Katharina Gerlach's Blog, page 9
January 12, 2016
all around renovation
Isn’t it normal to set resolutions in January? So I’m going to jump in too. This came to me when my parents brought my middle daughter back on January the 5th and announced surprisingly that they wanted to renovate her room. The room was a disaster area (she’s a teen) with lipstick writing on once pink walls and piles and piles of unwashed laundry, books, discarded toys, and waste paper, so the renovation was overdue. Naturally I didn’t let my parents do it all on their own (they’re in their late 70’s), and this is the result:
The colors were chosen by my daughter. She loves them.
The fake window was originally planned for the kitchen but never made it there.
When the room was done and my daughter happy, I felt a deep sensation of accomplishment. Improving something felt good. So I vowed that I will manage to update all those novels that are published but not perfect enough before the year is out.
Don’t worry though, I haven’t forgotten about my new stories. After all I wrote enough new words in 2015 to publish at least one novella every three months.
Did you make any resolutions for 2016?
January 1, 2016
The Year in Review
Happy New Year!
I’m wishing all my readers a happy New Year. May all your wishes come true eventually (not all at once though because that’d be pretty overwhelming). May you remain (or become) healthy and may you live with love and tolerance. This also applies to those readers whose New Year is yet to come. 
December 17, 2015
Merry Christmas everyone
This is the time of the year where I usually spend less time writing and more time doing Christmas-y things with the kids. This year, we made gingerbread houses (although there’s no ginger involved). They had a lot of fun, and I thought you might enjoy the sight too.
Here’s my middle daughter’s house:
Here’s my youngest daughter’s house:
And this is mine:
They were a little tricky to photograph since I wanted the pictures to have the right mood for the season. Using the flash made them look like sample pictures from a cookbook.
Merry Christmas to all of you from Cat!
November 30, 2015
Advent Calendar
Our annual Indie Authors Advent Calendar is already running. The doors will remain open until Christmas so you can go and read all the great stories in one go (meaning I’m truly sorry for letting you know this late). This year’s theme is Flash fiction, and except for two epic fantasy writers all authors complied. It’s a great way to get into the right mood for Christmas, so join us. And while you’re enjoying the season, let “my” Minions show you how you should feel.
October 31, 2015
Happy Halloween
to everyone celebrating it. When I lived in Scotland for a year, I got hooked on carving pumpkins. Since I didn’t have much time this year, I made the best of what I had. It’s not going to win prices but I very much like it. Enjoy!
My 2015 pumpkin-head
Happy Halloween!
October 26, 2015
List Challenge — the things I need to do before NaNo
I decided to join the Listing Fest by Alex Cavanaugh and Bish Denham a while ago, and today is the day. So I decided to post a list of things that I can’t possibly all do in a single week (unless I’ll turn into super-writer-woman this second). NaNo is approaching like a runnaway fright train, and this year, for the first time, I’m not ready. Oh, I did all my pre-planning and have the time set aside, but there are so many things I still need to do before I can use the time for writing. Look at my list:
write 2 reviews for German books I read (promised, so it’s a must)
write more blog posts (I might skip this)
translate next fairy tale (urgent for next publication)
test the new, mobile-friendly theme design for this site and install it if it works
set up the telephone (land-line) so it won’t break any more (and let everyone know about the new phone number)
fetch my dog from my parents
fetch my brother-in-law for a one week holiday while dropping my daughter at her grandparents
laundry (juck)
put away everything we took along for the horse riding holiday
phone 5 different administrations who bungled things for my eldest and get them to change their decisions (and I know this’ll take a while)
set up the Skeleton Marathon for my NaNo group
upload files for print book of “Juma’s Rain” and find reviewers
add a post about “Juma’s Rain” to the forum I’m active in
watch the videos of the course I’m currently taking and implement the advice (I might have to move this to December since there’s no way I’ll manage that)
There might be more but I can’t think of it just now. All I see is that I have to do more than I can possibly manage in one week — and the list doesn’t even contain all the marketing I should be doing …
Anyone who feels like helping is welcome to contact me (there’s a contact form). I still need reviewers for my upcoming release (15th of November) of “Juma’s Rain”. Thanks for looking in.
To make it easier, here’s the list of the other participants:
1.
Bish Denham – Random Thoughts
2.
Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh
3.
Tamara Narayan
4.
Meradeth’s Write Stuff
5.
Chrys Fey @ Write with Fey
6.
The Faux Fountain Pen
7.
NovelBrews
8.
Susan Says
9.
A Life Examined
10.
Spunk on a Stick – Diane
11.
Kelly Polark
12.
Michael Abayomi
13.
Writing Off the Edge
14.
