Jumping Up and Down !!!

"Quest of the Evensongs" has just been accepted by Barnes & Noble and should hit their sites within 36 hours!


Yeah me !!!


Also, I've just been accepted as a "Goodreads Author"....can we all cheer !!!

The ON button...

Today in schools all across our nation there are reading programs directed at promoting reading. My son won an award at his school in one such program called the 500 club, for children who reach the 500 AR mark of books by the end of the school year. He won the award at 1166 AR points for the year. Yes he was in 5th grade, but he was reading books like Eragon, Harry Potter and the Shannara books by Terry Brooks. He has gone through 3 hardbound copies of Eragon in 3 years, reading it over and over again so many times that pages came out, covers came off and (the horror!) pages stuck together by whatever he was drinking at the time.

Do you remember your first book; not the first you read, but THE book. The one that pushed the ON button for you to be a Reader?  


I do very well. My mother had gone to a garage sale and came home with a huge box filled with old books. My sister and I drove in to see what treasures she had found. Most were old and musty; but three of the books I still have to this day. Oklahoma Run by Alberta Constant, The Black Rose by Thomas Costain and Chicken Every Sunday by Rosemary Taylor.

I have read every one so many times I've lost count...Chicken Every Sunday made me at 10 years old want to own a Bed and Breakfast and cook twice baked potatoes, Oklahoma Run made me want to find my "Arch" and call my dad by his first name, and The Black Rose made me seek out more books about China...leading me to my all time favorite author; Pearl S. Buck.

These books turned something on inside me; the histories, the adventures, they took me to a place I could only dream of, opened doors of imagination that have never closed.  Good books...ones that told a story...drew you into that world and left an imprint on your soul.

What books are you reading now that do that? What was the last book you read that you knew you'd never forget, that made your heart sing? What books are you putting in front of your children that might push that ON button?

Don't get me wrong...I read everything now, I can easily read a book a day if left alone. Some books are enjoyable, fun or thrilling; authors with wonderful imaginations are creating worlds we can get lost in...but seek out that one book...maybe one no one else had ever heard of, dig through those old dusty ones...there are treasures waiting to be found...

Check out this new book !

This looks like a wonderful book, it's on my to-read list!  Can't wait.  Please check it out.

The Knights of the Dawn King by Scott E. Stabler


http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10806602.The_Knights_of_the_Dawn_King

Sample Chapters Page now !!!!

Wow, I'm learning something new everyday!  I figured out how to have pages on my blog...cool !!

So I have posted the first 3 chapters of "Quest of the Evensongs"

Next week I will post the first 3 chapters of the next book "Lost in the Evensongs",  or maybe just a chapter from here and there.  It's getting real close to being ready for the editors !!!  Yeah me !!

Also, I discovered yesterday that I could not have a bio page for my illustrator on Amazon. Rather bummed about that....so I am going to give her a page here on my blog....

Giving a 14 year old her own page....scary....

But Nikki (my very cute talented daughter) deserves to be given credit. She did a wonderful job on the cover art and she knows she only has a couple more weeks before I'll need the draft art for "Lost in the Evensongs".

Oh the pressure I'm putting on her...I promised to feed, clothe, put a roof over her head and reminded her that I gave her life....to only rolled eyes and "Oh mommy!"

The faces of an author...Smile !

One of my blog friends made a comment yesterday about her picture she uses as a tag. It got me to thinking. All the things I had to do in order to be an indie author. 1) write the book, 2) get the book ready for publishing, 3) write a synopsis, 4) write a bio, 5) pick the pictures to go with the bio, blogs, web site, facebook and sooo many others.

What was the hardest; hands down, the bio !!!   But picking the pictures was no easy chore either. I’m a normal everyday person, with a husband, kids, a dog (who I pretend is a cat, I have a good imagination), a house to keep clean, a life to live and I do not take good pictures!!  

We always want to put our best foot forward, and I really like the picture I use for ‘me’, but it’s the story behind that picture that is funny.....my husband snapped picture after picture of me sitting with my daughter Nikki (the talented artist, I’m a mom, I can be proud). The results were horrible, funny and embarrassing!

