Memorial Day 2015 Charity Challenge: Gone, but Not Forgotten!

Memorial Day 2015 Charity Challenge: Gone, but Not Forgotten!

During Memorial Day week, from the 22nd to 29th of May, more than 70 veteran authors will pledge 100% of their book royalties to their favorite charities.

Once again, I will be participating in the Vets Give Back charity challenge, this time for Memorial Day. My organization of choice is Helping Paws, a local organization that has a pilot program to provide veterans with service dogs. I am pledging $100 as a baseline PLUS all royalties I earn for the week.

While I will donate all royalties, my pledge book is The Fine Art of Holding Your Breath because of its military theme.

Fine Art_blue

MacKenna’s mother died when she was a baby, a casualty of the first Gulf War. Now seventeen, MacKenna has spent her life navigating the minefield of her dad’s moods, certain of one thing: she is destined to follow in her mother’s combat boots. But when she pursues an ROTC scholarship, she finds herself at war before even enlisting.

Her father forbids her from joining the military, inexplicable considering he’d raised her to be a “warrior princess.” MacKenna turns to her grandmother—who arms her with an ammo crate containing her mother’s personal effects from the war. Hidden in the crate’s false bottom is a journal, one her mom stashed there hours before her death.

While MacKenna untangles the secrets of her parents’ tragic love story, her own life unravels. Dad’s behavior becomes erratic, her best friend grows distant and even hostile, and a boy from her past returns—with a life-threatening secret of his own.

If ever a girl needed her mother, it’s now.

The pen might be mightier than the sword, but are a mother’s words strong enough to slice through years of hidden pain? Can those words reach through the battlefields of the past to change MacKenna’s future?

Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Kobo, Print

Be sure to check out all the books on the challenge site. There is something for everyone. And if you’re a subscriber to Kindle Unlimited, you can even give for free by borrowing many of the authors’ books. So you can donate and grow your to-be-read pile all at once!

Happy reading and thank you!

Weekly writing check-in: the one with working ghosts

shutterstock_54282940Lots of reading this week. I hit book # 31 for the year. I worked on some stories, one for the Narrative Design class and the other I sent out. Otherwise, a quiet week as far as submissions/rejections go.

And I found my way into the next “coffee and ghost” story and made some story notes on that. I have three more episodes I’d like to write. Maybe by mentioning that here, it will keep me on track (and honest). We’ll see.

Writing Work:

  • Narrative Design class
  • Story work

Submissions:

  • Simon the Cold

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with détente

dogsandcats

So, this illustration of dogs and cats, living together, only took +7 months or so. But at long last, we have achieved détente.

This week, I finished up the Description class–so now I know how to describe things–kept up with the other class, and even wrote some non-class related words. I also sent out two submissions this week as well. So, a pretty good week.

Writing Work:

  • Description class
  • Narrative Design class
  • Writing ~ 4,000 words

Submissions:

  • Knight in the Royal Arms
  • March Madness

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with oh never mind, I’m too tired

Last dance competition of the season last night. So. Tired. And I’m not even the one who danced. We rolled into the driveway at about 11:30 p.m., which I’ll have you know is way past my bedtime. And the dog’s bedtime. And the cat’s bedtime. Everyone was just a bit off their game due to this schedule change. If sleeping can be called a game, that is. In the case of our pets, I think it can.

Kept up with my course work. This is the last week of the Description class, and while I’ve enjoyed it, I’ll be glad not to have the extra homework to do. Otherwise, I made two submissions this week, had one rejection, and one story short-listed.

And now, I’m just going to go read or nap or something that doesn’t involve moving.

Writing Work:

  • Description class
  • Narrative Design class

Submissions:

  • Incriminating Evidence (reprint market)
  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies

Rejections:

  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with another sale

So … I sold a reprint this week to Evil Girlfriend Media, which is one of those inspired names, right up there with Mad Scientist Journal. I also discovered that the Kazka Press website is no longer online, so I will start looking for reprint markets for the stories I sold there as well.

I kept up in my classes, but I’m finding it difficult to balance two craft-heavy classes with writing new words. But I knew this month would be a difficult one for new words anyway, what with dance competitions and camping trips and who knows what. And as everyone knows, it’s the who knows what that’s particularly time-consuming. So, it’s working out. I’m enjoying the classes, revising some work, and sending out some as well.

Oh, and I sold a couple of things in there too. See? It all works out.

Writing Work:

  • Description class
  • Narrative Design class

Submissions:

  • Gretel and Hansel
  • Keeping Time (reprint market)

Rejections:

  • Gretel and Hansel

Acceptances:

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the selfie from the end of the world

So we recovered from camping in enough time to attend the Starpower dance competition. One of these days, I’ll have a weekend with nothing scheduled. I’m looking forward to that.

