Category Archives: Books

Jun20

On June 21, All Purchases of The Crystal Keeper Chronicles Will Go Towards Alzheimer’s Research

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My Grandpa, helping my nephew open a plastic Easter egg on Easter morning 2007.

My Grandpa, helping my nephew open a plastic Easter egg on Easter morning 2007.

A few years ago, I lost my grandfather to Alzheimer’s Disease. I watched the strong, caring grandfather that loved to tell stories start to forget the easiest details. Eventually he was unable to remember who we were, his own family, or how to wash and care for himself. It was heartbreaking, but I know that it couldn’t be stopped. A cure to make his last years less painful would have helped. When he lost his memories, his stories disappeared. I miss those.

On June 21st, the Alzheimer’s Association is having a fundraiser called “The Longest Day”. People can “Do What They Love” as tribute to someone they know or have lost to Alzheimer’s. I’ll be donating the sales of The Crystal Keeper Chronicles 6/20-6/22 to this worthy cause. All sales on those days on Amazon.com will be calculated and donated to the Alzeimer’s Association through one of the fundraisers Jason Hall, on Team Laura Barr.

Below are the links:
The Lost Secret of Fairies
The Lost Secret of the Green Man
The Lost Secret of Dragonfire

But you can also help by buying other books. On my writer’s board, Kboards.com, there is a thread of other authors that are donating their sales to Alzheimer’s. It has only come together in the last few days. But it’s such a worthy cause, many of us are happy to donate our sales on those days. If you’re an author, and would like to donate your sales for the day, link below to the Kboards.com thread. It gives you all the information. The thread below is where you can find other books to purchase for the Alzheimer’s Association:
Link to Kboards Authors to Help Alzheimer’s

Thank you so much for your help. Sometimes it’s the little things that can do the most good. A cure is worth it.

UPDATE June 22, 2014:

I wanted to thank everyone that bought books on “The Longest Day” fundraiser. I sold seven copies of my books which I promised to match the royalties earned. I ended up doubling my match for a $15 donation. It doesn’t seem like much, but if authors banned together next year and donated, it would be quite an event. I’m talking to some author friends, and I’ll let you know what happens. This was all very last minute and done in the last few days this year. I’m looking for maybe a more organized effort next year. I’ll keep everyone updated.

Nov13

Book Signings: Effective Ways to Reach Your Readers

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Topic: A variety of book signings can help you reach the local community.

Topic: A variety of book signings can help you reach the local community.

This year has been busy with a new book release. I’ve been doing everything to promote and get my new book into people’s hands. Which of course, has turned into a lot of lessons on how to do book signings. In the first half of the year, I won an honorable mention in the children’s category at the 2013 San Francisco Book Festival. I did a book signing at a local book store called Book Smart in Morgan Hill, CA.

The second half of the year has been equally busy. I did a book signing at the Almaden Lake Art and Wine Festival, and I’ve planned a reading and book signing at an elementary school called Bertha Taylor Elementary in San Jose.

The Almaden Lake Art and Wine festival on Sept. 15 was a wonderful experience. I sold 33 books. This is a fabulous number for a signing. I utilized Intuit’s credit card reader, and bundled all three of my books at a special festival price of $25. This is pretty much making about $5 profit. But I found bundling all three books sold better. Usually people bought the first book or all three. Plus, it was a treat to meet all the kids. I found out how some school libraries have my book in the area, and even networked for future school evening events.

Tiffany Turner at the 2013 Almaden Lake Art and Wine Festival

Tiffany Turner at the 2013 Almaden Lake Art and Wine Festival

I think the Art and Wine was so successful since so many people bring their children. They are looking for activities for the kids to do, and meeting the author is exciting for parents, grandparents, and the kids. Plus, the local connections can give you future events. I now have a school event in November, and had other schools from PTAs talk to me about an event.

I am now planning a Reading Night book signing on Nov. 21 with a local school. They are tying it with their fundraising Scholastic Book store, and I’ll be reading my new book just like in other book signings. I think it’s a great event to meet more readers, and connect with the local community in my area. I’m finding that selling local is a great way to build a readership, and is a powerful way to start making connections with your readers.

**This post is part of the monthly
“Indie Life” posts linked on the Indelibles Blog.

The Lost Secret of Dragonfire is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Lost Secret of Dragonfire is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

***Tiffany Turner has released her third book, The Lost Secret of Dragonfire, in her Crystal Keeper series. She continues to teach fourth graders in California while writing fantasy adventure middle grade novels. She is working on other writing projects in her No Limits Writing practices. She actively plays the Gaelic Harp at Renaissance festivals throughout Northern California.

