#Audiobook Now Available For "Tedi And The Soothing Snow" -A #Children'sBook About #Death, #Depression, And #Grief

 

Cover art composite by UPB

Set vector clip art illustrations of bored teddy bears(c)vectorpocket/Depositphoto

After losing his best friend, Arth, Tedi is so sad it feels like his heart is torn up inside of him. Now Tedi just sits by the window and cries, no longer caring about anything but how much he misses his friend, and seeing nothing of the beauty outside.

Mama Bear insists it will get easier in time, but Tedi’s not so sure; Tedi’s sure he’ll never be happy again. And, as Summer turns to Autumn, and then Autumn turns to Winter, it’s starting to look like Tedi might be right.

But is Tedi really right, or is it Mama Bear who’s right after all?

Unless you somehow missed seeing the posts about the original release of this book, you'll already know you can buy "Tedi And The Soothing Snow" as an eBook in multiple formats from a variety of online retailers.  I won't list all the links in this post - if you'd like to buy an eBook of "Tedi And The Soothing Snow" you can check out the post I just linked to for purchase links.  You can also buy paperback versions of "Tedi And The Soothing Snow" via Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, many other Amazon sites, and all the places Amazon distributes their paperbacks to.

 

But, I do have news: if eBooks and paperbacks aren't for you, you'll be interested to know that "Tedi And The Soothing Snow" is now available in audio, narrated byRaymond Pental, and can be purchased via Audible, iTunes, and the various Amazon sites.

 

~

 

Regardless of your prefered format though, if you're on Goodreads and would like to add the book to your shelves, you can find the book's Goodreads page here.

 

No matter the format, if you buy and read the book, please consider leaving a review, whether on Goodreads, your blog, or the retailer you purchased the book from.  And don't forget to tell anyone you think might be interested in the book all about it.  Remember: reviews and word of mouth help authors sell books.  And I appreciate all reviews - whether short, long, or somewhere in between.

The #Smashwords #EBook #Sale + #BodhiDay + #Holiday Decorations + A #Tortoise On The Loose + Freshly Groomed #Dogs + #Poetry Reading

The Smashwords end of year sale kicks off today (December 17th 2021) and runs through January 1st 2022.

 

I've enrolled all my books that are usually priced higher than $0.99, so that many of my other titles are currenly $0.99, and the more expensive titles of mine are $1.24 or $1.49 throughout this sale.

 

In other words, all my titles are $1.49 or less today through January 1st 2022.

 

Smashwords sells books in multiple formats, and I enable them all, so there will be a format that works for you regardless of your prefered method of reading eBooks, whether you need an epub, a mobi, a pdf, or a html document.  Basically, if you can read this post, you can read my books.

 

So, head over to my Smashwords Author Page, and grab your book bargains. 

*~*

 

Bodhi Day - the Buddhist day of enlightenment - was on December 8th.  I'm not Buddhist, but I do incorperate some of the Buddhist beliefs in to my own, so try to acknowledge Bodhi Day.  This year I went one better and celebrated it by putting up my holiday decorations and making rice pudding that day.

 

Something to bear in mind: you can make rice pudding in a slowcooker.  However, if you do,, be aware of how much it expands, or you'll have quite a mess to clean up.  Yes, that's the voice of experience speaking.

Anyway, here are my holiday decorations for this year:

*~*

A couple of days later Lilie and Logan had a grooming session.  While they were gone, I had Artemis having some peaceful free-roaming time in the livingroom, and took these photos of her:

~

I had Mollie out for a while too, but didn't get any photos of her.

~

And here's a photo of Lilie and Logan after their grooming session:

 

*~*

 

finally, here are some clips of me reading a couple of my poems.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

#Holiday #KidLit #BookRelease - "Jelena"

 

cover art composite by UPB

Coniferous tree macro. for branch close up. evergreen tree in park

© kle1njke@gmail.com/depositphoto

Forest dryads and their magic

© A_Petruk/depositphoto

 

 

Humans have forgotten the old ways, and no longer respect nature as they once did, or ask before taking what they want.  They’ve forgotten about nature spirits, and the strength of the bond a dryad shares with their tree.

 

When an excited family come to the woods to choose their Christmas tree, and end up choosing the Frazer Fir to which Jelena is bonded, they make no attempt to warn her to find herself a new tree.  Now all Jelena can do is watch in tearful dismay as her tree is cut down and taken away; feeling its pain through their shared bond as though it were her own.

