Day: March 1, 2013

Video Trailer: Helga: Out of Hedgelands

Twelve-year-old Helga has more danger in her life than most beasts her age—Wrackshee slavers after her, an attack by bandits that nearly kills her, a race against dragons pursuing her, and leading a rebellion against the insidious WooZan. And that is just the beginning. What do you expect from a young beast who just can’t accept things as they are? Taking on not just one, but two all-powerful, supreme tyrants in two different realms, Helga and her eccentric comrades defeat tyranny and slavery not by battling to the last beast standing, but by being the first to think differently.

Helga: Out of Hedgelands, the young adult fantasy novel by Rick Johnson, is available through Amazon.com and Amazon UK.

Don’t forget, you can cast your vote for trailer of the month on March 30, 2013 at 5 p.m. Pacific time.

Between You and Me, Grammar Matters

If ever a genie wants to grant me three wishes, I am all set. First, I would wish to always stay at the perfect weight, no matter how much I ate. Next, I would wish for financial security, so that I could quit my day job and never have to take another one. And my third wish would be for Amazon and Smashwords to insist that every indie title be vetted by a competent proofreader before they will publish it.

I admit it: I’m picky. It’s probably because I internalized grammar and spelling rules early. Please don’t hurt me, but I was one of those annoying kids in school who always got good grades on her English papers. I was a spelling whiz, too. One of my college journalism professors gave his classes a test on commonly-misspelled words at the beginning each semester. I had two classes with him, so I had to take the test twice. When I aced the thing for the second time, he wrote on my paper, “People in radio don’t need to know how to spell!” I’m still not sure whether he was trying to recruit me for the student newspaper. (And if he was, then it’s clear that he never saw my grade in photography.) Continue reading “Between You and Me, Grammar Matters”

Flash Fiction Star of the Week: Maggie Rascal

Congratulations to Maggie Rascal, the readers’ choice in this week’s Indies Unlimited Flash Fiction Challenge. Thanks also to everyone who participated – excellent entries!

The winning entry is rewarded with a special feature here today and a place in our collection of winners which will be published as an e-book at year end.

Without further ado, here’s the winning entry:

Continue reading “Flash Fiction Star of the Week: Maggie Rascal”