Sep14

Tiffany Turner Author Signing Event 9/15/13

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Tiffany Turner signing her third book, The Lost Secret of Dragonfire, at Booksmart in Morgan Hill, CA.

Tiffany Turner signing her third book, The Lost Secret of Dragonfire, at Booksmart in Morgan Hill, CA.

Tiffany Turner will be signing her books in the Crystal Keeper Chronicles at the Almaden Lake Art and Wine Festival in San Jose, CA on Sunday Sept. 15. Come visit and meet Mrs. Turner, purchase the new book, The Lost Secret of Dragonfire, and enter to win your own Crystal Keeper Pendant. The festival will be open from 10 am until 6 pm. Hope to see you there!


May11

The Lost Secret of Dragonfire Has Been Released

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The Lost Secret of Dragonfire is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Lost Secret of Dragonfire is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Hear ye, hear ye! I am proud to announce the release of the third book in the Crystal Keeper Chronicles, The Lost Secret of Dragonfire. It has been a long time in making. After three long years of work, I’d like to thank my editor, Shelley Holloway. She helped me navigate the twisty paths of narrative verb agreement. Plus, a big thank you to Rich Wallace, the talented artist that does my cover and interior illustrations.

To celebrate, I will be doing a book signing at Booksmart in Morgan Hill on June 1 from 3pm to 5pm. Come hear me play the Gaelic harp, read an excerpt of the book, and chat with me about the series. I’ll be happy to sign any other books in the series as well. Booksmart is located at 80 East 2nd St. in Morgan Hill, CA. It is near the corner of 2nd St. and Depot St. Their phone number is: 408-778-6467.

Here is a little about the new book:
Fairies are still real. Don’t have doubts. Their world can be dangerous as well. Wanda is too familiar with this. As a Crystal Keeper, she helps the fairies of her realm. But the evil sorcerer Balkazaar has other plans. He’s kidnapped her friend and fellow Crystal Keeper Edina. Wanda is faced with the mystery of her disappearance while trying to figure out Balkazaar’s next move. Haunted by dreams of dragons, Wanda must find a way to save her friend. But problems don’t end with just one path. Will she find the right one to save the Fairy World? Or will Balkazaar have other plans? Join her in the third book of the Crystal Keeper Chronicles.

An excerpt as Wanda faces Balkazaar again:
“‘You always have great timing, Balkazaar.’ Really. I was mad. I didn’t even think to be scared. I was sick of this guy ruining my day, my life, and for taking my friend. ‘So, what have you been up to? Sick of Eddie yet? Can you bring her back like a good villain, or do I have to get rough?’

He gave a chuckle at that. ‘Really, Wanda. Of all the Keepers, I seem to like you best. I think it’s because you seem to watch so much of that contraption in your world. What is it called, a television? I think it gives you too many ideas. Really, you should study more of the books Castrotomas and Brewford give you.’ He twists his mustache. ‘I’m not your average villain, you see. I have plans for you.'”

***The Lost Secret of Dragonfire can be purchased at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com. It is available for the Nook and for the Kobo Ereader.

Dec14

To Hobbiton and Back: My Visit to the Set of Hobbiton for the movie, The Hobbit

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View of The Hobbiton as you walk onto the grounds.

View of The Hobbiton Set as you walk onto the grounds, July 3, 2011.

New Zealand is considered “The Middle Earth”. At least, that’s how I viewed the countryside as I traveled around in a camper van in July 2011. I had come half way across the world. My husband and I were visiting relatives and seeing the beautiful countryside of New Zealand. And I had convinced him to stop at the famous sheep ranch that was used as the set of Hobbiton.

I had read the Lord of the Rings Series at age 13. The Fellowship of the Ring is still my favorite book of the three. But I didn’t know that filming had started for the next two films of The Hobbit. They were filming the prequel in two parts, but all at the same time. I was in for one of the biggest surprises of my life.

Hobbiton: Movie Set and Farm Tours is near Matamata, New Zealand. It is the Alexander Family Farm that was used as the Hobbiton Set for The Lord of the Rings movies. After the original three films were made, the facings for a lot of the hobbit holes were taken down. When my husband Keith and I arrived, the set had been reconstructed again for The Hobbit. We had to sign waiver forms to not post or share pictures of our visit until Dec. 14, 2012, the release date of the movie, The Hobbit.

