IWSG~Letting Go To Your Story's Voice

Coming to you from northern New England where the Atlantic is still chilly, the lobstah' is as tasty as ev'ah, and the lighthouses shine on. My family is currently on a much needed vacation at a camp on a lake in Maine we rented for two weeks. 

In Maine language that's Up'tah camp.

I'll share photos in my next post, but for now I'll move on to this month's IWSG optional question.

Quote: "Although I have written a short story collection, the form found me and not the other way around. Don't write short stories, novels or poems. Just write your truth and your stories will mold into the shapes they need to be."  

Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn't planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?

The second half of this quote spoke to me; that's why I highlighted it. I hadn't thought about why I write a piece as a short story, poem, or full-length novel. I know some stories are meant to be shorties, while others need a longer and more twisting road. For me, each has always inked the page the way it felt more natural. But that last part ". . . write your truth . . . your stories will mold into the shapes they need to be," rings so true with the middle grade novel I'm currently working on.

I like order. It's my nature. Plans get accomplished. Ideas/Intentions don't. But maybe it's not that simple. Maybe it's about having an idea of a plan and where you're going, but letting go to the freedom writing avails. We've all heard '. . . Let the story speak to you . . .', right? So I guess my answer to this question is yes I have. And it's teaching me more about myself, which is a good thing.

OTHER PARTICIPANTS

A big Merci! goes out to this month's amazing co-hosts Susan Baury Rouchard, Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane,Jennifer Hawes, Chemist Ken, and Chrys Fey! 

Want to know more about the Insecure Writers Support Group? Clink on the image to find out and read more participant's post, today.

MMGM ~ BAD FAIRY with Author Elaine Kaye

Welcome to another edition of Marvelous Middle Grade Monday! #MMGM Super glad you're here because I've got the cuties new middle grade release that puts the sweet back in bad.

Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Bad Fairy

Series: A Bad Fairy Adventure (Book One)

Author: Elaine Kaye

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Genre: Fantasy Middle Grade

Length: 66 pages

Age Range: 8-12

Description: Thistle Greenbud is not a bad fairy. She simply doesn't like rules, and it's just her luck that her homework is to create a new rule for the fairy handbook. But first, she has more important things to do. Like figure out how to get back at Dusty and Moss for playing tricks on her.

 

Before she can carry out her plan, though, disaster strikes and she finds herself working alongside the very fairies she wanted revenge on. Can they work together and trust each other, or will things go from bad to worse?

In Bad Fairy, we meet many different kinds of fairies, including pixies and brownies. Other magical creatures are mentioned as well, because many creatures (from fauns to boggarts) live in Pinecone Grove, where Thistle Greenbud, the main character of Bad Fairy, lives.

Check out this glossary of magical creatures and what they are:

Boggarts - evil spirits that cause mischief in houses, from spoiling milk to kidnapping children. They also live in marshes and fields.

Brownies - industrious fairies that help in farms and houses.

Fauns - half-human, half-goat. They protect wildlife of the woods and fields.

Flower Fairies - plant spirits that live and sleep in their own special flower. They even wear dresses to match the flowers they care for.

Gnomes - earth spirits that live underground.

Goblins - scary-looking, mischievous creatures that are greedy for gold, jewelry, and anything that sparkles.

Ogres - cannibalistic, brutish monsters with human features.

Troop - a group of fairies.

Trolls - unfriendly creatures that dwell in mountains and caves.

Pixies - house fairies that only wear green and love their pointed hats.

 

EXCERPT

I turn at the sound of talking behind me. Shock flits through me. There is a line of fairies at our back door—pixies, brownies, house elves, gnomes, even a few flower fairies. What in Fairy Land is going on? Well, at least there aren’t any goblins, boggarts, trolls, or ogres! I turn back to our kitchen.

The fairy Mom is interviewing now is a pixie, the most beloved of all fairies. They always wear green, and this pixie’s dress is a bright green, which matches her pointed hat. Pixies are never seen without their pointed hats.

Standing at the counter, I eat dried mushrooms with a glass of cold chamomile tea. After a few minutes, the young pixie walks out the front door, with her head hanging low.

“What’s all this about, Mom?”

“I knew you couldn’t wait to ask.” She gets up to stretch her legs and fluff out her wings. 

“Your dad and I have been doing a lot of talking lately about getting some help here at home.”

“But why?” I interrupt. “I help you all the time. Why do we need someone else in our little home?” I feel hurt that all the help I do doesn’t matter.

“My sweet bumblebee.” Mom puts her arm around me. “All this has happened so fast my head is in a bee buzz. Your dad found out from Mr. Thorn at the factory that they need someone to tie ribbon onto fairy dust bags. It’ll give us extra money.”

My mom working? I want her at home, with me. But one look at her and I can’t deny the twinkle in her eyes at the idea.

“Mom, that’s great, if you want to do it. You are so good at crafts, and I know how much you love creating with ribbons. You would be great at this new job. I’m so happy for you.” I give her a hug.

Love picture books? Here's a chance to WIN 3 Signed Paperback Picture Books!

Pea Soup Disaster, Doctor Mom, The Missing Alphabet

 

Giveaway deets: One winner, International, Ends - July 1, 2020 12:00am Eastern Standard Time

GIVEAWAY LINK

Elaine Kaye is the author of A Gregory Green Adventure series. She first created Gregory Green after her son, who loved her homemade pea soup, thus inspiring the story Pea Soup Disaster. Bad Fairy is her middle grade debut and the first of A Bad Fairy Adventure series.

 

Kaye has worked as a library assistant and teacher’s assistant in elementary schools in the Sunshine State. She currently lives in Florida, but she has called Michigan; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Okinawa, Japan home. She is a grandmother of three boys.

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Best of luck to Elaine and Fairy Thistle! Good luck with the giveaway to all who enter.

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