Tomorrow is the big day!

Day one is tomorrow! Publication Day  Day our Anthology "Love & Magic" goes live.

Six wonderful stories for you to enjoy! From a Grown up Fairy Tale to a mystical western.  A smorgasbord of stories.  Short stories you can read on your lunch hour, or when you need a break and a get away from everyday life.

Mark your calendar for tomorrow and visit  Wind Tree Press to purchase your copy of "Love & Magick".

3 Days to Love & Magick will be available!

I often wonder where authors get their ideas for stories.  Today, I am going to tell you where my story ideas came from.

I love watching Ghost Hunters, the Dead Files and Long Island Medium.  While watching Ghost Hunters one evening I started thinking about how a romance could be woven into a story about a Ghost Hunter.  I knew I wanted it set in Bend, OR. I like all the different coffee houses in town, so I had to include one, Backporch Coffee Roasters.

I researched unexplained happenings in Bend, OR. I found some documented haunted buildings and even a grave yard that has unexplained blue orbs. These facts were added into my story for local flavor.

It was interesting coming up with these ideas and doing the research.

What interesting facts have you found about your town?

Four days and counting to publication! Treasure map, ghosts and curses

Sarah Raplee's story "CURSE OF THE NEAHKAHNIE TREASURE" begins in Astoria, Or. The journey from Astoria to the Neahkahnie Mountains is a treacherous one for the heroine and hero.  Moreno's treasure is cursed, or so the map says. 

Samantha believes in the curse of the treasure.  And since her Father's death while he was studying the map, she believes the map may be cursed too.

A Treasure map, cursed treasure, a ghost, and a dog you can't help but fall in love with are some of the wonderful things that make up this story.

The story is one of six magical and mystical stories found in "Love & Magick".

"Love & Magick" will be published by Wind Tree Press on Friday Feb. 14th, 2014!

http://windtreepress.com/

Five, yes, Five days till publication!

Busy getting ready for my trip to Portland, OR.  Doing something new, I'm taking the bus over.  Praying the roads won't be too slick.

Always nice to take a trip and get away for a while.  

I'm looking forward to working with Sarah and Judith up-loading our Anthology, Love & Magick!

We're about to give birth to our baby!  So exciting.

Stay tuned!!

Six days and counting What is an Ankh?

In Judith Ashley's story "Sarah's Ankh", Sarah wears a magickal Ankh on a chain around her neck.

You might ask 'What is an Ankh?"  just as I did.

After researching I found the Ankh is the symbol of life, good fortune and it represents zest, joy of life and energy.

The Ankh closely resembles the looped cross which represents fertility.

Ankh Cross

2 d. / 1546 v.

Author: Alakhainehttp://www.dreamstime.com/free-photos-images/ankh.html

The Ankh can be simple or elaborate.  Depending on one's taste.

Sarah in "Sarah's Ankh" wears hers on a chain around her neck.  The Ankh is fused with magic that guides her through her life decisions.

I really enjoyed Judith's story and I am sure you will too!


Do you have a special good luck charm, necklace or amulet?

Seven Days Till You can Buy Love & Magick!

Here in Central Oregon we woke up to 2 ft of new snow!  Yesterday my husband and I shoveled our long driveway twice, 6" and another 6"!

This reminds me of the blizzard Judith Ashley writes about in one of her stories in our Anthology, "Grandmother Moon".

Her descriptions are so realistic I could feel the cold and the biting wind.  The story of two wounded souls finding each other is riveting.

Combine that with a horse, a traitor dog, and a drum, and you have an interesting entertaining story worth reading.

Do you live in snow country?  What do you do when it is cold and snowy outside?

Eight Days, till published!!

I'm doing the Happy Dance!  Love & Magick will be published on February 14, 2014.

This has been an exciting journey with my co-conspirators in putting together our Anthology.

Sarah Raplee has a grown up fairy tale in her story "Enchanted Protector".

Sarah's second story "CURSE OF THE NEAHKAHNIE TREASURE" is about a cursed treasure map,   and the plot twist that breaks the curse I didn't see coming.

