Category Archives: General

Apr11

Dolls Make the Best Travel Companions

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A recent epicture book has caught my attention. Emilio by Silvina de Vita is a charming story about an ignored doll. Thoughts of the “Velvetine Rabbit” came to mind as this little rag doll is ignored by his owner. You want him to be loved. He tries everything, with adorable pictures to illustrate his plight. Finally, he is packed in a dark suitcase and travels to places that even the Travel Gnome would be jealous of.

This ebook seems like a great fit for young children 2-6 years old. It is also available in Spanish. It’s a great way to get children excited about travel, esp. if a toy is their favorite travel companion. Plus, it can be used to teach that travel can be fun, and that a special travel toy companion can bring security to a worried child.

**** 4 star rating. Available in English and Spanish editions at Amazon.com.

Blog Link: http://piopiobooks.wordpress.com/

Apr1

Independent Book Blogger Award Nominee 2011

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The Indie Children’s Authors Connection has been nominated for the Independent Book Blogger Award 2011 in the Children’s-general category.

Please show your support and vote with the link below. It is sponsored by Goodreads. Voting begins on April 10, 2012. Will keep all readers updated with the results. Thank you for your support!

Link here to Goodreads to vote for the Indie Children’s Authors Connection.

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.

Dec31

What Is Success? Looking At What Makes Your Book Important

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The end of the year, you always look back. What I seem to be looking back on is the success I’ve had as an Indie Children’s author. Really pondering, if I had any success at all.

Then, I downloaded an ebook to help with that ever elusive book marketing that all authors are faced with. Again, I think of the choices I made choosing a drama degree instead of marketing which would have fed my love of promotions back in college. I smile about this as I turn back to the ebook. After all, I didn’t find out about this fact until my senior year. Who would change majors then? I get back to the book.

Advanced Book Marketing by E.J. Thornton states an idea. I was considering the answer to being successful as an author. Was I successful? When I read it, I felt the “Ah Ha” moment take hold. At the 9% point in the book, noting of course it’s an ebook, is this quote:
“The third and most important objective of a book is getting it read by someone other than your mother!”

Really, it goes on to state how important it is. In fact, it is the single most important reason why someone writes, that someone, a magical reader that might like and enjoy it, will read your story, book, article, manifesto. And I agree. It is the most important reason in the end. Not that an editor reads and buys it or that you self-publish it, but that you’ve gotten it to the masses of readers out there to read. If you write it and publish it, it will get read.

This brings me to the point of what is success? In terms of being a writer, it must be that someone reads your book. So, if this be true, than anyway that you can get people to read your writing makes it a success. Whether you self-publish, get signed by a small or micropublisher, or even one of the Big 6 publishers, your book will get read. But then, it comes down to numbers. You want a grand, large, mammoth, sizable, humongous, gargantuan amount of people to read your book.

So, then one must reflect, am I successful?

Step one: Yes, you are successful if you have published and people are reading your book. It’s out there, no longer on your shelf collecting dust, or waiting for months in a slush pile at the bottom of an editorial assistant’s desk. Good start.

Step Two: Do you have an internet presence? Website, blog, listings at multiple websites? Interviews on blogs, book reviews, and even the very occasional email or message from an actual reader(of course being the cause for great celebration when ever you get one) all spell success.

Step Three: How great is your success? The measurement of how grand all this is depends on what you want to do with your writing. Of course, having it recommended by the Oprah Book Club might be considered more successful than an interview on a Mom Book Club blog. But, a mention is a mention. Word of mouth is key. The internet is a big mouth. Cram it full of things spoken about your book and soon, hopefully, it won’t shut up.

Did I make it? Am I successful? I answer loudly for the world, yes. 2011 has been an up and down year of success for me. I’ve done interviews, got a few more reviews, sold some books, and participated in a book festival. This all measures as something to promote myself and my books. It’s out there. People are reading it. Oh yes, books. I have two now.

As I look towards the next year, it is filled with the promise of getting my third book out there for others to read. Key to this thought, I have a third book I’m working on. This leads to my overall thought that drives me to keep going, keep writing. Nothing will happen if you don’t do that.

And who knows? With a New Year ready to break forward, anything could happen. But mostly, I’ll keep writing. After all, I have readers waiting for a third book. I don’t want to disappoint them. And that’s the greatest measure of success. I’ve got readers.

Dec25

#SampleSunday Dec. 25, 2011 “Is Santa Claus Real?”

