Someone's Birthday is Coming Up...

I have some lovely news to share with you, ducks! Over the weekend I was alerted by the editors at Rooglewood Press that Five Glass Slippers hit #1 bestseller in numerous categories in Canada, the US, and the United Kingdom! We even hit #1 in the "fairytale" category, which is a huge one. So we were told to proudly begin to let people know that we are internationally best-selling authors. I feel odd even typing that, but it is the truth. My "slipper sisters" and I have hit #1 in several countries. Surreal. If you have not got your copy of this internationally best-selling collection, by all means off to Amazon with you! 

It's nearly Valentine's Day and I am reminded that on February 14th, it will be a year ago that my debut novel, Fly Away Home, hit the market. In twelve months following, you have generously supported me by purchasing this novel (and my others), by reading it, and by reviewing it on Amazon, Goodreads, and your blogs. And now, on its first birthday, I want to give back to all of you who have been so helpful in kick-starting my career! Starting this Saturday, February 7th, and going through Valentine's Day, both editions of Fly Away Home (print and e-book) will be 50% off! 

If you loved the book and want to share it with someone who hasn't read it, now's a great time to nab a copy. If you haven't read the book but have been wanting too, ditto. If you just dropped by The Inkpen Authoress for the first time and have no idea what this book is, I repeat my inquiry: will you find a better time to try it out? I think not. So by all means, please share the news and treat yourself  to a light-handed, vintage romance this Valentine's Day.

Black Friday Steal: 25% Off Anon, Sir, Anon! :)

Happy Belated Thanksgiving, my dears! I hope that your days were full of sweet family time and remembrances of God's gifts in your lives. Mine was! We had our neighbor-cousins, grandparents, sister-in-law, and two friends at dinner and it was beautiful. And crammed. And beautiful.

I was not part of the Black Friday craziness that begins on Thursday night at 6 pm. Frankly, I think it's ridiculous. But we older siblings have a long-held tradition that we do go out Black Friday morning, leaving our house around eight o'clock and coming home sometime mid-afternoon. I never buy anything of substance, mostly just Christmas presents. The real reason for going out is to holly-jolly with the best of family and friends. But some of you have to work, or can't get out, or don't want to get out, and I know how that is. So when I had the opportunity to participate in a big, fat, Black Friday book-sale event, I thought of you sitting there amongst leftover Thanksgiving food with nothing to read and I decided to join in with Anon, Sir, Anon at a 25% off discount!

 Today's deal is 25% off paperback copies...and Cyber Monday is 25% off the e-book!

So if you have not got your hands on a copy of my mystery and want your chance, now is a great time to buy it. I have it on good authority that Anon, Sir, Anon pairs excellently with chilly November days. For heaven's sake...it was set during cozy November days. I must tell you, though, that my book is not the only book on sale! Not a bit of it. Below, you will find a list of all the authors and titles participating, so here you go!

Kendra E. Ardnek
The Ankuluen: Cyber Monday
Saffron's Big Plan and Other Stories: Cyber Monday
Do You Take This Quest?: Cyber Monday

Faith Blum
A Mighty Fortress: Black Friday  [V4Y5K36D -- 10%] and Cyber Monday)
Be Thou My Vision: Black Friday [7626YZAK -- 20%] and Cyber Monday

Sarah Brown
The Prodigal Pup: Black Friday [SB14CP31 -- 25%] Cyber Monday
Learning Lessons from Furry Friends: Black Friday  [SB14CP31 -- 25%] Cyber Monday

Kelsey Bryant
Family Reunion: Black Friday [YFY84GHU -- 20%]

Elizabeth Ender
Ransomed: Black Friday [GNE6VUXY -- 30%]

J.J. Francesco
Blood Chain: Cyber Monday

Julie Gilbert
Nadia's Tears: Cyber Monday

Leah Good
Counted Worthy: Black Friday [K7CVNEER -- 40%] and Cyber Monday

Melody Grubb
The Land of Calais: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
The Warmth of His Eyes: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Send Me, Lord Jesus: Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Rachel Heffington
Anon, Sir, Anon: Black Friday [9MTYHSX3 -- 25%] and Cyber Monday

Rebekah Jones
Journeys of Four: Cyber Monday
Grandmother's Letters: Cyber Monday
A Year with the Potters: Cyber Monday

