Today, I am very pleased to present the award-winning author Carolyn Howard-Johnson who is sharing her work in progress with us, just in time for Halloween here’s...
Stories to Make Frankenstein FaintA Sampler: Legends from Bohemia
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
(The introduction from a work in progress that
tells legends from around the world.)
Listen my Children. There is a place in Eastern Europe that is full of ancient graveyards and cellars where even today people read scary poetry by candlelight. It is an ancient city called Prague. There they speak a very, very mysterious Celtic language called Czech. There are strange circles and lines a little karets over the letters that make sounds like nothing we English speakers have ever heard.
In that city is an olden bridge. We who speak English call it the old Charles Bridge, but the people who live there call it the Karlov most. And that bridge looks like no bridge you have ever seen. Towers and gothic arches and stones, like a castle, are like sentries at the entryway. You can imagine horses hobbling and clattering over the cobblestones beneath as they move from the old town onto the bridge.
The people who lived in the town say a water goblin lives under the bridge. He crouches on the bottom, ready to devour children and adults don’t pay attention to the rules and go swimming after eating huge quantities of dumplings and pork and beef,. They die of the cramps and the goblin feels that they are fair game.
At the bottom of the river, in the shadow of the bridge, the goblin keeps pottery pots—or perhaps they are enameled metal—for both are still made around Prague today. These he uses to pop the souls of those who die and keep them there. He has quite a collection but, it is said that he has grown skinny and bored today because the river is no longer good for swimming so there are very few opportunities for modern children to encounter his long fingers and toes and hair that moves with the current like deep green seaweed or slender water grass in the sandy bottom. He must rely on his stores of days gone by.
That means that he is hungrier than he ever has been. So beware!
----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is known for her multi award-winning nonfiction how-to books for writers and retailers (
http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com/), but she is also an award-winning novelist (
www.howtodoitfrugally.com/this_is_the_place.htm) and poet (
www.howtodoitfrugally.com/poetry_books.htm) . Her novel This Is the Place won eight awards and her book of true short stories, Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered, (
www.howtodoitfrugally.com/harkening.htm) won three.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Instructor for the renowned UCLA Extension Writers' Program Web site:
http://www.howtodoitfrugally.com/ E-mail:
[email protected]Award-winning author of the How To Do It Frugally Series of Books for writers, including USA Book News' award winners The Frugal Editor
Frugal and Focused Tweeting for Retailers
By Carolyn Howard Johnson
CreateSpace
ISBN: 1451546149
April 2010
Reference/Marketing
Frugal and Focused Tweeting for Retailers isn’t only for retailers. I requested a review copy because, as an author, I’m always on the lookout for new ways to promote and market my books. I have to say, I was not disappointed with Johnson’s book.
In an engaging style and simple, straightforward language, the author explains what Twitter is all about, and how to use it effectively in a marketing campaign. There are hundreds of Twitter applications out there, and the whole thing can get pretty confusing, especially for a beginner, so what is most helpful about this book is that the author separates the essential ones from the ones that should be avoided.
From the basics of how to set up an account, to how to integrate Twitter into your other social media, to building your list of followers, to attracting new followers, to much, much more, Frugal and Focused Tweeting for Retailers will take your Twitter marketing efforts to the next stage.
The book also includes sample Tweets and critiques, a list of applications (those that work and those that should be avoided), as well as a glossary of important technical Twitter terms.
I would recommend this book to authors who are new to Twitter, and also to those authors who, like myself, are familiar with the basics but would like to take their tweeting to a higher, more focused and effective level. If you don’t quite ‘get’ what Twitter is all about, your doubts will be clarified after reading this little crash course on the art of tweeting.
Mardi Gras Updates
The winner of Monday's Daily Prize drawing is ...
Jemi Fraser!
You win a LOT of Meg Cabot books (3 Hardbacks and 1 Paperback): Sweet Sixteen Princess, Pants on Fire, How to be Popular, and The Boy Next Door.
Please email me your address. Congratulations and thanks so much for following me and participating.
Reminders on how to Enter
There are 3 different ways to win! You must Follow me and Elana (who is also giving away agent critiques!)to be eligible for any prizes
- Daily prizes - Comment on each daily post (random drawing, awarded daily)
- Follow Prize - Follow me by Thursday night 12 PST (random drawing, awarded Friday)
- Two Grand Prizes (1 agented, 1 unagented): Answer Scavenger Hunt question on FRiday and Fill in Friday's form.
- You can get extra entries by doing these things.
- For rules and schedule, go here.
- You do not need to email me or comment and include all the links you are doing for extra points. Be sure to come back on Friday and fill out the mandatory form to be included in the Grand Prize Drawings. BTW - This is on the honor system.