So, I’ve been waiting about a year and a half to share this story. It has been worth the wait. I’m happy to bring photos of my visit to celebrate the opening of the movie today.

On the day we visited, it was winter in New Zealand. The set had been closed for shooting until spring and better weather for outside shots. The farm was allowed to bring in visitors, if they signed a waiver. It was overcast most of the day, but luckily it didn’t rain. The hobbit holes had green plastic fencing around them to keep the sheep out. Plus, many holes were covered with plastic sheets to protect them from the elements. My pictures of Bag End show the plastic sheets draped over large parts of the outside.

This is the Party Tree. The swing is at the far bottom for scale.

This is the Party Tree. The swing is at the far bottom for scale.


My first picture above is when you enter the tour. This is the area where Gandalf enters the shire at the beginning of Fellowship of the Ring. The current set for The Hobbit recreated the shire so it would look as it did when Bilbo was younger. Everything has been recreated for The Hobbit. But I believe, with less hobbit holes. To the right is the Party Tree.

Samwise's House in the Lord of the Rings series.

Myself standing in front of Sam’s House.

This is Sam’s house below. All the set is build for people 5′ 2″ and shorter. That was the height limit for being a hobbit. I’m 5’4″. I miss the mark for the hobbit casting, but the set effect still works for me. I look hobbit size in the picture.

Inside of a Hobbit Hole set

Inside of a Hobbit Hole set

To the right is one of the Hobbit Holes that was open for us to see inside during the tour. You can see how when the door opens, the actor steps inside with just enough space to walk a step or two. The hillside is dug out enough to allow them to step as if entering the home, closing the door if needed. Then, they would wait until the shot is done. Sorry, all the inside shots of the hobbit holes, including Bag End, is a set on a sound stage. But I thought it was very cool to see how it was all done.

The outside of Bag End

The outside of Bag End

This is Bag End. You can most recognize it by the door to the Hobbit Hole. Here is probably where the most plastic sheets were used to cover the set. Of course, I needed my picture next to this famous Hobbit Hole.

View of the Shire from near Bag End, top of the hill.

View of the Shire from near Bag End, top of the hill.

Here is the view while standing on the path directly in front of Bag End. You can see the lake, the Party Tree, Samwise’s hobbit hole, the mill, bridge, and “The Green Dragon” pub. At this point, I felt I was in Hobbiton. You cannot see anything that reminds you of modern life. With this view, you can tell why they picked the Alexander farm to be the shire.

The Shire as a backdrop.

The Shire as a backdrop.

Here I am at the end of the row of Bag End. It’s at the top of the hill and path. It’s amazing how the feeling of a small village is captured. The paths feel cozy.

Hobbiton8

As you come down the hill, you can get a sense of how much detail is worked into everything. The paths, the fencing, and landscaping all gives you the feel it’s being lived in. The plants are mostly real. There was some disguising of trees and reworking of some greenery. But a lot of the plants and gardens are the real thing. Jasmine grows hanging down by the door at Bag End. Even though it was winter, some of the plants have flowers on them. It was great to see it all up close.

Keith Turner standing by a Hobbit Hole on the Hobbiton Set.

Keith Turner standing by a Hobbit Hole on the Hobbiton Set.

Here is my husband, Keith, next to another one of the amazing hobbit holes. I love the attention to detail in the fencing, the roses in front of the door, and the home like effect. It is to note, he is 6’4″. He really ducked down to fit this picture.

Hobbiton10

To the right, is a Hobbit Hole that demonstrates the attention to detail on the set. I love this hobbit hole. It looks so warm and friendly. I want to move in, and sit by the fire. I love the footpath leading up.

Hobbiton11

This is the garden that the hobbits are seen working in during Fellowship of the Ring. The “Green Dragon” Pub is directly at the top of the picture in the background. I believe there are sheep or cows in the background. During a day of shooting, all the farm animals would be moved. On the day I visited, the animals were out in pasture. So, some can be seen in the previous pictures as well.

Hobbiton1

I hope you enjoyed my pictures of visiting Hobbiton. I can’t wait to see the movie, The Hobbit. Since I have visited, I’ve waited a year and a half to share these with you. Plus, there was more shooting to be done after my visit. I’m excited to see what and how everything was used in the upcoming film. Here’s to the release of the Hobbit Part 1. It’s time for a celebration under the Party Tree.