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I have been working on a short story/picture book for the last few years. This summer, I entered one of the working drafts in a writing contest. Out of 700 entries, I was a shortlisted winner! Here is the draft I entered below. For editors, yes, I am shopping for a publisher. I still think it can be fine tuned to make it a great picture book.

I present to you now, the winning entry draft of:
Is Santa Claus Real?

“Is Santa Claus real?” asked my best friend Jake. We were both on the playground. Recess had run a bit late. Others started to surround us as we sat on the slide. Christmas was coming, and we just couldn’t wait.

Jake had a gleam in his eye as he looked at me. “Well, what do you think?”

I thought for a moment, this was a good debate. “I don’t know if he’s pretend?” I scratched my head just then. It seemed I created a pause that was filled by more outbursts from others around us.

Our partner in crime since Kindergarten came up to see. “Could it be true?” asked Jean. She looked a bit worried as she leaned in to me.

“Is he a fake?” piped in her little sister, Christine, who always tagged along in everything.

“Santa’s for Real!” insisted a kid jumping down. “No mistake. He brought me a stuffed seal.”

“I got an iPod. It’s what I asked for,” agreed Jean. “He’s got to be real.”

But Jake wouldn’t give in. He was onto something he seemed to believe. He interrupted loudly, “We don’t really see him except on T.V. Between all of you, that sounds fishy to me.”

I jumped into the debate helping Jake’s side. “What about the mall? There are too many Santas all dressed up all through town. They all can’t be him.”

“Unless it’s magic,” said little Christine. Her eyes were round and she smiled at her revelation.

A girl named Doris said with some hope. “What about the reindeer?”

“Don’t see them either,” said Jake.

“We can’t give up hope,” said Jean, holding little Christine’s hand. “Santa is real.”

The bell rang just then. We walked to line with a bit of regret. The debate about Santa hadn’t been settled yet. So, we decided to ask our teacher.

Pointing at me Jake said fast, “You can ask Mrs. Thompson, cause’ your the teacher’s pet.”

We hustled into our Third Grade class. I raised my hand and asked my teacher before class began. “Is Santa Claus real?”

She answered with a plea,”I can’t say a thing. I’m sworn to secrecy. Now, let’s get back to work. You want to be good, don’t you?”

All of us nodded. I wasn’t sure if she knew how the secret worked. To be safe, I got right to work.

I would think a teacher had connections to know every answer. But, a secret was a secret. I knew she wouldn’t budge. But I wanted to know the answer, even if there never was.

At home I asked Mom, Dad, Aunt Fran and Uncle Tim. Every time I asked one of them they gave me a big smile and said, “We’re not talking about him.”

That night, I lay awake in bed thinking. There had to be a way to get to the truth.

Was Santa for real down to his black boots? I climbed out of bed. I sneaked downstairs and out the back door. In my backyard, I gazed at the sky trying to find north. You can guess why.

If Santa had magic I figured he’d see my quest for the answer for curious kids like me.

I shouted:
“Hey you, Santa!
Do you really exist?
Please give me a sign
And keep me on your list.”

Suddenly, I grew tired. I tried to lie down. Before I closed my eyes,

I heard a jingling sound. I awoke in my room not sure what had gone on.

I felt a note in my hand, and sat up in my bed.

Quickly I looked, and this is what it said:
“Listen carefully, all children
If you want to believe
Look up at the sky
On all Christmas Eves.
You may not see Santa
Or his reindeer, or sleigh,
But believe he exists
And he’ll never go away.”

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!
-Tiffany Turner.

Crystal ClusterTiffany Turner is the author of the Crystal Keeper Chronicles. Her books can be found at Amazon.com.

Nov23

The Passing of Anne McCaffrey: A Legend of Sci-Fi

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Anne McCaffrey passed away today. I keep searching for ways to express the feelings. I can start with the shock. This is an ending of an era. She created one of the best Sci-Fi/Fantasy worlds. The world of Pern is classic Sci-Fi with dragon riders, harpers, wyrs, and other terms that bring back fond memories. I loved her Crystal Singer and Acorna series. When I listed authors that I enjoy, she is on the list. Always.

I feel so fortunate I got to meet her once. She attended a book signing in the mall where I worked in Sunnyvale, CA. My family waited in line for two hours. I was scheduled to work, but my mom and sister knew how much I loved her books. So they stood in line for me.