Defending the Pen
15.
Shah Wharton
16.
Jen Chandler was Here
17.
Juneta Writer’s Gambit
18.
J. L. Campbell
19.
Heather M. Gardner
20.
Lisa Buie-Collard
21.
Tyrean’s Writing Spot
22.
Read is the New Black
23.
The ToiBox of Words
24.
Patricia Lynne
25.
Stephen Tremp
26.
Who am I? Who is God?
27.
Katharina Gerlach – Speculative Fiction for all ages
28.
Jeffrey Scott
29.
allcinemamovies
30.
Liz’s Random Ponderings
31.
Melissa Sugar Writes (WR)
32.
nashvillecats 2 poems by yvonne
33.
Writer’s Block
34.
M. J. Fifield
35.
Julie Flanders
36.
Onomastics Outside the Box
37.
Carrie-Anne’s Magick Theatre
38.
Far Away Eyes
39.
Confessions of a Watery Tart
40.
HR Sinclair
41.
Denise Covey
42.
Yvonne Ventresca’s Word Pop Blog
43.
Pat Hatt
44.
Curious as a Cathy
45.
STMcC Presents ‘Battle Of The Bands’
46.
God, Entertainment, And Annoying Things
47.
Tossing It Out
48.
Quiet Laughter
49.
YOUR DAILY DOSE
50.
Bouquet of Books
51.
Cherdo on the Flipside
52.
Melissa Sugar Writes
53.
The Warrior Muse
54.
mainewords
55.
Star Trek Sci Fi Blog
October 10, 2015
Autumn Blues doesn’t exist
Regardless of what you say, Autumn Blues doesn’t really exist. It’s only the head-cold that’s keeping me from enjoying the crisp cool air and the late sunshine, the stunningly red leaves and the smell of freshly picked apples (I really wish I could smell them, it’s one of my favorite smells).
My cure so far, I’m spending a lot of time in bed, listening to the audiobook versions of my novel “Scotland’s Guardians” (to catch all pronunciation errors before the planned publication near Christmas) while planning my next advent calendar. Yes, I know it’s a little early, but since I plan on doing NaNoWriMo again this year, I’ll need enough time up front.
Hopefully my cold will be gone in time for NaNo. My stories are planned, my writing night trip to Hamburg is planned and paid for, and I’m eager to get started. BTW, did I tell you that I’ve got 3 of the next 4 fairy tale retellings already written? I’m currently translating them so I can keep publishing next year.
Do you have a wishlist of stories I should write (either fairy tales or sequels to my other books)? Maybe I’ll pick one or two as a special Christmas surprise. 
September 24, 2015
Better late than never
I know, I should be posting more often again, especially since the summer is over. Strangely enough, time seems to have accelerated and, after an initial lag I’m whizzing along (like in those newer Star Trek movies where the light of the power-units expands while the Enterprise seems to be stuck in one place for a second before it zooms away with warp-speed). Not that I like it, mind, but there are so many things I didn’t get done in the summer (due to the heatwave and a couple of personal catastrophes), that the mountain of work barely shrinks.
Still, I just discovered that I completely and utterly forgot to let you know about my upcoming release of “Juma’s Rain” (you might remember the posts I did about the NOK-culture and Stone Age tools and weapons). I’m currently in the process of coding the eBook and print book and will hopefully be able to post the link to the pre-order page some time soon. For now, I’ll share with you the gorgeous cover, Hendry Iwanaga made for me (well, he drew the picture, I did the fonts etc.):
eBook cover
And this will be the full cover, front and back, for the print version:
wrap around print cover
Oh, and I’m currently releasing another 99ct short-story too. It’s about a gen-designed newt-human who has to escape two hunters. Here’s the cover and the blurb for “Newtling“:
I love my webbed fingers and my ability to stay under water for a long time…
I don’t mind that my backside is blue with brownish dots and my belly bright orange…
Neither do I care that me and my family are much smaller than our creator though we share his genes…
But what I do hate is being hunted … especially since I’m unarmed and running through the local swamp. Can a newtling like me outsmart two hunters and their state-of-the-art hunting gear?
This short story takes you into the mind of a genetically engineered newt-human-crossover and lets you witness his struggle to survive.
15 page short story with an XXL reading sample of “Paralan’s Children”, a YA scifi murder mystery.
September 8, 2015
Something cool after this heat-wave :D
I asked my friend Thea van Diepen from Canada to tell me about a weird place she read in. This is her reply. Have fun.
Why You Should Read at Hockey Games by Thea van Diepen
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Canadian Minion?
