L.G. Estrella's Blog, page 20
December 9, 2022
The Truth (Flash Fiction Fridays #28)
Simon’s laughter trailed off as Cuddles stared at him. “Wait… Santa isn’t real, right? Right?”
The cosmic guinea pig nibbled on a caramel-glazed donut and took a sip of brandy. “What makes you think he isn’t real?”
“Because it just doesn’t make sense. Someone who knows if you’ve been bad or good and who can not only deliver a gift to every child in the world but also one specific to their individual needs, all in one night? Santa would have to be some kind of nigh-omnipotent being.”
Cuddles took...
December 5, 2022
Animals To Zombify
Timmy (from The Unconventional Heroes Series) is a Grand Necromancer. His wealth and influence are immense. Yet there are some animals he hasn’t yet managed to make zombies out of. Can you guess what they are? I’ll give you a list of five, along with the reasons he hasn’t made any zombies out of them yet.
Will he finally be able to accomplish his dreams in Two Necromancers, a Fortress, and a Titan? Who knows. And, yes, that’s the working title for the next book.
Giant pangolin. Pangolins are no...December 4, 2022
Survivorship Bias
It can be very easy to become discouraged when you look at an author’s oeuvre (body of work). You see book after book that has been successful, each one full of wonderful ideas that have been brought to life on the page. But what you don’t see are the stories that didn’t make it, the ideas that were never quite good enough to make the cut.
This is an example of survivorship bias.
No author gets it right every time. Even amongst an author’s published works, there are going to be stories that are ...
November 24, 2022
Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf eBook… Free on Black Friday!
Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf will be free on Amazon for Black Friday (25th November 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM PST)! You can get it here.
If you haven’t already given it a try, or you know someone who might enjoy it, Friday is the day!
Note: This is the eBook, NOT the Audiobook.
November 23, 2022
You Can’t Please Everybody
I think one of the biggest mistakes that a writer can make is trying to please everybody. This is especially true for genres like humour, fantasy, or science fiction where people can have very different ideas about what is good as well as very different ideas about what is or is not part of the genre. The important thing is to realise who you’re writing for and to write accordingly.
Take hard science fiction. Not everybody enjoys the attention to detail and realism present in most hard science f...
November 15, 2022
Thank You
Last Friday (11th of November), Cosmic Delivery Boy went on sale on Audible for $2.99. I had expected an increase in sales due to the sale… and, boy, did I get an increase.
Cosmic Delivery Boy managed to reach #2 on the best seller list for Audible Books and Originals.
Number two. In the entire store.
Not for its genre. Not for a particular sub-genre. But across the entire store across all Audible Books and Originals.
Were it not for the awe-inspiring might of Matthew Perry, it would have reache...
November 10, 2022
Cosmic Delivery Boy $2.99 On Audible Today!
If you haven’t yet given Cosmic Delivery Boy on Audible a chance, now is the time! For US Audible Premium Plus subscribers, Cosmic Delivery Boy is only $2.99 today (11/11/2025)!
Get it here.
If you’re wondering if you should give the audiobook a chance, you’ll never get a better opportunity! And if you’re already got it, tell your friends or anyone else you think might be interested!
Petal Cutter (Flash Fiction Fridays #27)
Katie had always liked autumn. There was something about the changing colours of the leaves and the shift from the heat of summer to the cold of winter that intrigued her. She had fond memories of ordering her zombies to rake all of the leaves into great piles or orange, red, and brown that she would then leap into. Her master had caught her doing that more than once, but he’d merely raised one eyebrow and given her a single command.
“Don’t forget to rake them back up once you’re done.”
Sam had ...
November 8, 2022
Look on the Upside
On the downside, I now need an account to help me with my taxes. On the upside, that’s because I’m now earning enough money that it’s worth having a professional look over everything.
For that, of course, I have my wonderful readers and listeners to thank.
I am very, very grateful that people find my writing enjoyable.
I can still remember my first month as a ‘professional’ writer. Earning roughly $6.50 wasn’t exactly the most glorious start, but it was enough to buy me a pizza and a drink from ...
November 4, 2022
Accents Are Amusing
Although I’ve lived in Australia for the vast majority of my life, I did spend some of my formative years in the United States. This has led to my developing a somewhat unusual accent. When I first arrived in Australia, people would routinely remark on my American accent. Over time, I had assumed that I had lost that accent in favour of a more Australian one.
Not really.
Apparently, I still have something of an American accent. However, whenever I speak to someone who isn’t Australian (e.g., an ...
