Leah R. Cutter's Blog, page 4
August 15, 2016
And MORE Bundles!
WOOO and HOOO!
I’m in a new bundle! The OUT OF THIS WORLD bundle.
Explore the future and the universe with this exciting bundle of science fiction & fantasy short stories, novellas, and novels. Discover how people will survive, and thrive, as they encounter challenges in outer space or deal with struggles here on Earth.
Mystery and adventure, drama and fear, technology and magic, all have their place in these exciting speculative stories.
Blast away with these fantastical tales to parts unknown and out of this world!
This bundle will only be available until September 4th. So get yours today!
http://www.bundlerabbit.com/out-of-th...
The Fantasy in the City bundle is currently available at distributors for a limited time. 20 short tales of magic and wonder. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. So get yours today!
Available at:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2bsYEfq
Kobo: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebo...
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/fant...
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fanta...
The Not Only Humans bundle is also available at distributors currently.
From galaxy-spanning alien cultures to the discovery of Bigfoot, these page-turning novels feature gripping stories where humans and non-humans work together, fight each other, and even fall in love.
List price if bought individually is over $70.
But for you–just $9.99.
A dozen amazing fantasy and science fiction novels.
This bundle is jam-packed with stories …
* For every reader’s taste.
* Filled with robots and faeries. Demons and trolls and vampires. And aliens, aliens, and more aliens.
* Of unparalleled quality. Bestselling and award winning authors.
This bundle will only be available at distributors for a limited time. Once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. So get yours today!
Available at:
Amazon
Kobo Books
iBooks
Barnes and Noble
Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.
August 1, 2016
New short story available!
YAY! I have a new short story out that’s part of the Uncollected Anthology series!
Pearl’s greatest magical gift? Knowing exactly what someone needs before they do. Opening up a magic shop seemed like the perfect way to help her use her gift.
The problem? The beautiful smartly-dressed woman who just walked in.
This woman wants something. Something only Pearl can provide.
Pearl’s fear? Figuring out exactly what this woman needs. And what the cost may be…
Available at your favorite retailers!
anthology: a collection of selected literary pieces
uncollected: not collected or gathered together
oxymoron: a combination of words that have opposite or very different meanings
The Uncollected Anthology series is indeed an oxymoron. Sprung from the minds of seven fabulous authors who love fantasy, short stories, and each other’s writing, the series’ main goal is to bring you quality urban fantasy fiction.
Every three months, the authors pick a theme and write a short story for that theme. But instead of bundling the stories together, they each sell their own stories. No muss, no fuss—you can buy one story, or you can buy them all. (We’ll be honest: we hope you buy them all!)
Uncollected Anthology: When you can’t get enough of the stories you love.
Never Miss A Release!
If you’d like to be notified of new releases for the Uncollected Anthology, sign up for the newsletter!
We only send out newsletters once a quarter, will never spam you, or use your email for nefarious purposes. You can also unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the other fabulous authors!
You’ll find all their work here: http://www.uncollectedanthology.com/anthology-titles/fortune-tales/
A Future Song
First, our FABULOUS guest writer, Stephanie Writt!
Hadley, a 27-year-old golf ball diver (by day) and electronic DJ (by night), travels over a hundred miles on two hours of sleep to save her younger (by 37 seconds) brother’s rear on a school field trip to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. He’s the teacher, not a student. Punk hadn’t reached out to her in over a year, but figured it was the new dad thing that had distracted him. Their playful reunion turns murky when a run-through a humpback whale exhibit flips Hadley’s world upside down. Visions. She sees visions in the whale’s music. Under water visions of past disasters. Or are they the future? Thousands of lives depend on Hadley. To save them, will she have to sacrifice the love of her brother?
Fight or Flight
Leslie Claire Walker
Time travel. Love. Magic.
Little Charlie Nobody fights to survive on dangerous streets. No one cares whether he lives or dies—and he comes close to dying more than once. Each time he hovers between life and death, he not only sees the future, he enters it. He doesn’t understand how it happens, only that it feels real. And that it must be some kind of magic that makes it possible.
