Katharina Gerlach's Blog, page 5

Themed Month November: Woman Power

Yay, cool theme. I love strong women. They appear in my books again and again. But before we get to that, here’s this month’s release (BTW, it’s the 8th release this year and I’ve still got enough material for publications up to March next year). So without further ado, here’s a collection of grim-dark short stories.

Eight dark short stories

Find hope even in the darkest places …

When darkness threatens to swallow all that’s good, a few brave souls must stand up against evil.

An American girl visiting Germany must find a way out of a nightmare realm without losing her sanity.

A runaway girl must rely on a tortured boy to leave Hell on Earth.

When visions in a mirror cabinet seem more real than life, a young girl’s decision determines whether she’ll be loved or killed.

An inherited house isn’t as easily cleaned as two sisters think and to survive, they must learn to trust each other.

When the death of a person is like the best drug trip ever, how can a young man stay sane?

A reluctant invisible friend will do anything to protect her charges.

A human monster must face the truth of his actions.

Living on nightmares and beer, an old adventurer gets a stone that fulfills dreams.

In these dark fantasy stories, people face the blackest moments of their lives. But even then, a sliver of light gives hope. Writers of the Future judge Dave Farland told Katharina, “Your writing is excellent and you pulled me in from the start.”

To read these dark stories, get them now.

 

Now back to this month’s theme:

When I started school, I was soon ignored by the girls because I enjoyed learning, loved reading a lot, and played with the boys. I didn’t even notice their animosity, I was too busy with my friends. But then, puberty hit and I was suddenly all alone. The boys had suddenly noticed that I wasn’t one of them.

I suffered through many verbal attacks that only stopped when I (accidentally) cracked two teeth of a classmate (whom I secretly swooned over). He’d been teasing me (in a friendly way) and I overreacted. After this incident, everyone called me ‘Gerlatschko’ and avoided me. There also was a bodily attack that I managed to fight off. When I told my father, he intervened with all the power he had as a forester and official assistant to the local police authorities. I’m still grateful that my trust in my parents has always been so strong that I did talk to them.

It got better when I changed to a school where no one knew my nickname. I started over. Still, the characters of the novels I read were my best friends for a good, long time. When I started writing my own stories, those characters found their way into my typing fingers that kept reminding the readers that: »It is perfectly fine to defend yourself. It is right to talk to a person you trust, and that person doesn’t even have to be a grown up. Share your burden and allow people to help. There are always some who will be there for you come storm and Armageddon. You just need to let them know that you need help.«

Then one day, you will be able to embrace life with open arms and enjoy it to its fullest. Don’t allow anyone to put you down. You are worth just as much as anyone else on this Earth, regardless of how much power, money, influence, skin pigments or thoughts, feelings, and ideas you have.

I know that what I went through is kinda harmless compared to some things today’s kids go through. The word ‘Mobbing’ (German for bullying) didn’t exist yet, but the problem did. That’s why I found and still find it important, to gift my readers with strong characters as role models. Maybe that’s the thing that makes my stories different. Get one of my books and decide for yourself.

 

#faktastischernovember #faktastisches2020 #faktastischdurchdasjahr #wirsindfaktastisch

 

#Halloween #free #fiction Storytime Bloghop 2020

Nothing can be more scary than the events of 2020 so far, and there isn’t much we can do about it except struggle to protect ourselves and the people around us. However, we might find a little happiness in reading some cool flash stories where the scariness is twisted and utterly not-2020-real. So without further ado, here are my story and the ones from 10 other participants of 2020’s Halloween Bloghop.

If you love audio, you’ll find many of the Bloghop stories (including mine) in the final two episodes of the Podcast “Alone in a Room With Invisible People” (which I highly recommend). Enjoy the season (and my story) and as always, remember to visit the other participants (list below the story).

 

 

The Witch at the End of the Road

Halloween is a nightmare for me. Mom always forces me to join tight-knit groups of friends that don’t want me, and I hate to pretend to be happy, collecting sweets. This year is worse than usual. She shoves me toward the group of bullies from my school. My arms, back, and legs are still hurting from the lashing she gave me when I begged her to let me stay home.

