A Repost Of A Beta Reader Article – And In Search Of A Beta Reader

May 27, 2023May 27, 2023 ~ aurorajeanalexander ~ 5 Comments

Since I’m currently preparing Book 6 in ‘The Council of Twelve’ series to be published, I contacted all my Beta Readers, and this year I’m not as lucky as I was before. Life changes, and apparently, it has changed for a few of my supporters, my Beta Readers. I’m happy for them, and I wish them all the Best! But right now, I secretly wish Beta Readers could be bought in a supermarket… or knitted. HAHA

If you have fun Beta Reading, please, let me know. It would be a pleasure to complete the group again and send out my new manuscript..

And since the subject ‘came up’, here’s the blog post I published 2019 about Beta Readers. It’s still valid! Enjoy the read, and please, don’t forget to contact me at aurorajean.alexander@aol.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

It seems there is the one or other author around who either don’t know what the job of a beta reader is. Also, some authors don’t want to pay for an editor and therefore try to ‘use’ the beta reader to get the editor’s job done.

From what I learned in my ‘long’ career of two published books (and a few lined up)… my order of ‘writing and publishing’ is the following:

Drafting
Copying out
personal editing #1
personal editing #2
professional editing (proofreading)
filing for copyright
sending the manuscript out to the beta readers
having the book cover done
possible corrections when getting the manuscript back from beta readers
publishing

At times the corrections, added paragraphs or even pages, demand a second round of proofreading or editing.

Now, what does the beta reader do?

Beta readers are helpful people around you – can be friends, co-workers, family members. They are asked to read the book pre-release. Often they are asked to review the book online, just after release. Most beta readers are very happy to do so in exchange for the book.

Every beta reader works differently. Some return a paper manuscript with scribbles all over the place…, some send an email with a few ideas, suggestions or remarks, some send texts whenever they discover something. When I beta read, I write a list and later send that list by email. So far, I never discovered a huge plot hole, but I found the one or other ‘thing’ that bugged me and that I had to let the author know about. Many other beta readers do the same thing.

There is one thing beta readers don’t do: they don’t correct typos and grammar. That’s what’s the editor is for. I’m not saying they always are perfect, and should I catch a forgotten typo, of course, I will tell the author about it. But I’m not actively looking for them.

I am lucky enough to have a beta reader who is sweet enough to actively look for typos and grammar problems that escaped my editor’s attention. The one or other author might be just as lucky. But generally, beta readers are not here for editing!

They should return your manuscript with a bit more than ‘I liked it.’ You want to get their notes. You want to hear about their feelings… when did they laugh? When did they cry? What scared them or amused them? Did they enjoy the read, and would they recommend the book? According to them, what age range is the book for (if you’re writing Young Adult), and what did they not like so much?

Did they discover something about the plot they didn’t like? Do they have questions about the story, the plot, or the characters? Is there anything they discovered that isn’t right?

Let me give you a couple examples. One of my last beta readers told me that she loves my book, and she finds ‘Sundance’ as a character very interesting. However, she misses Katie, the ‘Soul Taker’ and wishes her back. She is an exceptional beta reader and informed me about several other things that I later corrected. (I did not write more ‘Katie’ into the second book since that is ‘Sundance’s’ story).

When I was beta reading for a male author, I discovered a wardrobe flaw with one of the female character’s ‘undergarments.’ I told my fellow author about it, and he corrected that.

We all were grateful to have our beta readers. It is important to us having people with open minds paying attention to our stories. And we always hope we don’t ask too much.

Thank you, beta readers, for helping us with your time, your efforts, and your honesty. We need you!

Are ‘Old Sayings’ Too Cliché For Todays’ Writers?

May 18, 2023May 15, 2023 ~ aurorajeanalexander ~ 5 Comments

Lately I was sitting in the car, signing along with a great Country song, and here it is, that old expression: ‘You can’t fit a camel through the eye of a needle’.

I heard that expression before, and finally decided to go and research where it comes from… and here it was, in the bible:

Mark10, verse25: It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God

During my research I found about one hundred and one explanations what this could mean, from interpretation, over misinterpretation to misunderstandings, to mistranslation… But basically, it call came to the same. If you are rich, you’re not passing the Pearly Gates, not even if you danced naked on a quarter…

Now, can we go into the deeper meaning of that saying? Yes, we could… do we want to? Not today. This is not the purpose of that article.

We’re actually trying to determine, if generally old saying is actually still used, show up in books, or are even suitable nowadays.

Why don’t we look at a few more expressions and see?

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“The Walls Have Ears”

Meaning: Be careful what you say as people may be eavesdropping.
Origin: The face Louvre Palace in France was believed to have a network of listening tubes so that it would be possible to hear everything that was said in different rooms. People say that this is how the Queen Catherine de’Medici discovered political secrets and plots.

“Bury The Hatchet”

Meaning: End a quarrel or conflict and become friendly.
Origin: During negotiations between Puritans and Native Americans men would bury all of their weapons, making them inaccessible.

(Well, some people bury their hatchets in the back of their enemies, but that’s a chapter for another post)

“Raining Cats And Dogs”

Meaning: Rain very hard.
Origin: This idiom has two stories that try to explain its origin. The first explanation says that the origin of this phrase comes from Norse mythology, where cats would symbolise heavy rains and dogs were associated with the God of storms, Odin. The second version says that in 16th century England, houses had thatched roofs which were one of the few places where animals were able to get warm. Sometimes, when it would start to rain heavily, roofs would get slippery and cats and dogs would fall off, making it look like it’s raining cats and dogs!

