It’s Here!

Yes, this is the official release date for Aunt Anne’s Archive. I’m excited to bring out my second short story collection, spanning most of my career.

What’s in it? Twelve short stories, from the brooding “Bonewood Forest” and “Hag” to the humorous “Buried Treasure” and “Rosewood’s Challenge.” Some of them are previously published, while others are coming to the public for the first time. And all for just $9.95!

Get it from Amazon or Books2Read and prepare for a great read.

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Aunt Anne’s Archive

Behind the velvet curtain, beyond the secret door, lies a lost archive of literary enchantments. From the creepy to the cozy, the mysterious and the magical, the witty and the wondrous, each tale casts its own rare spell. Welcome to Aunt Anne’s Archive.

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

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Word Question 5

It’s been a while since I did one of these posts, where I focus on specific words that sometimes are confused with each other. Today it’s “hardy” and “hearty.”

Hardy means a person or thing that is able to endure difficult conditions. Someone tough and brave or daring. Plants that don’t die of frost are hardy; in spring, we “harden them off” before planting outdoors. Soldiers are hardy; we often speak of veterans being “hardened” by combat.

Hearty refers to expressing a strong emotion, usually a positive one. Someone might have a hearty laugh or give a cause their hearty support. Their actions come from the heart.

Don’t forget! My short story collection, Aunt Anne’s Archive, releases next Wednesday on Amazon and Books2Read. I hope I can count on your hearty support.

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

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An Opportunity

If you’re interested in being more active with the publishing side, I’ve heard of an opportunity. Hexagon Magazine is a semi-pro outfit looking for first readers. It’s a volunteer position. Details are here.

Other than that, I’m working away on The Spirit Binder. Other tasks include spring cleaning (washing the drapes and windows) and getting my garden up to speed (making sure my hoses all work). Fun! Don’t forget, Aunt Anne’s Archive is releasing in two weeks! The paperback will be up for orders later today, so I hope you’ll take a look at it.

Happy weekend, all!

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Read Full Post »

Aunt Anne’s Archive

Yes, it’s up for pre-orders, with a release date of May 15th. I just received the printed proof, and am going through it for last minute corrections.

What’s in it? Twelve short stories, from the brooding “Bonewood Forest” and “Hag” to the humorous “Buried Treasure” and “Rosewood’s Challenge.” Some of them are previously published, while others are coming to the public for the first time. And all for just $9.95!

Pre-order from Amazon or Books2Read if you’re interested.

---

Behind the velvet curtain, beyond the secret door, lies a lost archive of literary enchantments. From the creepy to the cozy, the mysterious and the magical, the witty and the wondrous, each tale casts its own rare spell. Welcome to Aunt Anne’s Archive.

---

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Read Full Post »

Works in Progress

Lately I’ve been posting a lot about books that are on special or being re-issued. It’s time to talk about the new things I’m working on.

My current work in progress is The Spirit Binder. Cleodora is a young girl who can see nature spirits. Her land of Tenebira has been suffering a drought for seven years or more. Cleodora has learned that someone offended the spirits and they stopped letting it rain. She’s off to find out what happened and try to fix it.

A trend I’ve noticed in my novels is how often my characters are traveling. I’m kind of proud that she got 30+ chapters in before she had to go anywhere. It’s been slow of late, but I’m still making progress. After I finish this blog I’ll start in on chapter 37, and the story is over 48,000 words. That’s quite a bit longer than I expected. The second draft is likely to see some severe cuts.

My secondary project is Aunt Anne’s Archive, a short story collection that I plan to bring out in early May. That’s the one I showed off a possible cover for last week. I’ve got the stories in their final order. I’ve almost finished the layout in print format, as well. I’m hoping to get that mostly set up by the end of spring break, so I can focus on Queen Titania’s Court and just click “print” when the time comes. We shall see.

Speaking of Queen Titania’s Court, there’s still lots of space for more authors to take part. If you know someone who might be interested, I hope you’ll pass the info on to them.

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

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Future Release

Illustration by DeKreator

Here’s a sneak peek at the cover for my next planned release, Aunt Anne’s Archive. Isn’t it pretty? Bear in mind, this is a work in progress and there are bound to be changes. It gives you an idea what I’m going for, though.

This will be a short story collection, companion to one of my first independent releases, Aunt Ursula’s Atlas. Where Aunt Ursula collected Lucy D. Ford’s short work, Aunt Anne will be under Deby Fredericks’ byline. My initial plan was to also re-release Aunt Ursula with a new cover. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to determine whether AI had been used in that image, so it’s temporarily on hold.

I almost have enough stories for a second collection of Lucy’s work, but one thing at a time. Besides, I’d have to decide which literary aunt I wanted to dedicate to.

Anywho, I’d love to hear what you think about this cover. Tell me about it in the comments!

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Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my website, Bluesky, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram.

Read Full Post »