To my surprise, the trick-or-treating goes smoothly at first, even though the others’ none too gentle nudges hurt. But then Gordon tells us of the witch at the end of the road.

“She turns candy into stones.” His gleeful stare finds me. I shiver with dread. Not because of the witch—we wouldn’t go there if she existed—but due to the promise of lost sweets in his gaze. The closer we get to the witch’s house, the faster my heart beats. I struggle to join the chorus, but my painful bruises remind me of Mom’s anger and I go on.

“You first,” Gordon pushes me up the steps. There are potted plants on the porch and a black cat with white paws. I nearly wet my pants. This is it! I’ll lose my sweets, and Mom will be furious. I search for a solution in vein and ring the doorbell with trembling fingers.

A lady older than any I’ve ever seen opens the door.

“There you are!” Her voice is surprisingly friendly. “Been waiting for you, lazybones.”

I start speaking and stop when I notice no one falls in. Looking around, the boys are staring open-mouthed and motionless at the lady.

“Not spellbound?” She winks at me. “So you’re kin, ey? Interesting.” She turns to the others and taps Gordon on the forehead. “You will stop hurting people. Find joy in the woods.”

He walks away with glazed eyes. The lady taps every boy and gives them a command, and they file away silently. Witches do exist after all. I’m mesmerized.

When she turns to me, fear freezes my blood. Although I want to run, my legs don’t move. My heartbeat drowns out every sound but my breathing and her words.

“For you, I’ll need something special.” She cups my face with her hands. Barely louder than a whisper, a scream escapes my lips. She smiles and her eyes are full of sympathy. “I know, honey. Be strong. It’s over in a blink.” She kisses my forehead, warming me.

Next I’m in Mom’s kitchen, arms over my head, hurting. Stones have spilled from a plastic pumpkin onto the table. I’m covered in fresh bruises, and Mom is lifting a wooden spoon to hit me again.

The witch grabs her wrist.

Blue light whizzes between them.

I can hardly breathe.

The witch changes to the semblance of Mom, while Mom grows old and frail and vanishes eventually.

“Finally!” Witch-Mom hands me a bag of sweets. “Guess, it’s time for a new life for both of us, ey?”

 

 

If you liked the story or want to comment with anything else that’s on your mind, feel free to do so. I’ll answer as soon as I can. Meanwhile read the stories of the other participants:

Unwelcomed Visitors by Bill Bush

Unraveled by Bonnie Burns

Holiday Guest by Sabrina Rosen

Home by Barbara Lund

Missing Parts by Jemma Weir

A Perfect Match by V. S. Stark

The Glistening Bat by Karen Lynn

II-The Priestess by Raven O’Fiernan

The Old Ways by Nic Steven

Halloween Pest by Elizabeth McCleary

 

Themed Month October:If I could jump into a book …

Hahaha! It is my job to jump into books. I do that day in, day out. If it’s a good day, I manage to write around 1500 words about the experience. But let’s do this month’s post a little different. I’d like to get the new release out of the way first. We’ll have fun with the theme afterwards.

In time for the spookier season, the short story collection “Ghosts” (universal link to many shops) is now available. If you like ghosts and libraries, you’ll love these stories (not all of them feature libraries but many). Check it out:

In the world between ours and the next, unhappy souls wait for the unwary.

Ghosts are known to scare and torture people, but are they evil?

An oversized librarian must stop a well-proportioned ghost from destroying her beloved books.

Although a young girl has lived with ghosts all her life, coming to term with their existence threatens her sanity.

When a reading addicted teen gets locked in the library, she must face the ghost haunting it.

Struggling with an overpowering craving, a forgetful man must remember to discover the meaning of death.

A young woman’s live is in danger when she finds out why the Blue Room is forbidden.

A book addicted ghosts haunts a library, but protecting the books seems more than he can handle.

A bullied school girl must face a haunted house and her only ally is the bully.

A grandmother’s life in a haunted house changes when she discovers intruders.

These fantasy stories show how to handle a variety of ghosts (many in libraries) for Light never is without Shadow.

