Something to look forward to and a little something for you to read...

I've written a lot of things. Short stories, long stories, Novellas, Novels, Poetry, even an article or two... some of these (mostly the short stories and poetry) have seen the light of day as print in anthologies or screen words on a website/blog.

And this is wonderful. Of course it is.

That isn't to say that I don't want to go further. Or that I'm not working towards the holy grail of a writer's life - a seven book deal and a huge movie company wanting to make all seven books into a movie... - no, I'm kidding on that, just getting a novel published is about as far as most writers go.

Anyway. 

I have a cunning plan... *said in best Baldrick impression* ...I am taking baby steps. The first few were to actually get said short stories etc out into the world. The next couple were to establish a writing identity (hence the Tiger Princess thing) and a blog. Then I deviated a little and started a webzine... only a small diversion and not one that I expect to get much bigger than it is at the moment.

The next step is to get a published presence that is all my own - not through an anthology, but through self publishing.

So here is the sneak peek - I'm going to publish a series of novellas through Smashwords. I'll post more info as and when they are available, but the project is going well so far and with a little help from my friends and family (especially those with E-Readers) I may get somewhere with it.

I have also put the first chapter of the first book of my YA Series "The Secret of Arking Down" up on Night Reading and this is another step - attempting, seriously to get into print through Indie Publishers.

But to do this, I need help - and this is where you get to read.

Go to Night Reading join, take a look around and then read and comment on my chapter - "The Secret of Arking Down, Book One: The Angel's Crown" - it'll help get me noticed and might even get me into next month's poll to be picked to be published!

So, go on. Give me a hand here... you know you want to! *Flutters Eyelashes and smiles coyly*

Rain, Rain, Go away,
Come again another day.
Life can always look so grey,
On the days rain comes to play.

Yes, it's raining. I don't actually hate the rain. Some days it's nice to be in a warm cosy house when it's tipping it down outside. The problem comes when I'm feeling a little blue and it's raining. That tends to be during the long dark teatime of the year that falls between Christmas and Easter.

I find myself searching for signs of Spring, things like bulb sprouts and leaf buds. Where I live, that happens around the end of February usually.

I also write a lot of poetry at this time of year. It's not always that good, so you're not likely to see much of it!

Good things do happen at this time of year though. For example: one of my writer buddies has just signed a contract for her book and my favourite Horror Webzine, The House of Horror is actually becoming a quarterly print Magazine!

Basically from Issue #20 onwards, they will be going to print and the website will become the details site. This creates a whole new paying market for horror and dark fantasy writers because HOH will pay 1/4 cent per word up to 2000 words!

Keep your eyes open for more news on that - I'll post it as and when it comes up.

Another piece of good news is that you can now find "Welcome to Wherever..." on Duotrope.com! I'm hoping that will make it easier to find submissions each month - I'm not doing too badly for february at the moment...

Toodles!