 

Distraught and in pain, Jelena can do nothing to save her bonded tree.  But she doesn’t have to share its fate; there’s a chance she can save herself.  Will Jelena find the inner strength to survive the experience, and bond with a new tree before it’s too late? Or will she follow her bonded tree to the place where spirits are reborn?

 

*NOTE: this story – while not overly violent or graphic in nature – is not your average cheerful holiday story, so may not be suitable for younger or more sensitive readers.

 

Today is the official release date for "Jelena" - my latest book, which is now available in eBook.

 

You can now buy "Jelena" from Smashwords.  Bearing in mind, Smashwords offers multiple formats, and I enable all the ones they allow me to, which means there's a way you can read the book regardless of your prefered method of reading eBooks.  In fact, if you can read this post, you can read the book.

 

The eBook is also available to purchase via other online retailers such as Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo, Amazon UK, Amazon Canada, Amazon US, other Amazon sites, and a few other places my books get distributed to,.  So, look for it at your favourite eBook retailer.

For those who aren't fans of eBooks: I haven't forgotten you.  I hope to have the book available in paperback and audio early in the new year.  So, watch for me announcing those.

~

Regardless of your format of choice, if you're on Goodreads and would like to add the book to your shelves, you can find the book's Goodreads page here, where all available formats will be listed.

If you buy a copy, I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a review somewhere - either where you brought it, on your blog, on the book's Goodreads page, or anywhere else you happen to review books - and tell your friends, family, or book club members about it.  Remember: reviews and word of mouth help authors sell books, and I appreciate any review, no matter how long or short it may be.

#Petkid #Holiday Posts: Lilie The #Westie Writes To #SantaPaws

Hi everyone.  This is Lilie the Westie.

Mummy's had so much to tell you that me and Logan haven't really been able to have a turn on here, and neither have Mollie and Artemis.  Although, at least she has included us sometimes when she's done posts, so that's something.  We might have to consider sending her for some retraining though, since she's clearly forgotten the most important rule of all: we come first and are in charge around here.  I really don't know how humans find that so hard to remember, but there it is.

Anyway, I'm writing to Santa Paws for everyone this year, and thought I'd share the letter with all of you.

*~*

Dear Santa Paws,

I've been a very good Westie girl this year.  But I'm always a good girl.  At least, I try to be, and Mummy always says trying counts, so I hope you agree with her that trying is enough.  Anyway, since I've been such a good girl, can you please bring me some toys and treats? Thanks! I don't mind what, though balls and cuddly toys with squeakers in them are my favourite kinds of toys, and I love anything chicken flavoured.

~

My little Cavapoo brother, Logan, can be annoying sometimes, but he's done his best to be good too.  He gets confused easy, so sometimes he doesn't understand what he's meant to do, so does the wrong thing by accident.  But he tries so hard, and is so proud of himself when he figures out what he's meant to do to make Mummy happy.  So, can you bring him something too? He loves any kind of treat, and his favourite toys are anything he can play tuggy with Mummy with. though he also loves those cuddly toys with squeakers in them that I love so much, and manages to play tuggy with her with those too.

~

Mollie's been a very good chinchilla, even if she won't play with me.  I don't know why she won't come out of her cage to play with me (no matter how many times I ask her to) but I wish she would.  Anyway, since she's been good other than that, I expect that means she's on the nice list too, so can you bring her something as well? I don't know what chinchillas like, but she seems to like to chew on things, so maybe something she can chew on? Mummy says she likes fruit flavoured nibbles too, so maybe she'd like some of those? Anyway, I'm sure you can figure it out.

~

Artemis won't come out and play with me either, but she's quiet and doesn't cause any trouble, so she definitely has been good this year.  I don't really know what a tortoise might like, but I hope you can figure out something to bring her, because I don't want her to get left out.

~

Can you bring something for Mummy and Daddy too? I don't know the kinds of things humans like, but I expect you can figure it out, and I hope you do.  I mean, Mummy and Daddy need some retraining, but they haven't been bad as humans go.  They give us good things to eat, play with us, and sleep in our bed with us at night (they say it's the other way around, but we both know they're wrong, don't we Santa?)

~

I hope I get to see you when you bring our presents this year.