 

Great. Now that this is out of the way, let’s get back to being inside of books. Does one really need to enter a book or story bodily? I don’t think so. In my personal experience, it is far more satisfying to share the adventures and minds of peoples in books, visualizing things the way my imagination likes them best, and feeling the characters’ emotions. That way, I can live a multitude of interesting lives, not just a single adventure (Actually, it’s probably the same difference between watching a film and reading a good book, just a little more direct).

Also, there are way too many good books to decide on a single one to jump into. How can I chose? I’ve got close to 2,000 books on my attic shelves, and those are just the favorites I kept. I’ll stick with traveling into stories with nothing but my mind, experiencing a character’s life, love, thoughts, and adventures without coming to harm (even though the character might). How about you? Would you jump into a book? And if so, which one would you chose?

 

#faktastischeroktober #faktastisches2020 #faktastischdurchdasjahr #wirsindfaktastisch

 

Themed Month September:most beautiful books

I’m going to apply this theme to the books I published and I’ll be keeping it short. It’s been a very hard week. My MIL (80) cracked a vertebrae falling from a ladder she had no business to be on, and my husband crashed his bicycle, ripped open his leg from the knee to the ankle, bumped and bruised his shoulder, and ruined his helmet (which he thankfully wore, it most likely saved his head). Also I’m a tad busy with some client work, two anthologies in German for charity, and my own publications. So without further ado, here are my favorite covers in the order from loved to most loved.

I adore the covers Corona (no, not the virus) Zschusschen did for my fairy tale retelling series. However, they probably don’t speak to the people who love fairy tale reltellings, so I’ll most likely revamp the whole series some time next year. What do you think? Are they awesome?

 

I still love the covers for my “High School Dragon” trilogy even though a group of professional designers ripped them apart (they said they looked like cheap clip-art put together). I love the simplicity and the contrast between the flaming heart and the dragon silhouettes. “Thankfully tastes differ”, said the monkey and ate the soap. What do you think about these covers?

 

Truth be told, there isn’t a single book where I don’t love the cover, but without a doubt the most beautiful are the audiobook covers for Will Hahn’s “Shard of Light” series (and the narration by the author is superb, even though he’s redoing volume one, the perfectionist :D).

 

 

And now to this month’s publication (where I also love the cover!). It’s another short story collection. The first book of this series came out in March, that’s how long it took me to get this baby ready. But I promise that for the next two or three months you’ll get more of my short stories. Enjoy!

An unhappy Death, murder in the name of an ancient god, and a bridge where dogs die. The world has room for all, but not unchecked.

Even though each world has a dark side, there will always be those who will give their lives to keep innocents out of harm’s way.

Quantum physics opens doors that would better have stayed closed, putting more than one soul in peril.

An Ancient god longs for tranquility when his new acolyte goes too far.

One of the many Deaths is grumbling. He’s in love with life and hates his job. But then he gets accidentally pulled into the soul collector.

A security guard calls Death to ask for a favor when his sins catch up with him. Now the life of his niece and sister are part of the gamble.

A conflicted officer of the magical police must catch a murderer stealing hearts – literally.

A handicapped fairy police officer is sent to investigate an emergency call at Overtoun Bridge, annoyed that she’s got a new partner, a dwarf.

When a child summons The Lady of Slaughter, the goddess must face her biggest enemy: herself.

A young guard is dreaming of other worlds when unwanted visitors show up at the entrance to the forgotten temple.

In these eight short stories, Katharina shows creatures that only partially qualify as people. Writers of the Future judge Dave Farland told Katharina, “Your writing is excellent and you pulled me in from the start.”

To get to know slightly inhuman creatures, buy the book now.

 

Themed Month August:my Favorite Quotes

Favorite quotes I have a few, but only two changed me considerably. The first one was pivotal for my writing and I heard it a million times from many sources and in varying phrases before it sank in. The gist is:

„First drafts are always crap!“

My first published novel took a long, long time to finish. While that was partially due to research, after all it was a historical novel, a good portion was stage fright too. Perfectionism stalled me again and again. So writing the first draft was a daunting process because I wanted to produce the best possible book I was capable of writing.

