Tag Archives: Christmas

The Alethea Extravaganza: 2 New Books Out Today!!!

Alethea Kontis, Books, Interview, new release, , , , , , , , , ,

Dearest fishy friends: Firstly, we hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Secondly, never in my life have I had the fortune to bear witness to a mind quite as brilliant and quirky and prolific and boundless as that belonging to our mermaid sister, Alethea Kontis. I knew she had a couple books coming out today (did I mention she’s a superstar?) and I also knew I wanted to be the lucky girl to share the wonderful release news with you. This is because one of the new stories is the follow up to When Tinker Met Bell, a book Alethea released this September. That story is my all-time Alethea favorite so far (and you can find it HERE ) It’s absolutely lovely! Please do check it out if you can.

There was one character in it, however, one Merriaurum Grandiflora Larousse, aka “Merri”, that was mentioned and then mysteriously not mentioned again by the time the story ended. Now knowing Alethea like I do, there was no way she would have started a story line and simply forgotten to wrap it up. No, it had to be that she’d left that character with a cliffhanger and would surely pick back up with it in a future book. But just to be sure, I asked her about it and to my extreme delight, YES, she told me that not only had she planted that teaser of Merri’s on purpose, but that the story would be out very soon as part of the new Nocturne Falls Christmas anthology! Yay! I never should have doubted her. The story is called The Meddlesome Misadventures of Merri and Bright. Psst… below is the cover!!! Isn’t it gorgeous??? Go ahead, click on it!

Here is a bit more from our convo this week about Alethea’s wonderful short stories. Be sure to read all the way down for the very cool cover and link to her second story out today! Take it away, Alethea!

Since Carlene’s main question about cliffhangers got turned into an entire Writing Lecture about “Loose Threads in Complex Worldbuilding: Intentional or Not?” (Posted on my Patreon), I moved on to answer some other questions about short stories and anthologies.

What got you started writing short stories?

The first piece of fiction I ever sold was AlphaOops: The Day Z Went First. Prior to this, I had only published book and audiobook reviews in my local hometown free paper (for zero pay). My dream was always to write fantasy adventure novels—I had not planned to be a picture book writer AT ALL. So when Candlewick told me that it would be 2-3 years until AlphaOops saw the light of day, it lit a fire under me. I needed to plant my flag in science fiction and fantasy right away…and the best way to do that was to start shopping around all the short stories I had been writing on the side.
AlphaOops The Day Z Went First debuted in 2006. That same year, “Small Magics” was published in Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show and “Sunday” (which became the novel Enchanted) was published in Realms of Fantasy. By then, of course, I’d been bit by the short story bug, and my stories started to pop up on websites and in magazines and anthologies all over the place.

You write in so many different genres—are there any common themes in all your various stories?

I used to tell people that Belle from Beauty and the Beast was my demographic because my stories all had “far-off places, daring sword fights, magic spells, and a prince in disguise.” When I do shows with my artist BFF Bianca Roman-Stumpff, I tell people “My stories are like Bianca’s art: fun, colorful, subversive, and a little bit dark.”
When Dearest was published in 2015, I was stunned when a reviewer called it “the funniest book of the series so far.” I had expected “romantic,” but not “funniest.” Humor is so difficult for an author to communicate to a reader that I’ve heard writing instructors tell their students expressly NOT to write humor into their books. So humor was never something I’d really intended. And then I looked back at my body of work for the last ten years and realized…I COULD WRITE FUNNY. How about that?
Now that I’m aware of this once-hidden talent, I’ve become less and less shy about playing it up. So, no matter what genre I’m writing in, you can bet that a story by Alethea Kontis will be fun, colorful, subversive, a little bit dark…and funny.

Will you be part of any more anthologies on the horizon?