“Blood Is Thicker Than Water”

Meaning: Family relationships and loyalties are the strongest and most important ones.
Origin: Even though many might think this saying means that we should put family ahead of friends, it actually meant the complete opposite. The full phrase actually was “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb,” and it referred to warriors who shared the blood they shed in battles together. These ‘blood brothers’ were said to have stronger bonds than biological brothers.

“Born With A Silver Spoon In Your Mouth”

Meaning: Be born into a wealthy family of high social standing.
Origin: It is an old tradition for godparents to gift a silver spoon to a christened child. However, not everyone was able to afford this type of luxury gift so those who did receive the spoon as a gift were considered to be wealthy, sometimes even spoiled.

“Steal One’s Thunder”

Meaning: Win praise for oneself by pre-empting someone else’s attempt to impress.
Origin: You think that you’ve done something awesome and unique, but someone got in there first and took your credit! Spare a thought for playwright John Dennis who, back in the 18th Century, made a machine that could nicely mimic the sound of thunder for his play. Sadly, his play wasn’t a success, but somebody had taken note of his clever invention. When, later on in another theatre, Dennis found somebody had copied his thunder machine and was using it without credit, he got mad. Really mad. Somebody had stolen his thunder!

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There are many more old sayings, I just picked a few of them. Over 60 old expressions and sayings and their meanings can be researched over at the ‘Bored Panda’ Website.

But, without knowing exactly where these sayings and expressions come from… should we writers even use them? Are they still timely?

I still use the one or other… but then, my fantasy books are partially situated in older eras. However, I’m not sure, if these expressions would go well with SciFi Anno 2765?

Please, let us know what you think in the comments. We are curious!

A Dark Piece Of History – Flipped Over To The Modern World

April 27, 2023April 27, 2023 ~ aurorajeanalexander ~ 10 Comments

Let me start by saying that this is a topic I use in my current need to write blog posts that give us a bit of information about how things really were in the ‘good old days’… I wrote about Historical Romance and Hygiene, I wrote an article describing Historical Health and Ladies Fashion, and their part in Historical Romance… now, let’s go to another piece of history, a dark, very dark part, that we nowadays rather ignore…

But let me ask you a question:

How did we get from THIS:

…to this:?

In these days of storytelling, authors enjoy the wonderful freedom that ‘fiction’ gives them. With the genre of ‘Historical Romance,’ ‘Paranormal Romance,’ ‘Chick Lit,’ ‘Sexy Romance,’ ‘Erotica,’ ‘Fantasy,’ and others, we are given the possibility to turn our characters into whatever we feel like… And it happens that some of these women become witches.

I admit, it wouldn’t be very romantic (or sexy), if the ‘lady’ from the first picture were our protagonist’s love interest, while nobody has problems seeing the young ‘witch’ being the chosen one.

In many cases, our young and sexy girl is often a witch with unmeasurable power. Of course, remove the pointy hat and the broomstick, but I think you get the drift.

But how did these accessories even come up? How did witches ‘become’? What happened to these women, and why is this part of history so dark?

Let’s have a look at that:

Partially to filming, movies, TV, illustrators, and artists (one of them the creators of ‘The Wizard of Oz’), the expression ‘witch’ has become stereotyped with a certain outfit, long ripped, ugly, unwashed flowing dresses, boots… black cats, broomsticks, and a pointy black hat.

After a few hours of intense research, I admit, I’m at the end of my wits. Despite all the information I got, I’m as helpless as I was before I started looking for the origin of that hat. History is full of pointy hats. Medieval noblewomen wore the ‘Hennin’, a long conic hat, often covered with a veil… Phrygian caps were worn by French revolutionaries (dwarves and smurfs), but the truth is, nobody knows truly when the pointy hat became associated with dark magic.

And then, I seemed to be lucky: I found an article describing the discovery of three female mummies in China. (Three female mummies uncovered in the Chinese region of Subeshi [PDF]) They became famous as the “witches of Subeshi”. Each of them had covered her hair with a large funnel-shaped black hat.

Until the early 18th century, witches were shown bare-headed and nude, until in England, illustrations of old crones in pointed hats started showing up.

Gary Jensen, a former professor at Vanderbilt and author of ‘The Path of The Devil, Early Modern Witch Hunts,” the pointed hat became an easy way to recognize dark magic. Witches showed up on postcards from the American colonies. Later, Victorian storybooks picked up on the theme and continued to develop the myth.

After all the interesting information I gathered, I still didn’t know about the origin of the conical hats and why there were supposed to represent evil. There were rumors that witches were trying to gather universal power with the hat, who supposedly served as the ‘catcher’ and vessel of said power. But other than that rumor, I didn’t find anything that would point me in that direction.

I also read about a theory, which Jensen described, how the ‘Fourth Council of Lateran in 1215 demanded all Jewish people to wear this so-called ‘Judenhat’ (Jewish hat) to show their religion. By then, this hat stood for Anti-Semitism. What surprised me was that Jews had been followed, hated, and bullied as early as the medieval by connecting them to the devil.

Another wild guess pointed me toward Quakers and the ‘commoner’s’ prejudice against them. This would partially explain the hatred and fear people had against this sect in colonial America, but it wouldn’t tell anything about the horrible hatred and Witch-Hunts in Europe. Also, Quakers wore hats but nowhere near pointed.