Later, I took my lunch off to stand in line with them for another 20 minutes and got to meet her. She signed her current book, The Rowan(1991), and one other book. I brought the first book of the Dragon Rider Series in comic book form. OK, so it was the early 90s. That’s what I had at the time.

I remember her being very nice, a bit like anyone’s grandmother. In fact, she talked a lot of like “Grandma Kettle”. She seemed very down home and country like, and was very easy to talk to.

I read The Crystal Singer while I was going to school in Paris. I paid the $60 tax to get it into the country. All English books have this huge fee. I was desperate for good Sci-Fi. It was 1992, and the internet was not established. I had to get books the old fashioned way, shipped from home by relatives. It was worth it. I followed the rest of the series, and still comment about being “lost in crystal” if I get too absorbed by something.

I read she lived in Ireland and wrote her stories. That would be so fabulous. To live in a castle and write Sci-Fi/Fantasy. So, I strived to be a great creator of worlds. It’s the one thing my favorite writers of fantasy would do; create the world you could get lost in.

So, as I wrote my first book, The Lost Secret of Fairies, I tried to create a world my readers could be engrossed by. I worked on my second book, The Lost Secret of the Green Man, while visiting Ireland. In the back of my mind, I would imagine Ms. McCaffrey working away creating her books. I was going to do that too.

I’m working on my third book in my own fantasy world now. It involves crystals too. I hope that this is a fitting tribute. To write as many books as possible, leave a legacy, and become a legend. Isn’t this what we all strive to do as a writer? Thank you Anne McCaffrey for your books and inspiration. I want to be like you when I grow up. I’m 43. Still a long way to go. *wink*

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.

Aug4

Events from Indie Author: Amanda Brice

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Here is a list of events for the Indie Author, Amanda Brice. Her YA book, Codename: Dancer, will be reviewed in upcoming weeks in the review section.

Friday, September 2 from 5-6 pm:
Author talk at Hilton Head Library. Refreshments will be served. Ms. Brice will be talking about Codename: Dancer, writing, publishing, and really anything else that may be asked. Get your questions ready.
11 Beach City Road, Hilton Head, SC (http://www.beaufortcountylibrary.org/branches/hiltonhead)

Saturday, September 24 from 2:15-3:15:
**Workshop on basic intellectual property law for writers and illustrators. She’ll be talking about how to protect what a writer creates. This is part of the SCBWI Carolinas Conference at the Marriott Hotel Executive Park in Charlotte, NC.

Sat, Sept 24 from 6-7:30 pm:
Booksigning at SCBWI Carolina Conference. The onsite bookstore will be open, and Ms. Brice will be signing along with several other children’s and YA authors, including NY Times Bestseller Beth Revis.

**Read the review for Codename:Dancer

Aug2

A New Take On Friendship

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The book, Jimmy Stone’s Ghost Town is a cross between the Wimpy Kid series and the TV series Ghost Hunters. Written by Scott Neumyer, this book takes the reader into a 10 year old boy’s world of childhood problems, an alcoholic dad, bully victim, and ghosts.

Jimmy has a lot of problems for a kid. His dad drinks, his mom is gone, and he’s getting bullied at his new school. But when a classmate decides to give him some pointers on how to save himself from the school bully, Jimmy’s life takes a turn for the better. But then, on an adventure together in the woods behind his house, Jimmy and his new friend, David, find a challenge that will test their friendship even further-ghosts.

This book starts out a bit slow, with a lot of background information telling why Jimmy is in the new town he dubs “Boredsylvania”. The story really starts in Chapter 7 where David saves him from the class bully gang in the boy’s bathroom. From there, things get a bit weird and interesting, like if the “Wimpy Kid” series involved ghosts. There is a lot of mystery to the secret world that Jimmy and David discover, but it really didn’t pull me in like some books do. However, the cliffhanger ending makes me wonder what will be in the set-up sequel. Plus, there was some mild swearing that might delight any upper grader, but should be acknowledged for parents.

Overall, this book is an exercise in friendship and boy bonding. I think the author’s voice is something a Tween boy could relate to. There is a good mystery plot to it since Jimmy has to save the fantasy world of “Ghost Town”. It’s worth a try on your list if you like some paranormal/fantasy fiction for your child’s bookshelf. Give the book a scan yourself before letting your 10 year old delve in to it.

*** Three Star Rating– Jimmy Stone’s Ghost Town is available as an ebook at Smashwords and the Kindle Bookstore.