Yes! Once Upon a Quest will be releasing in January of 2018. I’ve been in the two previous Once anthologies: Once Upon a Curse and Once Upon a Kiss. It’s a wonderful group of authors, and I’m honored to be invited back “once” again.
My novelette in Once Upon a Kiss, “The Glass Mountain,” was meant to be an origin story for a romantic fairy tale rom-com I wanted to release this past summer, but I had some problems with the world building (like, I was trying to shove all of it into the first four chapters and it was NOT FUNNY AT ALL) and it had to go back to the drawing board. My story in Once Upon A Quest—an as-yet untitled goblin adventure based on the goblin tales of Hans Christian Andersen—is a legend from a different part of that same fairy tale world.
What I’m hoping is that this goblin adventure will help me get back into that fairy tale world and write the novel I was meant to write in the first place! Fingers crossed!

***************

Thank you, Alethea! Our fingers and fins and flippers are all most certainly crossed for you! Friends, take a look at the outstanding cover for Grim Repo which is included in the Hardboiled Horror anthology. Just click the cover for more info. Congratulations, Alethea! And to our fishy friends, thanks so much for stopping by, xoxoxoxoxo.

Do You Hear What I Hear…

Kerri Carpenter, mermaids, , , , , ,

The question in the lagoon this month: What’s the one thing you cannot write without?

Today’s answer comes from the Waterworld Mermaids’ very own Kerri Carpenter.

Visit Kerri at her awesomesauce website here. Follow her on Twitter here.

*********************

I have to keep this short and sweet today. Why? Because it’s NaNo month of course.

Wait, you don’t know what NaNo is? Allow me to explain. Writers from all over the galaxy are trying to write at least 50,000 words during the month of November. Intense, right?

Even more crazysauce is that the Waterworld Mermaids are in a tight competition with the writers over at Romance on the Rocks. Who can write the most words? Fingers crossed for the lagoon! Now, back to the question at hand.

The one thing I absolutely, under no circumstances, no way Jose, cannot write without is… Music!

Some writers need absolute quiet. Others love them some background noise. Me? I gotta have the tunes. For the most part, any music will do. However, I do have some favs. Without further ado, here’s my list:

Field of Dreams Soundtrack

I love the movie and I love the soundtrack. I listen to this constantly.

Random Playlists I Create

I love creating playlists and sometimes I’ll do one inspired by whatever I’m working on. For example, in my contemporary romance, The Best Kind of Love, Penelope and Ethan were created by listening to a lot of Lady Antebellum. I considered the song, “Dancing Away with My Heart,” to be Penelope and Ethan’s song.

Anything by John Williams

John Williams is the man! Like a song from a movie? He probably came up with it. I’ve been listening to his Greatest Movie hits for the last couple months. Star Wars, Superman, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, and soooo many more.

Random Artists

I really do listen to a ton of different music but I will admit I have some go-to’s. Colbie Caillat, John Mayer, Paul Simon, Lady Antebellum, Ben Folds Five, Ashley Monroe, and more.

Christmas Music

I love Christmas music so freaking much! I would listen to it all year long, but I do restrain myself. However, I’m currently working on a Christmas story so it’s been all Christmas, all the time. Bring on Bing, Mariah Carey, and the Chipmunks. I’m in Heaven! (And thank you to the Hallmark Channel for already playing Christmas movies!)

Alright, folks. That’s it for me. I’m off to fire up The Carpenters’ (no relation) Christmas album and get back to the writing.

 

*********************

Cyber-stalk Kerri at her website.

Like Kerri on Facebook, so you can answer her Questions of the Day and view her plethora of adorable dog photos. Everyone loves Harry!

Retweet Kerri on Twitter, especially when she gets super into #TheWalkingDead on Sunday nights.

What’s that? You still need more Kerri? Wow, you guys are insatiable. Buy Kerri’s books on Amazon. (Most books are also available at Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and kobo too.)

Kerri-Harry Working

Is it Christmas yet?

Conferences, mermaids, Motivation, Susan Jeffery, Writing, , ,

SusanMermaidFriends, I have a confession to make today.  And a story to tell.