Welcome to the real C.R. Cummings....Cherie 

 

 

                               Smile !!!!!                              

MY LIBRARY OF THOUGHTS: A Story To Live By

MY LIBRARY OF THOUGHTS: A Story To Live By

Memories of Imagination

It’s been a long week for me. Although the reason for our family reunion was a sad one it was wonderful to see and spend time with people I truly love.  The memories were floating through the air, wisps of love shared. My little sister reminded me of stories I used to make up for her; one she said was about a man that got turned inside out. She said it scared the beegeebees out of her. I really don’t remember doing it, but my little sister took her job as little sister very seriously. She was a full blown brat, (love you Shell), that is a little sister’s job. All my ‘at home’ first prom pictures show me in my prom dress, my date looking dashing in his tux, and my little sister making faces in the back ground. Yes I can see me making up a scary story like that for her.

Memories of my big sister and I as our family vacationed in the Red Woods; hunting for the perfect tree to live in. (Yep, we had just read My Side of the Mountain) or her and I fighting over a book we were both trying to read at the same time. Or school...I remember high school and the time my sister was soooo embarrassed because although I was in a different grade anything you did was soon known by everyone.

My English teacher had given my class a creative writing assignment. He had put up random pictures pulled from magazines and told us to pick a picture and write a 500 word story about it.  I liked the black and white one on a beach. A teenager wrapped in a blanket with the wind blowing around him.  I wrote a story about how he was trying hard to fit in with the ‘in’ crowd, but it wasn’t working. They hated him. They invited him down to the beach, saying they were going skinny dipping, waited until he was naked and stole him clothes leaving him on the beach.

It was a wonderful story; I had the snotty ‘in’ crowd down perfect, the geeky boy and his feelings as he was left alone on the beach with nothing but a blanket. Well I got an ‘A’, the class was speechless as I read it out loud, and my sweet sister was livid with me for writing a story about a naked guy. I thought it was pretty good myself...wish I still had a copy of it.

I’ve never forgotten that class assignment or my English teacher for that matter. Time and time again I’ve used that exercise to ‘find’ my story. Just have someone find a picture and give it to you and let your imagination run wild.

Too well loved to ever be forgotten...

For my entire life I have had the blessings of a big sister; to play with, to fight with, to cry with and to enjoy life with. I started writing stories when I was very little and my sister would read them and review them for me. Some she really hated, some she really loved. When I finished my first novel she pushed and pushed for me to get it published. I tried, but the big publishers wouldn't even read it.

Two years ago she was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig disease (ALS), what a horrible horrible horrible disease. She pushed me again to get my book published and I tried, but it just didn't happen. This spring as my poor sister faded, she made me promise that she would see it in print.

I kept my promise to her and self-published as an indie author on May 30, 2011. She received the first download of the book, which is dedicated to her. It doesn't matter if I never even sale one book, my sister was proud of me.

My dear sweet wonderful big sister passed away this morning......

I kept my promise.....
Love you forever Linda....
My dear Lord Jesus hold her tight....

Joined a Blogging Group

Morning all !

I came across this awesome Blogging group called Book Blogs. Some really nice people and I've learned sooo much just by reading posts by other authors. This new world of ebooks is wonderful, but there is sooo much to learn !

Wrote late into the night last night, finally I'm into the real meat of the story. My back is killing me, need to find another way to type this thing. My life calls...short post today.

Love this pic....big sis is almost little sis now :)

In the glitter zone of writing...

The book writing is slow at this point. I must have rewriting one chapter five times. You hit a point in the story where you want to tell all the details, then you read back over and find the details are surely there, but where did the story go? I'm back on it now, finally got it through my head that if I can image what is going on, then the reader could also...sometimes you need to skip merrily through it and get to the point. I found an awesome picture that helps me write this time.

Is this cool or what. I'll be posting some sample chapter in a few days, you tell me if this picture doesn't fit or not.

C.R.

School is Out !

You know my kids and I always say "we can't wait until school is out!". No more getting up before the sun, getting everyone ready, finding a missing shoe or watch, driving one kid one way, the other another way before finally being back home.

