New Books Coming

 

[Kids and Chickens in a crossover.]

We, my boy and I, were shooting to get our Christmas-related crossover between Doomimals and Just Us Chickens out by the end of the holiday season. However, since it's about the kids and chickens fighting off a holiday curse in June, I guess it's not the end of the world that we missed. We're working on the final chapter and editing now and hope to have it up within the week. Its working title is "Slaying Christmas," but "Holiday Slay Ride" is another possibility. I have created illustrations for each chapter. 

[Calli the Silly Frenchie collection.]

Many of my picture books are Christmas-oriented, so I'll be gearing the next set to a more general time frame. In the Calli the Silly Frenchie series, all I will need to do is plug in another book instead of the Christmas one. The kitty and doggie books of the Pets Just Want to Have Fun series will have added books that don't have a particular timeframe. 

[Cover for new picture book.]

I've also spent the last month and a half working on illustrations for a winter-themed book for the Cookie and Her Sisters book series. I just finished those and will be releasing them within the week. One will be on the kittens playing in the snow. One will be on the kittens going ice skating. As we head toward spring, I'll release one about the kittens playing in warmer weather. Each one is inspired by "The Three Little Kittens" and features the kittens making a mess of some sort and cleaning it up as a team. 

[Our Logo.]

Moving forward, we will otherwise be focusing on getting word out that these books and our family publication company, Sleepy Hollow Press, exist. If you've had the chance to read any of our books, please tell us in a comment how you feel about any of them. Also, please spread the word. We'll keep you posted about any developments moving forward. 

Just Us Chickens Launched!

[Just Us Chickens!]

I've been preparing for the Logan Holiday Gift Show and haven't had time to blog. The most important news is Just Us Chickens is available in digital and paperback.  This epic adventure of super chickens saving Wyoming from movie monsters. Read the exciting and hilarious tale of Impeckable, a Super-man like chicken who doesn't own an IQ but can rock the world with his grab bag of powers, Shadowchicken, a Batman-like chicken with balloons that can become anything he can imagine, and Wingmaster, a superspy duck and former villain who is now the leader of a group of superhero chickens! See how they create their own villain and then save the world from his monstrous army! Imagine Looney Tunes meets Star Animorphs. You can also buy it in black and white paperback. It will very soon be in large print as well. 

[Cookie and Her Sisters Series]

If you would like a fully illustrated book about the Three Little Kittens making a mess for the holidays. They are a lot like the kittens in the fairy tale. Come read Cookie and Her Sisters Love the Holidays. Today, this book was ranked 4th in children's digital cat books on Amazon and 5th in Thanksgiving books. It was still fairly high in Christmas book rankings, in the early 20s. This book is also available until Friday for free in digital format. In the first book, Cookie and Her Sisters Make a Holiday Dinner, the three little kittens make then destroy a dinner for the holidays. Can they learn to get along? In Cookie and Her Sisters Go Trick-or-treating, they also had to learn to get along for Halloween. This one made 4th in Halloween kids' books, even several days after the holiday. More books are forthcoming, including one in which they play in the snow. I'm shooting to publish this one in the next couple of weeks. 

[Pets Just Wanna Have Fun Series]

I've also been putting together photographic paperback books. Kitties Play for the Holidays is about a cat who just wants to get comfy but can't stand kittens or puppies, a kitten she can't stand, and those crazy Pomeranian puppies. This one ranked 3rd in kids' cat books and 4th in holiday books. Doggies Love the Holidays features pomeranian puppies growing up for the holidays, a Pomchi who is all about staying home for the holidays, and a silly Frenchie who enjoys playing holiday dress up. Cali the Silly Frenchie is about a French bulldog in three separate stories. This one ranked 12th today. One of those in a separate book and premium print is Cali the Silly Frenchie Goes for a Walk.  This one ranked 18th in kids' dog books. These books, too, are available for free until the end of tomorrow. I plan to release another holiday-related cat book soon. 

[Cockadoodle-DOOM!]

