Category: Bedtime Tales

Thought, thoughtcicles, and release

So, I have been thinking about when I should release thoughtcicles. Handprints on my soul releases on the 18th. Then the first week of December is Kid’s week. Fae Corps is releasing 2 of my kids books and 3 from other authors. That means that I have been busy with getting them together. I always do a vacation from the publishing from the end of kid’s week until after the first of the year. Three weeks. I could do it during the break…but I feel like I am just asking for burn out if I don’t take the break. I really didn’t expect to finish the volume so quickly. I think that I will schedule it for the end of January so I don’t have to go without the break.

Next year is already looking like a busy year. We are publishing a book by Ruan Bradford Wright. Probably another by Raz T Slasher. I am hoping that we will see the next one from Ashira Datya. Maybe book two from Andrew McDowell? We will have to see. I know that there will be a book from DW Storer. Add in my poetry volumes and I see it as a busy year. The anthologies are also a thing. The blog for Fae Corps Publishing will have more exact details as we have them. Currently I am in charge of the blog there as well.

So, I think that I would be best to remember that I am not supergirl and pace myself. January is soon enough for the release of Thoughtcicles.

Pad Day 4 and rambles

Today’s Prompt was a fill in the blank. “In the (Blank)”. Those that are my facebook friends have seen me trying to do to-do lists the last few days. They are never long…usually four or five items…but it wears me out. So I am fighting exhaustion and trying to celebrate my wins.

The laundry is caught up.

Dishes are nearly there.

Bathrooms are clean. (Well the two that I can get to)

The laundry room is clean.

All the clothes are folded…not put away yet, but folded.

My bedroom is halfway there.

Joe’s room is clean.

I have finished Layout on all but one of the Kid’s books for kid’s week(The final one is waiting on the illustrator. He had a cord malfunction and couldn’t send in the art yet. Poor guy)

I have started getting preorders set up for the kid’s week books. *Links will be in a post on the Fae Corps blog when I finish the getting of the preorder links….

I have written a poem a day for everyday in November so far and got a little bit of a word count in Sea Wytch.

I did my grocery shopping for November. And came in under budget.

I have started my christmas shopping.

I made it to therapy.

I have remembered my medicine over half of the time…(I set another set of reminders on my phone…seriously the only reason I remember to eat half of the time is the dizzy feeling I get when I forget.)

I have stayed Hydrated…

See I am killing this…even if there are days when my body says I am killing me. I created a to-do list for self care. So far it has morning and night meds, and art…(Therapist said art was self care!)

What did you do today? Let us celebrate the win together.

Tuesday…what more can I say?

The last couple of days have been a whirling shitshow. I am completely out of my routine. Today I am dealing with an enormous amount of laundry…and the various dishes that are actually normal for my house. I am squeezing in doctors appointments and errands. I somehow want to attempt to write today. I am an ambitious soul after all. The end of the month is coming quite quickly, and I have two anthologies and an indie author publishing in October.

I am already preparing for kid’s week – The first week in December. We have books planned by A.R. Clayton, D.W. Storer, C.M. Snow, Raz T. Slasher, and 2 by me. (One picture book and one middle grade). I feel like It is going to be a good offering this year. The first Call is out for the spring anthology. And I have submitted a poem and a flash piece of Serena’s to various places. Some things are just falling into place. I will let you know as I hear about the submissions and the results there.

The Existential Question

Photo by Jess Bailey Designs on Pexels.com

So I have been busy working on publishing tasks yesterday, Well that for me included dealing with the dreaded Goodreads Now admittedly I don’t do everything I need to with it, because every time I go there it is the same thing. I can’t claim all of my books on there. Not even the ones all written as me. The reason – My name is too common. I should be able to give the information about the book and claim it…but no. It is based on the name of the author. I am debating doing a rebranding. Adding my grandmother’s maiden name in as my middle name (I tried my middle name to start with…it is even more common.) Still I wonder how much I should rebrand? Should I just start from here? or go back and rebrand from the beginning? There is a lot involved. I just don’t know if Goodreads is worth the effort. I have my amazon author page. I have my books2read reading list. Does anyone other than authors even really use Goodreads?

Though I have to say that I am annoyed by how common my name is. Names have always been a fun thing for me. I wanted to write as Susan Ann Andrews when I was a girl. I really thought it was the prettiest name out there. I chose to write my poetry and my kid’s books under my name because I wanted to love my name again. I wanted it to be mine again. It was part of healing the abuse I had been through. I chose to do the pen name of Serena Mossgraves for my horror and darker stuff so that my kid’s books would not be tainted by those writings. So I am struggling now. Do I really want to rebrand simply because of how common my name is? Or do I stick with who I am? This really feels like I am facing an existential crisis. Do I change my persona for the idea that I am not fitting in? Or am I fitting in too well? Oh crud. I really don’t know what to do here.

