A.D. Duling's Blog, page 10

Have you heard of the book Jack Hunter- Secret of the King by: Martin King ?

Yesterday I had a mission. I was to sit my botata (as my friend Valerie calls it) down and finish reading Grimsley Hollow -The Chosen one by: Nicole Storey, in which I will today! I promise Gage, I really do!

Why I didn't yesterday was because of what I found while I was piddling on Twitter. Yeah, we authors do that a lot. I was going down and reading my fellow Tweeter's Tweets (is that right? Does that sound right?) and came across one about Jack Hunter- Secret of the King by Martin King. And then below this title, it said the next Harry Potter hit!

Well! Anything in comparison to HP deserves some attention! So I clicked and went. There I found for a humble request that if I tweet about the book, I then would receive a free copy. FREE! Who does not l-o-v-e FREE! I think we all do and you don't have to be a mother of six either to appreciate that.

So I tweeted; happily and received my free…oh sorry…FREE copy. I at that moment did remember (which is a miracle in itself for me!) that I still needed to finish reading Grimsley Hollow. Gage Gilbert deserved that, how dare I disrespect our growing friendship and move over to Jack Hunter! So while apologizing to Gage, as I read Jack's story, I quickly found myself hooked! I read the book in one sitting and enjoyed every bit of it!

I loved each character ( Jules was my favorite and not because she's a girl! sheesh!) and every bit of the adventure! As the mystery started to unfold and the clues began to come together, I excitedly read on, anticipating the end.

Besides the story being well crafted, exciting and captivating to that end, it also had a special bonus to it! At the top of each chapter, you would find a letter or two. As you jot them down, they would form words and soon a sentence (but I will not reveal that). A clue! And it gets even better! At the end of each chapter you would find a number in parenthesis, which at the beginning you are told as well to jot those down. Why?

I shall tell you! After you finish the book, you are directed to Mr. King's website. There you can figure out the riddles to enter the code and open the treasure box to decode the numbers for the next clue! And I must say this was a very clever conception that played out wonderfully and even a good bit challenging. I myself shamelessly admit, some took me a moment and THANK YOU GOOGLE!

Here is the blurp to this wonderful book:

A castle, chilling graveyards, secret passageways, historical clues and hidden treasure; Jack Hunter is packed with electrifying child-appeal for both girls and boys. (39,000 words, approximately 130 Kindle pages).

Twelve year-old Jack Hunter's life couldn't get any worse – forced to move home, ripped away from his friends and dragged to a town in the middle of nowhere. But then Jack discovers a centuries-old key that unlocks an historical secret.

Suddenly he finds himself on the hunt of an ancient treasure trove with the help of some new friends. Full of twists, clues, villains and a host of potential suspects, Jack Hunter – Secret of the King provides a riveting read from beginning to end.

The adventure begins now…

To start the adventure click below and purchase this wonderful Kindle version (also available in paperback)

http://www.amazon.com/Jack-Hunter-Secret-King-ebook/dp/B005EIQ3ZE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1331904626&sr=8-2

I now out of respect for my dear friend Gage Gilbert, the star of Grimsley Hollow- The Chosen one, shall now include his link. Click below to learn more about his wonderful Author Nicole Storey and his story.

http://www.amazon.com/Grimsley-Hollow-The-Chosen-ebook/dp/B007A6TOAE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1331905125&sr=1-1

Happy Reading!

A.D.

H.P. Mallory is having another awesome Character contest for Wuthering Frights the next in the Jolie Wilkins series!

H.P. is at it again and all gladly want it! She is doing a character contest for the next book Wuthering Frights, in this amazing series! Want to see your name written inside it? Well then….just click on the link below and earn your points!

I've already entered and as I still wish you luck, it's only just a little…because I want to win!!!

http://urbanfantasyauthor.blogspot.com/2012/03/become-character-in-my-next-book.html

Nah! Just kidding….good luck!

A.D.

P. S. I changed my mind….no I'm not! :0)

My Second Experience with Amazon's KDP FREE Promotion

As you read below on my Febuary posting, I had shared my first experience with the KDP select free promotion.  I had shared also that for me, the experience was a successful one for being a  new author.  VERY new author,  I want to stress. I have only been a official Self-Published author for about 8 months now, so you can see I am still learning it all. I first want to send outa big thank you to everyone! And  I mean EVERYONE!  All authors that I have interacted with, have been wonderful to me! Very open-hearted individuals with tons of kind advice and always willing to give  tons of helpful tips.