He falls in love with the wonders he sees, the people he meets, and even the trouble he finds. No one captures his heart more than Sunday Sloan, who wields the kind of magic that others would kill to possess.
He wants nothing more than to become part of her world. Will magic allow him to leave his own time and remain in hers?
If you enjoy urban fantasy filled with wonder and darkness, you’ll love Fight or Flight.
Fight or Flight is a stand-alone story set in the SOUL FORGE series and is a prequel to the novel NIGHT AWAKENS. For more SOUL FORGE magic, visit leslieclairewalker.com.
Fortune’s Cookie
Rebecca M. Senese
The summer before university, Nola works the cash at Chen’s Fabulous Chinese Take-Out. When an irate customer complains about an empty fortune cookie, Nola discovers the entire supply is empty.
To avoid disaster, Nola comes up with a plan: home-made fortune cookies. Mr. Chen will bake the cookies and Nola will write the fortunes.
Just one problem: Nola has no idea what to write.
The Most Recent Madame Fortuna
Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Carol grew up with the carnival and its attractions. Like the fortune teller: Madame Fortuna. Now Carol runs carnivals and their employees, including Madame Fortuna.
When the screaming begins, Carol doesn’t need a fortune teller to predict trouble. She can do that all on her own. Fixing the problem, however, might take a magic touch.
Tramps & Thieves
Annie Reed
She tells fortunes for a living like her mother before her. She’s just another working stiff, but don’t mistake her for a con artist. Her magic is real.
She’ll read your tea leaves or your aura, or predict your future from a deck of cards. Just don’t insult her, and above all else, don’t threaten her.
Because remember – her magic is real, and she knows how to use it.
Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.
July 28, 2016
Summertime…
And the writer is BUSY!!!
Honestly, I don’t think this is unusual for me. Summers are generally very busy for me. Partly that’s because of the vacation rental. I have lots of yard maintenance that I do during the summers, in part, because of the vacation rental. I want my guests to think I have an awesome yard. And that takes work.
Plus, I have MANY THINGS going on.
For example, WORKSHOPS.
Yes, I teach workshops. Two of them, in fact. I just finished the first Covers workshop. I’ll be teaching the Print Interiors workshop next. It starts August 10th.
To learn more, go here: http://krpworkshops.com/about-the-wor...
Another example of things going on: BOOKS
At the end of August, “The Princess Troll” comes out.
I also hope to publish the Island Sampler.
At the end of September, “Spoiled Harvest” comes out. This is the sequel to “Poisoned Pearls” and “Tainted Waters”. I’m updating all the covers, so I don’t have links available for it yet.
At the end of December, “The Immortals’ War” comes out. This is a standalone novel, composed of three already published stories as well as three new ones. (“Dancing with Tong Yi”, “War On All Fronts” and “The Sweet Shop”)
In January, I hope to have a new Business for Breakfast book available.
February/March I should have a new novella available.
Then…I don’t know what.
Blaze will have a bunch of things that I’m publishing as well between now and then. And other writers. Stay tuned!
Other things–Am going to Worldcon in a few weeks. Hope to see some of you there. Am starting a new novel tomorrow–VERY EXCITING. I’m not impressed with how hot it has been in Seattle recently. And other NEWS that I’m still sitting on, at least for now.
How is your summer going?
Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.
July 6, 2016
Bundles!
The Fantasy in the City bundle has been so much fun to be a part of! The curator has been great, and everyone has such interesting stories.
HOWEVER.
All good things must come to an end at some point. As will the Fantasy in the City bundle. As a bundle, it’s ending next Monday.
So go to http://bundlerabbit.com/fantasy-in-th... now if you want your copy!
The Not Only Humans bundle is at a slightly different phase.
Instead of being only available at the Bundle Rabbit site, it’s available for a short time at various distributors, as a single ebook. And it’s on sale right now! For only $3.99 you can pick up more than a million words of excellent fiction.
Available at:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/29mAZK7
Kobo Books: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebo...
iBookstore: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-...
Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.
July 5, 2016
NEW COMIC TODAY!
