Announcing The November Winner Of Book Swag

Chosen by totally unscientific yet completely random methods (I put names on pieces of paper and drew one out of a bowl), the winner of my November book swag giveaway for this lovely tote bag

is

LIZ.

Yea!
Liz entered three times, once by reviewing Becoming Brigid on Amazon, once for reviewing it on her blog, and once by sending me her photo to use to promote the book.
Liz, you've got my e-mail.  Just send me your postal address, if you would, please, and you'll have a new library book/grocery tote bag in time for Christmas!

For those of you who entered but didn't win, have no fear; a new contest begins tomorrow with more book swag!  Liz's entries will be deleted, but the rest of you are still in the running for the next prize.
What?  You haven't entered yet but you want to?  No problem.  I'll have all the details for you tomorrow. :D

My Super Power Of Choice

I just read another paranormal book last night, and, like most paranormal books, the protagonist (and her friends, in this one) had a super-power.  She was like a magnet around metal.  Oh, and she could create fire.  One of her friends could shape-shift into a crow.  And the third could mix spiffy potions.
Of these three, it seems to me that only the third would be useful in real life. Seriously, being a magnet would be more dangerous than not, and what good, really, is being a crow, other than for having fun flying around?
I like to think my own paranormal creations have more practical super-powers.  Eric, in the Half-Vampire novels, can see really well in the dark.  That could be really handy -- even in a world without vampires.   Going anywhere at night would be a lot easier.  The possessor of such a gift would be much safer, too.
Brigid, in Becoming Brigid, is pretty much immortal -- as long as she can heal herself.  She also gets to be eternally young.  Not a bad deal, really.
The appeal of magic powers is pretty simple, when it comes right down to it.  We all want control -- and preferably MORE control than John Doe.  We don't want to be the ones who are hurt, tricked, killed, or having to live in fear.
Of course, since the actual world doesn't have vampires, evil wizards, mischievous fairies, etc., many of the magical abilities in books would be pretty useless, like the aforementioned ability to turn into a crow.
(And suddenly I'm thinking of writing a book wherein multiple characters have useless paranormal abilities: the ability to command sloths, the ability to predict the price of boxed cereal in any store on any given day, the ability to sing cats to sleep.)
If I got to have a paranormal ability for living in the real world, I think I'd like the ability to repel selected living creatures at will.
Just think of the possibilities!  No one would ever block me on the freeway again; they'd have an irrepressible urge to pull over and let me pass.  All dogs living within 500 feet of my home would run away to find new owners -- and I would never again have to listen to hours and hours of barking.  All people walking their dogs to let them poop on my lawn would hurry past instead.  I would never have to kill another spider inside my house or worry about termites again!  The obnoxious parents at parent-teacher conference would not get close to my line, thus leaving me with only reasonable people to deal with.  Neighbors I don't like would move away, allowing decent folks to move in.  I would be free to walk about in less-safe areas when I travel, as all suspicious people would feel the need to avoid me.  The construction workers blocking our driveway right now would feel compelled to leave immediately.  I would never have to use insect repellant again.  I wouldn't have to wait in long lines for anything, as those in front of me would feel the need to leave until I finished.
Yes, I think this would be a highly useful super-power.
What super-power would you choose?

Clockwork Christmas Is Now Available! (And I'm Giving Away Two E-Copies This Week!)

My steampunk Christmas short story collection is now available on Amazon for 99¢.  Just click here.

It's Christmas, 1874, like you've never experienced it before.  Like it never was, actually.

In "The Cephalopod Who Saved Christmas," lighthouse keeper Zeke Longstalks is troubled by his son Timmy's request for a Christmas tree when there's no way to cross the dangerous shoals of the River Victorianna -- the largest in all Pacifica -- in order to find one.  In "The Steampirates of St. Andrews," merchant sailman (and sometime smuggler) London Sunday is over the North Sea aboard the airship La Virgen del Aire, hoping for a way to distance himself from the noisy, smelly animals below deck.  In "The Wise Men and the Angel," apprentices Bertie Haven and Oliver Laird are worried that the secrets of their employer's son might become public with the arrival of the theocratic leader of the Independent State of Deseret.  And in "The Reason," Derrik Andrews sits in a boardinghouse in New York City, longing for a future which has been stolen from him -- by his own mistake.

These four short stories form a stand-alone collection, but they also serve as a teaser forThe Chocolate Smuggler's Notebook, an upcoming steampunk adventure by Lisa Shafer.


To celebrate the official release, I'm giving away two e-copies this week.  Here's the rafflecopter entry form:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

The winners will be announced on Thanksgiving Day.