Yesterday I was sure that I needed to change the branding. Today, I wake up and find in my email in response to my help request…OK we merged this and this….I look on goodreads…now one of Serena’s books is listed as Patricia. And still not even half of my books are listed as me. I still can’t claim them. Changing my brand will mean I have to go and fight them for the right to the listing all over again. In order to change it I need to go into KDP and D2D and Google Play and Barnes and Noble. Change The Details on each. I need to upload a changed cover for each. Then I need to hope that I have not screwed something up. For one or two books it is not that difficult…but I have a catalogue of around 30+ It is a hugely daunting task. OK… I can change my branding from here on out…but the whole reason I wanted to do it was because of Goodreads not letting me accept my books…if I change my brand it will throw them into a worse fit.

I think I need to think on this. I am going to do nothing about it until after the first of the year at the least. That way I can be sure I am still needing to adjust and I don’t feel like I rushed in for stupid reasons.

Thursday Tea Party

Created by Patricia Harris in Canva

Well hello my lovelies. It has been a hot minute hasn’t it? I am drinking a touch of orangeade. I feel like the vitamin C can only help…What are you drinking?

Next week is going to be busy, for Fae Corps Inc and Serena Mossgraves. Faery Playground drops on May the first then Serena’s Madness and truth releases on the fifth. Both are very much worth the read.

Faery Playground is about faery children, but all of the stories are not fun and light. Actually the stories follow a range of dark and whimsical. One is straight out horror. The poetry and art seems to be lighter though.

Madness and Truth is a ghost story that follows an island through two stories. Two journals to be specific. From the view of Kiera Dunwillow, esteemed historian, to the view of a secretary for a ghost hunting group. The stories tell the history of the Isle of Truth, but do they add to the ghosts on the Island?

I have been working on illustrations for Afraid of Shoe Mountain, which I hope to release this year (date yet unknown.) Serena is back to writing, after putting Kingdoms of Sin on hiatus. She will return to it…one way or another it will be published. We are discussing whether it will be as a novel or as a Game book for running in a tabletop RPG. She is stuck.

I have struggled with the writing of poetry in April, as I have been overwhelmed with all of the other stuff that I had on my plate. I have been slowly lessening my stress…but I am still having responsibilities that are expected of me, and It is making it harder on me to catch up. However, I will get there, just be a little patient with me, I beg of you.

On a personal note, Today is My mommy’s birthday. Happy Birthday MOM!!!!

Thursday Tea Party

Hello Lovelies! Today I am drinking some lovely peach tea. What will you have?

There is a lot to announce!
First off, one of my art pieces that I submitted to Indie Blu(e)’s Through The Looking Glass: Reflecting on Madness and Chaos Within was accepted! I will try to keep you updated on that as I know more. I am so excited as their books are so pretty. I submitted to that and to But You Don’t Look Sick …I have not yet heard about But you don’t look sick. Again, updates as I have them. *Edit: I finished writing this and scheduled it. Then I went to check my email, only to find the acceptance letter in the email I will have 4 poems in that anthology.

Next, Serena finished writing Madness and Truth. It has been through the alpha readers and is handed off to the editor currently. The story is creepy and carries a good haunted feel to it. I expect that we will be publishing it some time in 2021.

I have finished writing Afraid of Shoe Mountain and am currently working on the illustrations. Though I love Shannon’s Illustrations, and will likely hold Dylan and the Hotel Zombie until she can do the art, I am not wanting to continue to wait with Afraid of Shoe Mountain. I am enjoying the illustration of this book. I have been uploading them to DeviantArt for those who are interested. (I only have 2 finished so far).

I am nearly done with the writing for Heart Drops, and Half-Mad Meanderings. Serena has been working hard on Death Becomes Her. Half-Mad Meanderings is only 5 poems away from done. Heart drops 2 art and 7 poems away. And Serena says she still needs 20 poems for Death Becomes Her. Likely all three will be released in 2021.

Circle City Publishing is nearly ready to release their An Absurd Apocalypse that will have Serena’s Flash story in it. I do not know how much longer that will be. I will let you know more as I do.

Fae Corps Inc is going to release Faery Playground with my art and a story from Serena in May. The tone of the submissions had the cover needing redone. They plan to reveal the cover on April First (No Joke!). It has been a fun anthology to edit if I am honest. I am looking personally for 2 ARC reviewers. (ARC reviewers are readers who, for an advanced copy post an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads. )

Well, I think I am finally done with the updates! whew! That was a lot!

Oh! and I am considering adding a store to my blog. I make jewelry and Resin pieces that I need to find a place to sell. I am going in April to the local flea market, but I like the online store idea better. My studio is very nearly set up. So the next focus is a storefront. Watch here for more information.

