Ania Ahlborn's Blog, page 17

Sample Sunday: An Excerpt From Seed

By the time dinner rolled around they sat around the table without a word, none of them enjoying their mac and cheese. The silence was eventually broken by the sound of something scurrying across the floor. All four of them stiffened visibly. Aimee was the first to speak.

"What the hell was that? Was that a rat?"

The moment she suggested it, both girls squealed and pulled their feet onto their chairs.

Jack swept the kitchen with his eyes, searching for the intruder. A second later the sound of t...

Your Spam Is Salty And Unpleasant

Remember when people used to say they were going to open up a can of whoop-ass on someone? Well, imagine if someone threatened to open up a can of spam instead. I don't know about you, but I'd throw my arms up in the air and head for the hills. Like a muppet. Like a boneless, blue-haired muppet.

We've all been victims of spam. There's just no way around it. If you use the internet, you're going to eat some of that salty gelatinous meat-product whether you like it or not, so shut up and choke i...

Be A Hobo: It's The Artistic Choice

So you wanna be a hobo. Hey, that's awesome. Hobo's are known for their colorful personalities and their stylish fashion choices. They're poster children for the dirty beanie and the unkempt beard. They can scream profanity at passers-by and get away with it because hey! Hobo's don't have rules! Keep your rules inside your stinking office cubicle, you sellout!

You there! The guy sitting on the sidewalk at a busy intersection. The guy with his back to the trendy coffee shop. You, the one with t...

Sample Sunday: An Excerpt From Seed

After the kids were asleep, Aimee popped a bag of microwave popcorn, selected a flick she couldn't watch with the girls around, and decided to have her own girls-night-in just as Jack had suggested. With the lights off and the television throwing blue shadows across the room, she tried to relax and forget all that had happened in the past couple of days.

It was futile: her mind wouldn't shut off. That incessant scratching was getting louder; loud enough now to make her wonder if it would...

Your Ego: It's Your Parasitic Twin

So I was initially going to write a post about people who write in coffee shops and how they drive me nuts–and then I thought to myself, 'this is a little too aggro-specific. After all, it isn't just the Starbucks fanboy with his Macbook Air that drives me crazy. Hell, there are a LOT of things that drive me crazy… why stop there?'

So I thought about why the Macbook guy and his fancy scarf get under my skin. I mean, my reaction to these people–these coffee shop writers–is immediate. As soon...

The More You Tweet: Win A Copy Of Seed!

Let's face it, those of us who use Twitter use it a lot. Well, I'm about to give you an excuse to use it even more–like you need excuses.

Seed's release is getting closer and closer, and early June is looking bright. And as all authors hope, I too am hoping for a successful first push. But I can't do it alone. I need your help.

From May 9th until Seed's release, I'll be keeping track of everyone who Retweets links and info on Seed, and those who suggest that people give me a follow as well. I u...

Sample Sunday: An Excerpt From Seed

The day Jack's parents suspected there was something wrong with him was the day they found a stray cat hanging from the tree in the front yard.

The cat had been a nuisance from the day Gilda and Stephen had parked their trailer on that land. Stephen had been trying to scare the thing off their property longer than Jack had been alive, and Jack had learned from his father that when that cat showed its face around the Winter estate, all was fair in hunting felines. Stephen made it clear: he...

Guest Post By Todd Russell: Where To Get Story Ideas

Hi all, and happy Friday! This is horror author Todd Russell's fifth stop on his blog tour, so without further ado… here's Todd:

Greetings and salutations friendly folks at 21st Century, I appreciate the chance to stop here on the fifth day of my blog tour. Ania asked me to write about where to gather story ideas.

We'll drive there in a minute, but first let's cover writing exercises and how important they are and compare to something Ania wrote about recently in her post: Why I Don't...

You Don't Need A Kindle To Kindle

Because my novel Seed will be published exclusively as an ebook, the question will inevitably arise–"how am I supposed to read your book if I don't have an e-reader?" Silly rabbit, you don't need a Kindle to Kindle.

Many people are under the impression that to be able to buy and enjoy ebooks, you need to shell out a pretty penny for a fancy e-reader. Not true. Now, I do believe that you need an iPad or iPhone to read books from the iBookstore, but Amazon isn't that, um… exclusive. Let's just l...

Sample Sunday: An Excerpt From Seed

[image error] When Abby came home from school there was a lump on Charlie's bed. Buried beneath a set of Spongebob sheets and matching comforter, Charlie had taken up her favorite position of sleeping with her butt in the air. She'd done it since she was a baby; elbows pulled into her chest, her knees pressed into the mattress, her rear end flying high and her thumb stuck in her mouth. Abby didn't have to see her to know that was her sister's exact position.

She dropped her backpack next to the leg of the ...