Jaye L. Knight
Resistance: Black Friday [Q45HN6G9 -- 25%] and Cyber Monday

Tina M. Neely
Diamond Hair Princess: Black Friday

Joel A. Parisi
Shadow Play: Cyber Monday

J. Grace Pennington
Radialloy: Black Friday [Y2XHGYDN -- 25%] and Cyber Monday
In His Image: Black Friday [KXNZ7PYN -- 25%] and Cyber Monday
Machiavellian: Black Friday [UFXGUYMM -- 25%] and Cyber Monday

Jennifer Sauer
Why Rodney Never Should've Gone to the NAPIC: Black Friday [F76DDR7S -- 45%] and Cyber Monday

Sarah Elisabeth Sawyer
Touch My Tears: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Third Side of the Coin: Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Cara Simmons
The Haven: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
The Leviathan: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
The Champion: Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Jordan Smith
Finding the Core of Your Story: Black Friday [NL4NJXWS -- 30%]

Rachel Starr Thomson
Reap the Whirlwind: Cyber Monday
Lady Moon: Cyber Monday
Angel in the Woods: Cyber Monday

Therese Heckenkamp
Past Suspicion: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Frozen Footprints: Black Friday

Melika Dannese Lux
City of Lights: Black Friday [FNB98MY6 -- 35%] and Cyber Monday
Corcitura: Black Friday [GU46WHKT -- 55%] and Cyber Monday

T.R. Lykins
Last Heartbeat: Black Friday and Cyber Monday
The Life Gift: Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Melanie D. Snitker
Calming the Storm: Cyber Monday

"My sister gets to keep her cat."

This is a public service announcement to let you know that this weekend, I'm running a special deal on Anon, Sir, Anon. That's right! On Black Friday, paperback copies will be available for at least 25% off the original price, while on Cyber Monday, I'll have a similar deal on e-book copies. So if you've held off on purchasing my mystery, now is a wonderful time to get ready to buy it. This deal is part of a big Black Friday book party I will be participating in and I'll have more info on that coming up in the next several days. But I thought I'd give my own dear readers a heads-up so you can start thinking about getting your own copy of this coziest of mysteries. :)

And in case you still aren't sure if Anon, Sir, Anon is for you, there are quite a lot of reviews up on Goodreads showing a variety of opinions. You ought to be able to find something to suit. I'm still tackling the finishing-bits of Cottleston Pie over here. Writing time is a little pinched this week. I opted to see Mockingjay Part 1 instead of sitting at home writing after work yesterday...I'm glad I did, but I will admit to being entirely at the mercy of every emotion as it hit me. I haven't read the Hunger Games trilogy and my sister has. Thus, I am totally oblivious to what will happen next and everything effects me deeply. I nearly died of high blood pressure. At any rate, all of this to say, when I finish the first draft of Cottleston Pie, I will do a triumphant snippets post. If you'd like that, comment below and give me a pep talk so I'll kick my tail into high gear and finish this. I only have about seven-thousand more words to go...which is a matter of a couple "chapters" of the story. Quite feasible. I would like to get it finished this week...which means getting it finished between tonight and tomorrow afternoon because THANKSGIVING IS COMING. I am so excited for the holidays this year...my family has been rather spread out over the past six months. I've had a job and haven't been home much, my sister has been living away and interning/working at my brother's company, and Thanksgiving will be the first time we'll see my brother and new sister-in-law since the wedding! Not to mention the fact that we're also getting to spend this holiday with two amazing friends who can't make it to their own homes for Thanksgiving. So much for which to be grateful. :)

The quote is from Mockingjay and made me laugh aloud, even though I anticipated what Katniss would say.

Ten minutes of Cottleston Pie before I dash off to work. One good thing about working with kids is that I get free inspiration for Simpian Grenadine & Co. Tra!

"Heap on more wood! --the wind is chill;"

"Heap on more wood! — the wind is chill;

But let it whistle as it will,

We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.

Each age has deemed the new born year

The fittest time for festal cheer.

And well our Christian sires of old.

Loved when the year its course had rolled,

And brought blithe Christmas back again,

With all his hospitable train.

Domestic and religious rite

Gave honour to the holy night:

On Christmas eve the bells were rung;

On Christmas eve the mass was sung;

That only night, in all the year,

Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear.

The damsel donned her kirtle sheen;

The hail was dressed with holly green;

Forth to the wood did merry men go,

To gather in the mistletoe,

Then opened wide the baron’s hail

To vassal, tenant, serf, and all;

Power laid his rod of rule aside,

And ceremony doff’d his pride.