Confession: After a summer of industrious writing almost every single day, my writing urge came to a screeching halt.  Sometime in August, I believe. Definitely about a month ago.  Maybe more. I didn’t panic, because I was sure the root cause would be discovered eventually, and we’d get our little writing choo-choo back on track.  And, with the school year started, I’m not exactly eager to strain my back getting pages out. I have Freshmen to train, and Seniors to tame, and a library to run – that is the priority now, until next May. If the writing waits, it waits. I’ll live.

At least, after the CTRWA Cherry Adair workshop last weekend, I do know more about why my story is stalled. Gang, it’s not pretty. Ms. Adair diagnosed my story as “thin”. She had ideas, and my chapter mates backed me up with suggestions for an intriguing bad guy and a twist. Once I get her plot board out of the car, I’ll clean off the dining room table and get my butt back in chair.  And that’s my confession.  Which brings me to my story, which is about a much earlier stall in my writing career.

Where I write these days.

Where I write these days.

Story: A long time ago (about 1992), I hung up my keyboard and quit writing. I’d moved to New York two years before, and I was so homesick I really wanted to quit everything – family, home, marriage, kids, all of it. Sitting at the keyboard was an anxiety-riddled exercise. I was an award-winning author with a book out, and I needed to produce, but I was stressing myself out of it.  I’d been writing for ten years, and I couldn’t think of a thing to say. There had to be some peace, somewhere.  I was desperate to escape my disappointment and self-hatred, so I killed it, my writing, that part of me.  Writing couldn’t fight back, because it was in me, and my struggles with it were damaging me.  I announced I was done with writing, refused to think about writing, and said I was moving on. Done, Dead, Fini.

Except it wasn’t dead. Part of me knew I was able to write, just that I couldn’t or wouldn’t make a story happen at that point. I wasn’t going to write a book, but I would write letters. I wrote looooong letters to friends (in the days when people still wrote letters, before the internet killed written correspondence). I wrote notes to my mother and sister.  I wrote directions to patterns for the sewing classes I was teaching.  And I wrote Christmas letters.

My Christmas letters eventually became the highlight of my year.  I started them by mid-November, knowing I would need a month to create and polish what I wanted The World to know about Our Life This Year.  Each character would get his/her own summary of the year’s ups and downs. I chose a theme each year, opened with a question, wound up with an answer, and a recommendation for calming down, loving everyone and eating another slice of pie. I wrote, trimmed, condensed, and molded my story to fit a single typed page. I reduced margins, added my own illustrations and signed all our names.

    I wrote every letter to a friend I had in mind as I wrote, as if I were telling the story to her.  And I wrote the ending until I cried. It was probably my favorite part of the process, because if I could write something that made me cry, I could be pretty sure my readers would feel my depth of emotion for the topic, and maybe they’d be moved, too.

Not all of the letters are in my Christmas closet, the cubby where we keep all the trimmings. Somehow I don’t worry about this much, because another friend has kept all of them, and I know she’ll send copies if I ask. It’s not so important that I have the record of them.  Writing those letters made me happy, and made other people happy. That was enough.  And yet…

Going back to my lack of interest in the summer’s writing this past month, I was wondering just this week – would I be able to kick start my writing a little bit, if I started my Christmas letter early?  I feel better, knowing I could have fun, writing another. Maybe it’ll start the juices flowing. And, since I’m wondering about it, I’ll also ask you the question:

How do you get yourself back in a butt-chair-write mood?

Famous Jammies

Alethea Kontis, ,

There’s a link that’s gone viral — a family’s 2013 Christmas Card performance called “Christmas Jammies.” And when I say viral I mean it — since it was uploaded on December 11, this video has been watched over SEVEN MILLION TIMES.

Here it is, in case you haven’t had the pleasure — it’s really cute & super fun for the whole family! (Here’s the link for those who can’t see the video embed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kjoUjOHjPI )

Most of the comments say things like, “I love these people!” and “I want to be part of this family!” when in reality, if most of us presented our kids with matching Christmas PJs on December first and told them we were all going to rehearse a family video that would be LIVE ON YOUTUBE FOR ALL THEIR FRIENDS TO SEE, the result would be massive rolling eyes and filing for emancipation.