Finally, once again, Doomimals is also free in digital format. It's the one attached to the large print edition. Today, it ranked 38 today in fantasy adventure fiction in children's books. I'm still working on the Spanish translation. Ax the Narrator and I are working on book 2 for Just Us Chickens, wherein the heroes face the Quesadilla of Doom, and book 2 for Doomimals wherein the three little kittens lost the mittens of Cataclysm, and the kids have to retrieve them. Even before those books release, we're working on a book 1.5 for both series, a crossover novella between Chickens and Doomimals in which they face of with a mysterious Christmas threat. That should be released by the end of the week. 

I ask you to please drop me a review if you get a moment. I appreciate your attention. Very soon, you'll need to get updates on my website, through my newsletter. But until then, I will be back here to update you. 

 

[My teenage child's illustration for book 1.]

I'm ready to launch Doomimals. I'm just waiting for my husband to build our new website, so we can have something to which we can direct the reader. We are working on a landing page that will give you links to our KDP Select chapter book series, the Doomimals books, very soon to the first Just Us Chickens book (I'm wrapping up editing on the first one), and Imperfections, a Christian romance series that will go up on Vella. All of them, plus my published academic theses (one on the Pimpernel and one on fairy tale adaptations into fantasy and the healing power of fiction) will be linked to from the landing page and will become central pieces on individual pages. Our webpage will give you access to this blog as well as our pieces. 

[Upcoming fanfiction, source.]

I'll also shortly be working on highlighting my writer's blog, my mourning blog, and my cat blog in individual books.  I have a small readership but hope to broaden that. Meanwhile, Ax the Narrator will be working on a Doomimals universe Wiki. He's also doing a fanfiction crossover between Just Us Chickens, "My Little Pony," "Ben 10, " "Milo Murphy," "Phineas and Ferb," "Total Drama," as well as other popular pieces. It will be free, and I'll be linking to it here and on my website.  I also have various younger children's books that have already been written and just need to be prepped for publication. We will have a lot of material on our new publication website, Sleepy Hollow Press. I will keep you posted here as we make progress. It could even be later this week. 

A New Strategy

[Typewriter/publisher-source]

Up until the end of 2021, I was sure our path to publication would be a hybrid publisher I picked out a couple of years.  I can write.  I can edit.  I have illustrated our books.  I can do all but a cover that will really sell our books and, of course, effectively market.  That is where this hybrid publisher was to come in.  All I had to do was submit a chunk of money upfront and send in about 150,000 words of semi-finalized print, and that hybrid publisher would prep everything for publication.  That sounded like a great plan because I didn't know how to market.  I've taken classes, and I've tried to execute the strategies those classes taught.  And the few things I've thrown into Amazonland hit like a drop in the bucket and disappeared in the crowd, including a preliminary Doomimals short story. 

[A new path-source]

Then, my genius son and co-creator of our multiple series got the chance to do a job shadow with an established self-published author, A.M. Luzzader, author of the Middle-Grade Mermaid series, who showed me a path, the path she took to success with self-publication.  She showed me it could be done, that she and several people she knows found a pathway to success with self-publication.  When I understand more about it, I will publish what I learn.  For now, it's simply a list of names, titles, and suggestions.  

[Investing in the future-source]

Luzzader suggested I take that same chunk of money I was going to throw at a hybrid publisher for one book and turn it into a wealth of knowledge that could lead my whole family down a path to successful self-publication.  This could lead to at least moderate success for Doomimals, Just Us Chickens, Key Lime Python, The Radiant Army vs Us (the working title for a series for older youth that we haven't started yet), and a whole pile of other projects including some about which my husband and other child have been dreaming.  

[Just Us Chickens]

In other words, within (hopefully) a month or two, I will have a strategy finalized for bringing you Cockadoodle-DOOM, the first book of Doomimals, followed by The Misadventures of the Just Us Chickens and so on, one after another.  You'll hear about it as soon as we have a formulated plan, but it should be coming soon.  Then, I can guide you along the same path.  