"Enchanted Protector"  is a story about a Prince who has been cursed by a Nome.

H-m-m, I don't know about you, but I'm seeing a pattern here!

What is your favorite fairy tale?

9 Days till Love & Magic will be available

That's right!  February 14th, 2014!!!

Our book is being sold through Wind Tree Press  http://windtreepress.com/

and will be available on 2/14/14!!

For six quite different short stories that will entertain you be sure and buy  your copy.

I had planned on going over to Portland area tomorrow for working on up loading the book.  However, plans have changed as a blizzard is dumping 10" of snow on CentralOregon, and Portland area is expecting 6" of snow!

Looks like the first day after the inclement weather will be on Monday.  :((

There's always a reason things happen, and this too will pass!  Have a great Thursday.

10 Days and counting! Till Love & Magick will be published!

Counting down the days!

Our pubbed date will be here before we know it.  I'm heading over to Portland on Friday for three days of work with Sarah and Judith my co-authors.

This journey has been exciting and we've learned so much about publishing, publicity and editing along the way.

Will we do it again?  Yes, I think we will.  Judith and Sarah are both so knowledgeable and fun and easy to work with.

Not that we haven't had any disagreements, I mean three women making decisions don't always see eye to eye or heart to heart.

We've managed to work through problems that arose.  And here we are. . .

Almost to the pub date!  I'm getting very excited!!

Have you reached for a star/goal and when you finally got it, what was that feeling like?

11 Days till Love & Magick is published

My story "The Crystal Witch" will be published in the anthology "Love & Magick" on February 14, 2014.  Here are some interesting characters from the story.

Today I want to introduce you to Henrietta's contemporary coven.  The coven high priestess is Darla Blackfeather.  She is a strong woman with ties to the land through her Native American heritage. She has black-brown hair, diamond nose stud and a no nonsense attitude

Ella Stone  blond, slight build, thirty-nine years old.  Making candles and infusing aroma therapy to work her spells.

Ivy Fox has a crown of wild red hair.  Plants are her forte.  She infuses potions, oils and teas with magick.  The youngest member of the coven at twenty years old.

Mae Wren is a tiny woman with lively blue eyes, and brown hair.  She is the crone of the group at age sixty-five.  The sage of the coven.  Mother to all the others.

And then there is Rosalba Bell. Olive skin, black hair, dark brown eyes and very exotic looking.  She has a fiery temper.  At twenty-eight years old she is still growing into her latent powers. She is the spiritualist.  She communicates with the spiritual world.  Her spirit guide is Leah.

These descriptions are excerpts from my character sketches.

Do you have a favorite character from a book you've read?

12 Days to Publishing "Love & Magick"

"The Crystal Witch" is one of my short stories in the anthology "Love & Magick".  I had incredible fun writing this story.

Some of the characters are Henrietta Anne Wynn, born October 1, 1674, in Waxing, MA., Waya, Cherokee shaman's son, Adahy, Cherokee shaman, Declan Blackthorn, the preacher's son and a man with evil intent.

How these four characters interact creates the catalyst which sends Henrietta on a journey she'll never forget!

Tomorrow stop by and meet her witch friends!

What is your favorite paranormal book?

13 Days to Publishing "Love & Magick"

Our publishing date for "Love & Magick" is approaching fast!  OMG!  and we've got so much to do!

Today is Sunday and I'm reviewing my week.  It's a busy one.  Tuesday and Wednesday a quick trip to Central Point, OR to visit  parents.

Thursday off to Portland to work with Judith and Sarah.  We have PR stuff to work on, meeting up with book sellers and putting our six, yes I said six, stories into a template and Jutoh!

We're very excited Wind Tree Press will be publishing "Love & Magick". http://www.windtreepress.com/

This is a total new experience for Sarah and I, we are newbies.  Judith has some experience as she has been putting her novels in the template.

Check back tomorrow to learn interesting facts about "The Crystal Witch".

