GOODBYE 2018-HELLO 2019

As we leave 2018 and move into 2019, I hope everyone is ready.  Happy New Year readers.  Last time I posted, I promised you a list of my goals and wishes to hopefully accomplish in the new year so here it is:

 GOALS TO ACCOMPLISH IN 2019

1.      Complete edits of Book One in my Windy Haven Trilogy, Sia: Screams in the Night so it is ready to publish in February 2019. (Cover below-subject to change)

2.     Complete Book Two and all edits in my Windy Haven Trilogy so it will be ready to publish by early fall 2019.

3.     Start writing Book Three, the final one, in my Windy Haven Trilogy with a projected publish date of early summer 2020.

4.     In between the three books stated above, I will begin work on a new Children’s Book that should be ready for release in November 2019-in time for Christmas.

 MY WISHES FOR 2019

1.      To have a productive and calm environment to work in.

2.     For family and friends to get past all their sadness that occurred in 2018.

3.     To be able to give back to my community in some way.

4.     That the world will be kind and respectful to others who enter their lives.

Bellow is the cover for my February release (subject to change):

 See you in two weeks, middle of January 2019, with an exact date for the release of this book and maybe a working title for the new Children's Book and Book Two of the Trilogy.

Happy Holiday Everyone

As we get closer to December 25th, all the children are writing their letters to Santa sharing all of their hopes and wishes. Even though some of us are adults, somewhere deep inside, the kid in us is still there and writing our letters to Santa in our heads or prayers.

My writing is going to be on hold until the new year so I also can spend time with family and friends. The short story I promised is at the bottom of the page. This will be my last posting until December 31st.

I will post in the evening before the world starts to ring in 2019 with my goals and wishes.  I don't make resolutions, but I do a list of what I hope to accomplish in the next year.

The Children's book, in my collection, that seems to be the most popular is Cedric and Melissa so check it out on Amazon in both Paperback and Kindle version for your young one to find under the tree.  Or you may like one of the other ones if you already have this one.

Update:  Book 1 of my Trilogy is being edited right now.  It probably will not be done until sometime in the new year.  In the meantime I will work on Book 2.

Following is the short story I promised you:
The Young Girl and the Math Teacher

Please tell me that isn’t my high school math teacher who played the piano for the young girl? It was a horrible rendition.  I think he should stick to what he knows best. That would be Math. Someone should give him piano lessons.  Then maybe, just maybe, it would not make my ears hurt when he plays.

I know a way they could help each other. The young girl is having a challenging time understanding math so he could tutor her. Knowing that the math teacher isn’t any good on the piano, and seeing the young girl perform once before, she could teach him how to play at least this one song correctly and in tune.

Today the young girl will be entering her first Math Competition after several months of being tutored. We all wish her well, and Mr. Brand will be sitting in the front row watching.

Principal Davis asks the young girl, “What is five times five?”

She promptly answers with a smile, “That would be twenty-five.”

When it was all done, the young girl had won Second Prize.  Mr. Brand was so proud of her that he took her and her parents out for a treat at the local coffee shop.

One month later, Mr. Brand was scheduled to play a piece on the piano for the same local Community Group. The young girl had taught him to correctly play ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, the song he tried and failed to do last time. The young girl was so happy that Mr. Brand did it correctly and in tune. Everyone clapped afterward. The young girl was scheduled to perform next.

She sat down on the bench, all of ten years old, flexed her long fingers and began to play Claude Debussy’s Arabesque No. 1 with conviction.  Mr. Brand, having never heard her play, was mesmerized by her talent.  Had he known she was so accomplished, he would never have tried to shield her from the embarrassment that day. Him believing that someone so young would never be able to play the piano well.

Always stick to what you know best and never assume anyone is less accomplished in what they are attempting to do. The young girl will never become a wiz at math, but that is okay. Mr. Brand will never become a great pianist, but that too is okay. We all have our own unique skills and age should never be seen as a barrier.

HOLIDAY SEASON HAS ARRIVED!

I believe Christmas should be for the young and young at heart.  It is a time for re-unions and sharing how we feel about each other.  It is a time for giving to those who are less fortunate.  It is a time to give the gift of stories that everyone, young and old, can relate to.

Check out my Children's Books now available for you to purchase from Amazon in both paperback and kindle.  If you have a young one who has just begun to be interested in reading, my books are for them.  All of them are designed for early readers from ages 7 to 9 with a few pictures and a lot of story.

