I Published 3 Books in 3 Months

 

And I need a nap.

I published a picture book for my mom in January, a middle grade book in February, and a collection of flash fiction and poetry for my mom on March 3rd.

Three books.

Three months.

The last on March 3rd in honor of my mom.

Three was her favorite number.

I didn't realize any of that until now, so apparently, no matter how exhausted it made me, it was meant to be.

I present to you...the three:

Gregory Green and Sammy go on a fishing adventure with Grandpa. Except, it doesn’t seem like much of an adventure to Sammy the Teddy Bear. He hasn’t caught a single thing all day and is bored. Then a tug on his fishing pole changes everything. Excited, they take the catch home where the fish gets bigger and bigger. Only, it’s not a fish at all. It’s a catch of a lifetime.

Links (so far):

eBook: NOOK / KOBO / APPLE BOOKS / SMASHWORDS / AMAZON

Print: AMAZON

Reviews: BookBub / Goodreads

Fay Williams and her family have moved from their home in New Orleans to Deadoak, a small town where strange things are said to happen, and Fay hopes so. She is a magnet for the strange and documents everything in her Journal of Weird. During her first day at school, Fay finds out her science class will be dissecting frogs. She can’t think of anything she wants to do less, but Mr. Phibian will fail her if she doesn’t. Now she has no choice.

Except, the frogs have another plan when they come to life and terrorize the school. Can Fay, her twin brother Jay, and her lab partner Frances save their school and prevent everyone from turning into half-human, half-frog creatures with a hunger for flies and…people?

Fay knows one thing for sure. This is going in her Journal of Weird!

Links (so far):

eBook: Nook / Kobo / Apple / Smashwords / Amazon

Print: Barnes & Noble / Amazon

Reviews: Goodreads

In loving memory of Elaine Kaye.

Sweet romances for the lighthearted and intriguing suspense for the daring. Poetry that explores the longing of loneliness, the desire for love, and the wish to fly free.

Links (so far):

eBook: Nook / Kobo / Apple / Smashwords / Amazon

Print: Amazon

I have plans to publish more in the final few months of the year, so stay tuned!

Meet Thistle the Fairy in Human Form + Giveaway

Last year, I cosplayed as Thistle Greenbud from my mom’s middle grade chapter books Bad Fairy and Bad Fairy Strikes Again. I bought a black wig, put on a black frilly dress I’d worn for Halloween once, topped it with a dark red T-shirt, clipped a flower to the fake hair, and trained my voice so I spoke as I imagined a fairy would speak. Thus, Thistle was born. Or, more accurately, Thistle became human-sized.

I was looking for ways to help my mom market her books, to attract more readers, to stand out. Honestly, while it did stand out in terms of a unique way to promote a book, it didn’t garner the result I was hoping for; we didn’t see an increase in book sales. Not all ideas work in the way you imagine.

Still, I had fun.

Uh-oh! Thistle is human-sized!

What trouble will Thistle get into now?

After I shared images of myself as Thistle, I created short videos that I turned into reels on Instagram. A lot of people don’t like videos on Instagram because it started as a photos-only platform, but everything evolves and evolution is a good thing. Reels can be a creative and fun way to promote a book, which is 100% acceptable to do on Instagram or any other social media platform. Reels/videos can also be used in informative and educational ways, as well as a way to connect to followers more than through immobile images and captions, no matter how long they are.

So, I recorded myself as Thistle.

Here’s the first reel I shared to my mom’s Instagram account:

NOTE: When you click the play button, the video will be small because it’s a reel, not a full-sized video. You can watch the full-sized reel by clicking the “View on Instagram” links below each short clip.

Thistle’s Cry For Help:

0:12 seconds 

View on Instagram 

After the initial video explaining how Thistle got to be as big as a human, I created short clips to introduce her, share fairy secrets, talk about fantasy creatures mentioned in the books, and highlight some fairy slang.

Thistle Reveals Fairy Secrets:

0:21 seconds

View on Instagram

Thistle Greenbud:

0:22 seconds

View on Instagram

Facts About Thistle:

0:18 seconds

View on Instagram

What’s A Batty-Eye?

0:19 seconds

View on Instagram 

What Does Okum-Sokum Mean?

0:09 seconds

View on Instagram 

The above reels/videos are the ones that I think are good introductions to Thistle and are a couple of my personal favorites, but I also want to share the most-viewed reels on Instagram because it’s usually not the images and videos we think will do well that get a lot of interaction. From the ones above, Facts About Thistle (currently 1,090 views) and What’s A Batty-Eye (currently 1,509 views) are among the most-viewed on Instagram, but here’s more:

What Do You Call A Group Of Fairies?

