Life of Fish

Life of fish. Right. I know so much about fish. NOT. Actually, nothing at all. But I know my kids. Big hearted, every one of them. My youngest had a school project where they had a large aquarium as soon as you walked into the school, in the lobby. They got salmon eggs, watched them hatch, start swimming, all that stuff. The next stage was releasing them into the pond.

And that's when the trouble started. My daughter, nine years old, did not want them released. She cried for days, going to miss her pets, worried about where they would get their food - she was so good at feeding them, right? Whether they would get eaten themselves because they were so tiny. She refused to go on the field trip. Refused.

What could I do? Hmmm? What? So I did. The aquarium. The rocks. The castle and plants to decorate it. Right. And then two fish. Tiny aquarium, just for her room. Two betas, a pretty pink named Sparkles, and boy does she shine! Not shy at all, friendly and on the go constantly. And the blue female beta named Elsa. She was named before she was home, before ever seeing the aquarium. And what is Elsa like? She lives in the castle and refuses to come out. We set up my phone, pressed record, and left the room. She peeks out when no one is around, so we know she's still alive. We worry because she rarely comes out when we're around and Sparkles eats all the food she finds! We keep watching,.........she ate a few days ago......... force feed her soon...........I'm not sure.

And yes, she already knows she's going to be a vet. No, scratch that, maybe a vet's assistant, since she found out about surgery and stuff. Or a groomer. She's got years left to decide.

And on the writing side - I wrote the ending of Survival Zone! FINALLY! DONE!! Using my new Phillips hand held recorder - loving it! and my new Dragon software - always loved it! I am getting it onto the computer for the first rough draft! My sighs of relief.........my giddy joy.............dancing...squealing.........yup. All of it. Then second draft, third, tenth - we'll see. And cover. Ideas in my head, trying to explain, but have faith in my cover maker. Except I might change the title. Survival Zone might be the second in the series. Worry about that later. Still celebrating writing THE END in my scribbler!

Speaking of that, enough procrastinating - I'm gone to write!

PS.......anyone know any tips about fish? I'll take it! Thanks!

Best Selling Author - say what?!

I went to a trivia contest last night with some of my writing friends - and new friends! Fun fun! I think I answered one question correct, and even that was a guess. I might not be good at trivia, but hey, I sit at the right table so hah! I think we came in second. Pretty sure we did. Okay maybe tied with three other tables but still second. The point - it was fun.

But some of the questions really got me thinking about what a best-selling author was. And how to be a best selling author. So I googled. Spent too much time googling instead of working on Survival Zone, but I still might get there.

What did I learn today - The odds of winning the lottery, in Canada, that's 6-49, are 1 in 14 million. Whoa. Not bad, right? Yeah. No, I'm not rushing out to get a ticket. Lotto Max, the odds are 1 in over 28 million. You've got a better chance at getting hit by lightning, by far, because those odds are one in less than a million. I do not like those odds.  In the US, your odds of winning the power ball are 1 in almost 300 million!

There's the odds. Now, let's talk about being a best selling author. Sell 5000 books a week - that show up in Bookscan. So technically, you could be selling more copies than the bestseller, but still not be counted as a best seller. But this number is just a number, and in a slow week of sales, it could be a lot less than 5000, on a busy week, it may be much higher. We're talking odds again.

To be in the top 5 for Amazon, you need to sell maybe 300 books a week. There's a big difference from 5000 a week down to 300 a week. But the odds of this happening, after writing the best book I can, hiring editors, etc., to make it even better, marketing in all the right spots - yeah, I think I'll take my chances here. I like my odds better for being a best-selling author much better than winning the lottery - or getting hit by lightning. And now, back to work on writing to better improve my odds! Have a great day and Happy Valentine's day!

And if you've got any better tips for making the odds better - I'm all ears!  