Canadians are supposed to love hockey. When we attend hockey games, we’re supposed to cheer on a team or an individual with vim and vigour, especially when we’re in another country. They must know we are not American Canadian, after all. What we’re not supposed to do during a hockey game is read a book.
When I was about eleven, in the middle of my family’s three years in Alabama, we found out about a hockey game happening in town. So my parents bought tickets.
At the time, I was busy working my way through all of the science fiction and fantasy books our local library had in its MG/YA section. I’d take out as many as I was allowed at a time (aka, a lot) and read them all in a couple days. The book I was in the middle of when the hockey game even occurred was Colors in the Dreamweaver’s Loom by Beth Hilgartner, which had me fascinated. So fascinated that, book lover as I am, I brought it with me to the game despite lingering guilt.
It’s hard to explain to someone who isn’t Canadian exactly how… Canadian hockey is. Tim Horton’s, the coffee and doughnuts chain that has also been a Canadian Thing, was started by a hockey player and its ads and commercials would feature kids playing hockey. It’s our official winter sport. It’s all over TV and social media when the season hits, during draft picks, whenever anyone might have the slightest excuse to mention it. And, yes, it was invented in Canada, no matter what anyone else might say.
*cough*
Still, I am not a hockey person. Shocking, I know.
I would have not gone to the game at all, if possible, but my parents cajoled me.
“There are a bunch of Canadian players on both teams,” they said.
Which, as far as cajoling goes, worked. Moving to another country had been hard for me, and I was determined not to lose my Canadianness while there. Maybe it’d be interesting enough that I wouldn’t have to read to relieve boredom.
We went in, found our seats, and commented about how we never thought we’d find a real ice rink in Alabama. I’m not sure how much of this I joined in, as I opened my book as soon as I possibly could. And, swoosh, I was sucked right into the story. Hockey didn’t even stand a chance.
Outside of the world of the book and Zan’s adventures in an alternate world, hockey players made goals. Half-time happened. Canadians did cool things on the ice. Other vague events occurred.
Inside the book, I travelled with Zan as she both dealt with grief after her father’s death and tried to find a way to help the Orathi keep their land from being taken. There were shapeshifters, spirit-gifts, gods, and the Dreamweaver doing her best to help using a loom that can affect the actions and choices of others. With the last being the coolest world detail ever. There were characters that I loved and connected with. I wanted them to succeed. I wanted them to find happiness.
(And then there was the ending, but I won’t spoil that one for you. Just, if you do decide to read it, keep in mind that there’s a sequel… the author doesn’t hate you, promise.)
Even in the action and excitement around me, it all paled next to the book that had me riveted.
It’s easy to read a book and enjoy it when life is calm and you sit in a pleasant garden by yourself on a warm day.
But, from time to time, you may want to try reading a book during a hockey game. That’s when you know you have magic in your hands.
When have you been sucked into a story this way? What book was it?
August 26, 2015
Storytime Bloghop: Canned Food
Welcome to our little Bloghop. Here, you’ll find 15 participating blogs (find the links under this story) who posted one story today. The stories will be available for one week only. So make sure you’ll read them fast! Enjoy.
Canned Food
© Katharina Gerlach
“You will not eat my son!” When Mother roared at Elder, I knew the tribe didn’t want me. I was too small. I mean, Mother wasn’t very big either. The tips of her wings barely reached the shoulder blades of a red-deer, but at least she wasn’t disabled. She hovered in the air in front of Elder and spat tiny flames at him.
“He wouldn’t make a good sized snack even if I top him off with a wild boar,” Elder roared back.
“He’s a true dragon.” Mother’s voice shook with anger, and I feared she’d attack him in her rage. She wouldn’t stand a chance. After all, he was at least three times her age and thus three times her size as well. I lowered my head and crawled toward the cave’s exit avoiding the rest of the tribe as best I could.
“What do you expect,” a matron said. “His father’s a wyrm.” She swiped her tail out of my way as if I were contagious. With a sigh, I returned to the nest waiting for the tribe’s verdict. I no longer thought Mother would be successful, and everybody knew what happened to those fledglings who didn’t get accepted. It was either the cookfires or the lizards. I really, really hoped for the cookfires. At least death would be quick then.
***
After a week with the lizards, I hated them more than ever. There were probably no animals more boring in the whole wide world. They were either eating insects or sitting in the sun to warm up, and if the sun was hiding behind clouds, they hid in the grass from the rain. I couldn’t even talk to anyone since their vocal cords were too different from mine. And they didn’t talk much. All they uttered was a high pitched wail when danger loomed.