Lots of licks,

Lilie

#Vampire #Fantasy #BookRelease - "War of Nytefall: Eulogy" by @cyallowitz - Only $0.99!

On the eve of Clyde's dream becoming reality, his life will be torn asunder. [caption id="attachment_37587" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Cover Art by Alison Hunt[/caption] As his dream of peace becomes a reality, Clyde faces his darkest challenge. With the Dawn Fangs’ existence exposed, the time for negotiations has begun. Mortal rulers and the council of Nytefall gather to discuss terms, but chaos is already stirring. It does not take long for Clyde’s dream to become a nightmare as villages are slaughtered by a Dawn Fang who is rumored to be the newly crowned Vampire King. Bodies of friends and enemies pile up as this mysterious imposter reveals why mortals should fear Clyde. Will Clyde’s final adventure see his dream of peace fail before it is realized? The truth is more horrifying than the Dawn Fangs ever imagined.

*****

Curiosity piqued? Check out this teaser!

The Truth?

Coming to the windmill, Magrus coats his body in a protective shell and carefully climbs to the top of the broken structure. Slowly turning in a circle, he scans the area to get a full sense of the remaining magic. He ignores the auras of the guards, who are sifting through the wreckage to find more bodies. Those who have been located have already been moved to the outskirts where they are being prepared for transport. Peering down the narrow road, he can see an oxen-driven cart is getting closer and sighs at how it will not be enough to collect all of the dead. Magrus considers warning the lieutenant, but he fears it will lead to a long conversation and waste more of his precious time. He turns to where the man is helping to prop up a wall, which has crushed a family of four. Shaking his head, the Zarian climbs down from his perch and uses his staff to help him navigate his way out of town. Nothing catches his interest, but he stops momentarily to send a few more lost souls to the afterlife. “Let us see what really happened,” Magrus whispers as he reaches the woods. Turning back to the village, the man plunges his staff into the earth and grips it tightly to prevent himself from falling over. His eyes develop a rainbow shimmer over the gold as he wavers on his feet. Fighting through the looming fatigue, the priest lets his magical vision change from what is in front of him to revealing phantoms of the past. Transparent buildings rise back into place and ghostly figures go about their lives even though he can still sense a little of what is truly there. Magrus scowls at the sight of a black-haired figure landing a few feet away, the puff of dirt revealing an illusion covering the small crater. Within seconds of appearing, the man rushes at the town and begins destroying everything in sight. Using only his fists and feet, he breaks houses and shatters people. The attacker’s speed is almost too much for the Zarian to follow, so he focuses on examining the phantasmal carnage for clues. He spots bite marks on several necks and sees the chickens were devoured in the blink of an eye. Torches and candles are knocked over to start the fires, which explode into an inferno connected to the illusionary plume of smoke. Magrus is not sure what caused the sudden blast since the attacker had been tearing the local blacksmith in half at the time. Deciding he has seen enough, the man freezes the vision before falling to his knees from the exertion. He is able to hold the image for another second before it disappears, but it still gives him a clear view of the rampaging figure. “This cannot be shared,” Magrus says as he takes out a piece of paper. He mutters a spell to transfer the image of a black-haired man with a corn-shaped necklace from his brain to the parchment. “It would appear that Clyde of Nytefall is not as big a fan of peace as one would believe. Yet, I still see mysteries here. The fires grew without his influence and I see no reason why he would want this place discovered. I have many questions, Lady Zaria, so I cannot purify the Vampire King until I have answers. There has never been a man or monster who has escaped my thorough investigations. This one will be no different. I swear on my goddess’s crimson hair that Clyde and the Dawn Fangs will be judged. Then, if necessary, they will be punished.”

Click here for your copy of the Dawn Fangs' final battle for 99 cents on Amazon! Help spread the word by adding it to your Goodreads 'To Read' List!

*****

New to War of Nytefall?Grab all 8 Volumes for 99 cents each ($8 total)!

[caption id="attachment_37574" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Cover Art by Alison Hunt[/caption]

Interested in more Windemere? Then don't forget to check out Charles E. Yallowitz's first series: Legends of Windemere

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

About the Author:

Charles Yallowitz was born and raised on Long Island, NY, but he has spent most of his life wandering his own imagination in a blissful haze. Occasionally, he would return from this world for the necessities such as food, showers, and Saturday morning cartoons. One day he returned from his imagination and decided he would share his stories with the world. After spending many years fiddling with his thoughts and notebooks, he decided that it was time to follow his dream of being a fantasy author. So, locked within the house with only pizza and seltzer to sustain him, Charles brings you tales from the world of Windemere. He looks forward to sharing all of his stories with you and drawing you into a world of magic. Blog: www.legendsofwindemere.com Twitter: @cyallowitz Facebook: Charles Yallowitz Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cyallowitz/

Enjoy Clyde's final adventure by clicking here!

