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People who have read this have come back to me with words like 'amazing', 'wonderful', so we are trying a new cover to see if that makes some differences.
Some opinions would be wonderful, both on the cover and the content. It is an odd conundrum that authors can't get anywhere without recognition *G*. So if you have read any of my stories, I would truly appreciate a review, even a brief one. Simply because it encourages others to read as well.

 
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As I said on FB yesterday,  I was reminded that people are reading my books and that I hadn't done any promoting for a while. I'm a little shy when it comes to that and tend to hide in the corner. Unfortunately in today's book climate, if I want people to read, I have to blow my own trumpet now and again :). I also have been working like crazy at the bakery. I mean, virtually full time when I should be only working a couple of days a week.

So why should you read my books when there are a million others to choose from? Well, according to my reviewers it is because they are well written and highly original. The kind of books where it doesn't matter if you routinely read sci fi or fantasy, because they are character-orientated first. That is not to say I don't do my research.
"The Voice of the Land" displays a winged creature on the cover, and it is not until you've read into the book that you discover why and how. From a Pears encyclopedia article on the evolutionary paths of both bats and humans, to a thesis combining bat and human blood, to genetics. All those went into the writing of "Voice". Why did I use a clone as a main character? Isn't that passé these days? No, not when you put a new twist on it. Why did I make the world/worlds sentient? Because it creates a what-if question. Can a world fight back as humans slowly destroy it?
As with many of my stories, this is a story about choices. What would you do if--?
"Voice" is the beginning of a trilogy. The second volume is called "The Discovering of Demons" and is set five hundred years further on and is about one of the Desmondis characters ( bat-like). The whole trilogy is about the evolution of species and how and why they came about.
Link for what I have available right now:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=susan+elizabeth+curnow

Rich

5/22/2013

2 Comments

 
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RIP son.

To Live in the Hearts of Others is Never to Die.

15th April 1986 - 22nd May 2011

I can't think of a greater tribute than the poem Pat Moulden wrote about Rich. They were on the same team on Rich's second tour of Afghanistan.

People ask every day, yo what happened? where you been?
i can't fuckin  answer, i can't even see 'em
i do my best to get by one day at a time
but  life just don't make sense these days with no rhyme
we suffered, we sweat,  we did everything together
but now your gone and ill miss you forever

you've been gone for 2 years now, how can that be?
when in my dream last night it was just you and me
sitting under that mountain after that long ass patrol
where we disarmed a bomb so the local children could roll
up to the foot path we pounded in fear
and tossed the kids treats that smiled ear to ear
my heart is broken here on earth with you gone
but i know that I will be seeing you at the end of my song
for the rest of my life i will try to be like you
the perfect soldier, father and man through and through.

 
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Maaan, weebly is making this hard for me today. On my laptop it wouldn't let me write anything. So you got a cute picture of Mica and nothing else. Le sigh.
Ah well, I am too tired to argue right now. Another stint of lots of days working. Done for two days, then another week and then I get six days off - Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
I have no idea why this job tires me out so much. Before this I mucked out twenty horse stalls and didn't feel this tired. Maybe there isn't enough oxygen circulating or something. No idea. Anyway, now I've remembered how to type...
Writing - no. Seriously, if I am that tired I would write or edit drivel, so. No. Also it is May and in May my mind is occupied with why, how, what, who, how and where my son disappeared. I have to consciously avoid emotional context so that I don't fall into a heap. It isn't that I don't think it is right to grieve, just that life has to go on and I, personally, can't if every little thing sets me off in floods of tears.
But so far, apart from all the bloody work, May hasn't been bad. Loved that friends Lindsay and Shawn raised so much money for Wounded Warriors. We contributed some items to the garage sale but they did the rest. raised $1100! Woohoo!
Merlin the horse has lost a few pounds transferring from hay to grass - that is definitely worth a woohoo. Wasn't sure I was going to get a girth around him again - lol.
Book sales.
Well. Not sure what to write about this. I can honestly say that everyone who has read "Games of Adversaries" in particular, has enjoyed it. And yet, because of my pathetic marketing skills, I haven't made huge amounts of sales. And I do believe it is because of that and not the quality of the story. But I am also a believer in the exponential effect. People will read and say, hey that wasn't half-damn-bad and it will go from there and then people will want to read "The Voice of the Land". And don't forget that I also have a story in the "Magic Creatures from Celtic Mists" anthology, where there are many other great stories. Go check it out!

 
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Of course I would. Goes without saying. 156 loaves of bread later... Oh, what an exciting life I lead. I am going to whinge and whine and moan all work, I hope you realise. See, I even wrote 'work' instead of 'week' lol. At least the ladies keep me occupied, but they had better watch out or they will all end up as characters.

"Games" is still free on kindle at the moment, so don't forget to grab it while you can.
In other news, I won the 'evil villain' contest on Silk Screen Views. An interesting review website. So I get to read K.L. Schwengel Novel "First of Her Kind" which I am greatly looking forward to.
I've just finished Crash Froelich's "Never", which was an intriguing take on what might happen if Tinkerbell ended up as an 'ordinary' person and lived her life in St Joe's Missouri.
Thank goodness I can still find the energy to read. Now I must gird my loins and go do battle with the sour dough....

 
The next time someone breaks their foot at work, shoot me first. It seems like I have been working forever, even though that isn't the case. I am just overtired and grumpy because I get little horse time and even less writing time. This week I have one day off, which was yesterday, spent doing some tidying, brushing my horse and teaching T to drive on hi-way and city. This weekend we are contributing to a Wounded Warriors garage sale in Westaskawin, which hopefully will be fun. Then I have to work the following week and the long weekend. Then I get some time off.
At least, I guess it allows the brain to fill up with writing, even if it doesn't get written right now.. My two WIPs are going well, in my head at least. But that is all part of the process, thinking the plot and characters totally through. Making sure their motivation is right.
Ah well, such is life, I guess.
 
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Wishing I was sitting back on that beach. Pretty chilly in AB right now. Ah well, tis only May and the grass is beginning to poke its head much to Merlin's delight.
I just thought I would do a round up of what is available from moi right now.





From the Amazon page:  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1/179-0076017-3269641?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Susan%20elizabeth%20curnow

"Games of Adversaries" is still free on Kindle and Smashwords. I adore that people are downloading the novel. That means people are reading!

"The Voice of the Land" A little slow to get off the ground, this one, but if you enjoy 'Games" I am thinking you will want to read more and "Voice" is a wonderful tale.

"Magic Creatures from Celtic Mists" An anthology only just out. Some wonderful stories within and the content is obvious from the title.

Also, if you go to "The Broken Sword" on this website, you get the first chapters of a novel I am playing with. It began as a short story years ago that I carried on into a spec novel. It begins very much like a fantasy tale, until you realise that most of the world's problems are caused by the contaminants from a leaking, crashed spaceship.

Go have some reading fun!