These are the things I thought when I watched this video. Did you notice how it’s not only a Christmas card, but also a promotion for their new family business? Yup, snuck that in there with a hashtag and everything.

Those of us who live our lives in front of the world…this is what it looks like.

FUN, right?

I’m a renaissance woman of the 21st century — I’m on just about every social media site and have my own YouTube channel. The Fairy Godboyfriend’s latest idea is for me to play the Marvel Lego videogame on a live Twitch feed so that my fans can watch me play Captain America.

And all of this *is* fun. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t do it.

Except…the part where we can’t go grocery shopping without considering the potential promotional angle, and everyone hates us because they assume we are happy & enthusiastic 365 days a year.

We are the workaholics that never stop…but we love what we do. It helps when our family loves it too.

The up side? We can write OUR ENTIRE LIVES off on our taxes.
And if you’re smiling, then we’re doing our jobs right.

So what’s your take on this viral Christmas business? How many of you think the son or daughter will grow up to be movie stars…and how many think they will simply  demand this video be removed from the internet?

Kerri’s Favorite Things

Kerri Carpenter, , , ,

This post is just like Oprah’s favorite things episode. Except, it’s not on TV. And no one’s getting a car. And there are no people dressed as elves passing out all of my favorite things. And most of my favorite things aren’t really tangible so you kinda couldn’t get them anyway.

But other than that, it’s totally just like Oprah’s favorite things.

I love the holidays and thought I would share some of my most favorite things about it. Of course, there are a lot of aspects I don’t like about the holidays as well. Stress, spending money, stress, the song Christmas Shoes, stress… You get the idea. But that’s a whole other blog post…

In the meantime, please enjoy Kerri’s Favorite Things!  The Diva Kerr-ina Continue reading →

Kicking off the Most Wonderful Time of the Year-Mermaid Style!

Robin Covington, Uncategorized, ,

Life has been a little hectic for me lately. Back-to-back book deadlines and edits and promo and . . . well, I was little burnt out. So, the Main Man and I decided to shake things up this Thanksgiving and forego the larger family gatherings and opt for a smaller, vacation with the kiddos. The destination?  No brainer!

New York City!!!

You see, we had promised Little Man and Lulu a trip this summer but . . .you know the summer gets away from you. We never went and the kids were disappointed. So, three weeks before Turkey Day we started making plans and it all came together just perfectly.

We treated the kids to their first train ride and took it straight into Penn Station. They were beyond excited and we only had one minor hiccup while waiting for a taxi to the hotel – the Hustler Club van went by with a HUGE ad with some chicks fake double-D’s on it and  . . . well, you can imagine the questions.  The Main Man got to handle that one. ; )

While there we were total tourists. We went to the Central Park Zoo and climbed the big boulders all around the lawns and splurged on a carriage ride.  We watched the parade and had Thanksgiving dinner at Rockefeller Center.

 

 

 

No trip to NYC is complete without taking in a show or two.  We went to see Mary Poppins and the Rockettes. Both were spectacular -shocker- and the kids eyes were bugging out the whole time.  When Mary Poppins “flew” across the theater and ended up right in front of Lulu, I thought she was going to come out of her seat with excitement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, none of you who know me will be surprised that I was in the city less than hour and I ran right into the Naked Cowboy. Yep, a city of all those people and I find the hot guy dancing in his tighty-whities. He’s done pretty well for a guy who prances around in his undies. He’s a franchise now and has a “cast” of Naked Cowboys and if you want him to marry you in Times Square – he can do it!  $400 and you can be joined forever with your sweetie by the Reverend Naked Cowboy . . . seriously, I couldn’t make this stuff up.