One more theory I read about, in a short, rather insignificant article, was the one that doctors set the rumors of ‘witches’ into the community when women started working as midwives and were much cleaner and more successful than the often dirty and careless medical ‘experts’ back in the medieval times. The midwives’ pupils had a much higher chance of surviving delivery, and the mothers-to-be felt more comfortable in their presence. And we are talking about a time, centuries before Lister’s Theory of Antisepsis, which he published after 1867. This theory is quite interesting but had nothing to do with the pointed hat.

After all that research, we know that witches use cone hats with wide rims, and we still have no clue where this began.

However, there are more ‘accessories’ witches have, one of them the infamous black cat. How did that start? I found a website, ‘Solidgoldpet,’ that told me in a few words, what I wanted to know:

Back in the 14th century, black cats were actually worshiped as gods, but as time went on, their reputation quickly changed. During the Middle Ages, the black cat became affiliated with evil. This stemmed from them being nocturnal animals.

Witchcraft also played a big part of the cat’s evil image. Since being one with nature was an important part of witchcraft, it was common for them to have a cat as a companion. Cats are also nocturnal and roam the night, which lead to the belief that they were supernatural servants to witches. When the black cat was linked to the devil, it lead to many of them being killed during the Black Death pandemic (although the cats were actually helping to kill the rats that spread the plague). The term witchcraft has a negative connotation, but it actually means “craft of the wise.” When witches claimed to be able to perform magic, they were actually brewing special potions that helped heal the sick. That is when the Christian Church spread propaganda that their magical powers came from The Devil. (Source: Solidgoldpet)

A third distinctive accessory for witches is the ‘broomstick’ on which they fly around. I found an amusing and very interesting article about this on ‘History.com’, which actually blamed a priest for practicing witchcraft and flying around on a broomstick, and he confessed. (Under torture, but still…) If you would like to read the entire article, it can be found here. At this time, I decided only to implement a part of the post here.

Anthropologist Robin Skelton suggests the association between witches and brooms may have roots in a pagan fertility ritual, in which rural farmers would leap and dance astride poles, pitchforks or brooms in the light of the full moon to encourage the growth of their crops. This “broomstick dance,” she writes, became confused with common accounts of witches flying through the night on their way to orgies and other illicit meetings. (Source: History.com)

So, when and where did the witch hunts start? It is unclear, how it started, the theory of ‘doctors’ starting them, accusing midwives of witchcraft, is as ‘good or bad’ as any other wild guess. Again, the ‘History Channel’ helped me. In limited, clear and simple words it explained the suspected origin, the wide spread witch hunts in Europe, and even touches the Salem Witch Trials. (For the entire article, please click here)

Witches were perceived as evil beings by early Christians in Europe, inspiring the iconic Halloween figure.

Images of witches have appeared in various forms throughout history—from evil, wart-nosed women huddling over a cauldron of boiling liquid to hag-faced, cackling beings riding through the sky on brooms wearing pointy hats. In pop culture, the witch has been portrayed as a benevolent, nose-twitching suburban housewife; an awkward teenager learning to control her powers and a trio of charmed sisters battling the forces of evil. The real history of witches, however, is dark and, often for the witches, deadly.

The Origin of Witches

Early witches were people who practiced witchcraft, using magic spells and calling upon spirits for help or to bring about change. Most witches were thought to be pagans doing the Devil’s work. Many, however, were simply natural healers or so-called “wise women” whose choice of profession was misunderstood.

It’s unclear exactly when witches came on the historical scene, but one of the earliest records of a witch is in the Bible in the book of 1 Samuel, thought be written between 931 B.C. and 721 B.C. It tells the story of when King Saul sought the Witch of Endor to summon the dead prophet Samuel’s spirit to help him defeat the Philistine army.

The witch roused Samuel, who then prophesied the death of Saul and his sons. The next day, according to the Bible, Saul’s sons died in battle, and Saul committed suicide.

Other Old Testament verses condemn witches, such as the oft-cited Exodus 22:18, which says, “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Additional Biblical passages caution against divination, chanting or using witches to contact the dead.

‘Malleus Maleficarum’

Witch hysteria really took hold in Europe during the mid-1400s, when many accused witches confessed, often under torture, to a variety of wicked behaviors. Within a century, witch hunts were common and most of the accused were executed by burning at the stake or hanging. Single women, widows and other women on the margins of society were especially targeted.

Between the years 1500 and 1660, up to 80,000 suspected witches were put to death in Europe. Around 80 percent of them were women thought to be in cahoots with the Devil and filled with lust. Germany had the highest witchcraft execution rate, while Ireland had the lowest.

The publication of “Malleus Maleficarum”—written by two well-respected German Dominicans in 1486—likely spurred witch mania to go viral. The book, usually translated as “The Hammer of Witches,” was essentially a guide on how to identify, hunt and interrogate witches.

“Malleus Maleficarum” labeled witchcraft as heresy, and quickly became the authority for Protestants and Catholics trying to flush out witches living among them. For more than 100 years, the book sold more copies of any other book in Europe except the Bible.

Anna Göldi (Switzerland, 24 October 1734 – 13 June 1782) was probably the last person in Europe to be executed as a witch. She was beheaded in Glarus in 1782. She confessed under torture, and despite many people believing her innocent, she had to die. You can read about her life in ‘The Story of Anna Göldi‘.

In March 2007, 225 years after her execution, the government and the church of Glarus refused to admit that Anna Göldi was a victim of justice. They said that in the minds of the people of Glarus, she was already rehabilitated long ago.