Just click on the picture of the book you want from the side of this writing.  You will be taken directly to Amazon.  There's a Christmas one in the Sara Series called Sara's Magical Christmas your child might enjoy.
 

Or maybe my two new ones published in 2018:

If you're looking for a book that is adult related check out my first novel Josephine.

Progress on my writing is going very well.  Book 1 of the Windy Haven Trilogy is now in the editing stage and Book 2 is in progress.  I have been able to get a lot of writing done these past couple of weeks and that is good.  I have been able to get back to writing for a few hours every day and that is progress.

I will be back in a couple of weeks with some holiday information and a short story for you to enjoy and share.

MOVING FORWARD!!

I finally have found time to let you know what I'm up to.

I have finished the first draft of Book One in my Windy Haven Trilogy and it is now going through it's first edit session.  I have started Book Two and it is progressing well.  A picture of the front cover for book 2 is below (subject to change):

As we are experiencing rotating postal strikes here in Canada, it is difficult for us authors to get our books delivered by them for the time being. They would just end up sitting in the over 600 trailers now filled with parcels and regular mail.  For those here who would like to purchase any of my children's books for Christmas you will have the option of having them delivered by various couriers.

I was so hopefully when I released my current Children's Book Kracas and Viva that I would get it to those early readers for Christmas.  The books are printed in the US so everyone there and other countries will be fine so check it out.

I will do my best to get back at the end of November for an update.  Hope everyone in the US has a great Thanksgiving Day later this week.

A NEW MONTH IS UPON US!

I'm sorry for not making it back yesterday, but my Internet was down and had to wait until this afternoon for the technician to come and fix it.  While waiting though, I was able to get some much needed writing done on Book One of my trilogy.  It is almost ready to go out to my editor, and I have started writing the beginning of book two. So much progress gained.

Below is a picture of the full cover (subject to change) for Book One in the Windy Haven Trilogy:

I am still fighting with KDP, since the merge with CreateSpace, over some unresolved issue, but am hoping to get the correct answer soon.  Personally, I preferred the way CreateSpace was set up to work on my books. KDP for paperbacks is difficult to work with but am hanging in there for now.

As this has been an exhausting day, I bid you goodbye for now.  I will return in two weeks and hope to have a lot more progress on the novels without going between them and my Children's Books.  I will start working on a new Children's Book in the new year and will update you on what it will be about at that time.

BOOK RELEASE!!

Well I did it.  My new Children's Book, Kracas and Viva, is now available on Amazon.  Some countries may be delayed for a few weeks, or maybe just days, but you can buy it on the US site.  If you click on the book's picture to your left, if your on my blog page, I have inserted the link and you will go directly to the book's purchase page.
For those just getting this update by e-mail access your Amazon site and type in the books name or my full name: Diane Chartrand and it will bring up all my books available to purchase.

The Kindle Version is also available, but you will see they haven't been linked yet, as that takes several days for it to happen.  I hope you will enjoy this book and if so, please leave a review afterwards.

I am near the end of Book One in the Windy Haven Trilogy and will be starting work on Book Two.  Book One will go out for a final edit, and beta readers for comments and corrections before releasing it to the public.
See you in a couple of weeks with an update on the novel.

NEXT CHILDREN'S BOOK

It has been a productive two weeks.  My next Children's Book 'Kracas and Viva' is almost ready for purchase. I have uploaded both the Kindle and Paperback versions to KDP and have them on hold in draft so I can do one more review of it.

I want to make sure the story will be enjoyable to all children but mostly for those who have the skills to read it themselves.  The book is an early reader geared towards 7-9 year olds.  It is 58 pages long with a few pictures but mostly text.

The cover I showed you last time is what I went with and has also been submitted.  I am going to set my publishing date as October 15, 2018 for both and will come back on that date to confirm that they has been published and available for purchase.  For some countries, it will take 6-8 weeks before they will be up on your Amazon site, but you will be able to purchase the book from Amazon.com immediately.

I will start again this week working on the completion of Book 1 in my Trilogy and hope to have that completed to send for editing at the end of October.  At that time I will begin the writing of Book 2. I have outlined what I want within the first two and still have to work out the contents of Book 3 so it will complete the three with a satisfactory ending for my readers.

Below is a preview of one of the pictures in the Children's Book for you to enjoy.  See you on October 15th.

BACK ON TRACK!

Finally, the writing is back on track.  I have almost completed my next children's book. There are only a few more changes required to make it more engaging for the little ones.  The launch is still scheduled for sometime this fall.  It will have to go in for another editing pass then to completion.

