Val's Blog
Last day to get Monster Girl for $.99!
Thank you to everyone who has helped make “Monster Girl” a success! Thanks to YOU, it peaked at #7 in its “Bullies” category! That’s awesome!
Today is the last day to buy it on Kindle for $.99.
After today, it will continue its Kindle Countdown Deal increasing incrementally until Halloween. It will return to its full retail price of $2.99 on November 1st.
Don’t delay! Take advantage of the $.99 deal today!
Monster Girl $.99 Halloween Sale!
Today through Tuesday, the Kindle version of “Monster Girl” will be on sale for $.99!
Halloween is just around the corner and there’s a chill in the air. Perfect for wrapping in a blanket and reading a book!
Have a young reader who enjoys reading?
Great! “Monster Girl” is for ALL ages!
“Monster Girl” is about a young girl who, obsessed with monsters and the supernatural, befriends the ghost of her grandfather and, with his help, learns valuable lessons while dealing with a bossy older sister, parents who ignore her, and a school bully.
THANK YOU to everyone who has supported “Monster Girl” since its release. Your reviews have been helpful and I’ve enjoyed you sharing your stories of reading. You guys rock! Please consider sharing with a friend!
See what others are saying!
“Hoping for a sequel!” – Lori Mills
“The charming relationship between Viki and her grandfather really shines as Morris navigates Viki through childhood trials and tribulations, having her stumble yet grow along the way.” – Jess
“I ordered this book thinking my 9 year old grandson would enjoy it. I read it myself first and what a good story!” – Vlenay
“…filled with imaginary characters that suck you into their reality and entice you to turn the page again and again until you reach the back cover and are left wanting more.” – RNCotton
“The characters are real and kept my interest piqued.” – Susie D
Act now! $.99 sale ends Tuesday!
Say NO to Bullying
Have you ever been bullied? Do you remember the humiliation you felt while being bullied, or perhaps even the feeling of seeing someone else bullied?
Imagine yourself back in the gym locker room at school when that bigger, older kid comes strutting in. You cringe. You know it’s coming. Will it be a simple wedgie? Or, perhaps he’ll rub your sweaty, stinky gym shorts in your face. Or, maybe today will be the day he will physically pick on you until things take a turn for the worse and poking and jabbing become punching and kicking, and blood and tears mix as the shower water washes your courage down the drain.
Imagine sitting in the cafeteria, the smell of food and happy conversation in the air. You’re perfectly content enjoying your homemade sandwich with your friends when she approaches. The last time she came around, she smushed your peanut butter sandwich to the point of the jelly smearing all over the table and then made you lick it up. Embarrassed and your eyes swimming in tears, you did it because you feared ultimate humiliation in front of the whole school if you didn’t.
Now let’s flip that question around. Have you ever done the things described above to someone else?
That may be a tough question to answer. Your answer may be “yes” even though your actions weren’t quiet that extreme. Maybe instead, they were insults to a fellow co-worker all in the name of “fun” to impress your colleagues. Beyond childhood and school halls, bullying can happen even in corporate America.
Perhaps the toughest question of all is: Have you ever witnessed this sort of behavior and did nothing to stop it in fear that the ridicule would then be pointed toward you? Standing by and letting it happen is a horrible thing. Even if we don’t throw the punch, we allow the punching to continue if we do nothing to stop it.
Say NO to bullying and YES to standing up for each other.
I’m hesitant to say too much about the story in “Monster Girl” because I don’t want to spoil anything for future readers, but I think it’s important to mention. I’m proud of how how Viki, the main character, handled her bullying situation within the story. As someone who gets furious at the thought of bullying, it would have been so easy to take the story down a dark path of revenge. Instead, I think Viki’s actions bring a positive message. And what’s really neat about that, is that the character told me – the writer – that was how she wanted to handle it.
I want to take a moment to say THANK YOU to everyone who has supported “Monster Girl”. Obviously, I can’t list everyone by name, but I’ve received some lovely stories from readers over the first month of the book’s release that I’d like to share.
I have a cousin whose 9 year old grandson read “Monster Girl” and it got him talking about a “mean kid” on his bus. Another reader thanked me for writing about bullying because it helps keep that topic fresh in young minds. Hearing stories like these pleases me because it means people are talking about it. I’m no authority on the subject of bullying, but I do know that most of us have experienced bullying at some point in our lives whether directly or indirectly. I feel it’s important to be brave and stand up for yourself and others when we see it happening.
Thank you again for reading and sharing your stories. Together we can stop bullying.
“Monster Girl”: Read the first chapter FREE!
Would you like to give “Monster Girl” a test drive? Now you can read the COMPLETE first chapter absolutely FREE!
Sign up today and you’ll receive future book promotions, information on new releases, and the occasional cool news! As a THANK YOU, I’ll send you a link TODAY to download not only the first chapter of “Monster Girl”, but also a BONUS short story ebook called “Coffee with an Alien”!
Hockey Masks and Lycans
Friday the 13th on the Night of a Full Moon
(Note: This is an old post from my former blog, and in honor of the Lunar eclipse and Halloween, I thought it was appropriate to repost it here.)