However, the case was taken further, and finally, on September 20, 2007, the Swiss parliament decided that justice was wrong in Anna Göldin’s case. As a representative for Glarus in the Swiss parliament, Fritz Schiesser called for Anna Göldin’s exoneration. (An interesting view on things, because, in my opinion, an exoneration 225 years after her death gives the word ‘delay’ a whole new dimension, doesn’t it?)

Now, what are we doing with all our information about witches? I would say it depends on what kind of authors we are. We can write about sexy, breathtakingly beautiful women practicing witchcraft and having a happily-ever-after moment with their beau… or we write about the numerous poor women who had to die, innocent, after being tortured and accused for no reason, just because someone didn’t like them?

Or… we write a dark, dark fairy tale, where old hags eat children…”Nibble, nibble, gnaw, who is nibbling at my little house?”

Rights vs. Copyright: Untangling the Confusion – Written By Victoria Strauss for ‘Writer Beware’

April 22, 2023April 16, 2023 ~ aurorajeanalexander ~ 4 Comments

Copyright, literally, is “the right to copy.” It guarantees the authors of creative works–including books, artworks, films, recordings, and photographs–the exclusive right to allow others to copy and distribute the work, by whatever means and in whatever media currently exist. It also prohibits copying and distributing without the author’s permission, and includes moral rights: the right of attribution (the right to be named as the creator of the work) and the right of integrity (the right to control changes to the work).

In countries that are signatory to the Berne Convention,, the international source for copyright law (including the USA, Canada, the UK, Europe, and many other countries), you own copyright, automatically, as soon your work is fixed in tangible form–i.e., the minute you write the words. Your ownership extends beyond your death–between 50 and 70 years, depending on which country you’re in.

Contained within copyright is the entire bundle of rights that authors can grant to others or utilize themselves. For book authors, that includes primary rights (the right to publish in print and digital formats) and subsidiary rights (the right to make translations and audio recordings and films, to create serializations or abridgements or derivative works…the list goes on, and continues to expand as technology makes different forms of publication and distribution possible).

When you sign a publishing contract, you are granting the publisher permission to exploit (i.e., to utilize for profit) some or all of your rights, and/or to license those rights to others, in exchange for a share of income. Because you own the copyright, granting rights doesn’t mean you lose or abandon those rights: merely that you authorize someone else to exploit them for a time, either exclusively (the publisher is the only one that can exploit them) or nonexclusively (you can simultaneously grant them to others).

Eventually, once the contract term expires, or the publisher decides the book is no longer profitable, the publisher will cease publication and terminate its claim on your rights. This is known as rights reversion. Sometimes reversion is automatic (as in a contract that extends for a set period of years). Sometimes you can request reversion after certain conditions have been met (as in a life-of-copyright contract). Once your rights have reverted, you are free to re-sell them or to use them yourself, as you choose.

For many readers of this blog, the above will seem pretty elementary. But confusion about the difference between rights and copyright is common–not just among authors (one especially frequent misplaced fear is that granting rights to a publisher means you lose them forever), but among inexperienced publishers. If I had a dollar for every small press contract I’ve seen that hopelessly conflates rights and copyright (for instance, taking possession of copyright but reserving a variety of subsidiary rights to the author), my husband and I could treat ourselves to a very fancy dinner.

Some suggestions on how to untangle the confusion and protect yourself:

– First and foremost, understand copyright and the rights it gives you.

There’s detailed information on the Copyright page of the Writer Beware website (including a discussion of various copyright myths). Countries’ copyright offices, such as the US Copyright Office, the UK Intellectual Property Office, and the Australian Copyright Council, are also good sources of information.

As always in publishing, the more you know, the more likely it is that you’ll recognize bad contract clauses when you run across them.

CONTINUE READING HERE

Second Time’s A Charm – Kenna Campbell – Pre-Order Now!

April 8, 2023April 5, 2023 ~ aurorajeanalexander ~ Leave a comment

Title: Second Time’s A Charm

Series: The New Romance Café Collection #28

Purchase Link:https://books2read.com/tnrc2024secondtimesacharm

Goodreads Link:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/122963068-second-time-s-a-charm

Blurb:

Is love better the second time around or are we just repeating past mistakes? How do you know if you are falling back into bad habits or falling into your happily ever after?

Find out in this spicy collection containing enticing stories from USA Today best-selling and award-winning romance authors curated by The New Romance Cafe, with ALL proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Featured Author: Kenna Campbell

Social Media & Website Links: https://linktr.ee/kennacampbell

Bio:

Jenna D Morrison is an up-and-coming author of fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction with a side of romance. She has been an avid reader since she was four and started writing for her own enjoyment in middle school.

She lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma with her mother and their very spoiled fur babies. When she is not reading or writing, Jenna is a Zen Buddhist priest, an amateur genealogist, a daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, and aunt.

Kimberly A Campbell is a mother of four beautiful adult souls, grandmother to one amazing eight year old and has been a teacher to many young students that she loves as her own. She has always had a love for reading, writing and storytelling, advocating that same love in the children she’s crossed paths with along the way. She’s always dreamed of becoming an author, and is excited to finally have the opportunity to do so, with a focus on fantasy, paranormal and science fiction, which are her favorite genres. Kimberly makes her home in with her doting, supportive husband, children and many rescue cats in Houston, Texas. When she isn’t reading she enjoys spending time with her family, playing video games with her friends and baking delicious things she never eats.