14 Days to publishing Love & Magick!!!!-

by Diana McCollum

In writing "Ghost of a Chance" I searched the inter-net for information on haunted places in Bend, OR.  Below is a link to the full article on ghosts in Bend. 

• http://www.examiner.com/article/haunted-places-bend-ore
• Quoted from Examiner.com:
• 
  
• "Congress House: Reports of families who have lived there and died there due to living in a cursed house.
• The Pilot Butte Cemetery: Reports of blue orbs have been seen.
• The Lara House Lodge
• The Deschutes County Historical Society building
• The O’Kane Building: Their have been reports of ghostly smoke, footsteps and voices from a long dead waitress who may have once worked in the restaurant. Some say that the basement of the building is haunted by an old man."

I made sure more than one source listed the haunted sites I mentioned in my story.

Does your town have public places documented to have ghosts, cursed houses, or unexplained happenings?

15 days and counting!

In  my story "Ghost of a Chance", in the Love & Magick Anthology, I have Lester and Shelby meeting for the first time since high school at Backporch Coffee Roasters .

Her car won't start and Lester cleans up the battery contacts and gets the car started.  Shelby buys him a cup of the wonderful coffee sold at Backporch Coffee Roasters.

I like using real locations in my stories.  Doing that makes the story seem real.
There are so many details available from a real coffee shop, restaurant or park.

If you live in Bend, OR or visit be sure and stop by Backporch Coffee Roasters on Newport Ave, across the street from Newport Market.

The coffee is wonderful, and the shop is charming.

Lester was a geeky type in high school and Shelby was a self-centered cheerleader.  Be sure and read Love & Magick to see if these two can get together!

16 Days And Counting!

16 Days and Counting by Judith Ashley

At another time in the not too distant past, I had about 16 days before an original short story was due up at Free Reads from the Genre-istas and Friends. I was going through my normal process which is to wait until a story idea pops into my head complete with setting and characters who speak to me. In the meantime, I was sitting on my couch waiting for the full moon to appear in the window to the left of my fireplace.

Judith Ashley

I was in an optimistic mood because the sky was clear and I knew I'd be able to see Grandmother Moon as she passed by. Since she isn't a speedy traveler of the night sky, I waited a book in hand. From time to time I glanced down and read a bit but I was much more enchanted with the view out the small window.

Before Grandmother Moon is even visible, her light creeps over the glass and when the angle is right in to the room. That is all part of the magic for me...watching what has been for ages upon ages reveal itself to me time after time (assuming the clouds stay away).

And then There It Was!

The opening scene in Grandmother Moon replicates what I was doing that night. I was sitting on the couch, snuggled into a corner, comfy throw across my legs, reading a book, waiting for her to appear.

My Horsehide Drum

Of course, living in a metropolitan city, going out and beating my drum (yes, I have one of those too), was not an option. Neither Trey nor Carter appeared except in my imagination. However, both of them - actually all of my characters - interact with each other within my hearing so I can dutifully record what they are saying.

Do not think that everything just flows and I need to do nothing but record what they are saying and doing because there is a lot more to it. This process gives me a first draft, the basics of the story.

Next is to read through again and include such things as description if that isn't there the first go through (and it usually isn't - she has a throw over her legs, not a dark blue one for example), her and his thoughts so the reader better understands the "what" and "why" of the story. I catch typos and punctuation errors here also.

Once I've done what I can, I ask Paty Jager and Sarah Raplee to read it over and then I incorporate their suggestions and corrections.

For Love and Magic I've added another six thousand or so words and had four more people read it. I see Grandmother Moon as an introduction in some ways to my series The Sacred Women's Circle . The first three books of that seven book series are due out in early March.

17 Days and Counting!

17 Days and Counting!!!

18 Days and Counting!

Whew! 18 more days and we'll be published authors. Long time dreams realized. It has been a journey with the lumps, bumps, and detours that can happen on any journey.

What is most important on this and any journey is what we do when those lumps, bumps, and detours happen.

We persevered and kept going!

We stayed positive  - although we did adjust our release date we stayed positive that this was what we wanted to do.