YAY! YAY! YAY! YAY!
The young woman who I’ve mentored since she was 16 has now published a short comic book!
(Or rather, I published it. Still exciting.)
It’s a short comic teaching kids (and adults) about autism.
Can’t tell you how proud I am of her for sticking with this, finishing the project, working with me on the ebook drafts. It will be coming out in print in the next couple of weeks as well.
YAY! YAY! YAY!
You’ll find the book at Amazon: http://amzn.to/29czocE
At Kobo Books: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebo...
And at iBookstore: https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/...
Can I just say YAY! one more time?
YAY!
Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.
July 4, 2016
Mid-year Accounting
(Picture from our honeymoon last year, midway up the mountain)
The end of June marks the mid-point of the year, and a great time for reflecting on how the year has gone so far, as well as to make course corrections, as necessary.
As for my writing goal, I’m not as far along as I’d like to be. I’ve only written about 215,000 words this year. Many of you will consider that an astounding number, because it will be either much larger or much smaller than your own. Hopefully I’m keeping pace with a few of you.
My goal at this point was to have been 250,000 words, so I would reach 500,000 by the end of the year. Reasons for not making this goal are primarily health related.
In order for me to make my goal of 500,000 words for the year, I need to average 11,000 words per week from here on out. Most weeks, that’s totally doable.
But then there are the other weeks when I have health issues. Then it’s not so totally doable.
My approach right now is to “bank” words when I can. So that I’ll maintain a good enough average. I started off this week with a bang – wrote all day today, and managed 6700 words (and still didn’t finish the novel, dang it!) Will finish the novel tomorrow – probably another 3000 or so words away.
Then what will I write? (^_^)
I have a title. And a basic idea for the next story. I have no idea if it’s a novella or a novel. I suspect the former, not the latter, but we’ll see what happens when I get into it.
The other thing that’s kind of on track – WORKSHOPS!
The Brand New Cover workshop will be starting Wednesday, July 13th. There are still many spots available. PLEASE feel free to ping me if you have any questions.
I’ll be offering one workshop a month. July will be covers, August will be interiors, September will be covers, October will be interiors, etc.
I will post more about NEW!SHINY things tomorrow. And about bundles later this week.
For now, my brain is really tired and I’m going to have a nice glass of wine and go to bed early. And hopefully sleep through the fireworks and my cat freaking out.
Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.
June 30, 2016
BOGO for the holiday!
So here in the US we’re celebrating Independence Day, July 4th.
I figure I can add to the celebration and kick the weekend off right by offering a BOGO!
Go and buy the full version of the Fantasy in the City bundle over at BundleRabbit:
https://bundlerabbit.com/fantasy-in-t...
That’s 20 short stories for $3.99.
Email me your proof of purchase (email to Leah AT LeahCutter DOT com) during the next twenty four hours.
I’ll send you the epub and mobi versions of the next Huli Transport story: “Dancing with Tong Yi”.
I am just about finished with the novel that is all about Huli Transport and Tong Yi, called, “The Immortals’ War”. (Might finish this weekend, more likely will finish sometime next week.) Currently, that novel is scheduled to be published in December, 2016.
The blurb for “Dancing with Tong Yi”:
Tong Yi works for Huli Transport, a company that specializes in rides and transportation for those who aren’t quite human.
When the newest job comes up—delivering a message to Zhang Guo Lao, one of the Eight Immortals—Tong Yi assumes the job will be tricky because the immortal likes to play games.
He has no idea that Zhang Guo Lao isn’t the only one interested in “dancing” with him.
The other Tong Yi stories are “War On All Fronts” and “The Sweet Shop”.
They’re collected together here: http://www.knottedroadpress.com/book-...
So go! BOGO!
This offer ends July 1st 2016, at or around 6 PM PST.
Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.
June 24, 2016
Friday Madness!
In just a few weeks, starting July 13th, I’m offering a workshop in how to do your own covers.
Creating professional looking covers that will make a reader want to pick up your book is one of the most important skills that an indie-writer/publisher can learn.
Though every genre has its own specifics, there are some general principles of what makes a professional looking cover.