I have managed to keep up in my classes (more or less). Even better, I have something in each category below this week. I’m so excited about the anthology. I had so much fun with that story (although I’m fairly certain you can’t call it a happy story–it is the end of the world after all). I’m also excited to have another vignette in Vine Leaves Literary Journal.

Writing Work:

  • Description class
  • Narrative Design class

Submissions:

  • A Measure of Sorrow (reprint market)

Rejections:

  • A Measure of Sorrow

Acceptances:

Publications:

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the camping trip

Very, very, very short post this week. I just returned from camping with my daughter’s Girl Scout troop, and I’m not sure I remember what happened last week. I did keep up in class (well, I still need to post some homework and feedback, but it’s done). We prepped for camping, then we went camping. It rained and even snowed during the week, but Saturday? Ah, Saturday was a perfect day, not a single cloud in the sky.

I am now going to go do something that requires very little thought and minimal movement.

Writing Work:

  • Description class
  • Narrative Design class

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with spring break

fortSpring break this week, so there were trips to the mall and the bookstore and a sleepover.

It looked a lot like the photo to the left there. Because if you can’t go to the beach, you should build yourself a fort in the living room and employ giant, stuffed hippos to guard it.

And hey, if you’re in your fort, you’re certainly not going to get sunburned.

This week, I did classwork, some more ghost research, and a fair amount of reading (I even stayed up way past my bedtime to finish a book–hey, it must really be spring break). I also sent out another brand new submission.

Writing Work:

  • Description class
  • Narrative Design class

Submissions:

  • Gretel and Hansel

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the 99 cent sale

YA Spring Fling Contemporary

The YA Spring Fling continues this week, so if you haven’t had a chance to enter, head on over. Lots of books, lots and lots of books.

I’m continuing with both of my classes (I should probably go post my homework), managed a little writing, a little outlining, a little ghost research. Plus I sent a new story out into the world.

Also, if you want to grab Now and Later for 99 cents on Kindle, it’ll be that way for a week.

Writing Work:

  • Writing work ~ 2,300 words
  • Description class
  • Narrative Design class

Submissions:

  • In a Manner of Speaking

Rejections:

  • Abandonment Issues

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

None, but the Goodreads giveaway is still going on! Enter to win a print copy of Now and Later.

Or … grab the Kindle version for 99 cents. One week only!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Now and Later by Charity Tahmaseb

Now and Later

by Charity Tahmaseb

Giveaway ends April 02, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

YA Spring Fling Blog Hop with H.S. Stone

The YA Spring Fling is still going strong and there’s plenty of time to enter the giveaway. Want to know what you might win? Well, keep reading to learn a little more about one of the authors, H.S. Stone.

YA Spring Fling med

What’s your favorite thing about spring?

The fact that it’s not winter anymore! Cold weather and I don’t get along very well.

What’s the best thing about being a writer?

I love coming up with new story ideas. I’ve been inspired by dreams, books that I read, or just from taking a walk. Whenever a good idea hits me, I write it down in a notebook. As a result, I can’t wait to finish my current manuscript because there are so many new ideas beckoning me!

What’s the worst thing about being a writer?

For me, the revision process is the most painful part of creating a book. After the first draft, I’ll go over my manuscript several times before sending it to an editor, and by then, I’m usually sick of reading my story.

Tell us more about your books.

I write young adult speculative fiction. About half of my books can be classified as dystopian or post-apocalyptic, while the remaining ones fall in the realm of science fiction or fantasy.

Coffee or Tea?

Coffee, but I also like tea. I like coffee-flavored anything: ice cream, cake, candy, etc.

Plotter or Pantser?

I used to be a plotter, but now I’m somewhere in between. I start out each story by writing an outline, and while I try to follow it when I write the first draft, the characters invariably lead me in a different direction. I then revise the outline to match and continue with the draft, iterating when needed until I’ve completed the story.

Are there any books involved in the YA Spring Fling that you’re secretly lusting after?

Oh yes, there are several! But since I’m secretly lusting after them, I won’t reveal which ones. I think there are lots of great books being offered, and I’m grateful to be part of it.

What are your top tips for surviving a bad review?

Remember that everyone has an opinion, and even the best books aren’t for everyone. Re-read your positive reviews to remind yourself that there are readers who enjoyed what you wrote.

What are your top tips for surviving a zombie apocalypse?

Zombieland provided some very useful tips, so I’ll refer to that list: http://www.zombielandrules.com/.

Remember the double tap.

Where can readers find your books?

You can find a full list of my books from my website with links to the retailers that carry them:

H.S. Stone’s books