We learned and are learning - how to work together, how to find answers, how to use new-to-us publishing tools.

We celebrated - individually and together we celebrated the small things. It may have been a piece of chocolate, time with a friend, acknowledging our achievements with someone who cheered us ever onward but we always celebrated what we'd done and are doing.

19 Days and Counting!

20 Days and Counting!

20 Days and Counting!

We're going for the gold here!

What?

Yep, we're going for it...straight on through from here to 02/14/2014 when you will be able to pick up Love and Magick - Mystical Stories of Romance at your favorite e-retailing book store. At least that's our goal.

And, we are hard at work to make that happen.

What's the big deal? Well, the main one would be LIFE. Yep, it does happen even to romance writers!!! We aren't surprised that LIFE gets in the way although there are times we are frustrated and a tad discouraged but keeping our commitment to have Love and Magick available to you, our readers, on time is strong.

Where are we now in the process? A very exciting part. A final run through to make sure our stories are as well-written and edited as we can make them. (As you can see our gorgeous cover designed by Karen Duval is done. We have TheBookDesigner.com template purchased as well as the Jutoh self-publishing software.

What's next? The three of us getting together and uploading our stories into the template and then uploading the template to Jutoh. Once in Jutoh we've a few more things to do and the Voila! we click Submit (more than once because we do the "few more things" for each of the book selling sites) and it is done.

Oh - between now and then, we do want to purchase our ISBN numbers (my job) and do the Copy Write process. I've been told and have read that both of those tasks are fairly easy...we shall see!

Now you have a fairly good idea of what we will be doing the next twenty days!

21 Days and Counting!

22 Days and Counting!

22 Days and Counting!

Once upon a time -

I grew up on stories that started that way. Grimm's Fairy Tales being favorites. My Mom or my Dad would read using various voices for the characters, adding dramatic pauses for effect, increasing the speed at which they read when the characters were fleeing danger - well, you get the idea.

Now when I'm reading for pleasure I do the voices, pacing, pausing - in my head.

But there is one place I still read out loud and it is not to grandchildren (at 17 and 23 they'd rather be on their smart phones or computer or talking to friends). I read out loud to myself when I go through my manuscript one final time. It is amazing what I find as awkward, what just doesn't "sound" right when I do that.

Remembering the time in my life when having books read to me was special, I know I also want to explore audiobooks.

That idea is leaping forward in time because at this point, Love and Magick is 22 days away from release. But it is an idea whose time will come!

23 Days and Counting!

24 Days and Counting!

People ask "Where do you get the idea for a story?" And since I write contemporary romantic women's fiction with mystical spiritual elements, I always pause before I answer.

(Pause)

I don't "get ideas" for stories. They just show up!

Sometimes they show up with clearly cut characters who have names like they did for Sarah's Ankh. (The "ankh" necklace was around Sarah's neck from the very beginning). I did have to work to come up with some of the secondary characters' names and on the advice of my editor, Kelly Schaub, I changed Sarah's hair and eye color a smidgen.

Being an adult woman who worked outside the home in the 60's, 70's, and 80's (part of that time in law enforcement related jobs), Sarah took on some of those characteristics the women of that time often used when dealing with what today is considered sexual harassment.

And, boy, did Kelly have A Lot to say about that!

The story had shown up that way, so what was I supposed to do?

I thought about my seventeen and twenty-three year old granddaughters who grew up in a society that had established boundaries. What would they have said and done if confronted with Gary's behavior?
I went back to the story and became Sarah but as she dealt with issues, I responded as I believed my granddaughters would. (No, neither have AK-47's so the jerk-villain was somewhat safe).

The result? A stronger story that is much more "contemporary" than the original. The premise of the story is the same, the goals and motivation of the characters is the same, but how they deal with the conflict has moved to the 21 Century.

I hope you enjoy reading Sarah's Ankh and our other stories in Love and Magick, Mystical Stories of Romance being released on February 14, 2014.