“Kiru, kiru.” There they went again. Every single one of them vanished under a stone or in a hole in the ground. But I refused to follow them. Anything was better than their company. So I remained, ready for disaster. A rider approached the mountain glade where I now lived – existed would be more correct. His can, I mean his armor, reflected the light of the setting sun – a George! We hadn’t seen Georges for centuries. Fighting down my excitement, I hoped he wouldn’t find my tribe. We had learned to hide, blending in with our surroundings or hiding underground. But Georges were notorious dragon hunters as I recalled. Only Elder remembered how to beat them.
“Canned food,” he used to call the Georges when he was still telling stories to my siblings and me before it was clear that I wouldn’t grow, would never fly and couldn’t spit a single spark. I focused on the George, pretending that I was made of stone. Sometimes they were stupid enough to believe that, and I was curious. After the most boring week in my life this promised to become an adventure. Would he try to find a dragon to kill or was he simply showing off? I swiveled my eyes gazing around for his entourage, but he was all alone. I noticed that he didn’t even have a lance. That surprised me. I had assumed that Georges would be well equipped for killing dragons. His gaze touched on me, and I immediately closed my eyes. They would be enough to break the illusion of stone upon closer inspection.
“Oh, Wow! What a beautiful carving.” Warm hands picked me up, and I froze my limbs to keep my stance. After all, stone wouldn’t move. I held my breath and listened while he turned me over and over. My heart hammered so hard I could barely make out his words. By now, I scolded myself severely for not hiding. Funnily enough, the material of his gloves and body armor wasn’t as hard as Elder had made it out to be.
“It’s a strange material too,” he mumbled. “It feels nearly real – I wonder who forgot it here. Well, Emily will love it.” He wrapped me into something soft and tied me to his riding animal – which could be what Elder had called a horse, although I never knew that horses were made of metal. I wanted to scream for Mother but knew she wouldn’t come. After it was clear that the council wouldn’t kill me, she had accepted their verdict and renounced me. My throat fell so dry that my electrical gland sizzled. Luckily the George didn’t hear me. He must be deaf. The gentle swaying and bumping of the moving horse calmed my nerves and finally sent me to sleep.
***
“For me?”
The voice that woke me was high but melodic. Immediately I recalled what had happened, adjusted my stance and closed my eyes again.
“I found it in the park.” That was the George. I wondered if Elder had ever tried to talk to Georges. They did speak our language after all.
“Thank you, Daddy.” Someone smacked. I wondered if child-Georges ate their parents. My already tense body cramped, and I struggled not to wriggle. I couldn’t even run away since I was still wrapped up. The child began to free me and I noticed the George standing behind her still dressed in his silvery armor. Wasn’t that terribly uncomfortable? But maybe this newfangled armor no longer came off. What did I know about Georges…
“It’s a dragon! Oh, it’s so beautiful.” The child grabbed me. My belly fitted easily in both of her hands. It became unbearably hard to hold my breath. My mouth felt terribly dry, the electric gland hummed, and my heart hammered as if ready to burst. The child lifted me to her face. White, gleaming teeth were all I could see. I’d had enough. I refused to be eaten – at least not alive. With a whoosh, I let out the breath I had been holding. It hit the electricity from my glands and ignited – you know how it is, youngsters, don’t you?
Screeching, the child let me go, and the ground hurled toward me. Instinctively, I opened my wings, beating furiously to break my fall. Imagine my delight when I suddenly soared toward the ceiling of their abode. The child screamed, her hair slightly singed and wet. The father screamed too. He held an empty vase with the flowers strewn around his daughter. A woman stood in the door, screaming too. I used their confusion and darted toward the big, rectangular hole in the wall through which I could see the mountains in the distance. How could I know that Georges had invented invisible stones? I slammed into the invisible wall and crashed to the ground unconsciously. As I learned later, I cracked a rib and tore my wing when I slammed into the ground.
What, Dearielle?
Oh yes. That is exactly how I met Emily and her family. No, I will not tell you how we returned to Dragon Mountain. That is a story for a different day. Now, close your eyes, sleep tight, and don’t let the Georges bite.
The End
14 More Stories:
Rabia Gale: Spark
K. A. Petentler: The Twisted Tale of Isabel
Shana Blueming: Paper & Glue
Amy Keeley: To Be Prepared For Chocolate
Cherie “Jade” Arbuckle: After I Died
Karen Lynn: The Family Book
Angela Wooldridge: An Alternative to Frog
Thea van Diepen: Are You Sure It’s That Way?
Paula de Carvalho: Body Double
Kris Bowser: Tantrums
Virginia McClain: Rakko’s Storm
Grace Robinette: Georg Grembl
Elizabeth McCleary: The Door
Dale Cozort: Two Letters In A Fireproof Box