Resources:

The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook (Extended Edition) by Ian Brodie
Harper Collins Publishers, Auckland, New Zealand 2004.

Hobbiton Movie Set and Farm Tours
Matamata, New Zealand
http://www.hobbitontours.com

Jun21

The Amazon Price Matching Experiment

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Book 1 sold over 9,000 free copies in over a month.

Sometimes you can find some really good ideas on Writing Boards. Some turn out to be fabulous ideas. Back in Dec. 2011, I noticed some posts on kindleboards.com in the Writer’s Cafe about a back door way of getting your books to go free on Amazon. I’ve heard from another author this is even difficult for traditional publishers to do. Amazon tends to not let books go free. Unless you know the back door.

The key ingredients to start the experiment turned out to be Smashwords and having your book on the Premium Catalog. Other authors tried this with having their book published on the Apple Store as well. I don’t have a directly published edition through Apple, but it is something to be noted. This way was possible as well.

I listed my first book, The Lost Secret of Fairies, as $0.00 on Smashwords. It takes a few weeks for it to set to that price on the other websites like Barnes and Nobles. But I noticed that it went free on the Nook within 2 weeks. Once it hits a big site like Barnes and Nobles, Amazon will often price match it with the Kindle edition. Then the fun really begins.

By the end of January, I’d sold 400 free books of The Lost Secrets of Fairies. Amazon matched it on Jan. 24, 2012. I watched the numbers climb to 1,739 to 2,037 by the next day. I noticed it averaged about 200 free downloads in one hour. As I tracked the numbers, it slowed down to 100 free downloads an hour over the next few days. By the end of January, I had 5,386 free downloads for my first book. The second book in my series, The Lost Secret of the Green Man, had 21 books sold.

February was a fun month. The sales continued with free downloads changing to 100 a day for The Lost Secret of Fairies. Sales of the second book followed. My first book returned to its normal price of $0.99 by March 15. The total free downloads for Feb. included 3,642. There were only 9 refunds in that time. Making the total free downloads for end of January, February, and beg. of March at: 9,894.

To see if all this would benefit my second book sales, I crunched some numbers. There were 21 sales of the Secrets of the Lost Green Man in January. February had 35 paid sales, and March had 24. The grand total of sales was 80. So, for about every 125 free downloads, I had a paid sale for my second book.

The Lost Secret of Fairies became the top in the Free Store for several listings. On Feb. 6, it listed as #1 children’s books/social situations. On Feb. 7 it was #1 children’s books/self esteem and respect. I witnessed it topping out at #110 in the Kindle Free Store around the same time.

After my first book returned back to $0.99, the free bump kept it selling at 2/3 higher than normal. My average sales is about 10 books a month. In March, it was at 64 sales, and for April dropped in sales down to 29.

About the end of March 2012, other authors noticed drops in sales ratings even with free book sales. After a while, people reported back trends on the Writer’s Cafe board that Amazon must have changed their algorithms in regards to free book sales. Free book sales were no longer being counted the same as paid book sales. The ratios seemed to work out to 10 free book sales equaling 1 paid book sale.

For the month of May, things returned to normal. The Lost Secret of Fairies had 12 Kindle Ebook sales while my second book, The Lost Secret of the Green Man, had 9.

What did I learn from this experiment? I’ll benefit from the over 10,000 sales of my first book, free and paid. I have an awesome reader base now. This will help when the third book is ready for release this fall(2012). Plus, for every 60 copies downloaded for my first book, a second book was bought. The Free Download bump raised my sales for two months. I even received 3 new reviews on Amazon, and 4 new reviews for the Nook. They were all positive. In addition, there were fewer refunds than I thought.

The most important thing I walked away with; I have thousands of new readers introduced to my series. That, in itself, is priceless.

Crystal Cluster**The Crystal Keeper Chronicles are available on Amazon.com as paperback or Kindle editions.
Also available on Smashwords.com. and the Nook by Barnes and Nobles.

Dec31

#SampleSunday Jan. 1, 2012 Sneak Peek Into Dragonfire

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I’ve been busy writing the third book in my Crystal Keeper Chronicles, The Lost Secret of Dragonfire. Here is a sneak peek into my current draft. The last look was in May 2011. Wanda had her little brother break her crystal pendant. So, she was off to visit master miners and makers of crystal pendants, the dwarves.