Together, Jenna D. Morrison and Kimberly, best friends for nearly 20 years, write contemporary romance and young adult fantasy as Kenna Campbell.

Pre-Order Announcement – Austen-Teaparty

April 1, 2023March 19, 2023 ~ aurorajeanalexander ~ Leave a comment

Title: Austen Tea Party

Series: The New Romance Café Collection (#23)

Blurb:

Take care not to spill the tea (literally) while we share the latest on-dit (aka dish the dirt) about the Ton, who is courting, and who has been compromised in this collection of Austen-inspired romance stories.

Join us for a turn around the room in stories from USA Today best-selling and award-winning romance authors curated by the New Romance Café featuring cameos from some of Jane’s most memorable characters (and some we’d like to forget). ALL proceeds go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Pre-Order Link: https://books2read.com/tnrc2023AustenTeaParty

TBR List: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63135499-austen-tea-party

Author Featured: Kenna Campbell

Social Media Links: https://linktr.ee/kennacampbell

About the Author:

1-Year Book Birthday – Bodacious – By Stephanie Ayers

March 25, 2023March 19, 2023 ~ aurorajeanalexander ~ 2 Comments

Too loud, too bright, and too bubbly. That’s what the residents of Crazy Town consider Emmalee Bishop, a young woman who walked into town looking for the one person with clues to her past—her birth mother. As bumptious as she is bodacious, she can’t seem to escape trouble no matter where she goes. When trouble follows her into Crazy Town, it just might be more than the residents can handle.

In a town full of secrets, will she find who she’s looking for or will the residents run her out before she gets a chance?

Bodacious

A Crazy Town novella by International Bestseller Stephanie Ayers

http://mybook.to/BodaciousCT

Chapter One

“I’m not getting off the highway, so if you’re okay with that, hop on.”

The dude’s Harley Davidson motorcycle was stunning—black with red pinstripes and a flaming skull on either side. Cerulean blue eyes peeked out from beneath a few stray strands of ebony hair that managed to escape his helmet. I hoped this guy ain’t a serial killer, because I ain’t had no choice but to accept his offer. He was the only one who stopped to give me a ride, and I couldn’t stay in that stupid town any longer. I had to find my family—my biological family.

“Well, what’s it gonna be?” he asked.

His foot pounded against the pavement like he was short on patience or something.

“Okay,” I said, accepting the helmet he held out for me. “I’m down for that.”

I hopped on the back of his bike and wrapped my arms around his waist. I didn’t know what this dude was into, but he had a six pack under that leather jacket, and it ain’t beer.

“I’m Jesse Hart,” he said before revving his motor.

“Emmalee Bishop. Thanks for the ride.”

“Hang on tight.”

He pulled out into traffic smoothly and rolled down the highway. The ride was exhilarating, even if he was speeding. He drove so fast, it was hard to read the signs we passed, but the Welcome signs were clear enough.

Crossing state lines at a hundred miles an hour on the back of Harley was almost better than a good romp in the hay with a cute boy. And Lord, let me tell you, I wouldn’t mind rolling around in the hay with Jesse Hart. I’m trying to be a good girl, though, and sex with strangers ain’t saintly. Not even close. Gripping his six pack like I was made it extra hard to get him out of my mind, though, but I didn’t dare let go.

Woo-woo-woo!

Shit! He’s gone and done it now. We had a cop on our tail. Jesse never slowed down as he took the first exit ramp off the highway, and we almost crashed going around a curve. He slowed down enough then to keep us safe, but that only let the Alabama state trooper get closer. We tore down the empty two-lane road the exit ramp took us to, and the cop finally quit chasing us.

Oh, Lord, let me tell you! This guy made me quiver in my hoo-haw. I’d lay down on the side of the road and let him do me right there if he asked, good girl be damned. Who’d he tell?

When Jesse turned onto a dirt road that disappeared into the trees, I thought maybe he was just as interested in a quick lay, but he stopped between two big trees and shut his motor off without getting off his bike. He held his index finger over his lips, and I got it. Mum’s the word. I ain’t going to make a sound. Before too long, we heard a siren nearby, and he shook his head.

He whispered, “Damn Alabama cops. They don’t know when to quit.”

The siren faded away soon enough though, and we worked our way back to the road. I spied a faded green sign that said “Graceville, one mile” and underneath that “Crazy Town, three miles.” I ain’t never walked three miles in my life if you don’t count walking around school, but Crazy Town sounded like my kind of place.

“I’ll get off here,” I yelled, remembering what he said when I first got on the motorcycle.

Jesse set his feet on the road to steady the Harley as I climbed off the back.

“You sure? There’s nothing out there but a bunch of hillbillies and hicks,” Jesse said.

“Yeah. I’m okay with that. Thanks for the lift,” I said as I gave him back the helmet.

He secured it to the back of the Harley and gave me a salute. “Have a nice life, Emmalee Bishop.”

I watched him roll down the road until he disappeared. I ain’t got no idea what to expect in Crazy Town, but with a name like that, I got a feeling I’ll find a place to call home.

Chapter Two

Okay, now that I ain’t racing down the highway, I should probably start at the beginning.

I’m Emmalee Bishop, only child to Joshua and Heather Bishop. Only that’s not quite right. I mean, I’m their only child, but they ain’t my birth parents. And that’s the main reason why I was there then. I’m on a mission to find my real parents, or at least people who might know who they are.