I still want this to this day. However, I no longer aim to get the manuscript perfect during writing the first draft. I hammer out the story as fast as I can without thinking too much about it, and then I go back and revise it to the vision I had in my head when I started writing. This change of attitude has freed my writing and led to much faster publications without sacrificing the quality.

The second quote is from my great-grandmother who died when I was ten. She suffered from dementia and didn’t remember the most recent events in her live (like falling down a stair one night or how long the time between two meals was), but she was a happy woman with principles. She often told me that one should always strive to look at a situation (or anything else) until one found the bright side. Her motto was:

„Es ist nichts so schlecht wie irgend gut für!“ = Nothing is as bad as it is good!

That became my life’s motto too. As a child, I’ve trained myself to always find the bright side. By now I do it automatically without much thinking about it, and it helps me to cope with all the bad things I see in the world: the selfishness of humanity, the deliberate ignorance of powerful people, the casual cruelty and greedy destruction. Without my great-grandmother’s saying, I would have succumbed to depression long ago, because the world is not fair. It never has been and it never will be.

But even in the biggest disaster you can find a grain of beauty if you’re just willing to look close enough. And while that won’t help to address the problems at hand immediately, it can give you the amount of hope you’ll need to make the world around you just a teeny, tiny bit better.

That’s what I’m striving for with my life and my writing. Thank you, Uromi!

 

About the WIP:

My novel is growing, slowly but steadily. Meanwhile, my grandson is keeping me on my feet and the monthly publications also need their time.

 

Publication:

Maybe you’re interested in the second volume of the “Waldmann Family Saga”. I’ve re-published the historical novel Victor’s Rage with improved readability, an expanded appendix, and a new cover.

 

About the Book:

A forced courtship. A legacy’s honor under threat. Will the truth destroy a young girl’s chance at real love?

Northern Germany, 1848. Young Rieke Waldmann knows the man she loves and hopes to marry doesn’t meet her mother’s standards. Though the radical idealist is willing to prove himself a suitable husband by striking out on his own to earn money, Rieke must also accept her mother’s request to get to know the local miller’s son. Surprised to discover her new suitor is far more considerate than she expected, Rieke’s forced courtship reveals a deeper personal crisis: Her late father kept secrets that could ruin her dreams.

With the German Revolution plunging the country into turmoil, the young woman’s search for an affordable farm overturns yet more disturbing puzzle pieces. And increasingly distant from the love of her heart, these fresh allegations only add to the weighty burden on Rieke’s spirit.

With her father’s legacy on the line, where will Rieke’s loyalty lie?

 

You can find the book on Amazon and other platforms.

#faktastischeraugust #faktastisches2020 #faktastischdurchdasjahr #wirsindfaktastisch

 

Storytime Bloghop July 2020(#free #fiction)

If you’ve read my recent blog posts, you’ll know that I’ve been keeping up with publishing one book per month. Feel free to check out the previous blog posts announcing the new releases. But now, it’s time for our quarterly “Storytime Bloghop” again. Read free flash stories from me and 9 other participants. I hope you’ll like mine even though it’s somewhat longer this time, and as always, remember to visit the other participants (list below the story).

The Guardian of the Sandsnake’s Temple

There was once a land of sand, and sand, and sand, and sand, and sand.

Gaspard stood at the entrance to the sand-goddess’ temple, the five fingers of his right hand clutched around a javelin, and his two bare feet firmly planted into the sand. Watching out for pilgrims, he was not expecting anyone. The bones of last person to make his way through the endless sea of sand were long ground to dust by the endless wind. According to the goddess, he had been a bad man, hurting his wife and nearly killing his child on his quest for gold.

As if gold held any value. Gaspard’s biggest dream was of meeting someone—anyone—at least once in his life, but chances were slim. He wondered about the guardian before him. Had she ever seen a world with more colors than brown, beige, white, and blue, and shades thereof? Had she died? Or had she fled her duties?