#StormArwen + #AmWriting + #AmReading + #Music

Last weekend we had a named storm here.  Storm Arwen.  It caused a mess of other people's rubbish in our yard that took us some time to clean up, and damaged one of my wind chimes (though not as badly as I first thought it had) but otherwise didn't cause us any problems personally.  I hear some people weren't quite as lucky though.  I'm sad for those people, and grateful we weren't among them.  I love listening to storms - and Storm Arwen was no exception - but the damage they can cause does make me sad.

 

~

 

Since Storm Arwen moved on, it's been cold and drizzly here, but no more so than is normal for this time of year.  It keeps threatening to reach the right conditions for snow, but not quite managing to give me any, so I'm hopeful I'll get some in the not-too-distant future.  Although, I won't be too surprised if any snow we do get doesn't show up until around the start of next year, since nine times out of ten any snow we get happens in the January to March time bracket.  But those of you who know me well know I'll keep hoping for a snowy Winter Solstice, and dreaming of a white Christmas.  Hey, it could happen.

 

*~*

 

I've now got a narrator working on producing "Tedi And The Soothing Snow" in audio.  So now I have two audiobooks in production, which should both be available in early 2022 - assuming there are no production delays or problems.  So, cross your fingers there aren't any of those to deal with.

~

 

Also, the book I mentioned finishing up so I could publish - which is called "Jelena" and is a holiday story about a dryad's bonded tree being chosen as a Christmas tree - is scheduled for release on December 13th 2021.

 

~

 

 I have other projects in various stages of writing, including a collection of nine 500 word holiday themed flash fiction stories, a fantasy story, and a sci-fi story. But I'll tell you about those properly another time - when they're closer to being finished, and I have a better idea when they might end up ready to be published.

*~*

It's looking like I'm likely not going to be reaching my reading goal for this year.  Not unless I do a lot of reading during December.  And I really mean a lot.  I'm going to try and get it as close as I can, but, like I said, I don't think I'll make it this year.  Never mind though.  For one thing, I've enjoyed most - if not all - of what I've read this year so far, and that's the main thing.  For another, the reason for the lower reading rate is that I've been doing other things (like roleplaying and going to the ACB calls) which is a good thing, right? I mean, plenty of reading time is awesome, but it's OK to read less if it's because you're doing other things - especially if those other things have been enjoyable.

 

*~*

 

Speaking of some of those other things: I uploaded another music video to YouTube.  Here it is.  Enjoy!

 

*~*

Even though it's been a busy week, since the things keeping me busy have already been mentioned - even if only briefly - in the above paragraphs and Tuesday's post, I can't really think of anything else to post about, since the rest is basically day to day tasks we all need to deal with that don't need mentioning, like household chores.  So I guess that's it from me for now.  Hope you've had a great week.

New Stuff on YouTube

I'm trying to make better use of my YouTube channel, and post on it more frequently.

 

So, to start doing so I uploaded the recording from my interview with Patty Fletcher on her "Talk-To-Tell-It-To-The-World-Marketing" podcast from last year.  Though, since it was an mp3, which isn't a supported file type for YouTube apparently, I had to use this online file converter to convert it to an mp4.  It's a long interview (around 45 minutes) but, anyway, for those who missed it last year, or who might want to give it a listen again for whatever reason, here it is:

I also did a short recording of me singing a song I sang on Sunday in the "ACB Presents" call.  The original inspiration for this song was “Open Up Your Heart (And Let The Sunshine In)” which was written by Stuart Hamblen.  Some of the lyrics are from the original song, others come from Patty Fletcher, while others are my own lyrics.  Anyway, I hope you enjoy this fun post-Thanksgiving song.

You can find and subscribe to my YouTube channel here.

#Crafting & #AmWriting & #Roleplaying & Friendsgiving

I finished all the Christmas present sacks.  I ended up making eight: the six I needed, and a couple of spares.  I showed you a picture of one a couple of weeks ago, so won't bother doing so again.