Columnist Robert Kirby On The Ordain Women Movement = Quote Of The Day

I love Robert Kirby, columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune.  He has that great gift of wit found in the writings of Erma Bombeck and Mark Twain; he can say succinctly with humor little bits of profound wisdom.
Last week he commented on the uproar caused this autumn by women (and some men!) who feel that it's time that women in the LDS Church should stop being forced to take figurative seats at the back of the bus and be allowed equal church rights alongside men.  I absolutely loved how he summed up the whole argument:

"Those opposed to women being ordained are probably more worried about their own ability to cope with change rather than doctrinal appropriateness."

Announcing Clockwork Christmas! (And Requesting Reviewers.)

It's Christmas, 1874, like you've never experienced it before.  Like it never was, actually.

In "The Cephalopod Who Saved Christmas," lighthouse keeper Zeke Longstalks is troubled by his son Timmy's request for a Christmas tree when there's no way to cross the dangerous shoals of the River Victorianna -- the largest in all Pacifica -- in order to find one.  In "The Steampirates of St. Andrews," merchant sailman (and sometime smuggler) London Sunday is over the North Sea aboard the airship La Virgen del Aire, hoping for a way to distance himself from the noisy, smelly animals below deck.  In "The Wise Men and the Angel," apprentices Bertie Haven and Oliver Laird are worried that the secrets of their employer's son might become public with the arrival of the theocratic leader of the Independent State of Deseret.  And in "The Reason," Derrik Andrews sits in a boardinghouse in New York City, longing for a future which has been stolen from him -- by his own mistake.

These four short stories form a stand-alone collection, but they also serve as a teaser for The Chocolate Smuggler's Notebook, an upcoming steampunk adventure by Lisa Shafer.


*****
And so, I finished this over the weekend.  It's 33 pages, a collection of four steampunk Christmas short stories.  I plan to release it on November 25 and sell it -- e-book only -- for 99¢ on Amazon.
However, I hate to see it languishing unreviewed, as is the fate of most of my books for weeks after publication.  But this needs to be out for Christmas sales; it can't wait weeks for reviews.
Thus, if anyone would like to have a free PDF copy of it THIS week, ahead of publication, and with the promise you'll post a review of it on Amazon -- and I hope on Goodreads as well -- as soon as the book is available (i.e. on November 25), please leave your e-mail address in a comment (I won't publish the comment if it has an address in it.) below or else tweet or DM me your e-mail address. @lisamshafer
The book is short, about a half-hour's read.  And the review can be short; a paragraph would be just dandy.
The stories are rather funny -- at least, I think so.
Do I have any takers?  C'mon, it's a FREE BOOK.  Can you resist that?  (I hope not.)

My Thoughts On Bat Kid San Francisco

Last week, the Make-A-Wish folks in San Francisco went all out for a little kid with leukemia, Miles Scott.  San Francisco was turned into Gotham for a day.  People loaned Lambourginis to be used as Batmobiles.  The Chief of Police issued videotaped calls out to Bat Kid to save the day.  Actors dressed up as a damsel in distress to be saved, the Riddler, and a kidnapped team mascot needing a rescue.  Photos and tweets of the proceedings went viral.  Hundreds of adults had way more fun than the kid doing all this in a chance to act out their own Batman fantasies.  Even President Obama sent out his first-ever Vine message -- and it was to Miles.
Check out all the details here.

People have tweeted and commented all over cyberspace about how wonderful all this was.  I had two main thoughts, one of which I mentioned above: that the adults were having more fun than Miles.
The other thought was sadness.
Not for Miles and his disease, but for all the other little kids who want with all their hearts to be Batman or Wonder Woman for a day but will never have the chance.  Oh sure, it's easy enough for an adult to understand that this happened out of survivors' guilt and as an excuse for the adults to have fun in the name of helping a kid.  But how many children can grasp that?  Very few.  And I wonder how many of them who saw this are secretly wishing for leukemia so that they can have a day like this.
Yes, I'm glad for Miles and for all the folks who had fun doing all this.  But I feel bad for every other child who saw it and wondered, "Why him?  Why not me?" and then felt guilty for wondering.
Was the price of making one little guy have the perfect day worth the price of making so many others feel bad?  I wonder.
None of this, of course, is Miles' fault.  Naturally, I'd love to see us beat cancer -- and give Miles a chance to grow up healthy.  But I'd rather give my money to research to help many people instead of a tiny percentage.
My opinion here will be unpopular, I'm sure.  But I still feel for all the kids who DIDN'T get to be Bat Kid this week, some of whom could've used the ego boost every bit as much as Miles.

Pumpkin Pie, Cocoa, And A Good Book

Isn't this cozy?

Here's wishing you time to spend doing this over this weekend.  :)

P.S.  She's also entered in my winter giveaways.  Click here to see how you can enter.

Liz Reads On Her Laptop

My cyberbuddy Liz sent me this photo of herself ready to read Becoming Brigid.

