Did you do anything for Halloween? My family and I walked over to the church next door to us who was having a fall fair complete with trunk or treat, food trucks, vendor booths, bounce houses, and a petting zoo. My son loves animals so after the trunk or treat, he of course was drawn to the petting zoo that was under a tent within a low circular makeshift fence keeping the animals inside. Kind of.
As we stood on the outside along the fence awaiting our son’s turn to be able to enter with his cup of food, we had a fun time watching everyone else interact with the animals. Goats, ducks, rabbits, chickens, and a pig roamed about, sometimes coming close enough to the fence for us to pet them. But one animal was not having it. The rooster. He clucked about, bobbing his head, feathers popped out avoiding anyone who tried to come near him. He pecked at the other animals if they got in his way of escape.
My husband caught his eye and said “You’re going to try to escape, aren’t you?” Sure enough, a moment later, the rooster flexed its wings, jumped up into the air, and flew over the fence, landing on a lady next to us. She started screaming as her husband tried to bat the rooster away. Finally one of the attendants grabbed the rooster and put him back inside. Oh, but he wasn’t done yet. He kept bobbing around, until he found his chance to escape again and sure enough he jumped out but unfortunately was caught in the air by a security guard who put him back. He gave us the evil eye the rest of the night.
Then there was the donkey, by far the biggest animal in that small pen, and he was hungry. The poor children who came inside were instantly bombarded by him, while he stuck his nose in their little cups of food, making them drop it everywhere while he ate it up. He was a smart donkey and he didn’t care about bullying the kids against the fence as they cried out in terror while their parents tried to help while recording them on their phones at the same time (yes, I know, I gave them an odd look as I would have rescued my child instead of recording but it wasn’t my place). Eventually my son came in and fed the donkey grass from the ground and calmed him down. Needless to say, it was a hilarious scene to see and my husband and I enjoyed ourselves watching the calamity unfold while our son was happily distracted by the animals.
I was at the Brevard Author’s Society book fair this past weekend. It was…interesting. Well, at least that’s what one man said about my first book cover. He drew out the word, pronouncing each syllable. Then he asked what my main character’s name was and he pronounced Symone as if it was a weird flavor that he wasn’t sure if he liked or not. After the awkward exchange he made it weirder by calling his wife over and saying “this is Symone…isn’t that interesting”…again with the weird pronunciations. I wish I could say it was the most awkward interaction I overheard. Oh well…sometimes you win some and sometimes you met i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-g people. LOL.
Now that November is here, Taino: An Untold Story is finally released in the Latin American Shared Stories Anthology edited by V. Castro. I received my copies the other day, without knowing they were coming. Surprise to me! The cover is gorgeous and I love the sprayed edges as well. Below is a sneak peek of it, and you can order it on Amazon, B&N, Flame Tree publishing’s website, etc., although since it is coming from Europe it may take a while to arrive. And keep your eyes open for a future series in the works to expand this world.
You can order your copy on Amazon or here:
I quickly talk about it on the Flame Tree Myth & Fiction podcast. You can hear me starting at 3 minutes and 24 seconds.
Did someone say new series? Yes, I did! I started a new series that will be released next summer. This takes place in a more urban setting than The I Am Chronicles and centers around a Esmie, a young woman who never steps out of line, or gets into trouble, and is a prodigy, like her older brother, with a bright future. This is largely due to her strict mother who keeps a sharp eye on Esmie. One night, Esmie decides to disobey her mother and go out with her friends to see a forbidden band in a forbidden location.
The band is forbidden because culture is being eradicated for the sake of similarity. Anyone who celebrates their culture is essentially breaking the law and is arrested. The band Esmie wants to see, sings culture based songs set to Bamboleo mixed tunes, against the Capitol’s wishes. When the police break up the party, Esmie gets away but encounters something she isn’t supposed to which changes the course of her life.
With the help of her brother and his handsome friend, Esmie’s life is in the balance and she must stay hidden to reverse what has happened to her or risk the wrath of her mother, or even worse, the Capitol.
Sounds good? I’ll be posting more about it in future newsletters and on my socials so check me out there (links above & below).
Continuing the Conversation
How was your Halloween? Did you go to any haunted houses? Go trick or treating? Stay home and watch scary movies? Hopefully you didn’t run into any roosters escaping or donkeys trying to bully you for food. Either way I’d love to hear about it.
Until next time happy reading!