All my books are now in KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).  They are all available in Kindle Version and Paperback Version.  Nothing has changed in regards to purchasing my books from Amazon Worldwide.  At some point before the holiday season, I will do several promotions offering my books for free for a five day period. When that is going to happen I will let you know so you can check it out.  These will be done only on Amazon and only for e-books.

Book One of my trilogy is starting to move along once more.  I am in the last quarter of the manuscript where there will be some resolve, but also leading you to Book Two.  The change in temperature has helped me to spend more time writing without being overheated. Can't wait for Fall to begin.

Below is a re-designed full cover for Kracas and Viva, (subject to change), my next children's book.  Let me know your thoughts.  See you at the end of the month for the next update.

CHALLENGING TWO WEEKS!

Well these past two weeks have been a complete change over for my work.  Amazon decided now was the time to merge CreateSpace, the place I used to upload and fine tune my books, to KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) for all paperback books.  All my current books, at this time, are still available for purchase on Amazon Worldwide.

When I got my notice the transition was smooth, but it has a serious glitch.  It no longer has my books available in all the same countries as CreateSpace used.  In order to get my home country, Canada, available purchase, I have to go back into the content and make changes to add the additional countries I want to sell in.  When doing that, it came up that there was no manuscript or cover loaded and so I put them in there.  When going to the print preview it became a nightmare.  I did a few of the smaller books and it wasn't too bad, but when I tried to preview one of the Early Reader books, the preview ran for an hour and then crashed saying ERROR.

Frustrated, I sent an e-mail to Kindle's support group.  The response was, "I see all of your manuscripts and covers, if you need any more help contact us again."  Not sure what exactly they did when moving the files so have resorted to leaving them for now until the process is completed for the entire world, which will take a few months, I presume.

In the meantime, I will continue to write the books that are in progress and get them published in the timelines on my schedule.  The KDP paperback service is different as you have to do everything all at the same time so will try to find another software to preview my work to fix errors, especially for the Children's Books that have several pictures in them and have to be an exact dpi to be accepted.

Okay, I have bored you enough about the challenges of being a writer, but please don't let it discourage you from taking on this great career.  I have put below my new back cover (subject to change) just to keep you in the process of my soon to be published Children's Book Kracas and Viva.

 

TWO WEEK WORK PROGRESS

The past two weeks have been a slow go.  I am now at 32,172 words.  That is 5,012 since my last posting.  I know it looks like I haven't done much, but I had to do some minor edits by moving items around in the last couple of chapters so they made sense.  It's kind of like having put the cart before the horse instead of the horse being up in front.  Don't worry, I won't bore you with too many technical things.

The Children's Book is going great and will be ready to send to my editor by the end of August.  I had to make a few minor changes on how the two characters interacted, but I am confident now that it makes more sense, especially to a child.

I will return on September 1st, 2018, but until then, here is a quick peak into the beginning of Kracas and Viva, my next children's book.

Chapter One

Every night, Viva would wander down to the creek below her house after supper.  She would hold the lantern high in front of her in order to illuminate the darkness while carrying a basket of apples for the forest animals who came to drink at night.

   

MODEST PROGRESS

Well the last couple of weeks were interesting.  On my last report, I had hoped to do 2,000 words a day Monday to Friday on the novel.  I have found by trial and error that the goal was set too high for that time period.  Some days I did reach the goal, but life and family concerns took over.. On those days my progress was minimal.

Last time, I had a word count of 16,976 and as of last night my total is 27,160.   That gives me an additional 10,864 words. Yes, I have made some progress and now have reached between 35-40% of my end goal of 70,000-80,000 words before tackling the first edits. I would like to have Book 1 of my Trilogy finished by Mid-September and get started on Book 2 with a deadline date of December.

I will try harder the entire month of August to reach my goal of 2,000 minimum words per day or more.  The story line has been set up, and I have reached the most important section with extreme action going on as the character tries to achieve the thing she wants most. This section is what writers refer to as "The Climax" where the character is met with several things designed to stop her from reaching the thing she wants most. 

Work on the Children's Book is still on track for a fall release.  Doing this in between the novel on weekends, gives me a way to relax and just be a kid for a few days.

I am going to try updating again in two weeks, which will be August 16, 2018.
My trilogy is about the titles below on the covers. (Subject to change) In the meantime check out my current books already for sale on Amazon.

BACK ON TRACK!

This past week things have gone back on track with my writing.  I have been able to get in several new pictures in my children's book and now will be able to complete the text.  My Trilogy is progressing and book one is close to being a quarter of the way done.