Now before you get to thinking Joshua and Heather Bishop were some sort of horrible people, they ain’t. It ain’t their fault I was walking along that road in Alabama. They did me as good as they knew how, and I was the better for it, but I ain’t nothing like them.

I ain’t like nobody, especially anyone in Cedarville, where I grew up. Ain’t nothing wrong with Cedarville, North Carolina, neither. It’s just boring, and it ain’t home. Ya know what I mean?

I ain’t got a clue why I was the way I was, and that’s partly why I left. Cedarville ain’t on the “Bible Belt,” but it’s plenty religious. They didn’t like me much there, saying I was too wild, too loud, and too promiscuous—whatever that meant. I couldn’t help it if boys liked me. I liked them, too. Other girls didn’t like me much, but I didn’t really care. I didn’t like them much, neither.

Now, Lord knows I ain’t no saint, for sure, but I ain’t staying nowhere that wouldn’t accept me for who I was. That’s partly why I left, too. I didn’t even say goodbye to the people who raised me, didn’t leave a note, nothing. I just took off and hauled ass out of town.

Poppa Joshua and Momma Heather, they tried. I’ll give them that, but the older I got, the more I saw how different we really were. I ain’t never gonna fit in properly in Cedarville, and they deserved to. I needed to know where all my quirks and attitude came from, whose body type I inherited, and where my blonde hair came from. Nothing about me was anything like them—with their dark hair and brown eyes, their slim builds, and quiet demeanors—and I tried hard to find any similarities. I weren’t even as kind as they were. I had no filter, took no bull hockey, and demanded attention from everyone I met. So, I hightailed it out of there on a split-second decision and ain’t had no regrets since. Not one.

And before I knew it, I was headed to some place called Crazy Town with nothing but the clothes on my back and a pack of gum in my pocket.

How could I forget about my gum? I had to spit out the old piece when I got on the back of Jesse’s bike, so I popped a fresh piece in my mouth. Lord, let me tell you! That was exactly what I needed. My mouth ain’t so dry now. I never realized how riding on the back of a motorcycle could give ya such a bad case of cottonmouth.

So anyways, on with my story…

I’d just turned twenty a couple months ago. It was like a light bulb went off in my head or something because ever since my birthday, everything got under my skin. Even Billy Crews, the boy next door I rolled around in the hay with when the urge struck, started pushing on my last nerves talking all up in my face about marriage and babies and all the stuff I ain’t got no interest in and probably never will. Me and babies just didn’t get along. I didn’t get along with most people, so there was that, too.

Anyways, Billy told me we had to get married, or we ain’t having any fun in the barn anymore, so since there ain’t nothing holding me to the place, I left. Just like with my parents, I didn’t offer no goodbyes or nothing. I bet he was still waiting in the barn for the hanky-panky he ain’t gettin’ from me no more.

I ain’t got no idea why it took me so long to leave Cedarville. I mean, I could’ve left two years ago when I turned eighteen and finished school, but I didn’t; even though I figured out when I was two that I didn’t belong there, despite my parents’ efforts to help me fit in. Bless their hearts. They tried so hard.

For one thing, I matured much faster than the other girls did. I was nine when my monthly started, and I was halfway through ten when my boobies came in. That’s when the boys started paying extra attention to me. Henry Wilkins got my first kiss, Eddie Vander touched my boobies first, and Billy got to pop my cherry. And all this happened before I turned thirteen. At thirteen, I had the biggest boobies in seventh grade, and I showed them to anyone who wanted a peek.

Hmm. Maybe that was why all the girls hated me because the boys—well, they liked to look (and touch, too, if I’m being honest), and I always let them.

Now, before you judge me too harshly, Billy was the only boy I got down and dirty with, but I liked the attention from the other boys, and Billy never was my actual boyfriend. I ain’t doing nothing wrong by letting them look. Ain’t nothing wrong with letting them touch, neither. Not in my book, anyways, but their girlfriends didn’t like it much. Maybe if they let their boyfriends touch their boobies, they wouldn’t be touching mine. I didn’t care. Boobs were just mounds of skin with tips. Why boys got so excited over them is beyond me. I ain’t got a penis, and Lord, let me tell you! Those are some ugly sonsabitches. But the boys got excited, so I let them look, and that was that.

That’s enough about my boobies and boys. They still chased me everywhere I went, but I couldn’t do nothing about that. Sorry, girls.

If I’m honest, other girls were my real issue. They didn’t like me, I didn’t like them, but we were stuck together like flies in molasses. I reckon it might’ve always been that way, but I was open for a fresh start and looking for a change of mind.

That was another reason why I left. There ain’t no second chances in Cedarville. For as much as they preach the Bible, their ability to forgive and forget needed a gigantic overhaul. How did I know? Let me tell ya about Amber Griffith.

Amber Griffith, bless her heart, owned a massage parlor right there on the main street that went through Cedarville’s downtown. Sounds all fine and dandy, right? Wrong. The good, Christian ladies of Cedarville Baptist Church didn’t like that their husbands went in there and let another woman put her hands on them—innocent reasons or not. So that was strike one for Amber, and it ain’t even her fault. Strike two came about when one of those wives decided to check the parlor out for herself and discovered there was more than massage chairs in there.

A lot more, Shew Buddy, let me tell you!