Now school is out...kids are home. "Mom I'm bored, what are we going to do today?" I love my kids, they are so fun...at the start of teenage-hood...they still like their parents. But I can't get anything done. I want soooo bad to do things with them AND get this story out of my head so I can sleep at night.

This story is developing in a why I really didn't expect. I thought it was going to be a prequel, but  it has developed into a side-quel (is that even a word?)  It is now telling the story of the other's coming at it from their view. Both books will stand side by side, could be read in any order, both coming to an end at the same place. The third book is planning itself. I'm worried that once this one is done, the other will keep me up at night also until I get it out in writing.

I'm now having fun with Dawn...and Sisko...

It will be a long night.

Keeping story line tight

I find it amazing as I work on this book that the new characters are creating themselves. Whether I just have a vivid imagination or what I don't know. I really like Von and catch myself spending just too much time on him. Pii and Grace are coming along, Dawn needs to step it up and make her mark here.

I feel very odd when I think of them as real people, when I'm the one typing them into existence. Rather weird.

Thinking back over my all time favorite books; my side of the mountain and any of the early works of Pearl S. Buck, I am inspired by those authors. The details they implant into the storylines, the vivid pictures that are created in your mind as you read. 

I know that many have told me that I achieved that in the first book, but there are times when I get so involved in what my mind is seeing that the story is getting lost in the details. Need to find the balance.

 Now back to working on Dawn...pick it up girl!

Not getting much done today..

Sleep seems to get in the way of me being able to finish all the projects I'm working on. I planned on spending more time on "Lost in the Evensongs " today...but so far that hasn't happened. Did get some housework done, wrote some emails, answered a lot of emails, caught up with some friends and here it's almost noon. 

Now I plan to sit down and get at it...I need to get a new character formatted into the story line. It's a pain since it means going back over what I've already finished and inserting necessary references to the new person. So back to it.

Working on 'Lost in the Evensongs'

The 'Quest of the Evensongs' was started over 15 years ago. I've worked on it, rewritten it, and played with it for years. Vila, Shul, and the other characters have become part of our family.  I've sent it in to publisher after publisher only to have it returned, unopened. It was never even read. Thank the good Lord for the advent of e-books, now I had no excuse to not polish it up and publish it.

The second book, 'Lost in the Evensongs' should be completed by the end of June. I don't want to give anything away, but my test readers are pushing me to finish...that's a good sign I think.

Side note: I really like Smashwords. I did a lot of research on the best way to publish and they were at the top of the list. Not that they are easier to use, but they really have their act together with providing reading material to educate and help. Also I discovered that when I had a question; they not only answered me, but the same day and provided me with the information I needed.  I recommend them to everyone.

Its Wednesday and I'm musing....

It's always hard to decide if you should read a book or not, especially if it's by an author you do not know.

"Quest for the Evensongs" was hard to write a synopsis for. Trying to wrap the whole story up in a nice little paragraph is not easy. So maybe I need to go into more details.

Vila is a young girl. She is the wearer of the Green Crystal, something she did not want or ask for. She dwells on the High Cliffs of the planet Niula. A great deadness has come over the land, a sickness that is taking all life.  She finds herself alone when a great 'Dancing Wind' rips over the cliffs. Running for her life she is pulled into a hidden cave only to discover a wonderful staff. Grabbing hold of it propels her into another dimension, the Evensongs.

There she meets a young person who tries to convey something, but she doesn't understand. When she wakes she can only remember a few words the girl had spoken. "Find the ones with Knowledge", "Find the others.", and "Help us!"

Make the decision to help the Evensongs she accepts the quest to find the others.  Her lonely travels are filled with adventure and new discoveries.

At the same time, far across the land, a young man named Shul is traveling also. He has four others with him, youngones. Together they are making their way to the Palace of the Blue Robes.  He was a scribe there at one time, but he took something he wasn't supposed to. Now with the deadness upon the world he needs to go back, find his friend Claylor and figure out how to stop the sickness.

They all join up at the Palace and there the real adventures begin. Who is the one with knowledge, who is a friend, who can she trust?

The story is fun....

My test reading group was teenagers and adults. Both set enjoyed it and gave it wonderful reviews.

I hope you will also.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/63115