Book Promotion – Why I Wrote a LITTLE ELFY IN BIG TROUBLE – By: Barb Caffrey
My latest guest blog post…hope you will enjoy it.
Want to Read a Free Copy of AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE on 3/6/16? Here’s How
Folks, in honor of Read an E-Book Week, my publisher, Twilight Times Books, is giving away free e-books from March 6, 2016 to March 12, 2016 — one full week — at their website only. Every day, two e-books will be given away for free, including copies of SCHOOLED IN MAGIC by Chris Nuttall and THE CASE OF THE DISPLACED DETECTIVE: THE ARRIVAL by Stephanie Osborn later in the week.
“But Barb,” you say. “What’s this about a free copy of AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE? I want details!”
OK. For those detail-minded among you, AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE will be given away, free of charge, at the Twilight Times Books website starting at midnight 3/6/2016 and ending at midnight 3/7/2016. (Go to this page, and you will find the links when they become active.)
So if you love free e-books — and really, who doesn’t? — this is your chance to get the book that Rosemary Edghill called “is a fresh and unexpected take on the urban fantasy genre with a charming and original protagonist.” She further said, “You’ll want to read this one.”
Author Stephanie Osborn is also in AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE’s corner, saying, “(It’s) filled with fascinating characters both good and evil, characters that, because of their strengths…and weaknesses…seem to come to life for the reader, and a riveting conundrum of a mystery with many facets…The further into An Elfy on the Loose I read, the deeper it drew me into the story. And I went eagerly!”
Others who’ve loved AN ELFY ON THE LOOSE include authors Jason Cordova, Katharine Kimbriel, and N.N. Light…so, really, what are you waiting for?
Go grab your free copy as soon as it becomes available…then, if my story about Bruno the Elfy and Sarah, his mostly-human teenage girlfriend has intrigued you, go read the second half of the Elfy duology, A LITTLE ELFY IN BIG TROUBLE, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and OmniLit/All Romance for just $2.99 USD.
Then come back and let me know what you think. (I won’t bite. Promise.)
News: REALMS OF DARKOVER Is Now Available for Pre-Order!
Folks, I have good news to share.
First, REALMS OF DARKOVER — the latest in the long-running Darkover anthology series, started by Marion Zimmer Bradley and continued by Deborah J. Ross — is now available for pre-order! (It’s due to be released in May of 2016.)
Second, Ms. Ross, editor of REALMS OF DARKOVER, has a new interview up over at her blog today featuring Shariann Lewitt. Ms. Lewitt’s story in REALMS is called “Tainted Meat,” and features owls. (Yes, owls.)
Do go read the interview, will you?
Third, this interview series will include Rosemary Edghill and Rebecca Fox next week (on 3/9/2016), Marella Sands the following week (3/16/2016), then yours truly on 3/23/2016. More authors are scheduled after that, and I do plan to let everyone know when the newest interviews are available.
I’m proud to be a part of REALMS OF DARKOVER, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading the various author interviews as they are published.
Otherwise, in case you missed it, I have a new guest blog up at the Opinionated Man’s WordPress blog and also at his personal blog. It’s about A LITTLE ELFY IN BIG TROUBLE, and gives a longer blurb, plus links to the sample chapters and the three places it’s available… the hope is, maybe this will extend my reach a little and aid in “discoverability” (that is, having readers discover I’m out here, and that my writing might intrigue them).
Granted, this whole notion of discoverability often seems mythical, considering. But I’ve been doing what I can to raise my profile, in the hopes that one day soon, people who don’t know me will enjoy my work. (I want people who do know me to enjoy my work, too, mind…but there are a whole lot more out there who might just like the Elfyverse, if they but know it exists.)
Anyway, happy Wednesday, folks! (Now go read the interview with Ms. Lewitt, then go find the guest blog I did if you haven’t read it already.)
#Authors – New Affordable 3D Book Promo Displays Service Available…
Chris the Storytelling Ape has a new service with 3D covers…he gives examples, and they look great! Please take a look.
Why Should You Buy A LITTLE ELFY IN BIG TROUBLE?
This is the guest blog I did for Opinionated Man’s blog…hope you all will enjoy it! (I wrote it in the same style as the book, in case anyone’s wondering.) It features a longer blurb to whet your interest.
Why are you still here? Why not go read my guest blog instead? (You might just like it.)
Revision — or, How do you find your Story?
Folks, as I wound up my writing this evening/morning, I had a thought.
Yes, thoughts can be dangerous. But this one probably isn’t. In fact, this particular thought might actually be useful to those working on revising a story, and wondering just how long it’s going to take to fix it. Much less what sort of story you’re going to end up with once you’re done…and whether or not it has anything to do with the story you started with.
The revision process is daunting, you see. It’s also frustrating, nerve-wracking, confusing, sometimes painful, and downright difficult.
Mind, I’m not the only writer to say this. (Far, far from it.) Anne Lamott said this in her book BIRD BY BIRD; she even said that her own first drafts are so awful, she barely can stand looking at them. (My best paraphrase, mind, as I don’t have the book in front of me.)
But these painful first drafts are needed, you see. Only after you get down everything you visualize in your head can you work with the raw materials of your story…and figure out what, exactly, your story is.
Now, some writers work much faster than others, and everyone’s process is a little different. So I can’t give you a timetable as to how long it’s going to take to refine your story from the raw material of your first draft.
All I can do is give you a little encouragement, if you’re dealing with a revision right now. And remind you of three simple things:
- Every writer goes through this; you’re not alone.
- You do have a story there, no matter how obscured it seems right now.
- The end product is worth your time and investment, even though you can’t see that right now.