White Magic is available for kindles, FINALLY!
It's listed for 99 cents for a while before the price goes up to 3.99.

http://www.amazon.com/White-Magic-Julie-Affleck-ebook/dp/B0113IJ44U/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1436235662&sr=1-1&keywords=julie+affleck

Fifteen year old Lily has a secret, has kept it hidden for as long as she can remember. 
What teenager wants to be shunned for daring to be different? And wanting to become a witch is as different as it gets. 
She is obsessed with witches. While other little girls dream of being princesses, that has never crossed Lily’s mind. Her only dream is becoming a witch. 
She has her own spell book, none of witch - oops, none of which actually work, but it's her very own, and she's spent years building it up. She's tried to give up on her dream time after time, but it's impossible. It's part of who she is. 
Lily's friends end up in the hospital, one after another, deathly sick. While Lily’s dream comes true and she’s gifted with powerful magic, is it worth the price she may be forced to pay? 
White Magic fights Dark Magic. 

Contests! Win win win!

I've been trying to finish the Blurs series - and have a name for the final one! INCUBATION.

Yup. Incubation.

It fits. Not saying why yet, but it fits.

I'm still editing Zapped - actually, no, that's not true. But I will, when I've finished Incubation, get back to it. I don't have a cover for it either. Working on it.

In the meantime, Kobo and Aquafadas ran a contest and I was one of the winners! It's for an interactive book for Ipads, etc. And that is with my illustrator right now. Can't wait to see it!

And #PitMad on Twitter. I'm not much of a tweeter, but I did it. I tweeted.  And got one favorite! Yay! Had to send part of Unbelievers to a potential agent. Soooooooooo excited!

If I'm spending too much time entering contests will I ever finish what I've started? Yup! And more exciting news - C IS FOR CALASTROPHE IS ALMOST FINISHED! Just saw the pictures for the first time! Love them!

And now, in the middle of the blizzard - yes blizzard again, that is my news. Great to have time at home to write, right? But its hard to focus when you're kind of stuck. And can't get out. Oh well. I can dream of Florida.

Here's one picture out of the C book!

Did I tell you I loved it?! 

Books, books and more book.......

I've never listed my books here on my blog before, and because I can not for the life of me figure out how to link things - oh its so easy you just do this and add this and do that - yeah, no, its all alien to me. Ain't nothing easy that has to do with computers. Well, I do love my Dragon, because it's hilarious trying to fix the mistakes! And I have to edit anyway, so why not have fun with it for a little while?
No that's a lie. Sorry. I still hate editing. Bleck.
Yeah, back to the point of my blog. Did I ever say I love writing? Because I do. I really really absolutely positively love it.

Life goes from strange to terrifying when Gavin sees things, things that move so quickly –they’re only a BLUR.

The blurs are back in Zapped, but Gavin is no longer afraid. In the second book of The Blurs series, Gavin meets another gifted - or cursed - child who can see the blurs: Jade. But unlike Gavin, Jade will do anything to get rid of her power. Can Gavin help Jade overcome her fears in time to combat the rising number of blurs? One thing is for sure - he has to try!

Unexplained deaths have occurred in the tiny village of Mount Stewart, Prince Edward Island, for more than half a century. Every five years, to be exact, the river claims a victim.

This year, thirteen year old Leigh Kennedy and her friends are destined to die. Can Leigh find out why this has been happening in time to escape their fate?

(look close at the railing - see anything? I do!)

Thirteen-year olds Emily and Katherine befriend the new girl in town, Lanie. But when strange and terrifying events occur, is Lanie innocent, as she claims to be, or is she really to blame?

A is for Applesauce is the first in the Arthur & Zita Alphabet Book series. Nine year old Zita loves WORDS! and her favourite book is the DICTIONARY! Today is "A WORDS DAY". While she and her younger brother Arthur await the arrival of awesome Aunt Alice, Zita searches for all the words she can that begin with the letter A. A is for Applesauce tells of a trip to the Animal Zoo cut short, and other commotions, accompanied by A Words such as applesauce, ants, attempted arrest, angel food cake, awards, arguing, and antics. As a "day in the life" family adventure with expressive and colourful illustrations, A is for Applesauce is a read alone or read aloud book to be enjoyed by both children and parents. A is for Applesauce is a good choice to expand your child's A Words vocabulary using A Words in context and with a lively A WORDS GLOSSARY at the end of the story.

