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. 

New Cover and Picture Books

[New Cover for Book 1]

I've been talking about the various projects I'm working on with my writing. As you know, I published Doomimals Book 1 recently, am working hard on revising Doomimals Book 2, and am helping my son and writing buddy, Ax the Narrator, edit Just Us Chickens. I'm hoping to publish it by the end of the month.  Book 1 has a new and improved cover as created by my child. Recently, someone pointed out that the paper and hardback copies of the book had formatting issues, so I've now fixed those with the new copies. I've also added a coming soon section that gives the first bit of both Doomimals Book 2 and Chickens. I'm meanwhile working on freebie short stories, one that was released before based on "Puss in Boots," which is getting a revision and illustrations, and one that is a prequel for book 1 on the main characters' dad as a kid. 

[Imaginings of Holidays Future: source]

Yesterday, Ax and I were thinking about how the holidays were approaching, so we decided to start working on holiday books. We're going to cross over the Doomimals kids and the Just Us Chickens in a send-up of Christmas shows and tropes. I'm hoping to release that short at the beginning of the holiday season. 

[Impish Cats: Illustration from Book 1 by Ghostelle.]

Furthermore, I've been pondering writing picture books for preschoolers about Cookie, a cat from book 1, and her three sisters, kittens from book 2. I sat down and wrote a whimsical book on the mischievous and super-powered kittens for each of the holidays. It follows the plot of "Three Little Kittens." The first one, to be released by early October, will be, "Cookie and Her Sisters Go Trick-or-treating." By early November, I will release "Cookie and Her Sisters Make Thanksgiving Dinner." The final of the set of three will come out by mid-November and will be called "Cookie and Her Sisters Go Christmas Shopping." Between now and those release dates, I'll be working on illustrating them. 

Tell me what you think of my book if you've read it. I look forward to hearing from you. 

Launched!

[The Doomimals Kids]

Doomimals features three kids striving to save the world from the evil Dog of War. She's sent the sinister Bird to hunt down three kids and their super-powered animal companions. Book 1 kicks off the whole adventure and is an action/adventure romp for kids and is based on "Chicken Little." The kids' rooster tells them the sky is falling; in other words, bad things are coming. Davis, a nerdy boy, Kitt, his heroic twin sister, and Tessa, his sweet cousin, have to fight their way through a gauntlet of animal enemies to tell the mayor the world is in trouble. Only their pets' help will help them survive. 

[Delayed launch; source]

I apologize for the delay. I thought I was ready to launch and was focused on researching how to publish on Amazon when I had my friends, Theresa Furbish and Evelyn, her daughter, play the part of final beta readers. Thanks to them. They helped me see the books still needed some work to be ready for you to enjoy. It's finally ready! Expect updates a lot more frequently now that book one is done. 

[The Cover]

Book 1 is now available for you on Amazon! Pick it up today in ebook, paperback, or hardback. Here is the link. This would be perfect for kids who love Animorphs or Percy Jackson or even "Phineas and Ferb." Included in book 1 is a link to a prequel, "If You Give a Cat the Boot," based on "Puss in Boots." If you'd just like that short story, here it is. It's free there as well. 

[Just Us Chickens]

As for what's next, five years ago, Ax the Narrator, my 13-year-old boy, won second place in the children's book category of the League of Utah Writer's annual contest. He went up against several writers like me with degrees and years of experience. My reviewers always give me feedback to help me polish. The reviewer simply loved the characters and zaniness and said, "Send me an email when it's published. I must have a copy." 

[Chickens!]

Ax has written around 20 novels and several short stories, among other things, since his first novel. They're all in various degrees of completion. With all of his years of experience behind him, he's now rewriting the original book 1 to add more depth and fun. He'll include that original award-winning manuscript for free with book 1. We're shooting to have it finished and polished in the next couple of weeks. 

[Doomimals Book 2: Cat-a-clysm]

Meanwhile, I'll be pushing to complete a final edit of Doomimals Book 2 using the help of my friends. I'm hoping to get it done in September. I'll keep you posted. Buy your copy of book 1 today.  

Twice the Chickens, Twice the Fun

[Super Chickens]

My teenage boy, who will be going by Ax the narrator, is the other half of my writing partnership. He's the wildly creative half of our team who is unrestricted by adult fears and limitations like I have been. All you have to do is have a slip of the tongue, throw out a crazy wordplay, or watch a movie and play with him, and he spins off into a new character, subplot, or a new book, which he can churn out in a few days. It was his slip-of-the-tongue when he said Alpacalips that my brain started churning, and Doomimals was born. I, meanwhile, have the master's in English and the practical sense of grammar, structure, writing, and literary depth. I run into writer's block frequently, and he bails me out with his wild ideas. He'll spin out a crazy scene for me, and I'll weave it into something ready to be read. 

[School of Rock-source]

Recently, we watched the Broadway musical "School of Rock," based on the early 2000s movie with Jack Black. Even though it's about a slacker scamming his way into a substitute teaching, he must have done something right because during my Master's program, my whole group of budding college English instructors was taken on a field trip to see the movie in order to learn to teach in a creative way. But in the eyes of my boy, this became the inspiration for a crazy plotline about super chickens substituting at a high-brow school, where they end up having major super battles with possessed teachers. 

[The Bad Guys, a silly book series recently adapted for movie theaters. Source]

While I'm finishing up the editing process and doing the last items to prep my first book for publication, my boy is churning out zany Captain Underpantsesque/The Bad Guys-like insane books. I was going to release one of my books then one of his books, but it's pretty clear his go a lot faster than mine. How does this translate to your experience? The new plan is to put out one of my books then, the next month, release one of his then, a month later, another of his. Doomimals will come out every third month or so while his are going to come out a lot faster. As soon as my first is done, we'll immediately focus on pumping out his, one after another. It's something to look forward to in the near future. 

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.  

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.  

Latest Chat with my Publisher

[An amazing drawing by Gostelle, my illustrator.]

I had a chat with my publisher recently, after my boy and I finished drafting the 15 chapter books in our first collection (the first nine in Doomimals plus a bonus backstory from a major character, and as an added bonus, the first three books in my son's Just Us Chickens series, a backstory for one of the chickens, and the first in another series he'll write, Key Lime Python.).  She's enthusiastic about my boy's clever, quick-thinking prose and would love for him to host a Roku-type TV series and possibly even be her co-host in another show.  First, I want to get our books edited before I can even start taking on another monster project.  She's working with so many serious projects that his whimsy and humor are a refreshing change of pace.

[illustration from one of the Just Us Chickens books]

 My struggle right now is to polish the books as well as I can then to find beta readers willing to give me feedback on the seven of my books for which I haven't found readers yet.  I want to make sure they're all polished as well as they can be.  The goal here is to help kids of that age fall in love with reading.  I really think my boy's books can do that, even better than mine.  If anyone wants to be a reader for any of my books, let me know.