Not only did Amber have pagan books and materials in there (it was where I spent my babysitting money to get the opal necklace I’ll never take off), but she also had toys and other sex stuff in a back corner, including movies. And that was all it took. That God-fearing church hussy told the pastor, and he shut the parlor down quick. That ain’t enough for those church heifers, though. They had to run Amber out of town, and Lord, I tell you what, they most surely did. They done ran her out of town so fast, she never looked back.

That’s how I knew I ain’t never going to fit in there, and Lord knows, I didn’t want to. Maybe I just ain’t going to fit in anywhere.

That might’ve been a harsh thought but so was reality. I read somewhere once that you only get one life so make it count. I aimed to live a good life, but there ain’t nobody counting.

Purchase Link: mybook.to/BodaciousCT

A creative ninja with a dark mind and a quirky nature, Stephanie Ayers writes all the words and spins twisted tales filled with horror, fantasy, suspense, and anything in between. With a trunk full of tricks thanks to a checkered past, she haunts Irish castles and snowy mountaintops in her dreams, while living the unicorn life in Ohio disguised as a human. When she isn’t listening to the voices in her head, she spends her days as a mom, Gigi, cat lover, and Netflix binger, while avoiding housework at all costs.

Since signing with Crazy Ink Publishing, Stephanie has managed to somehow meet (most of) her deadlines and produce over a dozen solo works (with no ending in sight). With ink in her blood, an absence of fear, and a passion for telling stories, she isn’t afraid to dip her pen in the inkwell of many genres, and even has four successful series in her name—the stand-alone horror volumes of The 13 Series, the individual fairy tale retellings of the Portal to Madness series, the read-in-any-order cozy paranormal mysteries of the Coven Cozy Mysteries, and her epic five book fantasy series, Destiny Defined.

When she isn’t lost in her overactive imagination or entertaining her mini-unicorns, you can find her weaving words for Ladies of Horror fiction or playing with graphics and building her newsletter.

You can find Stephanie all over social media and find a full listing of her works on her Amazon author page. Her favorite wandering place is her readers’ group on Facebook. Join the herd now!

Stay up to date with everything unicorn by subscribing to her monthly newsletter and get a free read as a thank you!

Social Media and Contact Info:

ONE CLICK: https://linktr.ee/stephanieayers

Purchase Link: mybook.to/BodaciousCT

Soul Taker Secrets: After A Hard Archangel’s Work Day

March 23, 2023March 19, 2023 ~ aurorajeanalexander ~ 9 Comments

At times Katie invites her entire family, namely, the ‘Council of Twelve,’ a dozen of the most powerful individuals in existence with their respective consorts, for dinner in hers and Raphael’s house.

Despite Katie’s progress in the kitchen, it’s become a ‘running gag’ that she had no clue about cooking at the time of her and Raphael’s wedding. And even though she liked to cook, the results could be disastrous. Some of the other Archangel consorts gave her a hand at times, and with their help, and the support of a few excellent angelic chefs, Katie’s cooking improved visibly.

This is one of the recipes she cooked, this time with Koyu’s and Simin’s help.

*Picture and recipe courtesy of https://www.healthyseasonalrecipes.com/fish-casserole/*

Ingredients

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1 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1.75 pound white fish fillet, Best Choices in your area
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
½ teaspoon dry thyme, or 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
pinch nutmeg
¾ cup dry white wine* See sub note below
2 slices bread, crusts removed preferably sourdough or multi-grain
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup shredded Emmentaler, Gruyere or Swiss cheese

Instructions

Grease 9 by 13-inch casserole dish with softened butter. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Arrange fish fillet in the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a medium heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often (adding 1 to 2 tablespoons water if necessary to prevent the onion from darkening too much) until the onion softens and starts to brown, 6 to 9 minutes. Stir in thyme and nutmeg. Spread the onion mixture over the fish. Pour wine into the casserole dish.
Pulse bread in food processor until coarse crumbs. Drizzle on the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and add paprika and garlic powder. Process to combine until the bread is evenly red and moist. Sprinkle crumbs over the onion.
Top the casserole with the cheese and place in the oven. Bake until the fish is cooked through and the crumbs are browned, 18 to 22 minutes. Serve warm.

Notes

Instead of wine you can use broth (or clam juice) plus one tablespoon lemon juice for a non-alcoholic option.

Nutrition

SERVING SIZE: 1/6th casserole
CALORIES: 270 calories
SUGAR: 2 g
SODIUM: 443 mg
FAT: 11 g
SATURATED FAT: 5 g
CARBOHYDRATES: 10 g
FIBER: 1 g
PROTEIN: 28 g

(Find it online: https://www.healthyseasonalrecipes.com/fish-casserole/)

A Book – A Dream – A Reality?

February 20, 2023February 19, 2023 ~ aurorajeanalexander ~ 12 Comments

When I read this quote, I remembered all these people telling me about their plans and dreams to become an author ‘one day’.

When they find out I’m an author, I suddenly hear: “Oh, I ALWAYS wanted to write a book if I only had more time!” My reply usually is: “Well, it needs a bit more than only time to write a book… like a plan, a plot, an outline, character sheets, character voices, character development, knowing the craft, editing, an editor, a cover designer, a publisher, networking… AND TALENT!” The regular reaction to this bravery is generally a more or less polite excuse and the welcome departure of my conversation partner.

But there are a few people I met who dream of becoming an author and have the time but not the courage to write that book. and to them, I’d like to show this quote by Estee Lauder.

No book was ever written by dreaming about it!

Get up, plan, plot, outline – AND WRITE!!

