Sara C. Snider's Blog, page 22

Dracaena (Dragon Tree)

It is said that there once was a Tree so great that it encompassed the entire world. Its roots drank from the vast oceans, and its branches reached into the heavens and soaked up the silvery light of the stars.

It is also said that there once was a dragon queen, Dracaena, whose scales were as black as the Void. She fed on light and, like the Void, could never find enough to satiate her appetite. She flew past the great World Tree and was angered how it consumed the light she desired for herse...

Candleberry

Ailia stood in the darkened forest, staring at a single candle flame that flickered in the shadowed silhouette of a tree. She raised her bow, knocked an arrow and pulled the bowstring taut. She remained still and held her breath, closing one eye as she sharpened her sight on the wavering flame. She adjusted her aim and then, just as her arms began to shake, she released the arrow.

It shot through the air, piercing a patch of leaves before flying into the candle flame. The arrow caught fire an...

Bloodwood

My Dear Friend Luther,

It is sheer madness out here in these God-forsaken provinces. The people here do not hold to sense or reason, and instead let their superstitions govern what few wits they do possess. I will, of course, endeavor to carry out my duties to the best of my capabilities despite these difficult times. Yet I cannot help but dwell on how ill my own luck has turned to land me in such a primitive backwater.

To wit: the other week Mrs. Hornleaf approached me, demanding I take men...

Ashen Anise

Quick recap: my theme is flash fiction with tree names used as prompts. I cheated a bit for this one, and used two names (ash and anise). And no, I’m not sorry.

Ashen Anise

Anise knelt to the ground, sifting through the ashes with blackened, soot-stained hands. The fire had been sudden–a blazing torrent that had raged through the village, turning it to ash and embers in mere hours.

Despite what they said, it hadn’t been her fault.

They were always whispering about her—the wild woman that l...

The Forgotten Web is Here!

The Forgotten Web is out and available for Kindle! And, for the moment, only for Kindle. I decided to take the plunge and give the Kindle Select thingie a go. I’m not thrilled about it, because they require exclusivity, but they promise other things like better visibility and availability in Kindle Unlimited, which is their book subscription program.

Given that the biggest problem I’m facing right now is that virtually no one knows I exist, I figure better visibility could be a good thing. An...

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal

It’s that time of year again–when bloggers from around the world band together and put themselves through the horrors rigors of blogging nearly every day for a month! Woohoo!

As a rather infrequent blogger, I’m baffled by my own excitement. But I am! Last year (my first year participating) was hard, but lots and lots of fun. I’m hoping for the same this year. The key, I think, is to have a good theme. And by good, I mean interesting–something you can get excited by and want to write about eve...

The Forgotten Web Cover (and Blurb) Reveal

For the cover of The Forgotten Web, I got to work with Jenny over at Seedlings Design Studio. She was a pleasure to work with–an absolute sweetheart and she knows her stuff. I highly recommend her. I figured I’d do the reveal for the cover like I did for The Thirteenth Tower, only it will be shorter, because there weren’t nearly as many revisions.

So! After settling on a few stock images and a font, this is what she sent me (click on the thumbnails to increase size):

I mean, I was pretty much a...

Searching for Sasquatch: A.K.A. “The Target Audience”

They say that if you want to sell books (or anything, for that matter) then you need to know your target audience. You need to go where your audience is, and let them know that you have something they want/need. It seems like pretty basic marketing stuff. You know, not rocket science.

And yet, for me, it is rocket science. It’s strap-me-to-a-dentist-chair-with-nails-on-a-chalkboard-while-shooting-me-off-into-space, rocket science. Part of it has to do with the fact that sales just isn’t my thi...

New Year, New Stories

This year has been pretty crazy, short though it’s been. A death in the family turned everything upside down, and then January flew by in muddled haze. I feel like a mole that’s ventured up from the ground, blinking at the bright blue sky.

To say I haven’t gotten much writing done lately is an understatement. And the blog itself has been relegated to the “pssht, yeah right” category. I don’t want to completely ignore it, though, and so I thought I’d take the time to share what I have done the...

Swedish Food and Folklore

Every year around Christmas time I get ideas in my head of all the food I’m going to make. More often than not, it never actually happens. Last year, though, I made a breakthrough and actually made the applesauce I had been intending to do for years, and some crisp flatbread to boot. Success!

This year, it was supposed to be spiced wine — or glögg, as the Swedes call it. But then I was in the liquor store and they had so many varieties of glögg that I caved and bought a bottle. I’m still prett...