Category: Reading & Writing

Weekly writing check-in: the one with some world building

JoNearly 12,000 words this week. Yes, I am in what Jo March (of Little Women) might call a writing vortex. All I need is the special cap. No, really. I need the special cap. Do you think they have them at Target?

I’m also taking a world building class since these new, crazy speculative worlds keep popping up in my writing. It’s time to put a little structure around them and dig a little deeper.

Otherwise, a quiet week. Everything that can go out pretty much is out, so no submissions. No rejections (yet), and since I haven’t heard back, no acceptances either (funny how that works).

I did follow up on some stories, since there’s a great deal of orange in my submission tracker.

Writing Work:

  • Pansy 2.0 ~ 11,529 words
  • World Building class

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet: Book Tour!

Well, admittedly, we were working with a limited budget, and the venues were small. Still, I think it went off splendidly. Here are the highlights:

Things got off to a slow start.
Things got off to a slow start.
They say this book is on fire.
They say this book is on fire.
car
As marketing techniques go, this one needs some work.
I hear this book really has legs.
I hear this book really has legs.
Coming soon to a local branch near you!
Coming soon to a local branch near you!
fence
No need to be on the fence about this book!

 

Ardent fan demanding autograph.
Ardent fan demanding kibble catnip autograph.

I hope you enjoyed this virtual tour as much as I did the real one! All without a single arrest for trespassing!

Available in print and electronic format:

Print, Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords

Also available as a Kindle Match Book. Buy the Print version from Amazon and get the Kindle version for 99 cents! (Note: you must buy the paperback first for this to work.)

The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet: Now Available!

Today’s the day!

The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet is now available in print and electronic format! And there’s a special launch price as well. Get the e-book for $2.99, for a limited time.

Sometimes staying silent is the biggest lie of all.

Keeping QuietSophomore Jolia does the one thing no one expects from the girl who has perfected the art of keeping quiet.

She joins the speech team.

Jolia can’t confess the real reason–not to her best friend, her new teammates, or even to crush-worthy rival Sam who offers to coach her in secret.

Keeping quiet might be the easy way out, but when what Jolia doesn’t say starts to hurt those around her, it might just cost her a best friend, her spot on the team, and even Sam.

But she isn’t the only one with a secret. It’s going to take words–her words–to make things right.

If only Jolia can find them.

Available in print and electronic format:

Print, Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kobo, Smashwords

Also available as a Kindle Match Book. Buy the Print version from Amazon and get the Kindle version for 99 cents! (Note: you must buy the paperback first for this to work.)

Goodreads Giveaway: The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet

It’s here! The Goodreads giveaway is up and running. You can enter to win a signed copy of The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet, add it to your shelf on Goodreads, and so on.

 

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet by Charity Tahmaseb

The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet

by Charity Tahmaseb

Giveaway ends June 24, 2014.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Cover reveal: The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet

Coming June 2014

Sometimes staying silent is the biggest lie of all.

Keeping QuietSophomore Jolia does the one thing no one expects from the girl who has perfected the art of keeping quiet.

She joins the speech team.

Jolia can’t confess the real reason–not to her best friend, her new teammates, or even to crush-worthy rival Sam who offers to coach her in secret.

Keeping quiet might be the easy way out, but when what Jolia doesn’t say starts to hurt those around her, it might just cost her a best friend, her spot on the team, and even Sam.

But she isn’t the only one with a secret. It’s going to take words–her words–to make things right.

If only Jolia can find them.

Today is the cover reveal for The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet, publication date June 24, 2014. Want an email when it’s released? Sign up for my email newsletter.

Or just keep your eye on various online stores. The book will be available in print and electronic format.

Sucker Literary Magazine: Cover Reveal for Volume 3!

Today’s the day! Sucker Literary Magazine is revealing the cover for volume 3! This happens to be the edition that includes my YA paranormal novelette Just a Matter of Time.

What is a novelette, you ask. Well, you see, when a novel and novella love each other very much … no, really, it’s just a long short story.

Now, without further ado, I give you the gorgeous cover:

Sucker Literary Magazine Vol 3

Sucker Literary is a platform for established and emerging, hugely intelligent writers who have the grit and talent to create compelling, authentic young adult literature that both adults and teens can enjoy.

We are a literary enterprise dedicated to showcasing and promoting undiscovered and established writers who write for young adults (this is not to be mistaken for young adult writers). We are not affiliated with any writer’s organization or program and welcome writers at any stage of their writing career/ journey.