He imagined what it must be like to finally meet creatures like the ones from the books the goddess gave him for his education. The long-horned antelopes with their slender necks and the three long fingered hands from Quasrom fascinated him, as did the flying whales from Whattler III or the feathered dinosaurs from Permia.

The sound of the Final Klaxon ripped him from his daydreams.

A visitor?

A group of Praying Mules lifted their spiked front hoofs in prayer on the top of the final hill where the klaxon was magically fixed to a pillar of sand. The long ears with the soft fur fell back from their raised faces with the long snouts. Their soft furred, upright bodies radiated health.

Gaspard’s jaw dropped. Even in his books, Qumrands had only been mentioned as a rumor. The fur on their cheeks and snouts glowed nearly white in the glaring sunlight, a sign that they were high caste—if Gaspard’s books had it right.

After a few moments, four of the Praying Mules bent down and picked up something white and dome shaped they’d obviously set down before. The fifth took the lead. All of them were dressed in rags, barely covering their loins, but the many waterskins hanging around their bodies told Gaspard they’d come well prepared.

He watched with awe, as the group clomped the last few hundred yards of desert landscape toward the base of the enormous cliff of prehistoric sand that held the temple’s entrance.

The white, dome-like structure they carried turned out to be a stretcher covered with once white fabric. They were chanting the ancient songs, melodies Gaspard had never heard sung by anyone but himself.

The mules were approaching fast, and arrived just as Gaspard remembered his duty.

“Halt, in the name of the goddess!” He lowered his javelin and pointed the iron tip at the first mule’s muscular, furred chest. “State your business.”

For a few heartbeats, no one spoke, and Gaspard wondered if he could really stop five determined Praying Mules.

“We have come to bargain with the goddess”, the leading Mule said.

Before Gaspard could say anything, a Sandsnake as big as the leading Mule rose beside him. Her obsidian scales hissed gently as sand ran down her body. Gaspard had to force himself not to flinch. It had been a while since the goddess had appeared in her favorite form.

“I have been waiting for you for so long, Gardella,” she said in her warm, lilting alto. “Have you never considered what your absence must mean to him?”

The white fabric of the dome was pushed aside by a five fingered hand the color of wet sand, revealing a person with fur-free skin, a slender body, and long, black and white hair. Where the mules’ eyes looked mostly sideways, her eyes faced front, and there was a clear distinction between her nose and mouth. Gaspard saw a similar face in the mirror every morning.

He struggled not to stare at the human woman. His heart raced and for reasons unknown he was very afraid all of a sudden. He slipped closer to the Sandsnake’s warm body and the tip of her tail began to caress his back in a way that must be invisible from where the group stood. Gaspard was grateful and slightly comforted.

“I meant to come back earlier,” the woman called Gardella said. “But I fell ill. And once I’d recovered, Mission Command wouldn’t let me leave. They sent me to another quadrant altogether, claiming I’d gone mad for the loss of husband and child. And when I quit, they made it really hard for me to travel. If it hadn’t been for these wonderful people,” she pointed to the Praying Mules, “I’d never have made it back. I’m sorry, Zulussa.”

The great snake trembled. Was she crying? Gaspard’s throat went dry. What did that mean?

“He’s mine now. I raised him. I slowed time for him so he would heal and live.” The goddess’ voice shook. “I’ll fight for him.”

Gardella swung her feet from the stretcher and hobbled forward. One of her legs was twisted and gnarled like one kind of fossil in the temple’s sand. “I did not come to steal your child.” She smiled, but her gaze was sad. “My child.”

As she blinked away some tears, Gaspard’s world crumbled as if the ground under his feet had vanished.

“I have not been much of a mother to you, Gaspard. I never got the chance.” Her gaze met his, and her love washed over him just like Zulussa’s that he’d always taken for granted. “But I’ve come to give you the freedom to travel the world. The Praying Mules owe me much. They will do anything for you and show you everything.” She turned to the goddess. “And I will stay here with you, Zulussa. You will never be alone for as long as I live. Plus, I’ve got tons of new stories to tell.”