- These prizes are for agented authors AND unagented. You both can win!
Note: To all winners of this week's contest as well as The Fabulous Follower Contest held last week. All prizes will be mailed out by the end of NEXT week.Frugal Marketing for Authors (Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of Frugal Marketing)
Remember:
- A big prize will be awarded to a post commenter (you must also be a follower): A copy of her ebook of Frugal Marketing along with other great books. You must comment by 12 midnight PST/3am EST.
- Clue #2 for the Marketing Scavenger Hunt will be hidden in the post
It is my pleasure to announce the winner of Carolyn Howard-Johnson's ebook, The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success!
And the winner is.... MAUREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you all for all your comments!
Maureen, the moderator of VBT will get in touch with you soon to send you your prize.
Today I have a wonderful guest post from author and freelance editor Carolyn Howard-Johnson! Leave a comment for a chance to win an ebook copy of The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success!
GUEST POST:
Every once in a while I like to remind writers about how much information can be had by subscribing to blog. Free information. Most have a place to subscribe so you automatically get a copy of the blog in your e-mail box. But more than that, most blogs are set up so that you can comment or ask questions.
Some, like my The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. even prefer a question and answer format. I came up with the idea of doing a blog a la Ann Landers when I started getting so many letters from readers with grammar and formatting and editing questions.
I am often thought of as The Frugal Book Promoter because that is the name of the first book in my HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. But I consider editing the single most important aspect of promotion. After all, a well-edited query letter is the first thing most agents, editors, publishers and producers ever see from an editor.
Though there are times when an author absolutely must edit her own work, only a foolish writer trusts the editing of her book entirely to a publisher. So knowing how to edit is important. And that means a whole lot more than being good at grammar.
I get letters from people on the subject of editing, especially arguments about why they don't need to hire one. Here are my answers to a few of them:
I don't need to worry about an editor. My book will be traditionally published.
• You can't rely on the editor provided by your publisher—any publisher. I've seen even the biggest publisher let boo-boos in books slip through. And many small publishers hire inexperienced typo hunters, not real editors.
I'm hiring an experience editor. I'm letting her do the work. That's what I'm paying her for.
• You can't rely on even the best editor you hire. You need to be a partner with your editor. If you know little or nothing about the process, how can you know what to accept or what to reject? You need to know when you're sure you want to break a rule. You need to know when you want to consider what the agent is telling you, even if it goes against your pattern or makes you uncomfortable. "Partner" is the key word here. You want to be able to do that even if you're publishing with Harper's and your editor turns out to be a channeled Jacqueline Kennedy.
I'm just publishing POD for my family.
• No matter how you publish, you need an editor before you go to press. Regardless of how you are publishing or what you call the process. (By the way, many terms used for publishing these days have become almost unintelligible because so many are using them incorrectly. That adds confusion to an already confusing process! I guess that could be considered an editing problem of sorts.)
I know I should have an editor but I keep procrastinating...
The Frugal Editor gives you guidelines for the way to find a good editor. Those guidelines are there for people who have the best intentions and just don't get around
.jpeg?picon=3310)
.jpeg?picon=2058)
I love the Halloween flavor! Great post. Carolyn is a very talented lady!
WOW, Carolyn, you scared me to death! Kids will love these spooky stories. Great for around the campfire or sleep overs!
Carolyn is an impressive person. I never knew her multiple talents included writing this kind of story before.
Ohhh, I have goosebumps. Love it!
Best wishes for your continued success,
Donna
Carolyn, great story, spooky. It's funny how old wives tales ( don't go swimming after eating) have various version all over the world.
I agree with Janet, you're such a multi-talented wrter.
I can't wait to read the rest! Love the story Caryolyn and the title is great!
Thanks to you all, and especially to Kevin! This is a story (and the beginning of a book) that I've had stowed in bowels of my computer for ages. I collect stories and recipes when I travel, but sometimes I don't run across the kind that will fit into any of my themes.
Best to you all,
Carolyn
Very nice--I like spooky stories :) And I love the idea of a book encompassing legends from around the world for children :) Fantastic!
I didn't know you were writing a series of fables, Carolyn - what a multi-talented gal you are. That one is so fun.
What fun! My girls loved it and so did I.
Thanks for the story.
Martha Swirzinski
www.movementplus.com
Thanks for stopping by everyone! It was a lot of fun hosting Carolyn and reading her spooky story.
How fun! I heart Carolyn! And I loved reading this "sneak preview."
Keep doing amazing things, Carolyn!
Thanks, both of you, for sharing!
Scary story, Carolyn!