Now that I am writing every day, once more, the word count per day will be more substantial.  I have set a word count quota to try and reach each day.  For the next two months, I will try to write 2,000 words or more each weekday and then do a quick review on the weekends.

I am working towards the finished manuscript to be between 80,000 and 100,000 words before submitting it to an editor. I am looking to a deadline of September 30, 2018 to get to that place. Once that is achieved and book one is at the editors, I will start on book two and so forth to book three.

I work mostly on weekends with my children's books as what is required can not be achieved on the library computers because they are still running Windows 7 and Office 7-professional. That software does not create the pictures I need to put into them.  I can work on the text content there, but then have to convert it back to Word 365 for a correct format for submission to CreateSpace and KDP.

I will come back on July 31st to give you an update on my total word count on that day.  As of today my count is 16,296. On that day, I should have reached 40,296 or more. Wish me luck.

I am also working on a few ways to better promote the books currently available on Amazon. I have been doing a lot of workshops and online webinars to learn more about that side of the business.

Also check on the right side of my page for a new link called, "Sites to Visit" where you can read some of my work and work from other writers on the Forest City Wordwrights link.  On the London Writers Society link, check out the LWS luminaries section for a list of local London, Ontario, Canada writers and their current books. Mine are not on their yet, but I will be taking care of that in September.  See you on July 31st.

I'M LATE!!

Hi everyone.  Sorry for not getting on here earlier this month, but I have serious family things going on.  On Thursday, June 28, 2018 my older sister lost her battle with cancer. There are still other serious things going on in my life, but writing helps me to deal with it all.

I have been continuing my writing on the two books currently in progress.  Your treat for being patient is a glimpes of the future for my novel writing.  I am now working on Book 1 of a trilogy. Below is a peak at the three covers for that.  I also have been working on my kids book and progress is going really well with that also.

My Trilogy covers:

So what are your thoughts. Do they present a slight picture of what these stories might be about?
I am still working on the Children's book Kracas and Viva for a fall release and am on target for that timeline.

I will put in my schedule, as a reminder, to make sure and return here by July 15, 2018 for another update on my writing.

PRODUCTIVE MONTH!

First business to take care of is regarding the UK's changes effective today called GDPR. If you see something on this blog warning you about cookies and privacy updates, please know, as you may have already been notified of this by many others, it will not change anything I do on my blog.

I have been writing a lot since May 6th, my last time visiting here.  I hope you enjoyed the preview of my covers for the new books.  I can't wait until you will be able to read them later this year.  'Sia: Screams In The Night' is really starting to take shape. I now know where she will be going next and why.  The children's book is coming along at a good pace as most of the pictures are inserted. Now it's time to finish writing the story.

With summer almost upon us it will be great to do my writing in several outdoor places so as not to be stuck in one room all the time.  I find being outside in parks ,and just sitting watching life go by brings great inspiration to my stories.

For those in the United States, I hope you have a safe and fun filled Memorial Day. As I live in Canada, we just celebrated Victoria Day and it was a wonderful weekend.

I had shown two covers for one of my books and the response was more for the second one with the girl near the building with the light shining through the open door so will go with that one for the time being.

I will return in mid-June with more on how the two books are doing and if there will be any other changes to them.  In the meantime, all of my other books are available on Amazon both in paperback and Kindle.  I hope, in the near future to have them available in several other venues so you will have many choices.

WRITING GOING WELL!

Hi everyone.  I have been working very hard on two books the past couple of weeks. One is a children's book called Kracas and Viva that is coming along at a good pace.  The second one is novel number two called Sia:  Screams In The Night and will put cover pictures below.

As writing is a difficult task, finding time to write and enjoy life events, there needs to be a strick scheduled.  I usually write on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and do life things on the weekends like groceries, laundry and other household tasks.  I do participate in Workshops on some Saturdays and usually take classes at the University in the evenings.

Now for the reveals:

Kracas and Viva has a front cover and the beginning of the back cover.  There is no text on it yet.

There are two for Sia:  Screams In The Night for you to let me know which one you think would catch your eye quicker to pick up and see what it is about.

# 1

#2

 

Also check out my writings and several others on my Writers Group page:
www.forestcitywordwrights.com

NOT QUITE SPRING YET!

Well I was looking forward to warmer weather, but mother nature has a different idea. The forecast for the next two days is snow.

Writing is a difficult task and a bit of sunshine helps the mind work better. I know it is only mid-April, but I can dream.  I am progressing nicely with both my novel and children's book so it makes me feel accomplished.