So, if you’re stuck in the throes of “revision Hell,” as I am right now with regards to CHANGING FACES, try to remember these three things. And ask yourself, “What is the story, and how do I advance it from here?”
That should help you get through the rough spots a little better.
Thoughts about N.N. Light’s Review of “Columba and the Cat”
Folks, I’d meant to write this yesterday, but time got away from me. So, here are my further thoughts regarding N.N. Light’s wonderful review of my late husband Michael B. Caffrey’s story, “Columba and the Cat.”
First, it’s great to get a positive review like that. Michael had a lot of talent as a writer, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve tried so hard to keep his work alive. To know that someone else loves his writing as much as I do is extremely gratifying.
Second, for someone to appreciate it and understand it at the level N.N. Light did it makes me believe that finishing Michael’s work — in Columba’s universe, and in the Atlantean Union with Joey Maverick and Peter Welmsley (among others) — is not only doable, it will be appreciated and understood.
Third, it reminds me of something Michael often told me. “The work will be appreciated, in the end,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. “Even if no one else knows it but us and the universe, it will be appreciated.”
I always thought he said that because of Michael’s Buddhist leanings. But maybe that wasn’t it…or at least, maybe that wasn’t it precisely. (And Michael always was precise, y’know.)
Look. I don’t write the same way Michael did. He used to write all his stories out longhand, then type them into a computer file. Only then would he edit, revise, and keep going.
Whereas my process is much more fluid than that, and usually involves thinking about something for a great deal of time, and then — and only then — going back and fleshing out the initial idea.
But we got to the same place, in the end. And we were able to understand each other, to the point that I can finish his stories despite his style being markedly different than my own…even if the way I do it isn’t quite the same way as he would, maybe the stories will still make sense, and still do what Michael wanted them to do.
That’s why I’m working on the outline of THE QUEST FOR COLUMBA, which is the Columba story as told by Cat, otherwise known as the Duc d’Sanchestre (and a shapeshifter). This is Cat’s story, told my way, and through my voice…but it’s also Columba’s story, as seen by Cat. And in a way, it’s quite fitting, as Michael wrote the Columba stories for me.
Now, I’ll write Cat’s story for him.
I can’t be certain that the stories I’ll tell in his universes are the same ones he’d have come up with, given time. I can tell you that I knew Michael better than anyone, and it makes me feel better to keep working on stories in his universes…more like part of him did not die, and that might yet, if given time, be discovered and appreciated.
That said, I’m very glad that N.N. Light enjoyed “Columba and the Cat” so much. It gives me hope…and really, isn’t that what life is all about?
Columba and the Cat by Michael B. Caffrey @BarbCaffrey #bookreview #99cents #ASMSG
I was extremely pleased to see Mrs. N’s review of my late husband’s “Columba and the Cat” today. If you haven’t yet seen anything about this story — or even if you have — I urge you to go read her review right away, then go and grab yourself a copy without delay. (Hey, it’s only ninety-nine cents, so how could you go wrong?)
Sunday Reflections: Kalamazoo Shooting
Folks, it’s Sunday. I try to reflect on Sundays, due to my early religious training, and sometimes my reflections matter more than others.
Today, I’m thinking a lot about the guy in Kalamazoo, Michigan. (I won’t name him, as is my policy.) He shot six random people as he was out and about (he’s an Uber driver, and apparently he drove a number of people around safely during his rampage), and no one knows why. Among the six people dead was a mother (her three children, in the back of her car, were unhurt), which seems particularly heinous.
I don’t know what causes people to behave like this. I don’t know how to fix whatever is broken inside them. But we’ve had a number of shootings now that have been almost completely inexplicable, from the Sikh Temple shootings in Oak Creek to the Sandy Hook school shooting to the shooting at an Aurora, Colorado movie theatre, much less the bombing at the Boston Marathon a few years ago. Something is going on, something deep-rooted and fundamental, to cause unstable people to snap.
It can’t all be explained away as domestic terrorism, either. And it certainly can’t all be explained away as untreated mental illness, though that might be close to the truth in some cases (certainly in the case of the Aurora shootings).
When I hear about something like this, it’s all I can do not to give in to despair. What is this world coming to? Why does this even happen?
I can’t begin to understand why this guy in Kalamazoo was thinking, and I don’t even want to try. But I wish with all my heart and soul that those six innocent people in Kalamazoo yesterday were still alive, and that this particular Uber driver had never gone on his rampage.
That said, what can we do, in the United States, to combat these types of crimes? Is there anything we can do at all?
I’ve already advocated for better care for the mentally ill, and I stand by that. I’ve also advocated for universal background checks, and I stand by that, too…but I’m guessing neither one of things would’ve prevented this particular shooting from taking place.
What I do know is that somehow, we have to keep a light shining in the darkness. We have to believe that something, anything, can bring hope and peace and a stable, workable future…that something we do, no matter how small, can make a positive difference in someone else’s life.
It won’t bring back those six innocent souls, no. But it might bring a smile to someone else’s face who’s having a terrible day, and remind him or her that we all matter, in our own unique ways…and that’s an important thing to reinforce.
In my own life, I try to do that as best I can. I observe what’s going on with other people, and when I can help, I do that.
My friend, fellow author N.N. Light, has a mantra, “Spread the Light.” I think that’s an excellent thing to do, and I hope we can all find ways to do just that in the days ahead.
Finally, folks…when Belgium was threatened with terrorism last year after the Paris attacks, what did those brave people of Belgium do? They sent around cat pictures, dog pictures, or something to make each other laugh. They refused to give in to fear; they refused to allow terrorists to ruin their lives.
I think we must somehow learn from their example, and keep doing our best to make a positive difference in this world. Even if it’s small, even if it seems infinitesimal, it’s the only way to go.
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