For Halloween, get “Misty and the Magic Pumpkin Knife” free! (At most retailers)

Happy Halloween!

In honor of the occasion, I made my Halloween short story “Misty and the Magic Pumpkin Knife” free through Draft2Digital. Since it’s no longer in KDP Select, I couldn’t make it free through Amazon this year without a lot of hassle, but I’ve made it free there before, so I hope the Amazon folks won’t feel too left out.

Misty Mankin hated Halloween. She hated ghosts and princesses and black and orange. Especially orange. She hated frozen pumpkin pie, the most common kind in Rolynka, Alaska. She hated witches and masks and what qualified as seasonal office parties near the Arctic Circle. She hated all the interruptions of her evening accompanied by screaming and giggling and variations from innocent to profane on the three words “trick or treat.”
She particularly hated the pumpkin knife — and the fact that it contained the ghost of her mother…

B&N

Kobo

iBooks

Scribd

Oyster

Page Foundry

And 99c on Amazon.

Have a wonderful Samhain, everyone!

Happy Halloween — and a free Halloween story for the occasion!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

When I first came to Germany, many decades ago, there was no such thing as Halloween. All Hallows, the first of November, is a religious holiday here, and those with regular jobs get the day off. But the evening before All Hallows, the night when the door between the worlds of the living and the dead is open a bit wider than usual — that seems to have it’s roots in the Irish Celtic festival of Samhain. Immigrants brought Halloween to the US, where it eventually became the second biggest money-making holiday after Christmas.

Here in Germany, though, there isn’t much left of the Celts who once dominated most of northern Europe. Halloween is an import on the part of clever marketing folks who wanted to sell costumes left over from Fasching — otherwise known as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday. That is still the big dress up and get crazy party here in Germany, at least for adults. But in the last decade or so, Halloween has become a big event for the younger ones.

My favorite witches

To celebrate witches and pumpkins and the cracked-open door between the living and the dead, I would like to offer you my Halloween short story, “Misty and the Magic Pumpkin Knife” free through Nov. 3:

Misty Mankin hated Halloween. She hated ghosts and princesses and black and orange. Especially orange. She hated frozen pumpkin pie, the most common kind in Rolynka, Alaska. She hated witches and masks and what qualified as seasonal office parties near the Arctic Circle. She hated all the interruptions of her evening accompanied by screaming and giggling and variations from innocent to profane on the three words “trick or treat.”
She particularly hated the pumpkin knife — and the fact that it contained the ghost of her mother…

If you don’t have a copy yet, do please be my guest and grab one!

And enjoy all the ghosts and witches out there on the streets. 🙂

A little writing progress and lots of free Halloween fiction

As I predicted last week, I haven’t exactly gotten a lot of writing done while I’ve been visiting family. I have been doing some brainstorming for Ygerna, though — and I’m loving it. Brainstorming is one of my favorite parts of the writing process. When you’re playing with ideas, it’s like being on a journey of discovery, for me at least. Every time a new twist or (supposedly) perfect detail pops into my mind, I’m like all “ooh, cool, that will be so great!” Because at this wonderfully innocent state of the virgin fiction, everything is potential, the story isn’t hampered by the realities of my own limited capabilities. It’s still ideal and hasn’t stumbled into the inevitable shadows of Plato’s cave yet.

So anyway, the story is taking shape, and I’m having fun, both with relatives and whenever I can snatch a little time away from them to play with ideas and take notes.

I also managed to finish the interview for the blog hop, “The Next Big Thing.” For those who might be curious, I answered the questions for Chameleon in a Mirror, my Aphra Behn time travel.

Since I managed to nab a little time for blogging, I’d like to also point out that my Halloween short story, “Misty and the Magic Pumpkin Knife,” is still free today and tomorrow, along with two dozen other dark fantasy, horror, and Halloween-themed ebooks. If you’re interested, check out the group promo Halloween Free Horror!

“The Next Big Thing,” upcoming freebies, and hiatus announcement

I was tagged today in a blog hop, “The Next Big Thing”:

This particular blog hop was started as an opportunity to learn about the work of independent authors, one blog at a time. If you would like the chance to promote your book in this way, please let me know in the comments! I need to tag five other writers next week when it’s my turn (assuming I even get around to posting, but more on that later.) You can see the questions on Renata Barcelos’s blog, the writing buddy who tagged me. Thanks, Renata! 🙂

Anyway, I’m flying to the States on Friday, and for 2 1/2 weeks, I’ll be driving up and down I5 and flying to Atlanta, visiting friends and family who I see far too infrequently. For that reason, I’m putting regular goals, both writing and social media, on hold until I get back, giving myself permission to get Very Little Writing Done during that time. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me to tell folks I haven’t seen for so long, “Okay, I have to go write now.” So my plan is to just not worry about it and dive into NaNo a couple days late. I will be taking my lovely little eeePC with me, which I will load with my text directory and all my current writing projects, and I will continue to brainstorm Ygerna, the prequel to The Pendragon Chronicles that I want to write during NaNo. But I would much rather be grateful for any writing I manage to do during my visit, than end up kicking myself for not getting any writing done.

I have a number of free promos coming up while I’m gone. Since I might not have a chance to announce them shortly before they happen, I’ll just list them all now. If any of the books sound interesting to you, put them on your calendar!

FREE books in October:

Oct. 22-23: Beyond the Waters of the World (Looking Through Lace, Book 2)

Oct. 23-25: “Misty and the Magic Pumpkin Knife” (Tales From Far Beyond North)
This promo is part of Halloween Free Horror, which includes 24 books of horror, dark fantasy and Halloween themes.

Oct. 29-30: “Misty and the Magic Pumpkin Knife” again. I figured the best time to promote a Halloween-themed story is during October, so I might as well use up my free days all at once. 🙂

Oct. 30-Nov. 1: Dragon Time and Other Stories, containing my witch story “To Act the Witch”: Brilliana is a famous actress for the Duke’s Theatre, yes — but she is also a Witch. And it is up to her to save the Age of Magic.
This is in connection with the Witchy Books Halloween Promo. You can access a Listmania list of all the books that will be offered, either free or on sale, here.

That’s it from me for at least a week. Y’all play nice now while I’m gone! *g*