My free Kindle promotion went well and for those who downloaded the book, I hope you enjoyed it.  Comments would be appreciated and a short review on either Amazon or Goodreads would also be helpful.

As the next few months will be extremely busy, I may not get back here as often as I would like, but I will do my best to keep you informed on my progress or any other promotions that will be available.

Next time I return, I will be posting a second cover for my novel for your comments on which one would be more suitable for the book.

This is writing time so I don't want to use too much of it here.  Will hopefully be here again in a couple of weeks.

Previews of Work in Progress

I hope many of you were able to take advantage of my free Kindle Book promotion for Josephine: Out of the Darkness Into the Light earlier this week.

I have started a couple of Children's Books for a fall release. (Titles and covers may change)

    
I am currently also working on a new fiction novel, which I previously mentioned. You will find part of the first chapter below for you to look over and make comments on. The book is called: Sia: Screams In The Night.

 Chapter One

 Sia jumped up in bed with a startle. What, what?  Another piercing scream breaks the night silence followed by a young girl begging, “No. Please stop, please you’re hurting me.”

Sia went over to the bedroom window and raised the blinds.  She looked out into the darkness but saw no one.  The basketball court, that is directly below her second-story apartment was empty, and the small children’s playground next to it appeared to be too.

She heard it again even louder this time.  The girl’s piercing cries cut into Sia’s soul.  She knew every bit of pain the girl was experiencing.  Sia couldn’t pinpoint the girl’s location so went out on her balcony hoping to get a better fix.

The sound seemed to be coming from behind the two L shaped buildings that surrounded the basketball court and playground, separated from the townhouse complex behind it by a small grassy area, a 6-foot fence topped with barb wire, and a row of 20-foot pine trees.

A man’s angered voice exploded into the silence.  “Welcome to your future Willow.  Now shut the hell up.”

Willow’s gut-wrenching cries went on for over a half-hour.  Sia wanted to find and help this desperate girl, but fear stopped her.

Sia picked up the receiver on the phone and was about to call the police when the night went silent.  She put the phone back in the cradle and waited a few minutes to see if the cries started again

No more pleading cries to stop. No more piercing screams.  No more male voice.  Did someone closer intervene? Did she get away, or is she lying out there hurt, maybe dying?

Sia knew she should go out and see if the girl was okay, but she couldn’t, she just froze near the window. The reflection looking back at her was a wisp of a girl barely five-foot-tall and less than one hundred pounds, no match for anyone.

Sia started to make excuses why she couldn’t go check it out.   “It’s so dark, and what if that man is still out there, he could hurt her too.”

Sia, unable to fall back asleep, tossed and turned the rest of the night.  So many thoughts kept racing through her mind.  How would she carry on not knowing where the girl was, or if she was injured, or maybe dead?

If she isn’t there, when daylight comes, perhaps the man dragged her away and put her in his vehicle. If she died, did he toss her body somewhere far outside of town?

Sia finally got and scolded herself.  “I should have gone out last night, found the girl and confronted whoever was hurting her.  I should have at least tried.”  Sia felt in her gut, by the sound of the cries, the girl was possibly being raped again and again.

At nine in the morning, Sia finally found the strength to go outside.  Slowly she went towards the fence that was behind both buildings and walked the entire fence line but saw nothing, not a trace that anyone had ever been there.  She glanced through the fence into the townhouse complex. 

Did it happen over there? Maybe that’s why she couldn’t see anyone because they were on the other side of the fence behind all these tall pine trees. Surely, you’d think, someone closer by would have heard the screams too and come to her aid. But, would they?

Sia returned to her apartment and sat down at the dining room table to drink her coffee.   As she looked out the window her doubts began to surface once more.  “Maybe it wasn’t real.  Maybe it was all just a nightmare?  But, the screams pierced my heart, so it had to be real, didn’t it?”

SPECIAL EVENT!

I have done something special for all who would like to read my novel 'Josephine:  Out of the Darkness into the Light'.

Starting today, Monday, March 19th to Friday, March 23rd you will be able to download the Kindle Version for FREE.

For those in the US use this link.

https://amazon.com/dp/B076NKH482

For those in CA use this link.
https://amazon.ca/dp/B076NKH482

 For those who live in countries other than the United States or Canada go to you own Amazon Kindle site and you will find the same book for FREE until March 23rd.

This is a great opportunity so why not get in on it.  If you download the book, and you have time, a short review would be appreciated.  Reviews are the only way I will know if what this author produces is good or may need to be improved.