B is for Bubblegum! is the second in the Arthur & Zita Alphabet Book series, following A is for Applesauce. Nine year old Zita loves WORDS!... and her favourite book is still.... THE DICTIONARY! Today is B WORDS DAY. Arthur is baffled by B WORDS DAY, but he does like bubblegum - with three B's. Zita has a ballet recital tonight, but there is lots of time before the evening, for barging, banishment, beads, belching, bubblegum, and a beautiful bun, before the day comes to a brilliant end with a blazing blitz, bonbons and begonias. This "day in the life" family adventure series by Julie Affleck, continues with Julie's "in the moment" style of writing and Alexander MacAdam's expressive, observant and colourful watercolour illustrations. B is for Bubblegum! is a read alone or read aloud book to be enjoyed by both children and parents. B is for Bubblegum! continues in the same style as A is for Applesauce, and is the same good choice to expand your child's B Word Vocabulary. The bright B WORDS BLITZ GLOSSARY found at the end of the book lists over one hundred B Words used in the story, some very familiar, others less so. For those who may be interested, B is for Bubblegum! is accompanied by B is for Bubblegum! Word Play as a separate colourful activity book, directed to the grade three to five level.

An engaging narrative in rhyme tells of the magic and joy of Christmas preparation as seen by two young children and their teddy bears.

Fifteen year old Lily has a secret, has kept it hidden for as long as she can remember.
What teenager wants to be shunned for daring to be different? And wanting to become a witch is as different as it gets.

She is obsessed with witches. While other little girls dream of being princesses, that has never crossed Lily’s mind. Her only dream is becoming a witch.

She has her own spell book, none of witch - oops, none of which actually work, but it's her very own, and she's spent years building it up. She's tried to give up on her dream time after time, but it's impossible. It's part of who she is.

Lily's friends end up in the hospital, one after another, deathly sick. While Lily’s dream comes true and she’s gifted with powerful magic, is it worth the price she may be forced to pay?

Good battles evil.

White Magic. Dark Magic.

And here is a picture of my newest series started - Glimmershine School for Fairies! Just a picture - not the actual title yet. Its coming! Love it!

Coming Soon - WHITE MAGIC

White Magic is almost ready! Can't wait! Here's what will be on the back cover.I think.

Fifteen year old Lily has a secret, has kept it hidden for as long as she can remember.

What teenager wants to be shunned for daring to be different? And wanting to become a witch is as different as it gets.

While other little girls dream of being princesses, that has never crossed Lily’s mind. Her only dream is becoming a witch.

She has her own spell book, none of witch - oops, none of which actually work, but it's her very own, and she's spent years building it up. She's tried to give up on her dream time after time, but it's impossible. It's part of who she is.

Lily's friends end up in the hospital, one after another, deathly sick. While Lily’s dream comes true and she’s gifted with powerful magic, is it worth the price she may be forced to pay?

Good battles evil.

White Magic fights Dark Magic.

WORLD'S BEST STORY!

WORLD'S BEST STORY!

WON BY THE ONE AND ONLY PATTI LARSEN! THE BEST AUTHOR IN THE WORLD!

Breathing again. Every time I say it I scream it. So excited. So proud. And so true.

Imagine the talent one person has! Enough for dozens of people! And she always has time to share! All the little questions and problems - she'd be there with an offer to help. Love her! And this on top of writing over 50 books in a few years! FIFTY! FIFTY BOOKS!

Sigh. If you don't already have Family Magic, you're going to have to wait for it. Too long as far as I'm concerned. But worth the wait. Ever get really into a series and were disappointed by the events way too far into it? Yeah, won't happen here. Not in the twenty book series. 

Did I say twenty books in the series? Yeah. I did. And every one of them a world's best story. Not to mention the other spin-off series. 

Celebration! Woo hoo!