The Sandsnake shifted her form, and a rotund woman with beige hair and obsidian skin flung her arms around Gardella. “I missed you so, my love.”

And all of a sudden, all the tiny pieces of the puzzle made sense to Gaspard. The nameless man, whose bones were flying with the wind, the goddess who had been his mother, and his absent mother. His heart went out to the two women who were his family. Yes, he would travel with the Mules. He would spread the word about a forgotten temple in the sand, and upon his return, loneliness would be a thing of the past for all of them.

 

If you liked the story or want to comment with anything else that’s on your mind, feel free to do so. I’ll answer as soon as I can. Meanwhile read the stories of the other participants:

The Right Tracks by VS Stark

The Last One by Jemma Weir

The Pooka Plays Pool by Nic Steven

The Longest Night by Sabrina Rosen

Near Success by Bill Bush

Alexa by Barbara Lund

What They Wanted by Karen Lynn

Night at the Museum by Vanessa Wells

TRIBULATION Culled, eclipsed by COVID19 (A Poem) by Juneta Key

Themed Month July: Happy End –Does it always have to be?

I think that there’s just one genre that cannot do without a HEA, and that’s romance. In all other genres it is not obligatory to have one. Now the question probably is, whether I personally need a Happy End always.

In my opinion that depends on the story. Of course I like Happy Ends where the characters are satisfied or even happy for the moment or forever, but for some stories an end like that would feel forced.

In one of my stories, for example, the main character has to cope with the loss of a close friend at the end. Of course she would not be dancing with joy in a situation like that, so I went with a moderately hopeful end to show she’s healing.

The only thing I do not like at all is when the end is very sad, depressing, and dark. Even in the worst situation, there is still a sliver of hope. Or there should be one in my opinion.

That’s why you won’t find stories by me that are completely free from hope (except maybe in one or the other dark fantasy short story).

 

About my WIP:

After the forced break of Corona restrictions, I’m finally writing again (the grandson is back to kindergarten). The story is moving forward. I also updated all my websites, added my newly published books, and put the authors of the brand new German language anthology onto my publishing company’s homepage. I’m quite happy with how everything worked out this month.

Publishing News:

In a few days, the revised version of my historical novel “Victor’s Rage” will be published. It contains an improved appendix and has a new cover. If you don’t have it yet and like stories based on facts, go and grab your copy.

 

Cover Blurb:

Rieke Waldmann needs to convince her mother and stepfather that her beloved Wilhelm will be able to support a family despite his lack of inherited land and his radically democratic views. While Wilhelm tries to prove his worth by earning enough money to buy a small farm, Rieke agrees to get to know the heir of the nearby mill, Heiner Bettinghaus. On one of their rendezvous she discovers a disturbing fact about her late father, Victor Waldmann. As she finds out more about his life, Rieke is forced to question her own wishes and desires especially.

Her struggle to find and keep her true love shows that the dreams and wishes of our ancestors were not that different from our own despite the differences in their lives. The novel provides a bridge to a fascinating time that shook the foundations of European politics with consequences that are still felt today. It appeals to anyone interested in seeing history come alive and especially to the ever growing number of genealogists with German roots.

#faktastischerjuli #faktastisches2020 #faktastischdurchdasjahr #wirsindfaktastisch

 

Themed Month June:Characters in my Head

I believe that being an artist—whether with words or other media—is the only socially accepted way of being insane. Some smell colors, others taste sounds, and yet others feel shapes that aren’t there (yet). I hear voices from the characters in my head.

Those voices are insistent to the point of becoming a nuisance. My family is quite annoyed sometimes when I seem to ignore them because the voice that’s loudest in my mind at that point drowns out their words. I have learned to ask my family several times what they wanted from me but sometimes I just don’t notice.

The problem intensifies when I can’t write due to outside circumstances. During the COVID-19 pandemic, my lovely grandson is brightening up my life and throwing it into chaos. He’s also the reason why I can barely write. It’s hard to concentrate when a three year old decides to color your bed’s mattress or to fly a toy helicopter around your desk.