The heir, with roses in his shoes,

That night might village partner choose.

The lord, underogating, share

The vulgar game of “post and pair!”

All hailed with uncontroll’d delight

And general voice, the happy night

That to the cottage, as the crown,

Brought tidings of salvation down.

The fire with well dried logs supplied,

Went roaring up the chimney wide;

The huge hail table’s oaken face,

Scrubb’d till it shone, the day to grace,

Bore then upon: its massive board

No mark to part the squire and lord.

Then was brought in the lusty brawn,

By old, blue-coated serving-man;

Then the grim boar’s head frowned on high,

Crested with bays and rosemary.

Well can the green-garbed ranger tell,

How, when, and where, the monster fell;

What dogs before his death he tore,

And all the baiting of the boar.

The wassail round in good brown bowls,

Garnished with ribbon, blithely trowls.

There the huge sirloin reeked: hard by

Plum-porridge stood, and Christmas pie;

Nor failed old Scotland to produce

At such high tide her savoury goose.

Then came the merry masquers in,

And carols roar’d with blithesome din;

If unmelodious was the song,

It was a hearty note, and strong.

Who lists may in their mumming see

Traces of ancient mystery;

White shirts supplied the masquerade,

And smutted cheeks the visor made

But oh! what masquers, richly dight,

Can boast of bosoms half so light!

England was merry England when

Old Christmas brought his sports again.

’Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale,

’Twas Christmas told the merriest tale;

A Christmas gambol oft would cheer

A poor man’s heart through half the year."

-from Sir Walter Scott's "Marmion"

Merry Christmas, dear friends all! Let us give "honour to the holy night" in a beautiful way. Christ is born to us! Alleluia, and may we never forget it! I shall say it again: Merry Christmas! And may your Christmas gambol oft cheer your "poor man's heart through half the year."

Platitudes--I mean, Gratitude. Yes. Gratitude.

I am thankful. Thankful for every single one of my followers and dear writing friends. Without you, I would have no public. And without my public my writing would not have grown as much as it has the past several years. I treasure every comment I receive, I treasure your patience, and your advice. Thank you for being there to assure me my writing isn't trash. Thank you for offering suggestions and Other Helpful Things. Thank you for discussing every topic under the ink-sun from Charles Dickens to Mr. Darcy without wrinkling your nose at me. In short, thank you for being awesome.
Among the wonderful host of you--men and women alike--I would like to take this opportunity to thank several who have been special inspirations to me. Ready?

Mirriam. By letting me read Monster you showed me how powerful a medium fiction can be in shedding truth and Light into complex, difficult subjects. Your stand on Life is something this world needs to here. Have at 'em, luv. Leave 'em breathless.

Jenny. Of course I could not have such a list without mention you. If we were all a part of the Inklings club, I feel that you'd be the Tolkien to my Lewis. The one urging me to do better, congratulating me when I do well enough, and keeping the muscles of my mind straining onward and upward in pursuit of richer, deeper things.

Abigail. You are the Elinor to my occasional Marianne. Every time I visit your blog I am inspired to do better, write harder, and think before I speak. Thank you. I need your baking soda to my vinegar.

Rachelle. Ours is a recent acquaintance, but already I feel I've known you all my life. I know next to nothing about the ins and outs of your daily life--I don't even know if you have a single sibling! But what I do know is that we are soul-friends. Thank you for your gentle, poignant criticism. You are an inspiration.

The Anne-girl. Oh Bertie...dear dear me. You have given me a nephew in The Sage, and I cannot wait to attend his christening--er, publication--thankee. If I was half as dedicated a writer at your age as you are, I think I'd already be a Jane Austen. As I was not and therefore amn't, (aren't? Isn't? Oh hush and take a pickle for your trouble) I wish you every happiness and blessing in your writing efforts.

Again I thank you all, but most of all I thank my Lord Jesus Christ who, by the beauty of His story, inspires me ever and anon to try to play with these mirror-shards and make a reflection that might show a bit of His goodness and glory to a blind world. Thank You, Lord for Your patience with me, and for allowing me the privilege of playing with words and ideas in my fumbling attempts to please You. Thank You for my part in Your story. Thank You for training my hands to make war and my feet to trod the path You've laid for them. I love You, Jesus. You are the only Author I could imagine surrendering the writing of my life to.