We had a blast and the whole time my Plotmonkeys were running around my head with ideas.  I jotted down tons of notes and took lots of pics for future reference.

Good times.

The city was dressed for Christmas and it put me in the mood for my fave season. Are you in the spirit yet? How are you ringing in the Holiday season?

Robin

Holiday Blues

mermaids, Motivation, , , ,

I must confess:  I’ve not been in the holiday spirit AT ALL this month.  I’ve been the queen of not enjoying celebration.  I dial the radio away from Christmas music.  I proposed not having a tree at all this year.  It all just seemed too much, too involved, too wearing to contemplate doing it again.  And it will all have to be put away at New Year’s and that’s tiring too!  Bah, hum-bug!  I see other people having a wonderful time, dressing up, handing out presents, making merry, and I just feel sad.

Now, before you get all sad yourself and turn away…  at this writing, the tree is up, the stockings are hung, the garland is twined, the wreaths are on the door.  I’ve addressed half a dozen cards.  I’ve done all my shopping, except for a gift for MyMerman.  I even made a batch of Christmas cookies last night and was bad enough to eat them for breakfast this morning.   If this isn’t Christmas spirit, it’s pretty dang close.  All I need is some Christmas lingerie, some spiked hot chocolate, the Christmas giftie I know is under the tree (because I saw him tell the girl to wrap it) and MyMan back at home from the wilds of his weekly travels.

I wish I had more time to make a better post, but there are presents to wrap and get in the mail before the lingerie and hot chocolate can come out.  But I’m also scratching my head and wondering how I managed to move from “cancel Christmas” to “how much can I get done by…?” and “oh wouldn’t it be fun if?”

So tell me, friends:  How do you get yourself to move from the supreme pout to the willing embrace of a task that has you scared and running?  Not just Christmas, but any job – like writing?  How do you pin yourself down and do the work when you would really rather be out doing almost anything else?

(ps, I do not know this pouting child, she was a lucky find in a google search and I wish her the very happiest Christmas ever.  All the other photos in her family’s flickr stream show her as a happy little girl. The photo was marked ‘public’ and I used it. Do we want a post on privacy here?)

 

Favorite Holiday Movies

Kerri Carpenter, mermaids, ,

I find it tough to be a writer during the holidays. With the shopping and the baking, festive movies and parties, writing time can take a serious backseat. So this year, I figure I’ll just go with it – there is nothing wrong with enjoying the season. Without further ado, here is a list of some of my favorite Christmas movies.  

1.   A Christmas Story

Nothing makes me laugh like this movie. It’s not only a favorite holiday movie, it’s an all-time favorite. There are so many quotable lines I could seriously write a whole thesis on this film. (And I know you’re all saying, “You’ll shoot your eye out,” right now. Admit it!) Whoever decided to play it nonstop for 24 hours on Christmas day was a genius!

2.  How the Grinch Stole Christmas

I’m talking about the cartoon, not the one with real people. What’s not to like about this movie? It’s short, it’s sweet and it makes my heart grow three sizes too big as well.

3.  Holiday Inn

I remember the first time my parents showed me this movie. I quickly got over my aversion to black & white because it’s so fantabulous! Plus, my mom and I like to guess what color all of the gorgeous costumes are.

4.  White Christmas

I find myself very drawn to White Christmas. The dance scenes are amazing and I would kill to be as thin as Vera Ellen.   And I love when Bing Crosby says, “what’s the beef” and how the train looks all clean and fun. Those were different times.

5.  Elf

Elf is so funny! But I think my favorite thing about it is how committed Will Ferrell is to the role of Buddy the Elf. He believes he’s Buddy and so do I. “Santa!!!!!!! I know him, I know him!”

As a self-appointed Christmas movie aficionado, there are many, many more movies I could have listed (Bill Murray’s Scrooged, Miracle on 34th Street). But I just wanted to give you the basic idea. No matter what you like watching this time of year, I hope you have a wonderful holiday and a fabulous New Years!

What is your favorite holiday movie?