Dreamspinner sale, 40%

Dreamspinner is doing another sale -- 40% off all e-books published prior to July 2018 -- this includes my work!

It's running through Jan 27th. Go to their main page to see the announcement:
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

current project

I got 2k words down today, which was fabulous. I'm now up to about 7k words. I am not worrying about anything making sense yet, that's what editing is for!

doing it for myself

Just very glad it is Friday night. I'm making a casserole. This way, when I come home from work tomorrow, I'll have leftovers that I know will be ready to go. (I need some kind of doing it for myself hashtag that isn't crazy long. Is there one out there already?)

review: Love In Every Stitch

Definitely a book out of my normal comfort zone. Not my usual style of non-fiction.

Love in Every Stitch by Lee Gant

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2678443337

The downside of the audiobook is that there was apparently a pattern with the book for a knit hat. I'd have liked to have at least looked at the photo/pattern, and dreamed for a moment that I could do such a thing.

review: Lucky Broken Girl

I have a new resolve to get more reading done in 2019, and a lot of my reading will be audiobooks because that fits into my time management. Here's my most recent listening:

Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2674055221

30% off at Dreamspinner

From Jan 13-15 (so one more day!) Dreamspinner has a 30% off code, for all orders!

This means that my stuff would be included in this sale!

The code is available at the front page: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

I've got stories included in a few anthologies, but I also have two stand-alone books that I'm really proud of.

Go here to see everything: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/tray-ellis-483-a

My longer book, Pyresnakes, an urban fantasy/fantasy adventure tale with romance is here:
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/pyresnakes-by-tray-ellis-8608-b

And my sweet wedding-themed pink-colored romance, How Sweetly the Whippoorwill Sings, is here:
https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/how-sweetly-the-whippoorwill-sings-by-tray-ellis-4429-b

And there are so many wonderful stories there, that even if you aren't interested in my stuff, there are all sorts of different styles of writing, adventures, romances, dark and light, and everything in between. Happy reading!

ah, coffee

Through the engine-churning power of coffee, I got back in the swing of things this weekend and wrote nearly 3k words on a story -- it felt very good, and also quite rusty. I promised myself I'd go back and do stringent edits later, and that getting the words out for now was the best thing. Us writers, so critical, even from the get-go!

goals for today

Goals for today:
--time on the treadmill (too cold to go outside and not freeze all my alveoli, which would suck)
--more writing, I got some done yesterday and today I anticipate doing more
--make something healthy to eat

what to do on a Friday night?

So many options for a free Friday night. It is far too cold to go outside to do anything, so it'll be indoors.

Watch a movie and sip a drink?

Work on a quilt or a knitting project? (I have one fingerless glove done, and it is missing its mate.)

Check out social media and then see if I can find some more words for a new writing project?

Cuddle my dog, and maybe go to bed early?

Hit the gym? (Some Friday nights yes, this one no, since I'm still getting over those two rotten colds.)

I'm think cuddle the dog and maybe try to write after I procrastinate a bit.

I'm looking forward to a Saturday morning where I sleep in!

sick again, and audiobooks

I was *just* starting to feel better and was getting things done, with only a lingering cough and a little appetite depression, and then my back started aching and my temperature went up, and I got disgustingly nauseous. So, another virus on the heels of the previous one that I had just fought off. 2019, you and I are not getting along very well. I am on day 10 of 2019 and have not had a fully healthy day yet. This bodes not well.

So, back to soup and tea. I have now tried another four different varieties of chicken-something from various cans. And the saltine crackers in the house have been replenished.

Sitting up to watch tv was a bit much for a while, so in between heavy-duty napping, I listened to an audiobook. Which is great, because if you fall asleep, you can just rewind it. I adore audiobooks. I wish there were more books made into audiobooks.

I listened to Less, by Andrew Sean Greer.