A Look Into the third book of the Crystal Chronicles: The Lost Secret of Dragonfire:

There was a sudden flare of light. Then, I saw standing in front of us, a shaggy man as tall as me. He had a long, brown beard, a bulbous nose, and beady brown eyes. His eyebrows were beyond bushy, and he held a torch flooding the corridor with enough light to make the crystals glint in all directions. His cloths looked like a peasants drawing from one of my fairy tale books. You know, long following sleeves, vest, drawstring at the collar, and brown baggy pants. But the most distinguishing thing was his hands. They were large and beefy. It made him look out of proportion. I saw the glint of boots under the cuff of his trouser.

“Welcome to the City of the Dwarves. For a human child, to be this close, you must be a Crystal Keeper and on fairy business. I’m Clarkson. The Watch for the Western Edge of the Dwarf Capital. Be what business ye on?”

I cleared my thought and stood up a bit. I tried to sound official by saying, “I am a Crystal Keeper of the Western Realms of Fairy. You are right. I have come on fairy business. I be named Wanda.” Flashbacks of the visit to the Renaisance Fair came flooding back to me. I pointed down at Brewford. “This is my cat sorcerer and assistant, Brewford.”

And instructor, guide, and general reference for advice. Brewford nodded. His head voice was filled with cat dignity.

“What is it that you wish of the Dwarf Kingdom?” The dwarf folded his arms. “It is my job to find the best resource to guide ye.”

I couldn’t continue with the Faire language. I was going to have to switch to normal talk. “Well, Clarkson, my little brother totally broke my crystal. I need a new one. My unicorn guide said this was the best place to come.”

He answered with a gruff affirmative that ended in a grin. “Good to switch into the informal language. I was never good at it in school, you see. Your unicorn was right. We supply the Fairy World with most of their crystals for Keepers, healing, building, and pretty much anything else that could be needed. If a dwarf knows anything, it’s crystals, stones and the earth. It is our speciality. If you need it, we can mine it.” He gave me a wink and motioned to follow. “I think the Dwarf King would be interested in hearing your problem. Maybe you can help us with ours.”

We did notice a magical imbalance in the paths on the way here Dwarf Clarkson. Brewford had taken the lead in front of me. He slipped right next to the dwarf. If I’m not mistaken, the energy flow is being interrupted. Have you found the source?

“That is the problem Cat Sorcerer. We can’t find the interruption point. If we knew where it was, we could fix the imbalance. It’s as if someone has found a way to divert power from the paths, and it’s starting to affect the roots. We need to find it, or the fairy paths themselves will start to collapse. The Fairy World would be divided permanently from the Real World. The imbalance could destroy both worlds.”

There was a tisk, tisk from Brewford. It is more serious than I thought. You’re right in taking us to the Dwarf King. I’m going to need to ask some questions as well.

This sounded like some kind of Fairy Armageddon. I had to get this straight. “Do you mean, the Fairy Paths would collapse? Be destroyed? How would the fairies travel and communicate?”

It’s worse than that Wanda. Brewford’s head voice actually held a note of concern. The fairy paths connect the World of Fairy, but it is also the conduit for all of the Fairy Magic. Without the Fairy Paths functioning correctly, Fairy World magic will be cut off or worse, fade from the World of Fairy.

“And the World of Fairy,…” I left it hanging in the air as it started to settle into my mind.

“…would die.” Brewford’s words were more chilling than the air around me.

Oh boy. Not good. I hope we could find this Dwarf King fast. I was right that I felt a need to go quickly.

We arrived at the corridor end. It opened up to the glow at the end of the tunnel, and I couldn’t speak. We were in a cavern, the largest crystal cave I had ever seen. The walls were lined with crystals and structures of crystal, stone, and rock. It was beyond cave dwelling and cave man like. It was a catacomb of crystals and caves.

In and out of different level openings, dwarves moved in and out. Some had beards. Some had long walking sticks, carts, baskets, and even small mules. The rush of industry was about this place, and dwarves were everywhere.

“Welcome to Geldenar”, said Clarkson. He waved his hand about and grew with a big smile. “I can tell this is your first visit to the Dwarf Nation. Your eyes are huge. Glad that you seem impressed.”

Look for other sneak peeks and release information for The Lost Secret of Dragonfire through this blog.

**The Crystal Keeper Chronicles are available on Amazon.com as paperback or Kindle editions.
Also available on Smashwords.com.