A Complicated Juggle

[Juggle-source]

I'm back around to working full-time as a transcriber and online college instructor, which means I'll be juggling work with writing.  On the bright side, I made it through the first trilogy of my series, Doomimals.  I have rewritten all three books over the summer, one per month of the summer, basically.  It's been wonderful to have time to take books that weren't bad and turn them into books you will enjoy reading.  On the not-so-bright side, things will slow down some since I have to reprioritize and have urgent items to deal with for a while.  

[An illustration from book 3 by Ghostelle.]

Last time I blogged, a month ago, I was just then puzzling over book three.  It was a book with a protagonist who was fairly weak, who was not much of an actor in her own story.  The normal world was her cousin's world and not even hers.  The climax was confusing and weak.  The whole thing needed to be rewritten.  And in the last month, I found Tessa's voice.  I found a way to start in her world, with her family, and to allow her take charge of her underworld, slowly gaining confidence through the adventure.  The climax is exciting and triumphant because I turned to my creatively genius boy to help me write it.  

Now, I'm ready to start working on book four.  It should be fairly simple because it already has a strong voice, and its events are fundamentally sound.  It mostly needs a polish. And I'm looking forward to getting it ready for you. 

A Roleplaying Game

[dice; source]

Next on the list of merch that may come with our books or at least may be available at some point with our chapter books is a tabletop roleplaying game that my teenaged boy is working on.  He is also working on the video game but has taken time out to work on this for a while.  It is somewhat inspired by D&D, somewhat by GURPS (Generic Universal Roleplaying System), and somewhat by TOON, but it's a lot simpler than all of them because he's just one kid, and I'm just one playtester, though we're likely to be able to find more.  

[Aliens from our books.]

The game will contain several of the alien races we invented for my Doomimals, his Just US Chickens, and their extended universe.  It will have aspects of magic, tech, supers, and other sources of power and will allow the player and the narrator (the equivalent of the game/dungeon master) to enter their version of our world.  He's getting to the point where we can playtest it and figure out if it works for an audience.  He's not sure if he wants to make it available to you just yet.  I imagine that will depend on how well it tests.  I hope to be able to share most of the merch he's working on at the same time as the books. I'll be delighted to share as much of it with you as I can very soon. 

Facing a Major Rewrite

 

[Editing-source]

I'm wrapping up one book and embarking on another rewrite, but this one will be far more intensive than the ones I've done heretofore.  Others needed polish, emotional depth, connections, themes, and the like.  They needed to be streamlined and have greater connections made.  This one is one I knew even as I drafted it that it didn't feel right.  Some books practically write themselves once you know your characters, the overall plot, and the basic events that will go into a given chapter.   It's always exhilarating to find out what the characters are going to say and do because I don't preplan, just find out as the events unfold, just as my characters do.  But writing this book felt like pulling teeth.  I didn't fully know the main character or understand why and how of the plot, and it shows in the draft.  

[An illustration that I hope won't need to be redone-thanks again, Ghostelle.]

One complication as I rewrite this is I already had my illustrator draw an image for each chapter.  At the time, I didn't yet understand how very much would have to be rewritten.  I hope I'll be able to use most of them, but I can think of at least a few that will have to be replaced as the story reshapes itself to get more at the heart of its main character.  

[My characters by Ghostelle]

Part of the sticky part will be keeping the voice interesting. At least one beta reader found the main character dull.  The Doomimals books alternate perspectives, one for each book.  Davis, the only male protagonist, starts the first book.  Through the book, the narrative explores the thinking and adventures of a snarky, ADD peacemaker nerd in a first-person style.  I didn't even know he was a peacemaker (of the enneagram) personality type until I rewrote the book, and everything he did, said, or thought fit that character.  His voice is distinct.  The second book is from the heart and soul of his twin, Kitt, a very opinionated performer "princess," one who is all about her image and impressing people. Her voice, too, is distinct and strong.  Mostly, I needed to shift her voice toward her pain at missing her mom and her desire for her mom to be proud of her when they met again. 

[A close look at Tessa, one of my pics.]

