Transparent Walkways is here!
Transparent Walkways is here!
THE BOOK!
My first collection will be live Friday! It’s already up for Pre-Order on Amazon!
I’m so excited. I have over two dozen short stories published in anthologies that I share with other authors. But this time the book is all mine! About 30 short stories and flash fiction that I’ve been writing since 2015. Some of them have been previously published in other anthos but now you can find them all in one place.
I love this cover. It’s me!
For real, it’s really me walking on the bridge. My friend, Karen Janczak, www.facebook.com/karenwithacamera, is an amazing photographer. She does all my author pics. We were doing the Painted Churches tour in central Texas and she brought all these cool props and clothes. I was dressed in a vintage dress and veil and carried a vintage suitcase. Coincidently my mother had this EXACT same suitcase when I was growing up, she probably still has it. How cool is that? We took pics at different churches and surrounding areas but when we came to the bridge Karen’s genius stirred up. I loved this picture so much I knew it had to be my next book cover. Lisa Vasquez, friend and CEO of Stitched Smile Publications (who published it) worked her magic on the picture and ta-da! I’m so in love with this cover.
It’s only $2.99 for the Kindle version and the paperback should follow shortly.
EVENTS / WHERE I’LL BE!
I have such a busy event schedule for the next couple of months.
Traders Village Comicon is this weekend and I can’t wait. This is a free, fairly small con but so much fun. I’m sharing two spaces with four other authors.
www.facebook.com/events/1952059338182195
Transparent Walkways Release Party? Oh yeah!
Thursday, May 2 from 6pm – 10pm CST
There will be author takeovers and games and prizes. I plan to do a live video (if I can figure it out) at 9:30 when my slot begins. I’ll be giving away an ebook of Transparent Walkways as well as ebook set of the first three chapters of my series, Between the Pages. Please come out and support indie authors.
www.facebook.com/events/236948317170368
Then just two weeks after Traders Village I’ll be at Comicpalooza, sharing a booth again with Stephanie Barr.
www.facebook.com/events/502285843592640
The very next weekend after that, I will be at Copperfield Books for their 5th Annual Author Fair. It’s a one day event and my first time there.
www.facebook.com/events/2634190419930102
I just recently added this event. Saint Arnold’s – 25th Anniversary Festival. I had a table there once and it was a blast. Beer and books – they go great together! If you’re in the Houston area, come check it out!
www.facebook.com/events/367867497150034
PUBLISHED SOON!
My story, Like Clockwork, will be in the Crossroads in the Dark V anthology. It should be live tomorrow, April 25th. All profits for this anthology will be sent to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital Network in hopes that one-day medical science will catch up to science-fiction and be able to cure childhood cancer and disease.
www.amazon.com/Crossroads-Dark-V-Beyond-Borders-ebook/dp/B07Q7T4Q2H
It’s late so I’ll keep this post short.
Ciao y’all!
Veronica
In like a Lion and all that good stuff!
Ciao y’all!
March has flown by. I don’t know where the time went. Already it’s the third week in – go figure. It’s been a month of ups and downs for sure.
Been There, Done That!
I got a table at the paranormal con a couple weeks ago. It didn’t go as I expected or hoped. My table looked really nice but there were more volunteers than actual event attendees. It made for a slow weekend for everyone. I sold five books, which nowhere near paid for my table, but I made some new friends and got some really great tea!
I’ve probably never mentioned it here before but I’m a bit of a tea snob. I detest tea in bags (tea dust as Gibbs from NCIS calls it) but I love loose leaf tea. I’d been getting my tea from a friend who had a tent at our local farmer’s market. It was to help supplement their income from their regular company (it was hurting from the slack in the oil & gas industry). Well, you know that took off again so their main business was booming. No more time for tea. But in the grand scheme of things, this is the great problem to have and I wish them luck.
This left me with four or five bags of tea and wondering what I would do once I used it all up. I tried the loose leaf at Kroger and it was just blah. No flavor. But while I was at the paranormal con, I met The Tea Mistress, (who actually knew my last tea lady) and she had an amazing assortment of teas and coffees. I bought two of them and brewed two cups as soon as I got home after the con. They were delicious and I know I’ve found my new tea lady.