Ok, with that said, let's go on to my experience with KDP promotion, again knowing this is for a newbie author.  I am stressing this ,so for you well know authors who are reading this and have not tried out Amazon's KDP promotion, this will  not discouraged you.  I know my success story is small in comparison to others.  So here goes…

On my first promotion of my book One of Them , I did this:

Did my free promotion for 1 day.

I promoted on Facebook, Twitter and tried getting listed on the  two sites below (thanks to Emlyn Chand the genius behind Novel Publicity and Author of Farsighted).

Ereader News Today (ENT) - Which I did not  get posted

Pixel of Ink (Did not get on that one as well)

This was a chance that Ihad been told about in Emlyn's article about her own experience with the KDP free promotion and what she did.  You can read here - http://bit.ly/wS1USM  (I told you she is wonderful!)

You can also check out Novel Publicity Network-   http://on.fb.me/yijbv8   This is Emlyn's Facebook group for authors,  this group is filled with many amazing  authors who are so giving of great tips, helps and shares. They are all wonderful and all have left a wonderful impression on me.

Emlyn Chand of course also has a website (a must for readers and writers) – www (dot) novelpublicity (dot) com.

Ok…back on track now. Now to my results for my first run (so you won't have to read below). This is what happened for me:

Did the run on a Thursday and ran it for 1 day

Uploads: about 500

Sales after : 18 books

I got up to #644 in the Kindle Free store, ranked #2  Children's - Girls & Women  and   #12  Children's  in People & Places

My total sales that month: 32 books (this includes my other books as well)

My ranking before: Median was between 200,000-300,000

My ranking after: I lingered between 100,000- 200,000 after that and throughout the remainder of the month - so you see there was an improvement, even if little.

Now if  your thinking , hey A.D. that's still pretty low. Remember, I am a newly self-published author.  An author who is leaning as she goes in the writing industry and on building a platform, promotions, etc… a broke author :0) So you can understand my limitations.

But again, please  do not get discouraged! For you new authors like me, who have sold little to no books per month, this should give you  hope.  KDP does work and not just for us but for the more know authors as well.  I have read many success stories from both groups.  Outputs do vary greatly, but just because one's is  larger than yours, doesn't mean give up. You see that my first run had a small output, but it was still a good one. Now on my second one, it improved even more.  So it does improve!  For me, I will say  KDP had been a success story for myself and each time and this is why I say that.

Mysecond run:

Did Free promotion for 2 days this time (heard that was better)  and on a Mon & Tues. (Days do matter, but everyone has a different turn outs, some say weekends, some say beginning of month and some say definitaly do them around holidays)

My uploads this time: about 3,000

My Amazon ranking went to  #98 (better than I ever thought!) and hung between #98 & #110 (this is for FREE books). Was  #1 in the Girls & Women again and #1 in People & Places again.

What I did on Promoting:

Sent announcement to ENT- awesome guy by the way! My book was listed! (later in the day when it was up there)

Shared on Facebook & Twitter (not too much though- by Emlyn's advice)

And that was it.

I had sold 4 books of One of Them  before the promotion days. After, I sold  15 books, but remember this month is still not over!

For borrows: ( Amazon just changed the menu, which better shows your  borrows, uploads and sells) I received 2 borrows, 1 is for my other book (The Key #1 Of The Anna Kippling Series)

Total book sales (including my others) 32-  so far…. remember still in March! So who knows by the end of the month :0)

Can I call this an improvement, oh heck yes! My ranking the next day did go down to 150,000-160,000  as Emlyn said in her article, but  it went up the following day and now I am lingering between 15,000-30,000. I am continuing to see sales daily and it's great! My other books have picked up a little too. To top it all off, I even earned a review on this one from a very kind reader…it was a five star!

Now let me quickly explain to those of you who might be laughing (but in good heart)  why I am so happy over 32 sales. My sales for the  two months prior to this one  (Dec & Jan) I sold 6 & 11 books for the month. Now for Feb & March I sold 32 in Febuary and 32 so far for March and again still counting! So  you can see a big jump there. Not only have I gained more sales, I have also gained more readers which was the true drive for me behind this. Out of all of those readers, yes I do know this, maybe half will read it and then maybe half of that, will turn into dedicated readers. The ones who will come back and buy other books of mine will help in those sales.

Bonuses to this promotion are recieving reviews, which many of  us need these (I raise my hand on that), climbing higher  in the charts( this gets you book better noticed)  and it increase awareness about you, the author.

Now for the readers who are reading this, please don't think any of us authors as greedy hungry monsters. Ok… well….some are, but MOST of us are not :0)   We truly love what we do and want to share it. To make a decent living from what you love, everybody wants this.  So it is our goal, we do dream of being the next John Locke or Amanda Hocking, but we know its not a truly realistic thing. It can happen, but not for everyone. We do prize our reviews immensly, so it's not just about the profits.  So for you wonderful readers, please do not be afraid to leave a review for your author, even just clicking the stars. They mean a lot to us!

So to sum it up for you authors or authors in the making, if you're still on the fence or still feeling a bit discouraged, you can also look at it this way… KDP is free.  Yes you do have to be "exclusive" with Amazon for 90 days to get this, but is that really such a bad thing?

It's just 3 months and for newbies, that's not much of a sacrafice. For those who are more established, it's to me still worth a try. You only have to do one book.  With KDP, in not having to pay for this and getting good results, if not better. What do you have to lose? Yes, I know some would love to point out, it took you two tries to do as well as some. Yes is may take more than  just one try. There may need to take a second or a third or even a fourth, but you see it was still a success.

For anyone starting out from a bottom, the only way to go is up, right?

I  would like to wish everyone who gives this promotion a try, tons and tons of good luck! For me, I pay attention to my fellow author friends and their FREE promotion books, I do download many (I do have Genre preferences), but if I don't  upload your book, I at least share the promotion. Alot of authors do this, its what we do, because we are awesome!

 

May  loads of good karma flow your way,

A.D.

 

 

 

How do you start the writing process when beginning a new story?

How do you start the writing process when beginning a new story? – A kind reader emailed me and I wrote this below:

It first starts with an idea; which comes in many ways. For R.L. Stine (my teen years were filled with reading his awesome Fear Street series)  his always started with a title. I have done that too. A more common way and what we always hear from authors, is from their dreams. And some come from a simple thought or two. I do that alot. For instance…  a girl, a key and a door opening into another world, started off my Anna Kippling Series.

I have heard many times from other authors, keeping a notebook and pen neaby is a must! Even the wonderful Stephanie Meyer kept a notebook nearby as she created her wonderful Twilight sereis.  And I do this too. You never know when your inspiration will come and not all of us remember every bit of it.(that's me!)  Keeping a notebook nearby, in your purse, by you bedside or even velcroed to your hip…always is a must!

So now you have an idea. The next thing is to build a synopsis or as my kids are taught in school a story map (you can google that).  It basically gives you a direction in your story, a map out of where you want to go and where you want to end and what you want to fill all in the middle of it.

I did not discover that until I had completed The Tokens. In writing The stones, I had one then and it went SO much easier for me. I have to jot alot down to keep up with Anna's adventures! Writing your characters out, their features and other important things about them help for later referencing, so you don't always have to keep going back in previous pages or books (I still have to do this sometimes, though :0)

I did not plan to start my writing with a series, in fact when I first started writing Anna's story it was just that, a story. By the time I neared the end, I had all four titles in my head and an idea that… wow! Took me on quite an adventure!

So before I bore you anymore, because I can get lost in all of this :0) Let me sum it all up… I sometimes write only a title ( Molly Woodhaven), sometimes I get them from a dream (The Archers ) and then they start with a thought ( Anna, One of them and a few more). I write it down, sometimes I write a whole scene, sometimes a few of the first chapters. Right now I have two books waiting in line after The battle and The other Vampire, waiting to be finished. How I choose to begin it, to me its just my personality, what comes to my thoughts at the moment and then I continue. I do like books that do get into the action quickly and keep you locked into it the whole while (my preferance as a reader). So any hoot, I hope this answered you question and thank you again for asking it.

I just had to share this because it was a great question and a question I am sure other readers or aspiring authors are wondering. Each author has their own way and this one is mine. I encourage all readers and authors to ask these types of questions, I know I do. There is no shame in asking them, even if you have a few  books under your belt. I am sure many amazing authors doing well in their buisness would be quick to stand up and say, " Hey! Even I still do!"

You are never too old to learn something new…

Thanks for reading!

A

How to Have a Successful KDP Select Campaign– A starting out author's experience with KDP select.

As a self-published author, when the KDP Select program came about on Amazon, I wondered. I wondered what it was all about and what it could do for me; a newbie to the world of self-publishing and promoting. I was selling books, but ever so slowly, this slow in fact… S—L—O—W. So how was KDP select going to propell me out there in the Amazon Kindle world? Would it be worth the trouble, the time and what else could I do in conjunction to it, to get myself even more noticed?

Well I did recieve some great answers and did give it a go. Did it work out like I thought it would? Yes and no. Again, for me being a hardly known, KDP select helped me out quite a bit, but in the broad spectrum of comparison, probably not so much. As this was my first attempt and I only promoted for 1 day.  I recieved 500  downloads in that time period, but more than I have ever sold on Amazon, tons more in the 8 months of my career as a self-publishe author.

I put out my Urban Fantasy novel- One of Them as my trial book  and in that day, watched it climb the charts up to to #688 on Amazon, #2 in Girls & women and #12 in People & Places, which for me that was amazing! Before this day, I was ranking in the 300,000′s. A week plus later, I am staying between 30,000 and 200,000. So an improvment and mind you recieving this with only promoting my book for free for 1 day. You get five days in the 90 day exclusive enrollment. You can also do it again for another 90 days afterward and again and again. If you do not mind being exclusive with Amazon. For me, I was hardly missed at B&N. :0)

Now your asking how many books did I sell after that day? I did sell, but still few in comparison to others of course.  January before KDP(I did this in FEb.) I sold 10 books on Amazon at together that month and my total sales for the month between B&N and Amazon was 23. So you can see how little I was selling.  AFter KDP select (for FEb) I have sold 34 on Amazon, that is a small jump, but a nice one for me…and the month is not quite over. A humble success for a first attempt. Could I have done better? Oh yes and the wonderful thing is, I have more opprotunities.

I still have quite a ways to go , but a fair chance in reaching the top #100, cause we all do!  But we must remember, not being in  the top #100 doen't mean we are not successful. Readers are coming back for my sequel and my books are selling ,isn't that the goal? The realistic one, at least. So for anyone starting out like me, I do recommend giving the KDP a go and here are some links giving really great advice and experience shares, I hope in sharing this with you, you will find success in KDP select as well.

How to Have a Successful KDP Select Campaign– A wondeful article by  The writing Bomb blog author- Jeff Bennington – http://thewritingbomb.blogspot.com/2012/02/are-you-planning-kdp-select-promo-soon.html

Here is an article by the wonderful Emyln chand (of Novel Publicity) http://www.novelpublicity.com/2012/02/kdp-select-free-days-targeted-advertising-is-the-key-to-success-heres-a-list-of-resources/    Telling about her experience with KDP and links on where to promote your free giveaway.

Here is an article by a wonderful author-Matt Patterson – on his experienece with KDP with his book My Emily- http://www.karenbaney.com/archives/1592

Here is another great article on the KDP select and how it helped author-David Kazzie  of The Jackpot get his book noticed and was very successful at it!http://wahoocorner.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-kdp-select-saved-my-book.html

And another to throw int -http://lindacassidylewis.com/2012/02/25/wow-the-kdp-select-giveaway-experience/

There are so many KDP select stories out there and I have only shared a few and so far have not seen a bad experience, so far… I have recieved alot of great advice,  learning  some days are better than others, such as Sundays do better than Saturdays and Thursdays and fridays do well. I have also heard doing it for more than one day is best, such as two, but then other authors do 3 days in a row as well.

I chose to start with one and have four more to play around with, I plan to do a two dayer on my next promotion and hope for even more success. I have heard of authors getting thousands of downloads  and some only (like myself) getting  a few hundred.  But overall, book sales have been reported to increase.  Some by leaps and bounds, others a really good jump. Genre is said to play a big role and book covers as well. All in all its a matter of 50/50 to me. Lucky chances and skilled tactfulness. The best advice I would think to give, is do what works best for you. Take advice always, but use it how it works best for you. A mother of six, my time on my books must be balanced with motherhood. Similar stories of day time jobs and so for as well from other authors. If you go into this assuming a realistic outcome  of slow and steady, dissapointment won't come so frequent.  So if you're still debating on KDP, come on and give it a try, I did and  am very happy!

Thankyou for stopping by ,

A.D.

The Stones #3 of The Anna Kippling Series is Now available!

Hip, Hip, Hooray!

The thrid to my four book series- The Anna Kippling Series is now published! Self -published that is… and I'm so excited! Its quite an accomplishment for me, having started the series four years ago and still sticking to it, is a triumph none of the less. This was my first stab at writing and has been quiet an experiece for me. I have learned alot so far, yet know I still need to learn even more… Soon Anna's story will be over when book #4 The Battle, the final book to the seireis is finished and as thrilled as I'll be then in completing what I had started those years ago, I will also be very sad. I will miss Anna, Hayden, Val, Fallon,Harmon, Connor,Trum,Hendorn,Grayson,Braden and my water sprite Colin (winner of Become a Character Contest for The Stones). Their adventure has been mine and quite and adventure at that!

Of course, more stories have filled my brain and my notebook, so even though this may soon be the end to Anna's story, it will only the beginning to mine…

Thanks for dropping by and for reading my books, I appreciate it! If you have not, well then…feel free to visit my site and get to know Anna and myself!

A.D.

www.adduling.com

Valentines Day-What to get for her?

Valentine's day is right around the corner and if you have not gotten your gal a gift yet or don't know what to get her, hopefully this will help you.  Everyone one says "A diamond is a girl's  best friend" well how about a diamond!? (ok, maybe only women say this) I know some places where you can get one… all from the convience of your laptop/computer.

www.bluenile.com

And right now they have a shipping special- free shipping in time for Valentine's (read shipping details) Click on their top 10 popular gifts and there you go!

Is a diamond to much or too soon?  Well don't worry, I have a few more suggestions:

Helzberd has a fine selection of jewlery for her this Valentines- http://www.helzberg.com/  You can shop gifts for under $100 dollars and purchases $49 dollars and above you get free Godiva chocolate to go with it!

Not wanting jewelry, how about something personalized? http://www.personalizationmall.com/  has many personalized gifts for her to choose from!

Have a little gal to buy a  valentine for, no worries! Go to Hallmark and they have a selection of adorable gifts for that little valentine in your life… http://www.hallmark.com/product/gifts/for-her/?mc=T_S_G_VD_GC_GIFT_VAL&gclid=CKrj__Pzk64CFY9X7Aodr0ANKg

Need more ideas on something to get your Valentine, here are a few popular choices:

1.Flowers      2.Candy

3.Jewelry      4. Teddy Bear

5.Mixed CD   6. Handwritten Card(you can never fail on that)

7.Romantic Dinner(you can even cook yourself-if you cook)  8. "Heart Attack"- cut out hearts and throw around room, locker or car

Either way, go with your gut and your heart and you will know the best gift to get your Valentine sweetheart this Valentine's Day…oh by the way Happy Valentine's Day!

A.D.

Crime stories seems to be a favorite to readers- what are the key elements to writing a great crime novel? Hmm…very interesting Watson…

Crime novels seem to be the rising favorite among readers these days…this would make one think (especially an author) should I try to write one? And if so, how? I googled and found a great blog that tells us just what a novel of that would consist of, the key elements…

http://fictionwriters.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/how-to-write-a-detective-story/

There are certain rules you must follow to meet your readers' expectations- this blogger says and lists this:

1.  Introduce the crime early on, preferably within the first three chapters. It is the crime and subsequent clues that hook your reader.  The crime should be significant enough that your reader feels invested in the outcome.  Most detective stories involve a murder or kidnapping.

2. Introduce the detective and culprit early on.  You're not playing fair if you don't included the antagonist in the line up of suspects.

3.  Provide clues along the way so it is possible, though highly unlikely, that your reader could solve the case themselves.

4.  Don't provide enough clues along the way so your reader solves the case before your detective.  A detective story is a race between your protagonist and your reader.  If the reader wins, the victory will be bitter sweet.  Your readers want to be challenged, but in the end, they want to be outsmarted.

5.  Wrap up all the loose ends.  Readers will remember every red herring you threw in their direction.  If a clue wasn't relevant, make sure you provide a reason why it was included.    Each plot point must be plausible, and  the action even paced, without getting bogged down in back stories or subplots.

6.  Your detective must solve the case using logic or scientific means.  CK Chesterton wrote the following oath for all writers of detective stories: "Do you promise that your detectives shall well and truly detect the crimes presented to them using those wits which it may please you to bestow on them and not placing reliance on nor making use of Divine Revelation, Feminine Intuition, Mumbo Jumbo, Jiggery-Pokery, Coincidence, or Act of God?"

Of course reading a crime novel would help as well, pay attention to how they release their clues and the layout of their story. Want to give sleuthing a try? Go for it and good luck! Will I give it a try? Hmm…very interesting…

Book of Second Chances- A.D. Duling- Weekly fictional writes of do- overs- Week 2

Dear Beholder,

A written warning, use this book wisley. The feather pen to your left will be used. What is written upon a page of this book shall give you your chance. What was done will be erased, what you do in place of it will be written. Everyone deserves a second chance. What you do with yours should be for the good. If you choose to do bad with this gift, your crime shall recieve proper punishment.

R,

The Creator

*****************************************************************************************************************************************

Beka

 

Beka loved her Saturdays; it was her day to relax, her chance to decompress and most of all, her day to sleep in. Monday thru Friday she was up before dawn and asleep no earlier than ten. So her Saturdays were a treasure to her, she didn't have to be anywhere and could do absolutely nothing all day, if she wanted to. Beka did love her job and everything that came with it, but she loved her weekends more. On her Friday nights, whether she was out late on a date or up watching a movie, the one thing that never changed was the next day she could always sleep in.

On this Saturday morning of early December, the frigid air hit Beka like an ice block wall, as she opened the front door to grab her paper from off the porch. Frost clung to the bushes and blades of grass down past it; a small reminder that winter had only just begun. She quickly snatched up the rolled newspaper and ran back inside to the warmth of her seventy- five degree home, before Jack Frost nipped at her nose or whatever else he chose to.

Beka owned her home and loved owning one. It was her castle, her domain and her sanctuary. As she walked towards the kitchen, she grabbed the blanket from off of the couch and carried it with her over to the kitchen table, where her coffee mug waited. She sat down, wrapped the blanket over her legs and took a sip from her mug to send the chill inside of her out. She sat the mug down and pulled the rubber band from around the newspaper and unfolded it. Her eyes scanned the front, reading the local news and a small bold title near the bottom caught her attention. The familiar face in the picture sent a chill back into her.

Local woman found dead in apartment; suicide

Beka knew who the woman was, at least she knew the girl she used to be. It was Stephanie. Her best friend Stephanie from middle school, her best friend up until halfway through their freshman year of high school, when Beka thought she had become too cool for Stephanie. The memories flooded quickly in of her behavior towards the girl, how coldly she had blown her off and all the times she had participated in calling her names right along with the other jerks that made up for some of her classmates.

She laid the paper down and stood up, sending the blanket down to a heap upon the hardwood floor. She rushed to her bedroom and over to her closet for the cardboard box on the shelf above, that held her childhood tokens. She carried it over to her bed and sat it down; another memory flooded her mind just then. Something else she had done to the girl, something she had pushed so far back into her mind, hoping to forget it.

And she had for a while, yet here it was, as clear as day, torturing her once again. Beka lifted the lid and dug inside for her senior yearbook and pulled it out. She carried it back to the kitchen and sat down at the table again, the blanket remained where it lay. She flipped through the pages until she found her friend's picture and stared at it.

Innocent eyes stared back at her, innocent and sad ones. Determination boldly came from them as well. Her friend had taken the humiliation very bravely she remembered. She had disappeared for a week afterward, which had torture Beka, but reappeared the following Monday looking unshaken. Her hair had been repaired into a nicely cut bob and she had remembered how her friend held her chin high, declaring herself unfaltering.

Beka had quivered in shame that day and had stayed far away from her friend thereafter. She never had the guts to say sorry and never crossed paths with her again. She had held her friend arm down that day, along with another and watched as Tiffany Meyers cut away at the girl's beautiful long locks and did nothing to stop it. Beka could not even remember why she had agreed to do such an evil deed and never could believe she followed through on it. Even when her friend's confused and pleading eyes stared up at her, Beka still held her arm firmly down.