This third book is from the perspective of the third character, Tessa, the youngest character, one I first saw as the weakest and the shyest, an animal lover pacifist.  That's a hard voice to keep fresh and interesting. But as I've rewritten the other books, her voice came out more distinctly as a thinker, an intellectual who memorizes zoology books and intellectualizes everything. I think I'll be able to get to her heart if I rewrite her first book starting with her heart, with her relationship with her parents.  So instead of starting in her cousins' world and home, where we've been until now, we start in her world.  How else can you really get to know her?  Once I get this book down, I think her other perspectival books will work better.  I look forward to introducing these three unique characters to you once I've made them ready for your enjoyment.  

Beta Reactions

[The chickens]

 I've started to get reactions from friends who have started reading the revised versions of our books.  My boy has read several of his Just Us Chickens books to his much older cousin, who has found them highly entertaining.  His target-age cousin also found them highly amusing.  Recently, he shared some of his first book to an adult friend of mine, and she couldn't get enough.  This is the book that got second place from League of Utah Writer's children's book contest.  A friend has started reading them to her little one, and she has found them incredibly entertaining. Whether we share his books with children or adults, they all find the ideas and wacky stories entertaining.  I think you will, too.

[Doomimals kids by Ghostelle.]

Meanwhile, I've had various betas read through some of my Doomimals books.  Most of the reactions and feedback have been positive and helpful toward their development.  The professional editor I had read book 1 has given me a lot of guidance useful in all the books.  One of my friends read them all through, gave me detailed feedback, and is now reading them through a second time.  She finds the expanded and revised version so much improved.  All of this tells me I'm on the right path to bringing you some very good series.  I look forward to hearing back from you when they're done.  

Onto Book 2

[Book 1: A focus on Characters (art by Ghostelle)]

One Done

If I were publishing book one as a standalone, it would be ready to go to the publisher, ready to be prepared to come to you.  However, it's really hard to break into the chapter book and even middle-grade fiction markets since one tiny book on the shelf doesn't draw the eye nor have a big market or ready-made fans. I've taken some stabs at reaching out to publishers and agents, always ending up empty-handed.  That's why I embraced the idea of a hybrid publisher.  Once all ten of these first books (plus the first three of my boy's) are ready, they'll be available for you fairly quickly.  The hybrid publisher only takes less than a month from acceptance of the manuscript to readiness for market.  

[A focus on book 2 (art by Ghostelle)]

Moving on 

But now, I have the other eight from the regular series plus the bonus books to prepare.  I have the vision.  I know what I need to do for each book.  For one thing, I need to work on making each book's protagonist the kind of kid you or your child will enjoy following on an adventure.  I need to make sure he or she is truly the hero of his or her own story.  I say his or her because I have three main characters, twins Davis and Kitt and their younger cousin, Tessa.  The first book is from Davis's perspective, second from Kitt's, and third from Tessa's.  I need to polish each voice, so you hear their voices and hear their hearts.  Davis the nerdy slacker's first book is done.  I'll be moving to Kitt, the image-conscious overachiever next. After that, I'll be working on Tessa, the shy animal-loving character.  

[On the road to revising the next books (art by Ghostelle).]

What Else They Need

I'll also make sure the kids' antagonists weave throughout the book, causing problems and working under the umbrella of the primary villain of the first set.  I didn't understand story structure when I first drafted these books.  I'll be making sure I follow the story structure (3-act, 7-act, and hero's journey's 12 points).  The first book now fulfills all of this, though it took a lot longer than planned.  On the bright side, I am getting time to work on writing, plus all the other books are significantly shorter than the first one. 

Now, to get to serious work on book two.  This will be exciting. 

Illustrations

[Illustration for book 2 by Ghostelle.]

Those two weeks came and went, and I have made some progress but not as much as I'd hope.  As an update for my Doomimals chapter book series, I've been working hard at illustrating the last several, while my illustrator is working at the first few.  I'm hoping to get done with my part of the illustrations within the next two weeks.  

 

[Illustration from the Just Us Chickens book]

I also have some readers and enough knowledge to get going with Scrivener.  As soon as I have finished my illustrations, I'm going full bore with writing. I'm almost done editing my boy's Just Us Chickens and Key Lime Python books.  I'm shooting to be done revising, editing, and just all around ready to get it published for you by late spring/early summer.