25 Days and Counting!

25 days and counting! It is an exciting time for Sarah, Diana, and me. Taking charge of our dream has had its ups and downs but with the end (i.e. the release of Love and Magick) so close at hand, the proverbial light is shining bright at the end of the tunnel.

26 Days and Counting Until Our Book Launch!

27 days to the Love & Magick Book Launch!


Two things inspired my second story in LOVE & MAGIC, titled The Curse of the Neahkahnie Treasure. My first inspiration came from my first trip on a sailboat. We sailed from the West Mooring Basin at historic Astoria, Oregon, seven miles down the great Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. Astoria is my favorite small town, and its history and economy have been linked to the ocean for over two-hundred years.

The bow sussed through swells instead of roaring like a diesel engine. The experience was magical, so quiet that I heard wing flaps when a flock of pelicans took flight as we passed.

Never mind that I got seasick. Never mind that it was freezing cold for much of the sail. Never mind that  we were crossing the Columbia River Bar into coastal waters so dangerous they are known as the Graveyard of the Pacific.

The forty-footer was a thing of beauty as sleek and graceful as a sailfish. The cabin below deck sported gorgious polished woodwork and shiny brass fittings.. The surrounding natural beauty touched my soul. I love adventure, and this was a whole new way to explore the sea. I walked on air for days after the sail.

A week later I wrote a flash fiction short story set at  on a sailing vessel. I'd never written a historical, so I set the story in Astoria in 1871. When Judith Ashley, Diana McCollum and I later decided to collaborate on a collection of romantic short stories having paranormal, magical or mystical elements, I decided to lengthen my short-short story from 2,000 to 13,000 words and include the tale in the anthology. Readers had commented that they wanted me to expand the story.

My second source of inspiration for The Curse of the Neahkahnie Treasure is fodder for another blog post!

Thanks for reading. ~ Sarah Raplee

28 days to the Love & Magick Book Launch!
by Sarah Raplee

Two things inspired my second story in LOVE & MAGIC, titled The Curse of the Neahkahnie Treasure. My first inspiration came from my first trip on a sailboat. We sailed from the West Mooring Basin at historic Astoria, Oregon, seven miles down the great Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. Astoria is my favorite small town, and its history and economy have been linked to the ocean for over two-hundred years.

The bow sussed through swells instead of roaring like a diesel engine. The experience was magical, so quiet that I heard wing flaps when a flock of pelicans took flight as we passed.

Never mind that I got seasick. Never mind that it was freezing cold for much of the sail. Never mind that  we were crossing the Columbia River Bar into coastal waters so dangerous they are known as the Graveyard of the Pacific.

The forty-footer was a thing of beauty as sleek and graceful as a sailfish. The cabin below deck sported gorgious polished woodwork and shiny brass fittings.. The surrounding natural beauty touched my soul. I love adventure, and this was a whole new way to explore the sea. I walked on air for days after the sail.

A week later I wrote a flash fiction short story set at  on a sailing vessel. I'd never written a historical, so I set the story in Astoria in 1871. When Judith Ashley, Diana McCollum and I later decided to collaborate on a collection of romantic short stories having paranormal, magical or mystical elements, I decided to lengthen my short-short story from 2,000 to 13,000 words and include the tale in the anthology. Readers had commented that they wanted me to expand the story.

My second source of inspiration for The Curse of the Neahkahnie Treasure is fodder for another blog post!

Thanks for reading. ~ Sarah

29 Days and Counting Until Our Book Launch!

30 days & counting until the LOVE & MAGICK Book Launch! 

Love & Magick is a collection of mystical stories of romance. Why mystical romance? My thesaurus tells me mystical = spiritual, magical, supernatural, transcendent, preternatural. Our stories include elements of fairytales, alternative spirituality, restless spirits, curses, enchantments, witches, wise women second sight...

Mystical seems to fit, doesn't it?

31 Days and Counting Until Our Book Launch!

32 days & counting until the LOVE & MAGICK Book Launch!

Are you familiar with this tale of a lesser-known Snow White? 