Today is Friday, June the 13th. We’re also supposed to have a full moon tonight. (Oh, and something about solar flares hitting the earth! OMG run!) Since there aren’t any cool theatres around me playing Jason or werewolf marathons tonight, I’ll have my own. While thinking about that, I decided to rank my five favorite “Friday the 13th” movies and my five favorite werewolf movies.
Friday the 13th Top 5
1. Part II – I’m pretty sure this was the first Friday movie I saw. I remember ‘burlap sack Jason’ very clearly. Once I saw the original, Part I, the opening suddenly made a lot more sense.
2. Part I – I’m a big fan of this one, despite there being no Jason killer. Mrs. Voorhees made a fantastic killer and still creeps me out. And the killer coda at the end is classic horror movie stuff.
3. Part IV: The Final Chapter – I really like this sequel a lot. I thought the character of Tommy Jarvis (Corey Feldman) was cool. He was a makeup and FX wiz kid who took on Jason in the end.
4. Part VI: Jason Lives – This one was always fun to me. And it’s the first time in the series that Jason is resurrected (via lightening).
5. Part V: A New Beginning – Despite not having – spoiler! – the real Jason present, only his persona, it’s a decent movie and sequel.
Werewolf Movies Top 5
1. The Howling – Joe Dante can do no wrong in my eyes. It’s a shame we aren’t still getting a steady supply of creature features from him today. Most people prefer that “other” werewolf movie that came out at the same time. And they are both different enough to stand apart, but I’ve always preferred the dark humor of The Howling.
2. The Wolf Man – I love this movie. It’s atmospheric and short. It’s not as fancy as all the newer, FX heavy iterations but it’s a fun time if you’re into the traditional lycan lore.
3. Silver Bullet – Based on Stephen King’s book, “Cycle of the Werewolf”. This one is a lot of fun and has some intense moments that will have you gripping the seat of your wheelchair.
4. Ginger Snaps – This movie is a unique twist on the lycan curse being that it’s a metaphor for female puberty. It’s dark and twisted and a lot of fun.
5. Underworld – I absolutely love this movie and its first sequel, Evolution. It gets bashed because of its use of CGI, but its style and atmosphere always keep me entertained. That, and I want to be Selene.
So there you have it! Probably not the most traditional list for these two categories, but who ever said I was traditional? Be sure to grab some popcorn and settle in tonight for a rip roarin’ good time! (And watch out for those fireballs falling from the sky…)
Writer’s Doubt: Genuinely Excited and Scared to Death
I’m not sure what scares me more – failure or success.
Writer’s doubt creeps in when I least expect it. Everything can be going good, and then BAM! It always catches me off guard. It reminds me that I’m not perfect, and in an odd way, keeps me humble. Yet, I still dread the feeling. I even experienced doubt while writing this blog entry. Am I worthy enough to share my experience? Is my doubt too insignificant to matter? All sorts of similar questions popped into my head.
I literally just released my first book, “Monster Girl“, a little over a week ago and, while I feel fairly good about it, I’m scared to death that the next book will not be as good. Here I am worrying about the next book when I could be celebrating my first major accomplishment. Writing “Monster Girl” was a wonderful experience that I hope I have the chance to experience many more times.
However, writing it was not without its problems. I had all sorts of self doubt during the process. One of the biggest hurdles I knew I’d face was simply finishing the first draft. It’s not that I have a problem with following through with something, but rather, I was scared it wasn’t good enough to finish. But I pushed through. It was a goal of mine to see a book published this year. Now that I have, doubt is creeping back in. The thought of having to follow “Monster Girl” up with something better, or at least equal to, is terrifying. It’s almost stalling.
What if the story doesn’t come?
Like Stephen King stated in “On Writing“, story is like a fossil that we writers are tasked with uncovering. I’m a big believer in trusting the story, but what if I don’t have the right tools to uncover it? What if my brushes from the first book are broken or lost? Doubt loves to rear its ugly head.
How do I combat doubt?
Just like in adventurous movies and novels, I take my doubt-slaying sword and hack away until there is so little there that my reasoning is back in control. It’s human nature to worry, to doubt. But it’s also human nature to overcome.
To combat doubt, I have to remind myself of a few things:
1. That I’m writing a story that I would want to read, and that not everyone will love what I do. And that’s okay. As long as I’m proud of what I did, and I did my best, I’m happy. The bonus of having someone else like it is icing on the cake.
2. That I must make sure I give my 110% because anything less is not strong enough to withstand doubt’s pressures. I accept that I’m not perfect, but I do have to at least try.
3. That I must have fun.
Have fun writing? Yes!
Such a simple statement, yet one that is so easily overlooked or forgotten. Sure, we’d all like to make a living from our writing, but I believe that if I’m not having fun doing it, it’s just like any other job. Writing is more than a job. It’s an excuse to go to magical places and to bring others along with us. It’s an escape from the mundane or troublesome times. Writing is not doubtful; it’s fun.
Self-publishing can be a wild and scary ride. Being scared only means I care, and being excited about doing it means I love sharing magical worlds with others. We all feel doubt, but we’re not alone. There are others like us out there. Now, I have another book to write and some doubt that needs slaying. Feel free to share your own doubts and perhaps we can slay them together.
(I am participating in the ‘Writing Contest: Overcoming Writer’s Doubt’ held by Positive Writer.)