0:11 seconds

View on Instagram

Currently 1,064 views

What Are Brownie Fairies?

0:17 seconds

View on Instagram

Currently 1,395 views

What Are Flower Fairies?

0:28 seconds

View on Instagram

Currently 1,380 views

What Are Goblins?

0:14 seconds 

View on Instagram 

Currently 1,365 views

What Are Boggarts?

0:14 seconds 

View on Instagram

Currently 1,347 views

What’s A Pixie?

0:13 seconds

View on Instagram

Currently 1,079 views

I’ve been VERY slowly posting all the Thistle reels I made for my mom to my TikTok, because it is perfectly acceptable to post videos from Instagram to TikTok and vice versa, and it’s not only acceptable but considerate to cross-promote the same content across your social media for the followers who aren’t everywhere and who would otherwise miss it if you only shared it in one place.

So far, it’s interesting to see the differences between these two platforms. I’ve noticed the videos that did well on Instagram don’t do as well on TikTok, but also the ones that do well on TikTok hadn’t done as well on Instagram.

For Instance, What Do You Call A Group Of Fairies? on Instagram has over a thousand views. Meanwhile, on TikTok (posted much later), it has 236 views.

Also, one titled The Fairy Realm has 151 views on Instagram but has 1,300+ views on TikTok. I notice the same for my own reels and TikTok videos (the ones where I’m not cosplaying as Thistle).

This demonstrates why it’s a good idea to share the same content widely, just as you’d have your books wide (which means having your books available on multiple book sites so your readers can purchase them from sites according to their device and purchasing preferences).

TikTok is still foreign to me, but I do like to make videos (be it reels or TikToks) from time to time.

If you’d like to see ALL of the Thistle reels I did for my mom, check out her IG reels here.

June 7 - 24

PRIZES: Signed paperback copies of Bad Fairy and Bad Fairy Strikes Again (middle grade chapter books) by my mom Elaine Kaye, pink flower headband, pink fuzzy fashion scrunchie, “Be Kind” rainbow cosmetic/pencil bag.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

QUESTION: Do you believe in fairies? 🧚‍♀️ 🧚‍♂️ 🧚 

P.S. Thistle may come back in human form this year. Follow my mom (Elaine Kaye) on Instagram to see it when/if it happens!

Graphic Novels, Picture Books, MG & YA Books, Adult Romance / Recommendations + Reviews

This post goes with the one I shared back in July: Diverse Children's Books.

Why another blog post featuring (mostly) diverse reads?

Because I enjoy them! Because diverse rep is crucial! Because readers should read widely and diversify their bookshelves/book stacks. Because publishers should have more diverse rep among their authors and the books that they publish.

I understand that some people are immediately turned off by the word "diverse."

I want to challenge those people to pick up a book with diverse rep (set aside any prejudgments they may have before they even give a book/author/character a chance) and expand their horizons.

Here's my recommendations and reviews. I hope you enjoy them and find at least one book to add to your TBR list.

GRAPHIC NOVELS:

BLURB & BUY @ BOOKSHOP

The Prince and the Dressmaker - I adored this book. ADORED it! I wouldn’t even tell you to read the blurb. Just read the title, look at the cover, know it’s about a prince who likes to wear dresses, and then dive right in. This story is cute and sweet and just perfect. I don’t know what else to say but that I loved it and read it in one sitting. I’ve been reading a lot of graphic novels and this one was my favorite of all the ones I’ve read.

MARCH BOOK 1 @ BOOKSHOP

MARCH BOOK 2 @ BOOKSHOP

MARCH BOOK 3 @ BOOKSHOP

Toi and MJ recommended this series to me in my last book post. Thank you both!

The March series of graphic novels are powerful and important. They depict events that should be taught in all schools, to all children. Book One is about the sit-ins at segregated lunch counters. Book Two is about the Freedom Riders and their dangerous, brave journey. Book Three is about voting rights and the marches that took place in Selma.

I have highly recommended books before, but these three graphic novels are above all those other books. These graphic novels are more than pieces of history that need to be told. They are eye-opening and inspiring in a time when we need our eyes opened and to be inspired the most.

Bad Fairy Strikes Again by Elaine Kaye / Release Day / 99 Cents

***NEW RELEASE***

***99 CENTS***

 

 Series: A Bad Fairy Adventure (Book 2)

Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Pages: 60

Ages: 7-12

 

BLURB:

Will Thistle ever escape the nickname Bad Fairy?