A happy and blessed Thanksgiving Day to all you!

You never knew this about him! :D

I love bits of trivia about famous authors--it's a geeky side of me, I guess! :D I am a proficient in the art of Rummaging Up Facts Hitherto Unknown. Here are some of my latest finds:

According to a very reliable source  Elizabeth Gaskell had a hideous fear of spiders and rats combined. One or the other didn't bother her, but if she saw two together she nearly went into apoplexy! :D

C.S. Lewis called his inner editor "Bonzo" after a clown he had seen and been inspired by as a six-year old child. :D Read the whole article here: C.S. Lewis Names Clown His Inspiration... :)

Shakespeare ate sardines and tea for breakfast every morning...I mean hey, fish oil is supposed to work wonders for the brain, right? No wonder he was such a genius!

Lucy Maud Montgomery was creeped out by red-haired people, but in order to do penance for how she had treated her red-haired cousin as a child, (according to a published version of her journal) she created a ginger-capped character for one of her books: Anne Shirley, who went on to become the most famous of all Montgomery's literary heroines!

J.R.R. Tolkien never meant for his books to be published when they were--he wanted to wait and have someone publish them post-humously, but the other Inklings coerced him into early publishing. :D Here's an interesting blog post about it...Talkin' Tolkien: Brainy But Bashful.

Aren't those hilarious? I was laughing so hard over some of them! Oh yeah, and I forgot the best fact of all! This one will really have you going...

......Ready?....

...Author Rachel Heffington counted April Fool's Day as one of her favorite semi-holidays. She wrote a blog post full of phony facts to make her friends smile, in hopes that they'd believe some of them. :)

Love you guys! <3

It's a Jolly Holiday...

I've been at a sweet, huge rambling farmhouse for the week, with little to vex me, much to please me, and a crowd of amazing people around me. The only thing that could make this week better would be if we were *not* down because our dog was getting her leg cut off, and if the recovery was not so perilous and possibly deadly. Licorice's flesh was so traumatized by getting hit by the car that it has started dying--it can heal, or it can get into her bloodstream and kill her--so if you think about it, please pray for recovery.
But what a topic for a writing blog! (Though some writers claim that blood and gore is necessary in any writing. ;)
I wanted first off to remind you about the Merry Auld England Writing Challenge. Now, girls, I know that among the writers haunting this blog are some of the finest pens this side of Jane Austen. I know that many of those self-same pens love classic literature, and a lot of classic literature is from England. So on your toes, lassies and show the world (and me) that you are an amazing lot--as I'm fully confident you are.
Originally I was ending the contest Sept. 9, 2011, but I know that the summer's been busy and many of you are just getting out of that vacation mode. So I am extending the entry date two weeks--the new ending date for the Merry Auld England Writing Challenge is Sept. 23, 2011. Please enter! I've only had one entry so far, and I'd love for this to be a good contest. Remember, there are three categories--I'm sure you'll find one that fits your writing style!
Now, I was thinking that I ought not to waste this week of relative leisure without doing some writing. But have you ever been in a place so inspiring, so relaxing, and so restorative that you don't feel like exerting yourself? Perhaps it is just me. But, strange for me, I've seen sunsets here without feeling the need to capture them in words, I've discovered quaint closets and passages in this house, I've dug in the garden, I've cleaned out three fridges, I've hummed songs while making biscuits, I've braved ticks to pick flowers, I've watched a chicken jumping to get figs off a tree, I've sat on a porch swing, I've read an Agatha Christie mystery, I've watched Ivanhoe, and I've taken rambles all without feeling the pressure of needing to immediately write these things down.
At first I was bothered--why is this desire not there? Have I lost touch with my writing? And then I slapped myself upside the head and realized: "My imagination is restoring, rejuvenating, revitalizing itself among these quaint pleasures. It needed the break as much as I did. My thoughts are growing round and rosy from the wholesome country air and food. It's on a vacation. It has repaired to its country estate for a week of rest. And that's okay."
And I am content. Every couple of hours I've fed goats milk from a dropper to three teeny baby rabbits one of our gallant hosts found. They are fat and round and wriggly--Bombur is the biggest, fattest. It's a simple pleasure, and a real one. And I don't need to worry about plots and pacings and dialog and punctuation. I am a young lady of nineteen on a country holiday--for a week, I shall lay aside my title of Writer, and remember I'm a little girl yet.