Oct29

#SampleSunday Oct. 30, 2011 Pumper Continues His Quest: A Halloween Exclusive

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Pumper the Pumpkin: A Halloween Tale by Tiffany Turner

Last week, I posted the beginning of my new Halloween Tale, “Pumper the Pumpkin”. This is a short story for children from 3-8 years old. Pumper was off on his quest to become a jack-o-lantern when he met another pumpkin with the same dream, Mirabel. Together they headed off to try to find a way to become jack-o-lanterns. They were given a clue by a scarecrow to check another part of the pumpkin field. This is where our tale left off. Now, we return to “Pumper the Pumpkin”:

And off they went, up and down, and all around, until they reached the other end of the field. There they found a crow.

“Where are you off in such a hurry,” said the crow.

“To find someone to carve us,” said Pumper. “Do you know someone who can?”

“I think I might have seen a family down at the other end of the field by the farm house. Maybe if you check there, one of the children may want to carve you.”

So off they both went, up and down, and all around the drying vines and dirt clogs to the farm house. There, they saw a small family. A boy and girl were looking among the vines and dirt clogs.

“I don’t see any pumpkins left,” said the girl.

“Maybe we’re too late,” said the boy.

“Wait,” shouted Pumper. He slid and jumped as fast as he could.

Mirabel slid and jumped right behind him. “Wait, we’re still here.”

“Do you hear something?,” said the boy turning to the girl.
Mirabel jumped up in the air. “We’re here.” Mirabel jumped as high as she could. “We want to be carved.”

Pumper jumped in the air. “We’re over here”.

Will they find someone to carve them in time?

To find out, you can get your own copy of Pumper the Pumpkin, link to Amazon.com or Smashwords.com. Happy Halloween!

Oct23

#SampleSunday October 23, 2011 Pumper the Pumpkin, A New Halloween Tale

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Pumper the Pumpkin: A Halloween Tale by Tiffany Turner

For years, I’ve been working on a Halloween Tale about a little pumpkin that has one wish, to be a Jack-o-Lantern. This year his wish comes true. Pumper is the last pumpkin left in the pumpkin patch. All he wants to be is a Jack-O-Lantern to light the way for trick-o-treaters so they don’t get scared on Halloween night. With his friend Mirabel, his dream comes true as this family friendly tale unfolds.

Pumper was a character I created when I was 10 years old. It was a school assignment to write a Halloween story while I was in Fifth Grade. The original story was my exploration in character development and early chapter books.

Pumper’s first adventure is a bit strange, with the loss of his entire family due to high school bullies that smash them in the middle of the night. Thinking that was too scary, I took that out as an adult, and came up with a quest adventure to replace some of the previous ideas.

Here is an excerpt from the beginning of Pumper the Pumpkin:


Once upon a time, there was a small pumpkin left in the pumpkin patch on Halloween Eve. All the other pumpkins had been picked and given good homes. But Pumper the Pumpkin was the only one left of all the pumpkins that had been before.

He wanted to be a Jack-o-Lantern. It was his one wish, to be all lit up on Halloween night, bright and shiny, so all of the Trick-o-Treaters could say “Hi” and not be afraid.

He was feeling rather sorry for himself when he heard some crying out in the distance.

Who could that be? He was the only one left in the patch? Or was he?

He headed off slowly in the direction of the crying. He slid over drying vines and dead leaves. There were holes and ditches where all the pumpkins had been on display.
He went up, and then down. He went sideways, and around. And then he arrived where the crying had started.

It was a girl pumpkin, all alone. She sniffed when she saw him. “Who are you?”

“My name is Pumper. What’s yours?”

“Mirabel.”

“Nice to meet you.” He nodded and asked, “How come you are all alone in the pumpkin patch?”

“Because no one picked me for their pumpkin. All I want to be is a Jack-o-lantern. It means so much to be lit up so all the Trick-0-Treaters will say ‘Hi’ and not be scared.”

“Wow! I thought I was the only one. I thought I was all alone in the pumpkin patch.”

“Me too,” sniffed Mirabel.

“Maybe we can work together to find someone to make us into Jack-o-Lanterns.”

So off they went to look for someone that could turn them both into Jack-o-Lanterns.

They went up and down, around and between drying vines. Then they spotted a maze of corn. The farmer had cut paths throughout the cornfield. Maybe someone was still exploring their way out. After all, the sun wasn’t down yet.