Here's the review at GoodReads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2667691493

soup, and story #3

I changed from tea to hot chocolate, and had some soup for dinner. I am feeling much better now that I've had a full day to actually rest (not try to go to work and gut my way through the day) and suspect that tomorrow I'll be back to running errands and doing laundry, even if not quite at the same rate as usual.

But after my afternoon nap, I read my third story for the day from the Once Upon a Rainbow Vol. 2 anthology, "Deathless" by Emmalynn Spark.

This story was quite engrossing. While all the stories in the anthology are fairy tales of a sort, this one had a lyrical-ness to its framework that was so pleasant to slide into and ride like a wave as the story unfolded around me. The Prince goes to slay the evil wizard, because that's how the story goes, but does it really? A little bit of meta toward the end of the story while within the story was just a perfect touch, and the story ended exactly as it should have. All the fairytale elements of this were build solidly and deftly, and the touches of humor were light. I think I'd call this something Bluebeard-esque but really that's just the barest of bones to start "Deathless" by, because the rest of the story feels a bit more like Howl's Moving Castle in some elements. A lovely romance.

And now I guess I'll be off to bed for a full night's sleep.

tea #3, porridge, and more reading

After a lengthy mid-morning nap, cup of tea #3, and some porridge, I read the next story in Once Upon a Rainbow, Vol. 2, "Snow Fox" by Sara Codair.

This is a wry, snarky, cutting twist on Snow White. It has a modern day setting with magic and enchantments mixed with social media and social media grudges. The whole thing is a bit tongue-in-cheek except that the dark commentary about vanity is spot-on. How is it that I did seem to forget that the Queen was out to murder Snow White for the sheer fact that she was prettier? Because it happens so early on, and the rest of the story is about the comeback. But in "Snow Fox", the point is made more than once so it is kept front and center while the romance aspect plays out. Well done, I'll enjoy returning to this story again.

Now for a mid-afternoon nap.


Link for the anthology: https://ninestarpress.com/product/once-upon-a-rainbow-volume-two/

cup of tea #2, and Once Upon a Rainbow #2

So while sipping on cup of tea #2, I decided a short story rather than a long novel would be about the right length before I contemplate an early morning nap. I hadn't finished reading all the stories in the anthology of Once Upon a Rainbow Vol. 2 (my story "The True Love Curse" is also in the anthology) so I opened it up and read the first story "Coming Home" by Jennifer Cosgrove.

It's a sweet take on a Cinderella-esque story, but with a Prince. I liked his best friend, Molly, and I really liked his love interest, Chris. There's an interesting plot that perks up about halfway through that keeps your attention and plays along very nicely with the characters getting to know each other better. And there are lots of parties and coffee shops. This story definitely keeps the theme of the evil step-mother intact. (And as the first story in the anthology I think it bookends really well with my story coming at the end where I play against that trope and make the step-mother one of the heroes of the story, with a truly good heart.)

If you've got the anthology at hand, it might be fun to read both stories and then think deep thoughts about how our society deals with step-parents in literature, and then how the majority of them are way better than given credit for. If you don't have the anthology at hand, then find it here: https://ninestarpress.com/product/once-upon-a-rainbow-volume-two/

Now off to nap, and read more later....

Day five: soup and tea

I've still got my cold/virus hanging on. I am getting better. Sleeping through most of the night last night was quite nice, but I'm up now -- still tired, but I just can't sleep anymore. I'm already on Cup of Tea #1. Soups I've enjoyed over the past few days (some soups more than once): tomato, cream of mushroom, vegetable and wild rice, shrimp and lime ramen, Manhattan clam chowder, and some zesty tomato. Also, crackers soaked in soup are nice. Thank goodness that soup comes premade in a can and can be easily reconstituted and microwaved because I am not up to cooking myself healthy, hearty soups to get rid of this cold. In the future, I am going to consider making soup to freeze so that I will have something homemade and ready to go in the freezer. But for now, I'm really grateful for commercially available soups.

I don't know if I'm up to writing today, but I think I will do some reading while snuggled into my couch and covered by lots of blankets.