Now, for a little bit on what’s inside:

Bullied and alone, Ainsley seeks refuge in the arms of a strange boy. Time is slipping away for overachieving Sadie Lin, but reigniting an old flame might help. Scarred by a pressuring ex, Alexandra finally faces the rain. “Pasty and chubby” Charlotte makes a public play for the “Tan and Smooth” king. The beautiful girl in the black, lacy push-up bra says that it’s time for Brenn to stop lying . . . at least to herself. A halfway house is no home for Dawn—or is it? How will Dana survive knowing everyone at school thinks she’s a monster, when they just may be right? JJ and her crush finally get a moment alone—at his girlfriend’s hottest party of the year. Sixteen-year old Sarah prepares for her first day of school by chaining up her Mamí in her bedroom. Alyssa’s life is a well-rehearsed ballet until a tragedy sends her hurtling towards a fall. Loving a boy is as simple as chemistry . . . unless that boy is an unstable element.

Eleven stories that delve into the depths of our experience—driven by fierce and untouched love that makes us seek, lose, fear, desire, long, reflect, survive, steal, protect, fall, and confess.

Founding Editor:

Contributors:

Publication: Playing Soldier and Breakfast in the Desert

That’s right! I have two, count them, two publications out today. And in a crazy bit of synchronicity, they are both military-themed.

  • My Desert Storm poem, Breakfast in the Desert, is live over at Every Day Poets. That they picked today simply proves they are a pretty clever bunch over there. (See this Wikipedia article to see what I mean.)
  • My flash fiction/vignette, Playing Soldier, appears in Issue #9 of Vine Leaves Literary Journal.

This is a pretty terrific way to start a Friday.

Publication: A Most Marvelous Pair of Boots

A Most Marvelous Pair of Boots is live over at Timeless Tales Magazine! This is my retelling of the Puss in Boots fairy tale.

When I sat down to familiarize myself with the story, I couldn’t help but notice that all the humans were morons and the cat was pretty much your classic a-hole. Why, oh why? I wondered. Why would the king foist his daughter onto a complete stranger with a made-up name? Why is the princess a simpleton who cares only about a handsome face? Why is the cat even involved?

I simply had to write the story to answer these questions for myself. If you’re curious, click on through and read my (tongue in cheek) take on the old French fairy tale.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 50 the one with 100 submissions

Week 50! It might be the cold weather or the holidays, but things moved slowly this week, even as the year speeds to an end. But I got my writing in, and I also hit my “stretch” goal for the year of 100 submissions.

Also, my contributor copy of Coffee: 14 Caffeinated Tales of the Fantastic arrived, and it is a thing of beauty. If you like science fiction and fantasy stories, and especially like coffee, be sure to pick up a copy, either in print or e-format.

Writing:

  • Simon the Cold ~ 1,300 words

Submissions:

  • What Little Remains
  • The Madness in King’s End
  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies
  • The Price of Comfort and Joy (submission 100)

Rejections:

  • Doreen’s Muse

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • Ghost in the Coffee Machine in Coffee: 14 Caffeinated Tales of the Fantastic, available from UFO Publishing, but also in e-book form for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 49 the one with five rejections

Week 49! This must be the time of year editors clear their desks. Five rejections! Not only that, but the story I submitted for the Flash Fiction Challenge received zero points (as in none, nada, nothing). It’s one of those weeks where it pays to be an optimist.

I did a series of short writing/writing exercises based on the Writer’s Regimen, which I continue to love. Just when I think I’m not going to get anything, boom, something sparks.

I’ve also been thinking about Write 1/Sub 1 for next year. I’m thinking of moving to the monthly challenge. I do not want to slow down my writing pace, but I do want to revise that accidental novel, expand a few stories into the novellas they want to be, and I have a backlog of short stories I still need to revise and send out into the world.

So monthly it is, unless I start slacking. Then I’ll jump back on the weekly bandwagon.

Writing:

  • The Accidental Nickname ~ 300 words
  • Infamy Day ~ 500 words
  • Obstacles ~ 500 words

Submissions:

  • The Perfect Canvas
  • What Little Remains
  • Glass Slipper

Rejections:

  • The Perfect Canvas
  • What Little Remains
  • The Maze
  • The Burden of So Many Roses (reprint market)
  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications: