C.C. Alma's Blog
April 3, 2021
FREE on April 4!
The e-book for my personal bestseller, THE LITTLE DOG IN THE BIG PLAGUE, will be FREE on Amazon on Sunday, April 4!
August 22, 2014
Is This Novel for You?
I agree with some reviewers that my novel, The Earth Girl and Queen Eliza, is hard to categorize. I thought that would be a good thing—a different and new kind of story that could fit into multiple genres. It’s interesting to me that I have nearly as many one/two star ratings as I do five star ratings. I admit it’s a little disappointing. In my daydreams, everybody in the world loves my work!
So if you’re trying to figure out if this novel will suit your tastes, how can you decide? I would say that the focus of this novel is more about characterization and relationships than it is about constant action and suspense. I dislike books with characters that are flat and basically just names on a page, so I put in a lot of effort to create characters that live and breathe and are complex and flawed. I actually don’t look at much science fiction in my personal reading life. I tend to read and enjoy authors who write about about family and friendships, authors like Anne Tyler, Lisa See, and Kaui Hart Hemmings. I loved The Secret History, by Donna Tartt, because the characters and the friendships in that novel are so real and so detailed. I tried to do something similar in my novel. I’m not saying that my little self-published book is in the same league as Donna Tartt’s work, but that was the idea.
I’m not sure why I wrote a novel that takes place in the future. I think it’s because I like exploring concepts that a setting in the future allows. I loved the story told in the movie Her, because that is such a deeply human story that takes place in the future. Is Earth Girl a typical young adult sci fi dystopian story? Probably not, but I do think that my novel has good pacing and suspense, and it is not just for young adults. My hope is that my readers keep turning the pages because they are curious and worried about the characters as their stories unfold. My main character, Adeena Frias, is strong, smart, searching, and restless. She is not in a constant fight-or-die situation, and she sometimes questions her religious beliefs and wonders about the meaning of life. You may find this boring, or you may love it. Maybe I didn’t quite pull it off. All I can do is put my hard work out there into the world and hope for the best.
So if you’re trying to figure out if this novel will suit your tastes, how can you decide? I would say that the focus of this novel is more about characterization and relationships than it is about constant action and suspense. I dislike books with characters that are flat and basically just names on a page, so I put in a lot of effort to create characters that live and breathe and are complex and flawed. I actually don’t look at much science fiction in my personal reading life. I tend to read and enjoy authors who write about about family and friendships, authors like Anne Tyler, Lisa See, and Kaui Hart Hemmings. I loved The Secret History, by Donna Tartt, because the characters and the friendships in that novel are so real and so detailed. I tried to do something similar in my novel. I’m not saying that my little self-published book is in the same league as Donna Tartt’s work, but that was the idea.
I’m not sure why I wrote a novel that takes place in the future. I think it’s because I like exploring concepts that a setting in the future allows. I loved the story told in the movie Her, because that is such a deeply human story that takes place in the future. Is Earth Girl a typical young adult sci fi dystopian story? Probably not, but I do think that my novel has good pacing and suspense, and it is not just for young adults. My hope is that my readers keep turning the pages because they are curious and worried about the characters as their stories unfold. My main character, Adeena Frias, is strong, smart, searching, and restless. She is not in a constant fight-or-die situation, and she sometimes questions her religious beliefs and wonders about the meaning of life. You may find this boring, or you may love it. Maybe I didn’t quite pull it off. All I can do is put my hard work out there into the world and hope for the best.
October 29, 2013
For a limited time only--Just 99 Cents for THE EARTH GIRL AND QUEEN ELIZA
My novel is on sale now for just 99 cents at Amazon and most e-book sellers (or the equivalent of that price in your country).
Here's a link to my Amazon page:
http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Girl-Quee...
Honest reviews on Goodreads and Amazon would be appreciated!
Here's a link to my Amazon page:
http://www.amazon.com/Earth-Girl-Quee...
Honest reviews on Goodreads and Amazon would be appreciated!
August 21, 2013
I worked soooo hard on this short passage!
There are times when writing is easy and fun, but there are times when I can work for hours to get one sentence just right. I like this passage a lot, but it was hard work. Now I look at it, and I see a grammar error! Can you find it? Even so ... ain't this pretty?
I leaned back and stared out at the stars, my thoughts drifting. I had no religion, unlike Zoey and Carson. Everything was a mystery to me.
I remembered my mother and me on vacation in California, one of the last natural places left in the world. My favorite place had been Yosemite National Park, a land with such a profusion of beauty — there were rock formations glowing at night, waterfalls as big as mountains, trees so tall they blocked the sun and formed cathedrals of lush darkness. While there I was overwhelmed by sudden spiritual feelings: the world and its mighty bigness, me and my mighty smallness, the mystery, the infinity, the unanswerable riddle. Compared to the vastness of the universe, my own life was short. What did it all mean?
This place was just as overwhelming -- it was the kind of place that makes a person ask the Big Questions -- about life, about death, about the mystery of being alive.
I stared down at my thin brown hands. It occurred to me that I was a part of those questions. My very body was as much a mystery as this universe. Every beat of my heart, every breath in and out, my fingerprints, my face, my feet -- were a part of the mystery. I could ask, who were those weird aliens? But I could also ask, who are human beings? Who am I?
I leaned back and stared out at the stars, my thoughts drifting. I had no religion, unlike Zoey and Carson. Everything was a mystery to me.
I remembered my mother and me on vacation in California, one of the last natural places left in the world. My favorite place had been Yosemite National Park, a land with such a profusion of beauty — there were rock formations glowing at night, waterfalls as big as mountains, trees so tall they blocked the sun and formed cathedrals of lush darkness. While there I was overwhelmed by sudden spiritual feelings: the world and its mighty bigness, me and my mighty smallness, the mystery, the infinity, the unanswerable riddle. Compared to the vastness of the universe, my own life was short. What did it all mean?
This place was just as overwhelming -- it was the kind of place that makes a person ask the Big Questions -- about life, about death, about the mystery of being alive.
I stared down at my thin brown hands. It occurred to me that I was a part of those questions. My very body was as much a mystery as this universe. Every beat of my heart, every breath in and out, my fingerprints, my face, my feet -- were a part of the mystery. I could ask, who were those weird aliens? But I could also ask, who are human beings? Who am I?
July 15, 2013
A Free Excerpt from Chapter Five
Morning sunlight streamed in the window, making the wooden walls of the room look a cheerful yellow. The room was empty except for a round bed in the center. Eliza, queen of Planet Roo, was lying in bed and slowly awakening.
This is the kind of morning that Queen Eliza liked: waking up to bright sunshine, contemplating the busy day that lay before her, and no pain anywhere in her body. This kind of weather was so good to her aching joints. Eliza stretched out her back legs and fore paws while her tail thumped contentedly.
She looked similar to the rest of the Roonian males on her planet except for her size and her skin; she was six feet tall instead of the male four, and she had a scaly black exterior. An elaborate queen's design covered the center of her back. Her face was larger than the men's faces, but similar in every other way. She had a jutting triangular head that came to a point at the nose, tiny red eyes, and a mouth that was small in front but long on each side of the face. Roonian teeth were small and square, crooked, and packed around the tongue in two or three rows.
Eliza had always thought that Mother Nature was a strange god indeed. It made no sense to her that the Roonian males lived such painless and happy lives while she, the honored and respected queen of the planet, must suffer through so much physical pain -- pain that got worse, harshly and grindingly worse, as she aged. Part of the problem was the basic construction of her female body. Her two short bony legs were expected to hold up a thick trunk and a broad heavy back. Her short tail didn't help provide balance; it seemed to only add a heavy weight to the bottom of her back. Most likely Eliza's pain was due to aging. That was something she didn't like thinking about.
She stretched again and howled a typical Roonian howl, which sounded painful to aliens such as the Yadans, but was nothing more than an ancient and universal yawn. And the older one got, the worse the morning howling. She collapsed back on her bed and flexed her tiny feet, feeling content.
She thought about her fellow Roonian men, her seven husbands, her sons, and all the sons her mother and grandmother and all her queen ancestors bore before her. Lord, how Eliza loved these men! Her heart swelled with pride whenever she thought about them. That they took her love for granted showed their innocence. It would shock these guys if they knew that all queens did not love the job they were born into. Mother hadn't loved her life, but Grandma had, and Grandma was the one that Eliza had wanted to listen to and learn from. After all, Eliza had always reasoned, there was nothing a queen could do but accept the position she was born into, so she might as well find a way to enjoy it. She had been born to be queen, and on Planet Roo, a girl couldn't change that any more than she could change the intricate design on her back that designated her royal position.
Eliza was the most intelligent of the Roonian queens. Recorded history revealed that the Roonian species evolved so that each queen was smarter than her mother, but Roonian male intelligence remained unchanged. Male lives were governed by instinct, entrenched in routine, and innocent of any emotional pain. They led a simple, contented existence that remained unchanged for centuries.
In 5,000 years of Roo's recorded history, the species had remained isolated in the universe, but in Eliza's lifetime an unprecedented and historic event changed Roonian lives forever -- the planet was brought into the Universal Community. Eliza has since become the first queen to meet aliens, the first to travel off Planet Roo, and the first to try to learn another culture and language.
She traveled extensively. For the past ten years she has attended the annual Universal Community meeting. She'd also traveled to other planets for official visits, tours, and various international events. She interacted extensively with the Yadans, the most advanced aliens in the community. Eliza was always grateful to have lived through such an eventful, thrilling, though tiring life.
Through all of Eliza's travels, she learned one thing -- that Roonian culture was superior. In the 5,000 years of recorded Roonian history there had never been a single case of violence among Roonian citizens. Roo had no written laws, no crime, and no prisons. Most Roonians boys had no concept of such things. Eliza and the adult men were aware that such behavior existed in the universe, but Eliza had to travel to other planets in order to understand the impact that violent behavior had on a society. Although Eliza's travels had always been safe, she felt terrified when she thought about the violence that was out there. Eliza shuddered at the thought. Aliens could be so vicious. The Mytes, the Sitas, the recently discovered refugee Human Beings -- they all had long histories of violent behavior. It was so barbaric!
Eliza stretched and howled again. She didn't want to think of such unpleasant things as Sitas and Humans right now. A radiant morning like this one was cause for celebration. Eliza climbed out of bed, her scales flaking off of her body as she moved. She looked down and frowned at the flakes dirtying her bed. She was getting older, all right. But that couldn't change her good mood.
Procreation season was approaching soon; something that Eliza always anticipated with excitement. Maybe this season would be the one that would finally bring her daughter to the planet. Eliza felt ready to pass her responsibilities on to the next queen. She looked forward to the change her daughter would bring to her life. There would be the birth celebrations all over Roo, then the rearing of the girl, then Eliza's final retirement into a slower, quieter lifestyle.
This is the kind of morning that Queen Eliza liked: waking up to bright sunshine, contemplating the busy day that lay before her, and no pain anywhere in her body. This kind of weather was so good to her aching joints. Eliza stretched out her back legs and fore paws while her tail thumped contentedly.
She looked similar to the rest of the Roonian males on her planet except for her size and her skin; she was six feet tall instead of the male four, and she had a scaly black exterior. An elaborate queen's design covered the center of her back. Her face was larger than the men's faces, but similar in every other way. She had a jutting triangular head that came to a point at the nose, tiny red eyes, and a mouth that was small in front but long on each side of the face. Roonian teeth were small and square, crooked, and packed around the tongue in two or three rows.
Eliza had always thought that Mother Nature was a strange god indeed. It made no sense to her that the Roonian males lived such painless and happy lives while she, the honored and respected queen of the planet, must suffer through so much physical pain -- pain that got worse, harshly and grindingly worse, as she aged. Part of the problem was the basic construction of her female body. Her two short bony legs were expected to hold up a thick trunk and a broad heavy back. Her short tail didn't help provide balance; it seemed to only add a heavy weight to the bottom of her back. Most likely Eliza's pain was due to aging. That was something she didn't like thinking about.
She stretched again and howled a typical Roonian howl, which sounded painful to aliens such as the Yadans, but was nothing more than an ancient and universal yawn. And the older one got, the worse the morning howling. She collapsed back on her bed and flexed her tiny feet, feeling content.
She thought about her fellow Roonian men, her seven husbands, her sons, and all the sons her mother and grandmother and all her queen ancestors bore before her. Lord, how Eliza loved these men! Her heart swelled with pride whenever she thought about them. That they took her love for granted showed their innocence. It would shock these guys if they knew that all queens did not love the job they were born into. Mother hadn't loved her life, but Grandma had, and Grandma was the one that Eliza had wanted to listen to and learn from. After all, Eliza had always reasoned, there was nothing a queen could do but accept the position she was born into, so she might as well find a way to enjoy it. She had been born to be queen, and on Planet Roo, a girl couldn't change that any more than she could change the intricate design on her back that designated her royal position.
Eliza was the most intelligent of the Roonian queens. Recorded history revealed that the Roonian species evolved so that each queen was smarter than her mother, but Roonian male intelligence remained unchanged. Male lives were governed by instinct, entrenched in routine, and innocent of any emotional pain. They led a simple, contented existence that remained unchanged for centuries.
In 5,000 years of Roo's recorded history, the species had remained isolated in the universe, but in Eliza's lifetime an unprecedented and historic event changed Roonian lives forever -- the planet was brought into the Universal Community. Eliza has since become the first queen to meet aliens, the first to travel off Planet Roo, and the first to try to learn another culture and language.
She traveled extensively. For the past ten years she has attended the annual Universal Community meeting. She'd also traveled to other planets for official visits, tours, and various international events. She interacted extensively with the Yadans, the most advanced aliens in the community. Eliza was always grateful to have lived through such an eventful, thrilling, though tiring life.
Through all of Eliza's travels, she learned one thing -- that Roonian culture was superior. In the 5,000 years of recorded Roonian history there had never been a single case of violence among Roonian citizens. Roo had no written laws, no crime, and no prisons. Most Roonians boys had no concept of such things. Eliza and the adult men were aware that such behavior existed in the universe, but Eliza had to travel to other planets in order to understand the impact that violent behavior had on a society. Although Eliza's travels had always been safe, she felt terrified when she thought about the violence that was out there. Eliza shuddered at the thought. Aliens could be so vicious. The Mytes, the Sitas, the recently discovered refugee Human Beings -- they all had long histories of violent behavior. It was so barbaric!
Eliza stretched and howled again. She didn't want to think of such unpleasant things as Sitas and Humans right now. A radiant morning like this one was cause for celebration. Eliza climbed out of bed, her scales flaking off of her body as she moved. She looked down and frowned at the flakes dirtying her bed. She was getting older, all right. But that couldn't change her good mood.
Procreation season was approaching soon; something that Eliza always anticipated with excitement. Maybe this season would be the one that would finally bring her daughter to the planet. Eliza felt ready to pass her responsibilities on to the next queen. She looked forward to the change her daughter would bring to her life. There would be the birth celebrations all over Roo, then the rearing of the girl, then Eliza's final retirement into a slower, quieter lifestyle.
April 10, 2013
Stay Tuned . . .
My novel will soon be available in paperback at Amazon.com.
I will be posting an excerpt! I may be posting some short stories as well. Stay tuned . . .
I'm thinking of writing a book tentatively titled Bedtime Stories About the Future, a collection of short stories that take place in the future (like the title says); but these are stories that may have a more optimistic view of the world ahead of us. A lot of science fiction is dark and scary, and I'm thinking it would be cool to write science fiction that is suspenseful, but also amusing and romantic. If you do read my novel, you will see that this is what I tried to do. Whether I did that or not is up to you. I'd love feedback!
I will be posting an excerpt! I may be posting some short stories as well. Stay tuned . . .
I'm thinking of writing a book tentatively titled Bedtime Stories About the Future, a collection of short stories that take place in the future (like the title says); but these are stories that may have a more optimistic view of the world ahead of us. A lot of science fiction is dark and scary, and I'm thinking it would be cool to write science fiction that is suspenseful, but also amusing and romantic. If you do read my novel, you will see that this is what I tried to do. Whether I did that or not is up to you. I'd love feedback!
March 13, 2013
My First Post
3/13/13
It's late at night here in California, and I should be getting to bed. This is my first post on my author blog. I'm just trying it out.
I am the author of the science fiction/chick-lit/new adult novel titled The Earth Girl and Queen Eliza. I haven't sold a lot of copies yet, but I'm still hoping. It's hard to go around telling everyone, "Hey! Buy my book! It's terrific!" But I can say that I've spent several years and hundreds of hours working very hard on it. I've always had this lazy nature, so it's been quite an accomplishment, for me.
Currently on sale at 3.99, I've so far earned a fraction of a penny for every hour I've spent writing. I didn't write it to make lots of money, though that would be nice, of course. I wrote it because I've always wanted to tell stories that lots of people read; it's kind of thrilling to try to connect with humanity at large and not just my own personal friends and family.
Anyway, just putting this out there in the universe. Good night!
It's late at night here in California, and I should be getting to bed. This is my first post on my author blog. I'm just trying it out.
I am the author of the science fiction/chick-lit/new adult novel titled The Earth Girl and Queen Eliza. I haven't sold a lot of copies yet, but I'm still hoping. It's hard to go around telling everyone, "Hey! Buy my book! It's terrific!" But I can say that I've spent several years and hundreds of hours working very hard on it. I've always had this lazy nature, so it's been quite an accomplishment, for me.
Currently on sale at 3.99, I've so far earned a fraction of a penny for every hour I've spent writing. I didn't write it to make lots of money, though that would be nice, of course. I wrote it because I've always wanted to tell stories that lots of people read; it's kind of thrilling to try to connect with humanity at large and not just my own personal friends and family.
Anyway, just putting this out there in the universe. Good night!