So they went into the maze. They went around and down through husks of corn. They went slow and fast until they found the middle. In the middle was a scarecrow.

“Hello Mr. Scarecrow,” said Pumper. “We’re trying to find someone to carve us for Halloween. Could you carve us please?”

“I should think not,” said the scarecrow. “My job here is to make sure the crows don’t get any of the corn in the maze. There is still plenty to do, and I don’t have time to do any carving. What you need is a nice boy or girl to carve you. There might be one or two still left at the other end of the field. The sun isn’t down yet, and many people look all the way until it is dark.”

“Thank you friend Scarecrow,” said Mirabel. “We’ll go see what is at the other end of the field.”

And off they went, up and down, and all around, until they reached the other end of the field. There they found a crow.

A Note on the cover art: I drew the cover and used GIMP to complete the project. My husband, Keith, helped with final touches. The drawing of Pumper was developed when I was 10. Each year, I would carve him from my chosen pumpkin with the same eyes and face. One year I got creative and used paper to create his facial features. He lasted until Thanksgiving that way. Now Pumper will live forever in this Halloween Tale.

**Pumper the Pumpkin is available as an ebook at Amazon.com and Smashwords.com.

Jun12

#SampleSunday June 12, 2011 Summer Reading Tribute

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I was out on my porch enjoying the summer weather, when it dawned on me. This is the time that my first book, The Lost Secret of Fairies, takes place. What a perfect time to put up the beginning of the story to get everyone into the summer reading mood.

Before the excerpt, I will share the inspiration for this part of the story. As a kid, I would love to hop the fence and read in quiet seclusion in the middle of the orchard behind my house. I grew up in the Silicon Valley before all the orchards were torn down and turned into computer companies.

Back then, it was more often called the Santa Clara Valley. I was lucky enough to grow up with an orchard that was the starting point of many kid adventures. Throw in a creek nearby, and you have a perfect run-around adventure playland.

My books include many of the childhood adventures come to life. At the start of the first book, Wanda is reading in the orchard behind the fence. Many summers started out in the same way for me as a kid. I invite you to enter into that world of adventure with an added bonus, fairies and cats. They seem to go well together.

Excerpt from The Lost Secret of Fairies pages 7-9:

So, you want to know how I became a Keeper? I’d probably have to explain the last few years. I guess I could begin at the beginning, but that would be too much like a fairy tale. This is anything but your average fairy tale. But then, the fairies always say “There is a beginning to every ending,” so maybe I should start there.

Let’s just say my name is Wanda, and no one understands me. That’s why I was out there in the middle of the orchard that first day I had free from gymnastics practice. It was the end of June, you know, that time you’re finally free from school. You know, when no one bosses you around.

I had escaped from my mom long enough to sneak over the back fence of my house and hide in the orchard. I was reading my favorite fantasy series at the time. Nothing much different than what I normally do.

I didn’t notice the air smelled extra fresh. I remember my hair tied back in a ponytail because of the heat, and wanting it to be a different color than my stupid, boring brown. I’d make a better outcast if I had some cool off the wall color hair, like jet black or cherry red. I’d studied the bottles carefully in the drug store.

I didn’t notice the sun doing strange reflections as I walked out to my favorite spot to read. I mashed down the grass into a perfect fairy bowery. The kind that is perfect to read in, hidden and secluded. I could see around the orchard at cat level. Nothing was crawling or walking around. There was just a slight breeze to disturb the tall grass growing around my hiding spot.

I remembered the last scene of my current book-de-jour. The princess was escaping from Landau, the dark sorcerer who was trying to take over her kingdom. Now, what would she do?
Would she use her secret power of flight? Or would she some how find the way to the locket she needed to free her frozen Mother Queen?

Yes, she’s going to have to fight him. I checked to see how many pages were left. Twelve. Good, I’m getting close to the climax.

I wiggled to get more comfortable in my grass hide-away. Glancing up, I blinked as the sun above me looked no different than before. A sharp bright flash came to the side of my vision. I shrugged, and figured it was a reflection of my glasses. Back then; I thought most things were just a flash, or something that I imagined. I know better now. But back to the story, or it just won’t make sense to you later.

I closed my eyes to listen to the breeze drifting across the grass. I was feeling pretty free right then. No more Jessica Newark to bother me. I hated her making fun of my fashion sense. Like I really cared about their group of popular trends and know-it-all about boys. What point was there? I liked being a loner. It was easier.