Book Birthday Bedtime Tales The Princess Lost Second Edition.

books2read.com/BTtheprincesslost

What happens when the littlest princess in the land of Nod gets lost? A story of friendship, adventure, and surviving. This is a second edition release. Help us celebrate the release of Patricia Harris’s Bedtime Tales The Princess Lost. The images are sharpened and the layout cleaned up to give the reader a better book.

Let’s Talk!

Photo by Valeriia Miller on Pexels.com

I made a silly list of goals…on facebook. I’ll place it here in the post. Then I will tell you about it.

Okay… Goals for this week :Of which I am hoping to finish at least half of :
1. Assembly of a polished poetry volume for fcp’s newest author
2. Edits on the submissions for faery playground.
3.podcast interview with Destiny Constantin
4. Writing on afraid of shoe mountain – with hopes of finishing this year.
5. Reorganization of Bedtime Tales : the princess lost.
6. Laundry and reorganization of my own clothes.
7. Actually pretending that I am an adult….
8. Writing poetry for half-mad meanderings and heart drops.
9. art!
10. Getting the craft room organization started.
11. Work on the kingdoms of sin
12. Work on life, guilt, and undeath
13. edit Dylan and the hotel zombie
14. Doodles for my girl Red’s Lily Doodles
15. Art with my Angel.
16.Dungeon planning for d&d
17. Zombie killing in 7d2d
18. Therapy
19. Finish the story for fae shivers
20. Kitchen witchery
21. Fix the stupid printer
22. Share the shit out of a few posts pertaining to books that I want to support.
23. Clean old cans out of the pantry
24. Drink more water
25. Figure out what to post about this Thursday and Friday on my personal blog
26.enjoy the thought that people like my work.
27. Watercolor painting
28. Smile at least once a day.
29. Listen to music for no real reason.
30. Make lists to amuse myself, and then try to do everything from the list even though the list is waaaay too long

I accomplished more than I expected. The podcast airs tomorrow. Afraid of Shoe Mountain is written. It is going through the edits, and the polish that the best books deserve. The Princess Lost is available for preorder, going live on March First. Ivor Steven’s Poetry volume Tullawalla is also available for preorder, going live March 31st. Obviously I did not get today or tomorrow done ahead. I have not gotten my edits completed…but I have gotten it started. I will be sending those edits back next week. I got the pantry and the printer done. I have doodled, I arted…And in all I figured out that I am doing something each day that progresses my goals. Still I am having days that I can’t do. I have to accept with grace that I cannot do everything I want to, and keep moving forward on the goals so that I eventually manage everything that I want to do.

What goals do you have that you want to manage soon and what is your limits?

Thursday Tea Party

Hello, lovely readers! Today, my need for caffeine was strong, so I am enjoying coffee. Triple chocolate coffee with cinnamon creme creamer. That and the toothpicks propping my eyelids open might allow functionality.

So much news today. Two preorders… One for Poetic Reminders and one for Through the Sunshine. Upcoming events. What is being worked on now. And commentary about life at large.

So let’s start with talking about the preorders. Fae Corps is doing a party all through May. There is going to be a chance to get to know the authors in the anthology. Giveaways and just general fun. Go check it out and join us for the fun! I am not doing anything so big for Poetic Reminders…. However if I get comments on this blog post I will do a random drawing for a free ebook copy… So tell me something that makes you smile.

Coffee house writers anthology is moving right along. My submissions have been assigned to its first editor. They are going to assign three separate editors to catch all errors. That way you, the reader, get the best piece possible. With Fae Corps we have the authors read the manuscript after the final edits have been put together to make sure that there are no errors. That is often 10+ sets of eyes on the whole thing. That helps to insure quality. Quality is the best way to ensure the stories are showcased properly.

So, Serena is working currently on a short horror story for the Nightmare whispers anthology. I think that it is off to a good start. She is still working on The Kingdoms of Sin, but the short has a deadline. She is determined to get both done soon. I hear that she is hoping to release her book some time this year.

As for me… I have started a new poetry volume. The cover is above… I really love how it turned out. I still am working on heart drops, but as I don’t often write love poetry… I wanted a volume that could catch the other poems… The darker poems. I think that this volume suits that idea. I have the next Dylan book written, and am waiting for the illustrator. If I have time I want to finish Attack of Shoe Mountain. I have so much going on though that it may be a while.

Life has been chaotic for me for a bit now. Back in November we started expansion of my daughter’s room. Due to the lack of people to assist or timing being bad or just bad luck… It is still unfinished. That is changing this weekend. So next week will be me cleaning up the mess left by construction. The next project is my master bath, hopefully it will be done faster.

So I mentioned a giveaway above. I asked for things that make you smile, but I am also curious about how life has been for you. How has the current situation in the world affected your day to day life?