Could that cruel deed had been the start to a troubled life for her friend thereafter? Her strong, indestructible wall a false front..?  Beka knew the answer and shut the book. She looked down to the newspaper and read the headline again; that was when she spotted it. Lying underneath the newspaper was a small leather bound book. She slid the paper off and read the words, The Book of Second Chances.

She opened its cover and read the note inside. A written warning… it had said. Was this serious?  She thought, but knew she would pick up that pen and would take that chance still. She would make up for a mistake that should have never happened. Beka held tight to the pen and wrote her pleading declaration.

I had held her down and let it happen… she wrote and then found herself staring into her locker mirror. She turned around and found the hall to her school surrounding her. Everything was just as it was thirteen years ago. She knew it was December; Christmas color streamers lined the hallway with tacky homemade wreaths hung along it every so often. She remembered that Mrs. Hathaway had made with her fake floral and glue gun.

The textbooks stacked inside her locker told her it was freshman year, the day however she had no idea. She scanned the hallway for Stephanie, searching for the girl's face amongst the other students that crowded it. A few minutes later, Beka spotted her coming around the corner at the end her way.  At the sight of her, Beka knew what day it was; it was that following Monday morning. Her hair had already been cut; the damage had already been done.

Why send me back for a second chance, but on a day to late?  The question screamed in her mind. Stephanie held her head high and walked past her without a glance in her direction. Tears formed in Beka's eyes and her stomach churned with guilt. She wanted to fix her wrong, but what could she do now? She could say she was sorry, but would that be enough? Beka didn't think another second chance would come around and she had no idea how much long she had left to get this one. She turned back to her locker and caught her image in the tiny mirror, giving her the needed answer. She reached up and touched her long hair.

An eye for an eye…She thought and slammed her locker shut. She turned and raced over to the nearest classroom; Mrs. Hathaway's and found the teacher thankfully absent inside. Beka raced over to her desk and opened the top drawer. Inside laid the pair of scissors where she knew she would find them and she took them out. She carried them safely in her hand back to the hallway and searched for her friend.  She found Stephanie at her at her locker and with heart pounding in her chest, tears rolling down her cheeks, Beka walked over to her.

"Stephanie…" was all she could muster and her friend turned around to face her.

Beka reached up and grabbed a chuck of her locks and cut it off with the scissors.

"Beka, no… wait…" Stephanie protested, but Beka ignored her friend and grabbed another lock and cut it and then another, until every long strand of her hair lay on the floor at her feet. Tears streamed down both girls' faces, no words were spoken, but both knew what the other was saying. The hallway faded around Beka until only Stephanie remained clear to her.

"I'm sorry…" quickly shot past her lips as the girl disappeared and her bathroom mirror replaced her. A sob broke out of her as she blinked the tears from her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror. Trembling, she turned and walked into her bedroom and looked at her alarm clock. It was a little after nine, she had just gotten up. Beka quickly ran to the kitchen and found the table empty. She raced to her front door and opened it, the chilling air oblivious to her as she started down on the front porch and found the newspaper she had just read, folded neatly with the rubber band tightly holding it; waiting for her.

She grabbed it and went back inside, closing the front door behind her. She ripped the rubber band off of it, snapping her fingers, but ignored the sting. She opened it to the front page and looked down for the heading declaring her friend's suicide. It was not there. The doorbell rang, startling her and she jumped. She turned around and walked over to it. The bell came again and she quickly wiped her eyes and composed herself. When she opened it; standing on the other side was Stephanie.

"You are never going to believe what happened to me last night!" The woman proclaimed and walked inside. Beka shut the door and turned to her in disbelief.

"What's wrong?" Her friend asked, noticing her demeanor right away.

Beka shook her head and smiled. "Nothing," she told her. "Let's go sit down in the kitchen and you can tell me all about last night…"

I hope you enjoyed this little story of a second chance. Weekly I will add another addition to the Book of Second Chances. Everybody deserves a second chance. What would you do with yours? Have a story you would like to submit? Go to www (dot) adduling (dot) com and  click the "email me" button and I'll post it the following week! Just wanna read…follow my blog and check back weekly. I will write a new story every Wednesday… Note: these are fictional stories…but real ones are welcomed! Want to challenge me, post in comments below a topic idea and let's see where it takes me!

Thank you for reading!

A.D.