This gives her one entry into my winter giveaways, meaning she stays entered until she wins or until I run out of prizes, whichever comes first.
Here's November's book swag prize:

a Becoming Brigid totebag.

If you'd like to enter, click here for all the details.

Help Me Decide On A Title -- Please?

Oh, for heaven's sakes!
So, I've put together a boxed set of my two Half-Vampire novels for e-book release for Christmas.  Everything's all ready to roll except the cover.
Tonight I chose the background pic variation and went to put the type on it.
And....
And I can't decide on a title.
Help!

So, if book one is Confessions of an Average Half-Vampire,

and book two is All in the Half-Vampire Family,

and the background pic for the cover is a variation on that same blood splatter and will use the same font, what do I call the boxed set?

Here are my ideas so far:
1) Half-Vampire: the boxed set
2) The Half-Vampire Boxed Set
3) It's In The Blood: the Half-Vampire boxed set
4) It's a Half-Vampire Thing: boxed set
5) some other less lame title ?????


Please, please, please tell me what you think!  I can't even make the cover until I have a title that doesn't suck.  (Uh, poor choice of words there.  Unless I can use THAT for a title: Life Sucks: the Half-Vampire boxed set.)

Too Busy Reading

She's too busy reading Becoming Brigid to perform.  ;)

(OK, well, we staged it that way.  Thanks to Max for taking the photo.)

Sending me a photo of yourself reading Becoming Brigid counts as an entry into my November contest.  Check out the details here.

P.S. The costumes are Russian; the location was the Jordan Peace Park in Salt Lake City.  No, I'm not in the picture.
Click on the picture to enlarge it.

My First Teenage Fan Gushing Over A "Hot" Character I've Created

This afternoon I raced (literally) across the valley to get from the school where I teach to a high school across town to meet with their creative writing club, mentored by a friend of mine who used to teach at my school.  It was a ton of fun (meeting with the club, not the racing across town).
Since I'm a teacher, I had none of the jitters about which I've heard many authors complain.  I don't fear public speaking, for one thing.  And I certainly have no fear of teenagers.  (Geez, these kids were older and better behaved than what I normally face anyway.  They were highly amused that my first words to them were, "Thank you for not being 7th graders.")
I began with a bit of background on how/when I started writing, then talked to them a bit about why I self-publish -- and HOW.  They wanted the HOW part.  And that was fine.  I thought they would.  We talked about formatting and making covers and advertising.  I let them know the harsh realities of how self-published authors don't really make much money, that one does this because one likes it.
They also got a BIG talking-to on revision, on how a first draft is NOT a final product.  I told them that NaNoWriMO is fine, but that they should put that finished first draft away for a month -- at least -- afterwards and let it "ripen" while they write something else.  I told them that first draft will look a LOT less perfect when they see it with fresh eyes.
They ate this up.  And that's a good thing.
We talked about POV and intended audience.
They wanted to know where I got my ideas for each book.  They were enthralled as I talked about authors I'd met; Neil Gaiman, of course, was an impressive name to drop.
One of the girls had borrowed the teacher's copy of Becoming Brigid and read it.  She was an avid reader; she told me she'd read over 200 books this year.  (No one contradicted her; apparently, she is well-known for constant reading.)  She went on for 2 or 3 minutes about how she loved the multiple plots and parallel times going on in Brigid.  She said it was the best she'd ever read like that.  (I basked in my warm, fuzzy moment while she talked.)
And, at the end of the meeting, as 4 or 5 kids hung around to tell me shyly what they were writing and/or ask more questions, she began gushing over Dougal.
"I LOVE Dougal!" she half-shouted.  Then she went on and on to 2 other girls who hadn't read the book yet, telling them how intriguing he was.  I was SO pleased.
Yes, I now have a teenage girl in love with my fictional character.  Once again, I have passed another milestone as an author. :D
I didn't sell any books (but maybe some of them will buy the e-book -- I hope), but I did rally them up to convince their school librarian to buy a copy.  I told them about my current contest, and one girl got very excited about writing a book review (so I hope she really will read the book and review it).
I gave away a Half-Vampire tee shirt and lots of bookmarks.  And I got about 15 volunteers to beta read The (Dis)Appearance of Nerissa MacKay.  In fact, there was much disappointment that I only had 3 copies -- until I pointed out that it's only a novella and they could pass  it around to more people at their next writers' club meeting in 2 weeks.
So, overall, I'd say it was a huge success.
Plus, I get to come back and do a workshop with them in a month or so.  :)

Becoming Brigid Book Swag Giveaway #1!

Tomorrow I get to do a school visit to talk to a creative writing club (Note: not the school where I teach -- wow!), so in honor of that, let's have my first swag giveaway!

