter/Query/Synopsis Critique by Michelle Davidson Argyle!

2 x First Chapter / Query / Synopsis Critiques by J.C. Martin!

2 x e-book copies of CELESTIAL SEDUCTION by Jessica E. Subject, donated by author!

1 x ebook copy of MIDDLEWITCH MAYHEM by Heather Parker, donated by author!

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