One of my two short stories in the LOVE & MAGICK anthology,  Enchanted Protector, is very loosely based on the fairy tale, Snow White and Rose Red, by the Brothers Grimm. If you are not familiar with the Grimms' story, I highly recommend you read the fairy tale. You'll have fun picking out the similarities and differences between the two stories. 

PRINCE ROLF OF HELMSGAARD
HEIR TO THE DRAGON HORN THRONE

 
Here's a teaser to peak your interest: 

In Enchanted Protector, a prince has been spellbound in the body of a wolf. In the Grimms' fairy tale, a prince has been spellbound in the body of a much bigger predator.

Rediscover the stories you loved as a child! Read Grimm's Fairy Tales.

33 days & counting until the LOVE & MAGICK Book Launch!

34 days to the Love & Magick Book Launch!

Two things inspired my second story in LOVE & MAGIC, titled The Curse of the Neahkahnie Treasure. My first inspiration came from my first trip on a sailboat. We sailed from the West Mooring Basin at historic Astoria, Oregon, seven miles down the great Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean. Astoria is my favorite small town, and its history and economy have been linked to the ocean for over two-hundred years.

The bow sussed through swells instead of roaring like a diesel engine. The experience was magical, so quiet that I heard wing flaps when a flock of pelicans took flight as we passed.

Never mind that I got seasick. Never mind that it was freezing cold for much of the sail. Never mind that  we were crossing the Columbia River Bar into coastal waters so dangerous they are known as the Graveyard of the Pacific.

The forty-footer was a thing of beauty as sleek and graceful as a sailfish. The cabin below deck sported gorgious polished woodwork and shiny brass fittings.. The surrounding natural beauty touched my soul. I love adventure, and this was a whole new way to explore the sea. I walked on air for days after the sail.

A week later I wrote a flash fiction short story set at  on a sailing vessel. I'd never written a historical, so I set the story in Astoria in 1871. When Judith Ashley, Diana McCollum and I later decided to collaborate on a collection of romantic short stories having paranormal, magical or mystical elements, I decided to lengthen my short-short story from 2,000 to 13,000 words and include the tale in the anthology. Readers had commented that they wanted me to expand the story.

My second source of inspiration for The Curse of the Neahkahnie Treasure is fodder for another blog post!

Thanks for reading. ~ Sarah Raplee

35 days to Love & Magick Book Launch!

Are you familiar with this tale of a lesser-known Snow White? 

One of my two short stories in the LOVE & MAGICK anthology,  Enchanted Protector, is very loosely based on the fairy tale, Snow White and Rose Red, by the Brothers Grimm. If you are not familiar with the Grimms' story, I highly recommend you read the fairy tale. You'll have fun picking out the similarities and differences between the two stories. 

PRINCE ROLF OF HELMSGAARD
HEIR TO THE DRAGON HORN THRONE

 
Here's a teaser to peak your interest: 

In Enchanted Protector, a prince has been spellbound in the body of a wolf. In the Grimms' fairy tale, a prince has been spellbound in the body of a much bigger predator.

Rediscover the stories you loved as a child! Read Grimm's Fairy Tales.

37 Days and Counting Until Our Book Launch!

 

Love & Magick is a collection of mystical stories of romance. Why mystical romance? My thesaurus tells me mystical = spiritual, magical, supernatural, transcendent, preternatural. Our stories include elements of fairytales, alternative spirituality, restless spirits, curses, enchantments, witches, wise women second sight...

Mystical seems to fit, doesn't it?

38 days to launch and counting!

39 Days and Counting!!! The time is flying by and our excitement grows with the passing of each day (yes, a cliché but equally true).

40 Days and Counting!!!

41 Days and Counting!!!

42 Days and Counting!!!

43 Days and Counting!

44 Days and Counting!

45 Days and Counting!

In forty-five days a dream will manifest!

In forty-five days Sarah Raplee will become a published author.

In forty-five days Diana McCollum will become a published author.

In forty-five days Judith Ashley will become a published author.

We are thrilled with our book cover designed by Karen Duvall and hope you will join us in our count down!

45