Here's what I'll give away to a lucky winner on December 1:

It's a tote bag with the Becoming Brigid book cover on it.
The bag is medium-sized, and it makes a great library bag (that's how I'm using mine).  It would also be great for groceries, hobby stuff, etc.  It's pretty sturdy, and the handles fit nicely over the shoulder.

Want it?  Good.  :)
Here's how you can enter:
1) Buy a copy of Becoming Brigid and read it.  Or else convince your local library to purchase a copy and then read it.
Afterwards, post a review of the book on Amazon, Goodreads, or your blog (or all of the above for multiple entries).
Tweet or DM me a link (@lisamshafer) to the review, or post a comment on this post or on my Current Contests page with a link to the review.
I'll list your name on the Current Contests page, and you'll be entered.
2) You may also enter (instead of or in addition to the reviews) by photographing yourself reading/holding a copy of Becoming Brigid (the cover must be showing).

Then instagram the jpg to me OR pin the jpg to an appropriate board (books, Celts, mythology, self-publishing, etc.) and post the link in the comment section here or tweet/DM it to me (@lisamshafer) OR post a comment her or on my Current Contests page with your e-mail address (and I'll contact you to get the jpg).  The photo will be used for publicity; thus, if you are not yet 18 years old, you MUST be photographed WITH YOUR PARENT to prove you have permission to do this.

Your name will then be added to the list of entrants on the Current Contests page.

On December 1, the winner will be announced, and I will contact the winner for a mailing address.
This contest is open in the US and Canada.  You must be 13 or older to enter. You may enter multiple times.   I am not responsible for loss or damage of prizes during shipping.  I promise not to share your contact info with anyone.  Your entries WILL be made public.
For a list of entrants, go to the Current Contests page.  Click here.

So, What's Happening Now?

1) My goodreads contest ended on Halloween.  There were 389 entries (significantly fewer than for any Half-Vampire goodreads contest I've done), and 180 people added Becoming Brigid to their TBR list.  A girl named Hannah won, and I mailed off the book Friday.  (I hope she likes it and gives it a positive review somewhere.)
2) This Thursday I'm scheduled to meet with the creative writing club of a high school across town from where I teach.  This should be fun, as they're older kids and I don't know any of them -- for a change. :)
3) Yes, I'm aware that NaNoWriMo is starting.  I don't do NaNoWriMo.  I believe that writing is a craft which takes time.  I suspect that it is extremely unlikely that anyone could write a whole novel from outline to finished first draft in thirty days and have anything that wasn't 90% crap.  (And I read LOTS of self-published fiction which came from NaNoWriMos past and backs up my suspicions here.)
4) I am working on several things right now.
4a) One of them is a 2-book set of Confessions of an Average Half-Vampire and All in the Half-Vampire Family.

(Max in stereo with both HV books.)
I've finished putting them together -- and putting BACK all the italics which inconveniently disappear when I copy and paste.  But I've got to decide on and put in the "extras" at the back of the book and fix up a new cover.  I've been tinkering with variations on that original blood splatter, but nothing is jumping out at me as a good choice just yet.  (Yeah, I have about 15 photo aps on my iPad.)  At any rate, I hope to have this e-book only set ready to roll for Christmas sales.  :)

(A teaching colleague with both HV books.)
4b) I've had The (Dis)Appearance of Nerissa MacKay on hold for months now, as I've been so busy with finalizing Becoming Brigid and working on the first draft of The Chocolate Smuggler's Notebook.  But I hope to have some of these high school creative writing kids beta read if for me.  (I'm also still struggling with the cover of this one.)

4c) I've been pecking away at Chocolate Smuggler's Notebook, but I got stagnated and disappointed for a few days.  I then went back to my idea from last year of writing some short story prequels to introduce the world of the book, and I got another idea.  I decided I'd write a set of short stories as prequels to the prequels -- but Christmas stories!

I have 4 mapped out, and one and 3/4 of them written.  And tonight, I had Dad look over the covers I'd created.  He picked out the one he thinks is best, praised my color choice (usually very good), font choice, and letter placement (often where I have trouble).  Thus, the cover is set.  (Uh, I might add here that Dad spent his entire career as a commercial artist, the forerunner to today's graphic artists, so he knows what he's talking about.)
I hope to have a 99¢ story collection ready by Cyber Monday (e-book only).
5) I do have more contests planned and prizes sitting on my craft desk, ready to be sent out to winners.  I just keep hoping to get some more book reviews for Becoming Brigid, but they're not coming in very fast.  Perhaps I need to start the contest and see if that generates some interest????

6) I've certainly learned that posting photos on this blog (and on Pinterest and Twitter) REALLY increases my blog traffic.  I don't know that it's really increased book sales, but it certainly brings folks to the blog!