Thistle Greenbud thought the nickname Bad Fairy was behind her, but she can't escape it. Someone is spreading a rumor about her that just isn't true and can ruin all of her hard work in getting into Advanced School. What fairy would do such a thing?

As if that's not bad enough, Thistle's dad goes missing. Not a single fairy in Tinselville has seen him. He's vanished like pixie dust. Her mom is distraught, and Thistle is worried. Where could he be?

Thistle and the Flutters, along with Dusty and Moss, are on both cases. Can they find out what happened to her dad and solve the Bad Fairy rumor? Thistle hopes so!

Mayan Folklore / Guest Post / Bubba and Squirt's Mayan Adventure by Sherry Ellis

Join me today for author Sherry Ellis’ MC Book Tour for her latest release, BUBBA AND SQUIRT’S MAYAN ADVENTURE. 

This is a delightful juvenile fiction story that readers of all ages will enjoy. I had the pleasure of editing this story for DLP and highly recommend it for all kids, parents/guardians, grandparents, and teachers.

◊ Genre: Juvenile Fiction

◊ Publisher: Dancing Lemur Press

Release Date: Sept. 7, 2020

◊ Print & eBooks

◊ Paperback: 96 pages

◊ ISBN-10: 1939844703

◊ ISBN-13: 978-1939844705

Meet the Flutters from BAD FAIRY by Elaine Kaye

PLEASE HELP ME TO WELCOME MY MOM, ELAINE KAYE, FOR HER DEBUT MIDDLE GRADE BOOK BAD FAIRY!

AVAILABLE TODAY!

Title: Bad Fairy

Series: A Bad Fairy Adventure (Book One)

Author: Elaine Kaye

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Genre: Fantasy Middle Grade

Length: 66 pages
Age Range: 8-12

BLURB: Thistle Greenbud is not a bad fairy. She simply doesn't like rules, and it's just her luck that her homework is to create a new rule for the fairy handbook. But first, she has more important things to do. Like figure out how to get back at Dusty and Moss for playing tricks on her.

Before she can carry out her plan, though, disaster strikes and she finds herself working alongside the very fairies she wanted revenge on. Can they work together and trust each other, or will things go from bad to worse?

BUY LINKS:

Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Meet the Muse / Music Boxes by Tonja Drecker / Guest Post

Please help me welcome Tonja Drecker to Write with Fey for her release Music Boxes! This story is wonderful. A real magical, mysterious adventure into the ballet world.

Music Boxes

By Tonja Drecker

Middle Grade Fantasy / Performing Arts

158 pages

Dancing Lemur Press

Release date: March 5th, 2019

Ages 9 to 12

ISBN-10: 1939844568

ISBN-13: 978-1939844569

Terracotta Warriors Facts / Guest Post by Sherry Ellis / Bubba and Squirt's Big Dig to China

It’s a pleasure to be participating in author Sherry Ellis’ BUBBA AND SQUIRT’S BIG DIG TO CHINA Blog Tour through MC Book Tours today.

Sherry Ellis is offering a tour-wide international giveaway featuring five autographed copies of her book. More information on the giveaway is listed below.

Welcome, Sherry!

The Terracotta Warriors

By

Sherry Ellis

Thanks for having me as a guest on your blog today! I thought I’d share some information about the Terracotta warriors that are featured in my book, Bubba and Squirt’s Big Dig to China.

When Bubba and Squirt arrive in Xi’an, China, they discover they are in the pit of the Terracotta warriors. These clay soldiers were discovered in 1974 by local farmers digging for a well. To date, more than 8,000 have been found and pieced together by archaeologists. 

Author Interview with Elizabeth Varadan / Middle Grade Mystery

I'm over at Unicorn Bell today with....

Dear Writer Not Writing

********************************************************

Please welcome the wonderful Elizabeth Varadan! She is answering questions about Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls, a Middle Grade book featuring Sherlock Holmes!

Please tell us about your current release.

           

Ten-year-old Imogene, the daughter of a banker, harbors a secret desire to become a detective – an unseemly notion for a Victorian girl. A day after her obnoxious step-cousins pay a visit, her mother's pearls go missing. When Sherlock Holmes is called in, Imogene sees her chance to learn from the great Mr. Holmes. She hangs around asking questions until Holmes decides to make her his assistant, telling her to list things that seem suspicious.

Rusty, a mudlark and Mr. Holmes’s messenger, brings a message from Mr. Holmes’s message to the kitchen doorway. Rusty and Imogene become friends, teaming up as sleuths to find the missing pearls. But Imogene is headstrong. When she takes matters into her own hands, soon her life is in danger.