A group of really great ladies - myself included - went out to supper with Patti to congratulate her. Great time! And some went to her VERY FIRST INTERVIEW AS THE WINNER OF WORLD'S BEST STORY!

It was at The Guild, a small spot in Charlottetown. "What’s Up Tonight, hosted by actor/comedian Ben Hartley".

I laughed. And laughed. Ben had two other guests for interviews, and two sidekicks. I loved it. They were wonderful! And they did a wonderful job interviewing Patti. 

And back home I went after a lovely day - to my eight year old wide awake watching television. Not a show for eight year olds, either. Of course. Nope. One about airplane crashes. Nightmare material. Did she have nightmares? Are you kidding! She was so tired she almost fell asleep walking to the bedroom! 

I forgot to mention it was fifteen minutes before midnight. Late night for me.

What else did I come to?

'Someone' tried to clean a little bit for me. Yup. They sure did. There were dishes stacked in the sink (yes I leave the dishwasher door WIDE OPEN beside the sink in the hopes they will notice it is there and there are no fairies coming around when they sleep to wash the dishes) there feet above the counter. THREE FEET. Sounds impossible right? Yeah it's not. And on the dishes were clumps of wet, soggy food that no one put in the garbage before putting a dish in the sink.

I'm still gagging.

And laundry. The laundry room I just cleaned. Well, spare room right in front of the laundry room. Someone was thoughtful enough to do laundry for me! Half wet towels dumped on the floor. Mmmm hmmmm. Sweet. And clothes. Wrinkled. Smushed. Damp. Dumped on top of the towels. And mixed in the middle of this? Dirty laundry. Yup. Kids just dump. A few more steps, boys, and THERE'S THE HAMPER! 

"But I thought this was the dirty laundry........."

Yeah. Fine. Brownie points for effort right? Right. 

Back to Patti - SO EXCITED! GO PATTI GO! I WILL ALWAYS BE (ONE OF- I KNOW TOO MANY MORE) YOUR NUMBER ONE FAN!

 

Smoky white magic

Back to editing - shiver shiver. Some people like editing - not me. It means I can't write. And I can't - won't - until I get this done. But I'm working on it, one page at a time.

So here's the cover. Can't tell how nice it looks because it's white on white, but it's perfect. And so will the other covers be - Red Magic, Blue Magic.,,,,, Can't wait!

One thing bothers me though. My photographer is learning how to use smoke...........and my mind says- anyway, it starts this rotten thing called thinking. Does that too much at times. Sadly, not always when I want it to. Anyway, back to thinking. I'm thinking I might want to get some smokiness in that picture. Maybe. We'll try it out, but I've been really happy with this one for so long - don't get too mad, but it's hard to edit! Not fun!

Okay okay. I'm done whining. And yes this little blog post was procrastination. I'm going back toi edit now. I was just thinking about the cover.............

White Magic

Yup.

White Magic.

I love Charmed. It is the only Television series I've bought the entire set of. Love that show, love the idea of good witches.

And White Magic began to form in my head. It is the first in a five book series.

Lily, a fifteen year old, is obsessed with witches. Charmed, yes, but I mean all witches. I Dream of Jeannie, Sabrina the Teenaged Witch, Witches of East End...........that is the world she wants to be part of.

Lily dreams of becoming a witch. She has her own spell book, none of witch - oops, I mean which- actually work, but it's her very own, and she's spent years working on it. She's tried to give up on her dream, but that's impossible. It's part of who she is.

It's a secret, of course. What teenager wants to be shunned for daring to be different? And wanting to become a witch is as different as it gets. Over the years her peers and classmates have noticed how odd she was, but there is one close friend that Lily can be open and honest with.

Here comes the new guy to town, And Lily's friends end up in the hospital, deathly sick. Good guys, and bad guys, and the battles that follow. White magic fighting dark magic.

And you'll be able to meet Lily soon - as soon as the edits are finished.

This book is for the Charmed ones, my obsession that wouldn't let go!

Anyone else remember how great that show was?