It’s cold and windy and trying to be cozy…

Hello and reading friends,

This January, inside the house, I have been working on the third fairy tale (scroll down for cover reveal!). Outside the house, it has been cold enough to have ice on the ponds. Apparently Shelties are just like curious children when it comes to ice!

On the first day we discovered ice covering the three small ponds on our property, the dogs inched their way down the banks. Can we still drink the water? Can we touch it? Can one paw go on top? What about two paws? Oooh, let's see if we can touch this part of the ice over here! Meanwhile, my 5-year-old was performing similar experiments involving sticks.

Then Adare galloped across the pond! The ice made sounds and he ran faster and made it to the edge. So exciting! After that, they became braver and braver, and subsequently fell through the ice more and more often. Malin and Adare had no trouble swimming to land, and then had to do really big zoomies to dry off. Fortunately, the 5yo did not try walking on the ice, since he is significantly heavier, and neither did Inish, because he has never tried swimming before. I was not keen on wading into a frozen pond to rescue anyone! However, the dogs had a great time, and we lit a fire in the wood-stove when we got home. 

Adare takes a flying leap -- there WAS ice there!

Meanwhile, The Knight of the Terrible Valley and Aiden of Florida is almost done, and I’m…

Looking for ARC readers

Have you enjoyed my first two fairy tale retellings? I’m trying to make a bigger splash with the next release, and part of that is getting reviews by release day. If you are interested in ARC reading, then

I will give you:

• a free e-book copy of The Knight of Terrible Valley, in its formatted but not quite final form, 1-2 weeks before its release date (Feb 22)

And in return I ask:

• any feedback you have 
• if the book speaks to you*, then please leave an honest review during release week

If you’re interested, you can fill out this form, or just reply to this email. 

I want to be an ARC reader!

So…what’s this fairy tale going to be?

This time, we get to hear from Aiden. In “The Knight of the Terrible Valley and Lawn Dyarrig” (collected by W.B. Yeates, 1892) the hero rescues the pure maiden and falls in love. In my version she is so loved because she is his sister, and so pure because she is five years old—all of which feels to me more powerful than instalove! I'm excited to publish this story of brother-and-sister loyalty in the month of Valentine’s Day.

You’ve been asking about how Aiden and Kaylee ended up living in the castle, and what backstory they have been hiding. They haven’t been ready to tell Maura, their ex-stepmother, but this story has Aiden and Kaylee on every page and you will get to find out! 

Click here for the blurb, and here to sign up for ARC reading.

My designer and I decided to do something different with the covers. So….ta-da! What do you think? I love how this silhouette encapsulates the way the siblings protect and admire each other.

While you’re waiting…

…for Aiden’s story, here are some other wonderful things to read! Two of my friends from the Women’s Fiction Writers Association have special deals for their books going right now! I know audiobooks are valuable for many readers, and I’m pleased to find two to feature for you.

Sibling bonds: Wendy Haller

Here’s the perfect book to go along with the family stories I’m writing. Three sisters stick together, supporting each other while growing up in a home lacking in love—just like Aiden and Kaylee. But The Flannigan Girls takes place once the sisters are grown up and life has taken them in different directions. 

It’s available in both e-book and audio for $2.99 on Wendy’s website this week!

If you want something with…

More thrills: L.L. Kirchner

Another older teen adventure from Florida — in 1944, 18-year-old Thelma joins a troupe of touring swimsuit models, only to find she’s stepped into the mafia lair. When The Florida Girls start shooting back, will anyone survive?

Award-winning audio available on Chirp for $1.99. 

A peek inside my writing process…

For me, one of the longest parts of the writing process is finding the right voice. 

Here’s a little tidbit that I’ve been experimenting with. This is going to be a story with so much love, with the two main characters finding themselves and then becoming strong enough to be together. It’s been a hard January and I need to believe in the love in the world, so I keep being drawn back to this. 

I’ve shared it with several different critique and reader groups this month, and the response has intrigued me. Some people reacted to the “rules” I am breaking in these first paragraphs, and others noticed clues and figured out a great deal that the narrator does not tell the reader. Dozens and dozens stopped to comment with their emotional reaction.

I don’t think, as a writer, that it is my job to please every reader, but I do try to evoke emotion. By that standard, this might be my best opening yet. What do you think?

It is raining on the night that I am no longer a daughter. Just enough to bead on my eyebrows and make the patio slick, the porch light glimmering on the puddle where the paving stone is missing. Any rain is good for the neighbors’ crops, I suppose, although they are not my neighbors because I do not live here any more because I am no longer a daughter.

Aurelius watches me as I sling the last duffel into my beat-up Chrysler. His eyes are calm, his tail loose and low. I turn to him and he looks up at me, his gaze is as familiar as my own body. I am still his person. That is who I am.

“We’ll go to the barn,” I tell him. “Some of my things are in the barn. They are mine.”

Aurelius cocks his head.

“Yours too,” I agree. “Hup.”

Aurelius jumps into the van, a shimmering comma of fur and grace.

And finally…the new covers revealed!

I wanted you to be the first to see these covers—in fact, I planned this whole newsletter so I could give you this sneak peek preview. But it took forever until we were satisfied, and then my kids have had a lot of deadlines this month, so somehow this update snuck into February. (But on the plus side, two of my teens have applied for really exciting summer programs!*)

Here are the new covers that my designer and I have worked on. I wanted to reflect the genre and the cozy, family-centered vibe of the fairy tale. So we’re trying these out!

What do you think? Do these covers send a message that feels like what you would expect from the story? I would love to hear your opinions!

Best wishes and happy reading,

Christy & the Shelties

(No, we did not actually drive like this. Malin is wearing a seatbelt but does not quite seem safe...)

P.S. Thank you for all your notes! I love hearing about your dogs. Several people have shared their feelings about families, children, & holidays. Since I write about family, here some relevant family tidbits, with *'s from the newsletter.

*My 5-year-old has informed us that if you don’t like something that is served at dinner, instead of complaining, you can just say “it doesn’t speak to me.” We have been using this phrase for all kinds of things lately! So I hope my books speak to you, because mushrooms sure don't speak to my children.

*I am writing this from Seattle, where one of my teens is auditioning for ballet summer intensive programs. Another one of my kids just applied for the Smith Precollege Summer Creative Writing Program. She picked that one out all by herself, and as a Smithie and a writer I am bursting with pride!