Title: Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls

Author: Elizabeth Varaden

Genre: Middle Grade Mystery

Publisher: MX Publishing

Release Date: June 15, 2015

 Books Links:

The Strand Magazine / Amazon USA / Amazon UK / Waterstones UK

Free shipping worldwide: Book Depository.

E-book format: Kindle / Kobo.

It will also soon be available on iTunes.

1. What inspired you to write this book?

My husband and I are both fans of the Sherlock Holmes stories and novels. I’ve also enjoyed several of the “pastiches” that abound, mysteries that use the characters of Holmes and Watson, and even Mrs. Hudson, the housekeeper. When I had a chance to visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum in London a few years back, it occurred to me that it would be fun to write a story of my own about Sherlock. I didn’t think much about it after that, as I had other works in progress. But then it occurred to me it would be fun to write a story about a young Victorian girl becoming friends with Mr. Holmes. After that, the idea just grew into a mystery – I suppose because any story involving Sherlock would have to be a mystery. So then it became a matter of what kind of mystery? It would have to be an inside job, as Victorian girls weren’t allowed to go anywhere on their own to explore anything without a chaperone. Once I had that rough setting, it was a matter of researching the era and having fun with the plot and characters.

2. I love that your young character learns from Sherlock Holmes. Is this book part of a series?

I do have at least two sequels planned.

3. That's great! Did you do special research for Imogene and the Case of the Missing Pearls?

Oh, for sure. Tons of research. I visited sites, wrote letters, studied train timetables of the year in question, perused maps. But I love research, so it was part of the enjoyment of writing this book. And now I have all that information for the sequels.

4. How did you come up with the names for your characters?

Well, Imogene came from my own ten-year-old yearnings to be Nancy Drew and the name I picked for my fantasized detective self. Rusty’s name seemed a natural, once I had described him as “ginger haired” (the British description of red hair).

5. What is Imogene's biggest weakness?

She’s pretty headstrong, once she gets an idea into her head. And Sherlock also has to remind her that a good detective never lets emotion cloud judgment.

6. What are a few things we would find in or on your desk? 

You’d be lucky to find anything in my desk. It’s usually a real mess of dictionaries, pens, post-it notes stuck all along the edge of the shelf, cards, stacks of notebooks. But – I know where everything is.

7. Sounds like a writer's desk. ;) Can you tell us about your journey to publication?

I did self-publish an earlier book, a middle grade fantasy called, The Fourth Wish. But I wanted a traditional publisher for this one. And, in the United States, you have to get permission from the Doyle Estate to use the characters of Holmes and Watson, as the copyright hasn’t run out in America. The lawyer for the estate in America is Jon Lellenberg, and he was very helpful at every turn. He actually suggested MX Publisher, as they focus on Sherlock Holmes related books.

8. That was very nice of Jon! What is the silliest thing you ever did while writing a story? 

I was writing a mystery for adults that involved a woman being kidnapped and held hostage in a cabin in the mountains. To figure out how to describe her escape via a window, I climbed out of the window of a duplex my husband and I were living in at the time – several times! We were new in the neighborhood, and I was thankful that everyone in that little cul-de-sac seemed to work during the day so that no one could report me to the police.

9. Your advice to new writers?

There is no substitute for the  magic of rewriting, rewriting, and rewriting. A knack for storytelling is just the beginning. You have to keep polishing and refining your work until you get it right.

10. Rewriting is necessary and important. Tell us about your writing process. 

Hmm. It’s really a hodge-podge. Sometimes I’m a panster; sometimes I outline, but that’s often after the book has been written and I’m re-writing. Then I outline what happened the first time around to see where the holes are; sometimes I just scribble down ideas and then put them in a file to look at later.

BIO: 

Elizabeth Varadan is a former elementary school teacher. She taught most elementary grades, but her favorites were the middle grades, and she now writes middle grade fiction. She and her husband live in Midtown Sacramento, California, a beautiful tree-lined neighborhood with bookshops and art stores nearby. Her children’s fiction and poetry have appeared in Ladybug, Friends, and Skipping Stones Magazine. Her adult flash fiction has appeared in several online and print magazines, and her poetry has been anthologized in Vine Leaves Journal and The Stray Branch. 

Author Links: 

Victorian Scribbles: 

http://victorianscribbles.blogspot.com

Elizabeth Varadan’s Fourth Wish:

http://elizabethvaradansfourthwish.blogspot.com

Facebook Author Page: 

https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethVaradanAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/4thWishVaradan

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

Thank you Elizabeth for telling us about Imogene!

Please leave a comment for Elizabeth! :)