This workshop teaches you how to create covers for ebooks as well as print books. It teaches you how to look at a cover and see what makes a professional cover versus and amateur one.
This workshop lasts three weeks. It is taught using InDesign, which is the industry standard for creating print interiors. It costs $200.
To sign up for a cover workshop, click here.
The Fantasy in the City bundle is still going! And yes, I will be offering a BOGO for it next week. So get your copy today!
https://bundlerabbit.com/fantasy-in-t...
As part of the bundle, the curator, Jamie Ferguson, was interviewed here:
And in other news, look what I’m publishing in a couple of weeks!
A short comic teaching children (and adults) about autism.
By the young woman who I’ve mentored for years! More information soon.
And yes, in August, (August 16th) I will have a new novel! Here’s the blurb:
Most trolls have no natural magical ability. However, Christine does. Enchanted powders swirl up when she walks by. Charms glow.
What happens when Christine tries to direct her magical powers?
Nothing. Nada. Zip.
Something blocks Christine from reaching her full magical potential.
But what?
“The Princess Troll”—the second novel in The Seattle Trolls trilogy and the delightful continuation “The Changeling Troll”—follows Christine on her journeys through a skewed Seattle and her encounters with outrageous and whimsical characters. A coming of age tale for all ages!
SO EXCITED
Uhmmmm – I think that’s it for this Friday madness. Hope y’all have a good weekend!
Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.
June 21, 2016
Weight
This week, I finally hit my weight goal.
This post is going to be about weight and dieting, etc. Read (or don’t!) with your own self care in mind.
I was skinny as a kid. Doctors constantly told me to gain weight. I believe I didn’t reach a healthy weight until I was in my mid-20s. (When I was finally able to maintain a regular menstruation cycle.)
I’ve always been very active. And I’ve always stayed about the same weight. Anytime I rose above it, I merely had to pay attention to what I was eating for a while and the weight would drop off.
Until recently.
Last year, I wanted to lose weight for my wedding. I started paying attention to what I was eating, but the weight didn’t come off.
I figured it was stress.
Earlier this year, I was making the same noises about losing weight, until something in my brain snapped. Instead of, “I would like to lose weight,” it became, “Fuck you. I’m losing weight.”
(I would make a fortune if I could bottle that attitude shift.)
I knew I was already eating healthy foods. (Dead critter, fresh veggies, very little processed food.) What I learned when I started counting calories was that I was eating far, far too much, even as active as I was.
If I hadn’t been that active, I would have been gaining a lot more weight than I had over the last few years. By the time I made the decision to lose weight, I determined I needed to lose about 10% of my body weight to get back to my healthy, ideal weight. (Most people who know me wouldn’t be able to tell the difference in my weight. But I knew and I felt it in my joints that I was too heavy. Knees and ankles kept bothering me.)
So I decided to actually diet. Make permanent changes to my lifestyle and eating habits, as well as track my food intake.
I’d never been on a diet before. I tried a couple of different calorie counting apps. Eventually, I ended up using MyFitnessPal, combined with my Fitbit for tracking activity.
I’ve had a Fitbit for years. I generally averaged 10,000 steps per day, though frequently during the winter I would have less steps. Before I added in my activity to my calorie counting, I was trying to eat the number of recommended calories based on age and what I thought my activity levels were.
OMG. I was starving all the time. How do people do this? I was completely miserable. It was awful.
Once I added in my activity from my Fitbit, my calories per day rose considerably. Almost enough for a full extra meal every day. So part of what made it initially so miserable was that I really wasn’t eating enough.
I still kept my calorie counting app with a lower calorie goal, letting the Fitbit add in more calories every day. Gamifying the system in some ways.
It horrifies me how much I’m willing to do for more calories. How motivated I am by food. It got me moving. I was no longer satisfied with 8-9000 steps per day. Had to be 10K or better.
However, once I got it all connected and dialed in, I started slowly losing weight. Between half a pound to a pound per week.