Here’s the link to her website. I highly recommend the Dark Chocolate Cherry tea (my favorite combination).
Where I’ll be!
So I’ve put that con behind me and I’m looking ahead and already scheduled new cons/tables in the future. I even bought some new cool shirts to wear. I managed to find a couple of sleeveless ones for those hot outdoor Texas events.
April 2019
Traders Village Comic Con is still a go for April 27-28 and I’m hoping I get my proof of Jamal back in time to edit and order copies in time. I better because I still have to order copies of everything else and I’m trying to save on shipping by getting it all at once.
https://tradersvillage.com/houston/events/traders-village-houston-comicon-2019/
Jamal proof? – Yes indeed I did say that! Jamal is done and the cover is beautiful. My son outdid himself again. If all goes well, it should be live THIS month!
May 2019
Comicpalooza is also still on schedule at May 10-12. We decided to get a room at the hotel there so no long drive home each day and trying to find a place to park. Plus it will be nice to actually enjoy the after con activities that we’ve never gotten to do in the past. My husband and son will be doing some cosplaying as well.
Copperfield Books Author Event – this is new! I’ve never done this and it was originally scheduled the same weekend as Comicpalooza so I thought I wouldn’t get to do it, but then they bumped it to Sat, May 18. I’ve always wanted to do a library event so I jumped at the chance. Here’s the link to this.
https://www.facebook.com/events/2634190419930102/
July 2019
No Label Brewery! I’d had a table at Saint Arnold’s Brewery in February and it was so much fun. Books and beer? You can’t go wrong there. My neighbor, Amy Brandon, reminded me that we have our own local brewery out in Katy, No Label Brewery. I really had forgotten about it. I contacted them and they were happy to add me to the event on July 4th. Books and beer and holiday? Well, that’s even better.
https://www.facebook.com/NoLabelBrewing/
September 2019
Scarydad Haunted Halloween Show III is official and scheduled for Sept 28-29. Yes, it has expanded to two days! Since I’ve been with them from the beginning I snagged my table immediately. I still think this will turn into a big thing someday.
https://www.facebook.com/sdhalloweenshow/
October 2019
Katy Rice Festival is scheduled for Oct 12-13 and I’ve sent in my application. I’m just waiting to see if I’m accepted again this year. That was a lot of fun and I really want to do it again this year.
Book talk!
So like I said, Chapter Three: Jamal is done and I’m only waiting on the proof, which I think should be here any day. I’m getting it set up for Amazon and I noticed that because it’s twice as big as Chapter One: Carrie or Chapter Two: Jenny it will cost a little bit more. I hope that doesn’t discourage readers from buying it. I’ll have to see what happens.
I finally got in contact with my old publisher for Salvation, my zombie post-apoc novel, that has been removed from Amazon. It is now in my control, as my contract is up. The only way you can get them currently are from the last of the paperbacks I have in stock and those resellers who are selling used copies. I’m going to do a rewrite on this. Some reviewers complained I went back and forth on the timeline (present day to past as flashback chapters) and they really didn’t like it. So I’m going to redo those “chapters” and make them actually flashbacks in italics at the proper moments. I’m also going to have my son do up a new and amazing cover. I’d like to pick a new title as well. Oh, I like Salvation but when I picked it, I didn’t think, at the time, about how many other books have the same title. And none of them are in the same genre. They are all religious and self-help books. Not books I want mixed up with. But I have to finish the Between the Pages series first (already working on Chapter Four: Dan).
I’ve had three story rejections but I’m not worried. It happens all the time. I’m also writing a new one (I think I’m always writing a new one) and I’ve got six short stories (not counting two that are in writing contests currently – so that’s actually a total of 8) that I have no homes for yet.
Transparent Walkways, my first collection should be published any month now, so I may have enough to create another one.
Here’s another 100 Word Drabble for you to enjoy. I love writing them.
Zena
The barking fills my ears. My dog, Zena, who almost never barks, is keeping a steady tempo of deep woofs. I am soaking in a hot bath, in fact, had put her outside just before getting in. The neighbors will get pissed if she continues, so I reluctantly climb out and wrap myself in a towel. Just as I leave the bathroom, I hear the door crash inwards, thumps, and a frenzied scream. I run to the backdoor and find her atop a masked man carrying a gun, her teeth clamped on his bleeding throat. She has saved my life.
