Krista D. Ball's Blog, page 6

Costa Rica and Monkeys: Chrystalla Thoma

Chrystalla and I "met" a few years ago online at a writing group. It's pretty awesome that we've both ended up being published twice by the same house (first, AXP anthologies and now, MuseItUp).

 

I promised Krista I'd write something up about a vacation I once took in Costa Rica. I have a vague memory that I promised monkeys.

[image error]Not too difficult with Costa Rica.

While living there in 2009, one bright morning I demanded from my husband to take me to the Arenal volcano. Arenal is an active volcano that regularly shakes and erupts and buries villages in ash and lava. Lovely place. Carlos, my husband, took one look at my face and went to rent a car.

I am that scary sometimes. Yeah. Don't you forget it.

On the way, Carlos warned me that most of the time the volcano is wrapped in thick mist and nothing is visible. Of course, all around it, there is a national park, pretty thick jungle with jaguars and monkeys (see? Monkeys. Told you.) We drove for most of the day and finally arrived in late afternoon, checked into our hotel room and went to see Arenal from close and say hi.

Arenal was talkative that day. To Carlos' surprise, there was no mist. As a matter of fact, the volcano was erupting as we watched. As the sun dipped in the west, the sky above the volcano was lit by the explosions and the jets of lava, which also ran down its slopes like bright red snakes. All the while, booms like thunderclaps sounded and rocks flew from the crater to crash on the slopes. They looked small.

Carlos pointed out to me that, taking the distance into consideration, those chunks of rock had to be big as trucks.

Yikes.

And still I wanted to get closer. What can I say – the view was spectacular.

The next day we entered the park and approached as much as we dared the volcano.

When at some point terrified tourists fled by, pointing at how close the lava was flowing and those huge chunks of rock fell, I turned about and followed them.

Carlos still laughs at me for chickening out in the end and not staying to watch the show from close. But I know that, deep inside, he's glad we left when we did.

 

BIO: Greek Cypriot with a penchant for dark myths, good food, and settling down anywhere but at home, Chrystalla Thoma likes to write about fantastical creatures, crazy adventures, and family bonds. She lives in Cyprus with her husband and her vast herds of books. Her stories can be found in Alienskin magazine, Lorelei Signal, the Shine Journal, Encounters Magazine, and Bards and Sages ezine. She is also an author of MuseItUp Publishing, having published with them her YA Urban Fantasy novella Dioscuri.

 

Singing Cowboys and the Birthday of Doom by Elaine Corvidae

Yet another title that just says it all…

My worst vacation coincided with my 18th birthday. I'd just graduated high school the week before, and immediately [image error]flew to Colorado, where my dad, half-sister, and aunt lived. It was supposed to be a fun vacation: we would go hiking and camping (which turned into a disaster), legally drink beer (my dad claimed the drinking age in CO was 18 and not 21—he was wrong), and meet cute guys (I didn't). Best of all, I was told that they'd made secret plans—fun plans—-for my 18th birthday.

When the big day finally arrived, everyone in my family was deliriously excited over the big plans they'd made to help me celebrate. Once we were all gathered, they finally let me in on the surprise. I had been imagining something awesome: a water park, or a really big video arcade (we still had those back then), or even a super-nice restaurant.

Nope. We were going to see singing cowboys.

"Singing cowboys?" I asked, hoping I'd heard wrong.

"We love them! We go every chance we get. You'll have a great time!" I was assured by everyone in my family, none of whom had apparently ever met an 18-year-old girl before.

And so I found myself in some sort of Hollywood-designed, Western-themed version of hell. This place went in for an "authentic" experience, which meant dinner consisted of standing in a chow line where baked beans would be glopped onto an aluminum plate. Everything was aluminum, actually: the utensils, the plates, even the mugs. The food itself was horrifyingly awful, with a heavy metallic taste. We sat on long benches at rough wooden tables, because as I'm sure you all know, cowboys hauled picnic tables with them everywhere they went.

I'm pretty certain that I was the only person there who was under fifty. The target audience was people who remembered seeing John Wayne movies for a nickel as a kid, and had mistaken them for documentaries. Then the singing cowboys came out; the youngest might have been eighty if he was a day.

So I spent my 18th birthday being serenaded by octogenarian singing cowboys, eating tinny baked beans, and wondering what constituted justifiable homicide in Colorado. Sadly, that wasn't the worst the trip had in store for me—but I'll save that for another time.

 

I'm outta here!

This is my last post until the end of June. I'm heading out to Newfoundland to see my folks and show The Engineer around the island, plus do some hardcore research for Super Sekrit writing projects.

However, never fear! I have several guest bloggers while I'm away to tell you all about some of their vacation stories. Make sure to make them feel welcome…and ensure they clean the cat litter.

Behave while I'm away, or at least take pictures!

My latest 3 favourite reads

I want to share my current 3 favourite reads. I'm not sure how they ended up being all science fiction, but they are all really hitting my spot right now. So, wanted to share!