That doesn’t go down well with the characters in my head. They want to be written, and they want it now. To keep them from driving me up the walls, I help myself with flash fiction or short stories that I write in the early mornings when my grandson is still asleep. I’m using the rest of the day for publishing, because that’s something I can do even with my grandson and my characters around.

The good news is (for the characters in my head as well as for my readers) that my grandson will start kindergarten again in a fortnight. I’ll be free do write then and promise to put several of the loudest from my mind onto paper. I just hope the characters I put down will get stuck in your head too. I’ll do my very best.

Themed Month May:Characters in my Head

I believe that being an artist—whether with words or other media—is the only socially accepted way of being insane. Some smell colors, others taste sounds, and yet others feel shapes that aren’t there (yet). I hear voices from the characters in my head.

Those voices are insistent to the point of becoming a nuisance. My family is quite annoyed sometimes when I seem to ignore them because the voice that’s loudest in my mind at that point drowns out their words. I have learned to ask my family several times what they wanted from me but sometimes I just don’t notice.

The problem intensifies when I can’t write due to outside circumstances. During the COVID-19 pandemic, my lovely grandson is brightening up my life and throwing it into chaos. He’s also the reason why I can barely write. It’s hard to concentrate when a three year old decides to color your bed’s mattress or to fly a toy helicopter around your desk.

That doesn’t go down well with the characters in my head. They want to be written, and they want it now. To keep them from driving me up the walls, I help myself with flash fiction or short stories that I write in the early mornings when my grandson is still asleep. I’m using the rest of the day for publishing, because that’s something I can do even with my grandson and my characters around.

The good news is (for the characters in my head as well as for my readers) that my grandson will start kindergarten again in a fortnight. I’ll be free do write then and promise to put several of the loudest from my mind onto paper. I just hope the characters I put down will get stuck in your head too. I’ll do my very best.

Themed Month May:A Book of my Heart

From the books I wrote, the one that’s closest to my heart is “The Little Ghost Bodo and the Letter” which I’m currently translating. So far it’s only been published in German, but that will soon change.

I wrote it for my youngest daughter who couldn’t read as well as other children but wanted a book from her mom too. So I worked hard with her teacher to write a book that’s not too hard for her to understand but that also challenges her her and there.

It’s about a ghost whose sister is coming home after finishing school. At the welcome party, everyone can do tricks, except for him. Of course he needs to learn one, which isn’t all that easy for a ghost.

I had a very talented artist illustrate the book and love, love, love it. I’m working as fast as I can and hope to publish this book in English before the month is out, but I’m not promising. It depends on a lot of factors, mainly if I find the right kind of editor (someone with the knowledge of how much children in second grade in the US are capable of reading).

The other thing you might be interested in are my publications and the WIP (work in progress).

The WIP is stagnant, because the call for a short story anthology of my publishing house brought in over 175 submissions. It took ages to read them all and decide which ones to take.

However, I’ve re-issued “Ann Angel’s Freedom” with a new cover. It’s now titled “Angel’s Freedom” because several people told me they thought “Ann” was a spelling mistake. It wasn’t; it’s the main character’s name. But since it’s impossible to explain that on a cover, I shortened the title. You can learn all about that book in this article.

Also, a few friends from a writing forum I’m in and I decided we wanted to publish a handful of funny flash stories so people have something to laugh about in these sub-optimal times. The book “Now You Are in Trouble! or Where did all the Toilet Paper go?” is available as eBook only, but it’s completely free. If you like to grin, that’s the book for you. Grab it!

 



Don’t panic. Fifteen funny stories to get you through the pandemic. Because laughter is infectious.

Stories by James Husum, Bill Bush, Nic Steven, Elizabeth McCleary, Gregg I. Veg, Sarah Neuen, Sabrina Rosen, Vanessa Wells, Juneta Key, Jemma Weir, VS Stark, and Katharina Gerlach

 

I find regular blogging rather hard, because I never know what interests you. So I’m always open to suggestions. Is there anything you’d like me to write about? Leave your questions or topic ideas in the comments and I’ll do my best.

#faktastischerapril #faktastisches2020 #faktastischdurchdasjahr #wirsindfaktastisch