Just a reminder that if you’ve read any of my books, please post a review up on Amazon and Goodreads. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just a word or two and the stars. That makes me happy enough.
This goes for any books you read actually, especially written by indie authors. We have it harder than the big name published authors but we’re working just as hard.
That’s it for now.
Ciao y’all!
Veronica
The Word: Veronica Smith Shares
Marching in!
Ciao y’all!
February’s not even over and I’m already planning my next event.
In just a couple of weeks I’ll be vending at a brand new convention. The Bayou City Paranormal Symposium hosted by Bad Wolf Events in Conroe, Texas (north of Houston) will take place on March 9 and 10, 2019. If you’re in the area, come check it out. I’ll be at Booth A15!
www.badwolfevents.com/booth-map
I’ve never had a table at a paranormal con so I’m really looking forward to it.
I had a blast at the Beers and Art – Vintage & Art Market held at Saint Arnold’s and hosted by Shop Local Market last Sunday. There’s nothing like a party with beer, even though I didn’t drink a single glass. I could barely eat my lunch; I was that busy. I met a lot of great people there and had so much fun. Here are a couple pictures of my table.
Chalk Outline was my best seller. I even sold one on Audible. A wonderful man downloaded it while he was there.
Between the Pages – Chapter One: Carrie and Chapter Two: Jenny were pretty popular and those who bought them expressed interest in buying Chapter Three: Jamal as soon as it comes out.
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K346979
And speaking of Jamal …
It’s done!
All the editing is finished and it’s in the hands of beta readers while I muddle through the “fun” part of formatting it to paperback. I’ve always found it easier to format to the paperback first. Then when you upload to Amazon, it asks you if want it for eBook too, it converts perfectly. I only want to format once.
I wrote another story (this one in just a couple of days) that stars my parents, and yes it’s horror. I’ve emailed it to them to read first, but I don’t know what to do with it yet.
Actually, now that I think on it, I have another horror story I finished last week that I also haven’t figured out what to do with. I need to take stock and go check out open submissions.
I’ve had two short story rejections so far this year but since I’ve got three about to be published (two on March 3 and one the end of April), I’m not upset in the least.
In fact, someone pointed out to me recently that all the stories I’ve been writing the past year all feature strong female characters. Between the ones out for submission currently, and the ones I still have no homes for, I have six of them. They total over 22K words. And that’s not counting the 4K Medusa one that I entered into a writing contest. That won’t be judged until mid-April.
Maybe I should do a Collection based on Bad Ass Women? (Damn, wouldn’t that be a cool title?) Who knows?
I’ll leave you with this Drabble (a 100 exact word story) I wrote last month:
Echo in the Stairwell
I missed my damn interview. Just five minutes late and they’re gone. The elevator, which worked perfectly fine a minute ago to bring me to the fourth floor, now won’t work. Cursing, I go through the door marked “Stairwell.” Thankfully, going down is easier than going up. I take the first four steps quickly, my hand trailing on the handrail for balance. I stop when I think I hear another footstep. It’s just an echo. I stop again at first landing. I hear the sound of metal scraping on metal; it sounds like a knife. I’m not alone in here.
Until next time.
Ciao y’all!
Veronica
2019 . . . February so far!
CRITD: Beyond the Borders – What I submitted and what inspired O.W.L.S.
CRITD: Beyond the Borders – What I submitted and what inspired O.W.L.S.
The next anthology in the Crossroads in the Dark series is coming soon. I submitted my story O.W.L.S., which is a sci-fi story. I’ve wanted to do something dealing with aliens for a long time but I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to, but I made it work.
This particular story revolves around a woman being torn between reality and her belief she’s losing her mind. It’s a short story. You will find yourself questioning just along with her. You may even feel for her if you’ve ever had similar things occur. I wrote this inspired by how many alien experiences mentioned owls, yes the bird, or seeing them. The large eyes of the bird mimic the same description of the large-eyed greys.
There are tons of theories that are on the internet, some connecting owls to aliens and then on to Atlantis. Some say aliens shapeshift into owls…
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Ringing in 2019
via Ringing in 2019
Veronica Smith 