The last month or so, I’ve been preparing for this time, for when I’ve reached my goal weight. I keep wondering, how do I maintain it? How do I have a healthy relationship with food? I’ve been so focused on what I’m eating. How do I kind of push it to the background again, yet not over eat?
I really started paying attention to how I felt after I ate. The amount of fullness I had after 200 calories. 300. 400.
I would like to be able to trust my body not to eat too much.
However, food and activity is more complicated than that. At least for me.
What I’ve learned is that on a day with a LOT of activity, I may or may not be extra hungry that day. (My husband and I regularly put in days of 23,000 steps or more, at least once a month or so. Or I spend the day working outside on the farm—my Fitbit doesn’t show that many steps, but I’ve been hauling wood for hours and know I’ve burned a lot of calories.)
The next day, after so much activity, whether I’ve eaten a lot or not the day of the activity, I’m starving. What is normally satisfying, isn’t.
So it isn’t as simple as I’d like for it to be. I do have a good scale now, and I plan on using that once a week to make sure that I stay on track.
I’m going to let go of my calorie counting. Not this week, maybe in a week or two. Once I figure out how it feels to eat a regular amount of food, not 100 calories less than what I burn per day.
It’s been an interesting experience, this dieting.
I will never do it again. I will never gain weight like I did, putting myself into a position so that I have to lose it. I will stay on top of my weight. This was far too miserable an experience to want to repeat it.
And while I’d never recommend dieting to anyone, I would recommend the MyFitnessPal app. It was kind of awesome for helping me figure things out. Plus it gave me an overview of my nutrition, to see where my gaps were (for example, I really need to supplement my calcium).
I’d also recommend my Fitbit, but I’ve loved my Fitbit for years and years. I tried a Fitbit Charge for a while. It gave me more calories per day (yay!) but I hated wearing anything on my wrist, and soon went back to my Fitbit One.
Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.
June 20, 2016
Writing, writing, everywhere…
Wednesday of this last week, I had an appointment downtown. Generally, I try to schedule my appointments for the afternoon, so I can still writing in the morning. On Wednesday, no such luck.
But I felt good Wednesday morning. I had brain power. I knew what the next scene was.
I really wanted to write. However, I had no time.
At that point, I challenged myself. I was going to write regardless.
I had fifteen minutes before I had to leave for the bus. I got out my laptop and told myself I had to write at least 100 words before I left. I could do that, right?
And I did.
It was completely unsatisfying. I wanted, craved more.
So I packed up my laptop, headed down to the bus stop. Then I squatted down, wrote another 150 words before the bus showed up.
Still not satisfied.
However, it was an older bus. Bad shocks. Couldn’t really type.
Got out my phone. Kept writing.
On the bus down to my appointment, while waiting for my appointment, then both waiting for the bus back and riding it, I managed to write 657 words.
All together, I did a little over 1200 words that morning. Then I had to stop because I had no idea what the next scene was, and this is a piece that kind of moves slowly. Unfolding, as it were.
However, I’m really proud of myself that I managed that much. That I could, indeed write anywhere.
I didn’t write Saturday of this week. I had a massive migraine for most of the day, and just no brain power. I generally don’t write on Saturdays anyway. Still, wrote every other day, and made my weekly word count, which yay!
Point the second:
I’m in a new bundle! Fantasy in the city!
http://www.bundlerabbit.com/fantasy-i...
This one is TOTALLY different than the other bundles I’ve been in. It’s all short stories instead of novels.
For the one low price of $2.99, you get 10 short stories.
For $3.99, you get 20 short stories.
Yes. Twenty.
And these aren’t just any writers. These are some of the most kick-ass writers I know. Like Valerie Brooks. Brigid Collis. Dayle Dermatis. Lisa Silverthorn. Rebecca Sense. T Thorn Coyle. And more.
Seriously. I’m thrilled to be part of this bundle, honored and pleased.
Like all good things though, this bundle won’t last forever. So go! Get yours today!
(And might there be a BOGO in store for those of you who partake? Check back next week!)
http://www.bundlerabbit.com/fantasy-i...
Crossposted from my website. If you'd like to comment, you can do so here or there.