 

"Digital Rights" by Brent Knowles (SF novella…outstanding for both SF readers and folks who want to try hard SF but are weary of the heavy tech talk) $1.00 ebook

"Beyond Reach" by Rebecca Senese (SF novella…outstanding for folks who don't want hard SF but are tired of the same ol' space opera) $1.99 ebook

"The Dimensional Shift" by Frances Pauli (SFR comedy novel…I usually don't like SFR because either a) the panting and heaving gets on my nerves or b) the science is so laughable that I can't take the book seriously…this book is Star Trek meets The Shopaholic. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Already have bought the sequel) $4.99 ebook

Vacation baby!

I'm outta here! Well, not for another six days but soon enough. But, never fear. While I'm gone, I have several guest bloggers dropping by and telling their own vacation stories.

Make sure to give them a warm welcome while I'm away. And make sure they clean the cat litter. It was part of the guest blogging deal…

New Book by Moi!

[image error](This is a soft release notice, since I'm not done getting the publication of this all organized, but since it's available now, I figured I'd share the news)

No More Blank Screen: Blogging Ideas for Fiction Authors is now available on Smashwords for only $2.99 (until the end of June).

Right now, it's only available on Smashwords, as I need to do a few nitpicky small things with the cover art file, plus get things organized on Amazon. So, soft release [image error]

Thanks to all of my beta readers! I hope folks find this useful and helps them with their blogs.

Still alive!

Whew. It's been a busy couple of weeks. I finished my edits on "No More Blank Screen: 225 Blogging Ideas for Fiction Authors" and am waiting for the line edits now. I'm still hoping to have it all done and published by the middle of June, before I leave on vacation. However, if it doesn't work out that way, then it doesn't. Better the best book a little late, then a crappy book early, right?

I'm heading to Newfoundland for two weeks in June. In my place, I have several guests lined up to blog in my absence about their vacation stories. I've seen a few and I think everyone is going to enjoy them.

I've taken a bit of time off writing and instead have been organizing my writing space, the money aspect so that I don't get audited by Revenue Canada, doing some reading about publishing in general, and have been listening to Jim Butcher's Dresden Files on audiobook. The series is narrated by James Marsters (aka Spike) and is like listening to a radio play. The books are great, and Marsters is, well, purrrrrr.

Back at the writing tomorrow, though! I can't put it off forever [image error]

What's everyone else up to? Any vacations planned? Reading any good books?

Drive by blogging

I'm back in town from being in Fort McMurray visiting Cute Baby this weekend. I'm pretty tired, with the cute overload and the long drive.

I'm up against a deadline so I am taking a blogging break for a couple of weeks until I get back on track. I'll be back towards the end of May; I just gotta get this work done!

Stay out of trouble everyone…or at least take photos and share me with!

New book deal!

I've been quiet this week, since I had good news to share but needed to wait until everything was all official-like. I sold the first book of my epic fantasy series Tranquility's Blaze to Mundania Press. The contract is signed and I'm sure they are already regretting it! *grin*

Here's the query letter. Think you'd want to read it? You'll have your chance early next year!

 

Just as Lady Bethany settles into the comfortable routine of her life, her magic-addicted twin sister emerges from exile to usurp the Gentle Goddess, Apexia; their own mother. To stop her, Bethany must choose between her duty to destiny and her desire for freedom. Either way, her choice will cost her more than she is willing to pay.

Tranquility's Blaze is a completed 92,000-word high fantasy novel. I believe it will appeal both to loyal fans of the genre and also to new readers who demand strong female characters to empathize with, exciting action scenes, and a blend of mythology in their fantasy. Tranquility's Blaze is standalone, offering a logical conclusion to the book's events. It also lends itself well to a multi-book series.

I have published a number of short stories in different anthologies and magazines. I have a novella and a short fiction published through MuseItUp Publishing, who have also just contracted a SF military thriller novel from me for an early 2012 publication. I have co-edited four Karma RPG books and have over twenty freelance articles published, including a number of feature articles with Edmonton's Merge Magazine.

Please find my full synopsis following this query letter. Please feel free to contact me by email (*edited* is preferred) or by telephone.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you.

Krista Ball

 

Homeless Mamma Mia Singalong

I promised on Twitter that I'd blog about the night we played Mamma Mia at my former workplace (the homeless drop in).

Friday nights were movie night, where the team lead would pick out a movie. Casey had been covering the majority of the Friday shifts. She was absolutely sick of the shoot-em-up movies that everyone wanted to see. After two months of it, she wanted to watch a movie she was interested in.

So, she brought in Mamma Mia.

It was busy that night, easy 350 people came through the doors. There was significant grumbling about the movie choice. About 70% of our clients were male and they announced en masse that they would not stay. Well, after supper was served, the coffee bar opened and we had some fresh donuts. Lots of people stayed because you never get fresh pastries in the inner city.

The movie goes in. The guys all still say they are leaving as soon as they are done the donuts.

First song of the movie comes on. Lots of eye rolling, complaining, and so on.

Second song, a few guys are pointing at the screen or making fun of the female staff all singing the ABBA songs.

But, then a strange thing happened. 40 minutes into the movie, Dancing Queen comes on. And every single guy in that building started tapping their toes. A few started singing the song (until their friend saw, of course).

An hour in, everyone is singing Super Trooper, tapping their feet, laughing and carrying on.

And, at the end of the night, all of the guys complained that the movie still sucked because they were men, after all. There was no toe tapping. Ever.

Best memory ever.