P.S. What would happen if the Book of Second Chances was used for bad? Check weekly, there are not always happy endings to the Book Of Second Chances….have an evil topic brewing in your mind ?! Those are welcomed too!

The book of Second Chances- A.D. Duling – Weekly fictional stories of do overs…Week 1

Dear Beholder,

A written warning, use this book wisley. The feather pen to your left will be used. What is written upon a page of this book shall give you your chance. What was done will be erased, what you do in place of it will be written. Everyone deserves a second chance. What you do with yours should be for the good. If you choose to do bad with this gift, your crime shall recieve proper punishment.

R,

The Creator

 

Nicholas sat the book down and leaned back in his chair. A second chance? How many second chances had he needed in his life. To choose one from many, would be hard. Should he even do it? Would it even be worth the try? One mistake broke through to the surface of his thoughts; the one that he should have never been made. Nicholas reached over and lifted the pen from its holder within the inside cover of the book. Did it need ink?

He grabbed a paper and scribbled on it; it had its own. He flipped to the next page, which was blank and flipped to another, blank as well. He flipped through the rest of them and found them all blank. Had anyone used this before him? Was he the first? Doubt rose into his mind, but regret quickly replaced it. Caroline… he thought. Trembling he lifted the pen and placed it upon the page and wrote:

I was supposed to meet her in the park, but never went….

He had not even finished his first sentence, when the room around him faded and the park in his thoughts appeared before him.  On the bench, there she sat staring across the pond where geese,ducks and other fowl occupied. Nicholas stood up from his desk and walked around it. He walked foward to the edge of the flooring and stared down to the grass it met up with. He reached his hand out and watched it pass through without trouble. Caroline turned around and spotted him. She smiled and waved to him over.

Without further hesitation, he stepped foward and went to her. Her face young and beautiful just as he remembered it. The smile upon it bright and welcoming. He sat down next to her and she grabbed his hand. It was real, his fingers intertwined between hers as he took in every inch of her. Her skin was soft and warm. He memorized every feature of her profile as she looked out across the pond. She noticed this and looked back at him.

"What is wrong?" she asked him.

He shook his head, choking up. "Nothing…" he told her. But she knew better and reached her hand up to caress his face. It felt wonderful as her fingers tenderly touched his cheek and then reached up and ran through his hair.

"You need a haircut." she told him and he laughed.

He did, he needed a shave as well, but she said nothing about that. Her eyes looked into his and he chocked up again.

"Nicholas, what is wrong?" she asked him.

He smiled as a tear slipped past his crumbling wall.  "I love you Caroline…" he told her.

She smiled and touched his cheek again. "I love you too." she answered.

He looked out to the pond and watched the couple with their little child feed the geese. Slowly, the view before him dissolved and he quickly looked to Caroline, she looked out at the pond, giving no notice to the disappearing world around them.  He watched as she slowly dissapeared along with it and the walls of his office reappeared where they once were. He looked down to the book upon the desk, his written words no longer there. He leaned back in his chair and sighed. Was he a fool? Had he been sleeping? Had it been a dream?

"Nicholas!" a sweet voice called down to him, deep into the basement.

He sat up in his seat and looked over to the stairs leading up to the kitchen above him.

"Nicholas…lunch is ready!" The sweet voice called again; it was Caroline's.

His heart lept into his chest and he stood up. He walked over to the bottom of the small stariway and looked up at the closed door above him. He had been alone since the day he never went to her in the park. No written article, no mention or  award he recieved thereafter ever replaced what he had given up. Ambition was what he thought he had wanted then, the sacrafice he had made , he thought worth it as well. Twenty years had passed. She had never married and neither had he. It took him half that time to realize how foolish he was and the other half to get the nerve. His left hand grabbed onto the rail and he noticed a ring upon it. He smiled and climed the steps to the top. His hand turned the knob and he opened the door. His wife sat waiting for him at the kitchen table and he joined her for lunch.

As the basement door shut above, so did the book that lay on the desk below and then it disappeared.

 

I hope you enjoyed this little story of a second chance. Weekly I will add another addition to the Book of Second Chances. Everybody deserves a second chance. What would you do with yours? Have a story you would like to submit? Email yours to alishiajax (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll post it the following week! Just wanna read…follow my blog and check back weekly. I will write a new story every Wednesday…

Thank you for reading!

A.D.

www(dot) adduling (dot)com