I was going to have to see them at gymnastics class. Thing with being in the same area of school and community center, sometimes the two overlapped. But for now, I could ignore them as long as I stood on the other side of the gym. Too bad Michelle moved. Emailing isn’t the same as being there. Good friends are hard to find when you’re fighting to save the world. But that comes later in the story.

Like I said, I was enjoying the summer weather, in my favorite reading spot, alone, how I liked it. I heard a little swoosh of something approaching. I thought it was my cat Brewford coming out to visit me, so I looked up.

“Caw!”

I was startled by the bird squawk. Shaking my head, I tried to find the source and saw nothing. Oh well, time to get back to where the princess was just about to make her move out of her hiding place to reach for the magic locket and….

“Caw.”

Not again! I looked around for the source of the awkward noise. Nothing. I shrugged, looked down to read and…

“Caw. Caw!”

A great black bird hopped into the grass alcove I had created. The bird stalked forward with a grace that gave him authority. His large beak dipped down as he pointed one eye to look at me.
This was odd, but I wasn’t scared. Animals can be friendlier than people most of the time. “What are you doing here crow?” He continued to eye me, twisting his head back and forth. Then hopped up next to my arm. Now, this got me to back up a little. Mind you, it was only from being startled. I mean, how scary can a crow be? Except that normally crows didn’t act like this.

“Caw.” He fixed his eye on me again.

I was afraid to make any movement. Mostly, I was fascinated why the crow was doing this. Was I in his territory? Was it a female crow guarding her nest? I looked around for something in the grass. I thought of my butt crushing her eggs. Oops.

The crow came forward and dropped something that sparkled as it landed in my lap. It hopped backwards and looked at me with puppy dog eyes. This was definitely a strange bird.

I picked the thing up by the cord, and let it dangle in front of me. The crow watched, moving its head to follow the crystal pendant.

“Caw.” He/she/it continued to eye me sideways as I looked at the pendant.

The leather cord was worn, but still strong. It wrapped around a clear quartz crystal. Hints of sunlight sparkled as I turned it in my palm.

Definitely weird. “Curiouser and curiouser” kept repeating in my head like from a bad “Alice in Wonderland” cable movie. I turned it over watching the crystal catch the light. Etched into the crystal were lines or maybe writing, but it was nothing I’d seen before.

If I had known better, I would have dropped the crystal, and ran for my backyard fence. I could have never looked back. But I didn’t want that. And that Alice in Wonderland movie in my mind kept playing. Where did curious get her?

“Is this what you’ve been cawing so much about crow?” I held up the crystal.

“Caw.”

“Are you trying to tell me something,” I felt like one of the heroines in my books. Strange. I sat down leaning closer to the crow.

“Caw.” He hopped away from me and looked back. “Caw.” He began to bob up and down, moving back and forth.

“You want me to follow?” I kept my voice calm as the crow bobbed again, seemed to nod, and turned hopping through the tall grass.

That’s when I took a moment to think. I mean, this could have been my way out? But my sense of adventure was sparked. What was going on? Crows didn’t turn up out of nowhere, drop a crystal pendant in your lap, and hop away beggin’ you with a look to follow? That stuff only happened in movies or books.
I wanted to see what was going on. It could be a trained crow out drawing unsuspecting kids to some weirdo’s house. Like what they show on the news. Or even some new reality show catching unsuspecting kids in orchards. You know, cameras in the bushes somewhere. I tried to look around for something mounted on a tripod. But I doubted it. Nothing that exciting could happen to me. So I thought.

I looked at the crystal. It winked back a flash of light. Was there movement in it? What would the princess do? I had a choice, I guess, like her. I could go after the crow, or go back to reading.

I looked around. There was a rustling movement along the tops of grass stems as a flutter of black feathers rose above the jungle of high grass.

I got up, brushed off the clinging grass stems. I placed my book down under a half-covered rock, and held the crystal in my hand. I felt the wire wrapped tightly around the crystal.
Something began to puzzle me. I guess that’s why I decided to follow. Why was the crow doing this? What was this pendant? And if the crow was leading me on an adventure, it might be more exciting than just sitting here and reading. There was only one way to find out. I headed out after the crow and towards my destiny.

**The Lost Secret of Fairies is available on Amazon.com with paperback and Kindle editions. Also available at Barnesandnoble.com as paperback or Nook editions.