~

The photo above is a silver bell holiday ornament I made after joining the ACB Crafters on Zoom.  It’s made using a plastic cup covered in silver glitter, with a little bell like the kind you’d get on a cat’s collar inside it, and some wire sticking out of the top to hang it up.  It really jingles when you shake it, though not loudly.  Anyway, I thought it was a cute idea, so had to make one.  Naturally, since it’s me, I ended up getting as much glitter over myself - and everything near me - as I got on the ornament, which Kelly swears he's still cleaning up.  But never mind.  I had fun making it, and have a cute new addition to my holiday ornaments, which is the important thing.

 

~

 

For those who might be interested in knowing: I'm now working on a cushion cover that has tortoise patterns on one side and plain purple on the other, as well as some squares for a crochet blanket.

 

*~*

 

 I have no idea what happened with the narrator who was meant to be doing "Pawfect Pet Poems" for me.  She disappeared.  So, when it had been a couple of months with no communication, I had ACX dissolve the contract.  Now I'm trying again with a new narrator.  Let's hope I have better luck this time.  Though it's too late for it to be available in time for Christmas - probably even too late for it to be available before the end of 2021 - regardless of how quickly this narrator works, so I'm just hoping it won't be too far in to 2022 before I finally have "Pawfect Pet Poems" available in audio.  It's been a long time coming... I published the eBook and paperback versions in May and June respectively... So I'll most definitely be glad when I can finally say this one is available as an audiobook.

~

I've also just found a narrator to produce "Tedi And The Soothing Snow" in audio.  Though, as mentioned above, it's too late for it to be available in time for Christmas now, but hopefully we won't be too far in to 2022 before the audio version of "Tedi And The Soothing Snow" becomes available.

~

In the meantime, I'm working on finalizing a new book I plan to release next month, so watch for that.

*~*

 

 I've stopped doing my Wednesday roleplaying games, and told the group I'm gaming with on Mondays I won't be there for every session any more.  It's not that I don't enjoy the gaming, but that I felt it was the right decision for me.  So I stopped the weekly Wednesday game completely, but decided to not completely stop the Monday game, which is only once every three weeks anyhow.

~

Some of it is health and sleep pattern related, since my sleep pattern is all over the place, and I've reached the point healthwise where I really don't know from one day to the next how many spoons I'll have.  Some of it is being more active with ACB when spoon allowance lets me be.  Some of it is just feeling like I'm spending more time gaming than doing anything else, so wanting to scale back on it a bit.  But, like I said, I just felt it was the right thing to do, so I did.

 

*~*

Yesterday, as many of you know, was American Thanksgiving.  We don't have Thanksgiving here in the UK.  I mean, I do try to acknowledge Canadian Thanksgiving because of Kelly being Canadian, but we don't officially have Thanksgiving in the UK, and whatever we do for Canadian Thanksgiving is always just the two of us, and is really just us calling our dinner that day a Thanksgiving meal.

 

But this year I got to be a part of a fun event via the ACB called "Friendsgiving" throughout most of yesterday.  It was an online event where different pairs of hosts and facilitators took it in turns to host for an hour each to provide eight hours of company and entertainment for ACB members, whether people joined because they would otherwise have been spending Thanksgiving alone, or just popped in briefly between things they were doing with their friends and/or families.  They also live streamed it via something called ACB media, so those who didn't actually want to come in and chat but wanted some kind of company for the holiday, or who couldn't come on to chat because of family obligations but still didn't want to miss it, could listen in without having to be on the computer or phone to do so.

 

~

 

I thought it was a fantastic idea, and wasn't the only non-American person to join in (I happen to know there's another person from the UK who was there for a while, as well as someone from Finland).

 

And, no.  I wasn't there for the whole eight hours.  To be honest, I planned to be, but my sleep schedule is all over the place, so I ended up napping through hours two to four.  But I thoroughly enjoyed what I was there for, and am really glad they did it and I got to be a part of it.

I'm also proud of Lilie and Logan, who were very well behaved, despite me being on the computer so much.

 

~

 

Anyway, if you celebrated Thanksgiving in any shape or form, I hope you had a wonderful time.  And, whether you did or not, Happy Gratitude Day, as someone said to Patty, and she shared with us, yesterday.  Because, Thanksgiving or no, it never hurts to take some time to be grateful.