Only by writing that story will be written, and only when you work on that book will the story be told to the world. Some dream forever about their hopes for success. Others, like Estee Lauder, wake up, roll their sleeves, and start working! Do the same; only then will your dream come true!

Don’t think about ‘becoming’ a writer. You have that story in your head – you already ARE a writer! But only by hard work and the guts to get that story out into the world will you become a successful published author!

What you need is the courage to start. Find it. It’s hidden within yourself. Dig it up, sit down, and write. It doesn’t matter HOW you write it. Take a pen and paper – or use your laptop, a desktop, a tablet… whatever rocks your boat. But without your investment and emotions, your story will be lost.

Get up, write that book, bring it into the world, and be proud of yourself!

Maybe nothing will ever last from me… nobody will write my biography, ever… but my books, my stories, are for eternity.

And that’s something to be proud of, isn’t it?

Estée Lauder (/ˈɛsteɪ ˈlɔːdər/EST-ay LAW-dər; néeJosephine Esther Mentzer; July 1, 1908 – April 24, 2004) was an American businesswoman. She co-founded her eponymous cosmetics company with her husband, Joseph Lauter (later Lauder). Lauder was the only woman on Time magazine’s 1998 list of the 20 most influential business geniuses of the 20th century.

Lauder graduated from Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, New York, and much of her childhood was spent trying to make ends meet. Like most of her eight siblings, she worked at the family’s hardware store, where she got her first taste of business, entrepreneurship, and what it takes to be a successful retailer. Her childhood dream was to become an actress with her “name in lights, flowers and handsome men”.

When Lauder grew older, she agreed to help her uncle, Dr. John Schotz, with his business. Schotz was a chemist, and his company, New Way Laboratories, sold beauty products such as creams, lotions, rouge, and fragrances. She became more interested in his business than her father’s. She was fascinated watching her uncle create his products. He also taught her how to wash her face and do facial massages. After graduating from high school, she focused on her uncle’s business.

Lauder named one of her uncle’s blends Super Rich All-Purpose Cream, and began selling the preparation to her friends. She sold creams like Six-In-One cold cream and Dr. Schotz’s Viennese Cream to beauty shops, beach clubs and resorts. One day, as she was getting her hair done at the House of Ash Blondes, the salon’s owner Florence Morris asked Lauder about her perfect skin. Soon, Estée returned to the beauty parlor to hand out four of her uncle’s creams and demonstrate their use. Morris was so impressed that she asked Lauder to sell her products at Morris’s new salon.

In 1953, Lauder introduced her first fragrance, Youth-Dew, a bath oil that doubled as a perfume. Instead of using French perfumes by the drop behind each ear, women began using Youth-Dew by the bottle in their bath water. In the first year, it sold 50,000 bottles; by 1984, the figure had risen to 150 million.

Lauder was a subject of a 1985 TV documentary, Estée Lauder: The Sweet Smell of Success. She explained her success: “I have never worked a day in my life without selling. If I believe in something, I sell it, and I sell it hard.”

Lauder died of cardiopulmonary arrest on April 24, 2004, aged 95, at her home in Manhattan.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Writer’s Health Issues

February 2, 2023January 30, 2023 ~ aurorajeanalexander ~ 10 Comments

Writers often face physical and psychological challenges that many other professionals don’t experience.

Headaches
Vision
Obesity
Neck and back problems
Muscular disorders
Lack of vitamin D
Depression

Let’s have a look at the different health challenges.

Headaches and Vision problems are often caused by staring into an older computer monitor for hours without resting your head or eyes.

Recommended: Take a break every 30 to 60 minutes to give yourself a short rest, get up, walk around, open and close your eyes, and stretch your body; it is helpful in more than one way, you will see!

Obesity: Many writers claim their creativity flows mainly at nighttime, which isn’t surprising since many writers are working full-time jobs, and in the evening, their families demand their attention. They’ll use whatever time of the day they have left. Unfortunately, when they have peace to write, they barely move during the nighttime, but they’re tempted to keep their drinks and snacks as close as possible to avoid wasting time’ getting up and getting them. Both lead to extremely unhealthy eating habits and can cause weight gain and cardiac problems.

Recommended: Set a time limit for writing in the evening and on weekends. You can tell your family you need a few hours of quiet time for writing is nothing wrong with that. When you prepare for writing, there is nothing wrong with a drink or a snack, but pour yourself some water and prepare a healthy snack, such as berries or apple slices. (If possible, shortly before you go to bed, take out the dog for a quick walk around the block. It will relax you and make your move, which is healthy for your weight and the tension in your neck, back, and other muscles. – If you don’t have a dog, cats love going for walks, too!)

Wrong chairs often cause neck and back problems, incorrect heights of chairs, and ‘slouching’ on the chair. Getting up and moving around in regular 20-30 minute intervals is an innovative and healthy thing to do.

Recommended: Before you sit down to write, go outside, get your body to move, stretch your back and neck, and relax while walking. Take your dog for a walk. (Provided you have one, if not, cats love walks too, and so do children, husbands, wives, girls- and boyfriends, fiancés, cats, guinea pigs, and other pets.)

N.B. Getting up and moving around is also helping you with obesity, muscular disorders, and even the lack of vitamin D.

Depression is a horrible, invisible, hidden, but ongoing disease, and, if untreated, extremely dangerous to the patient.

Recommended: Get professional help! It is essential that you won’t let yourself fall any deeper into this hole as necessary. The earlier you get that taken care of, the better for you and everyone in your life. And I know what I’m talking about!