Sunday, April 28, 2013

Name That Book!

I will give you a free book! Yes, absolutely free, and you can choose either  my Young Adult science fiction book, Golden Hope or the yet to be named Middle Grade Novel, currently called Katra. All you have to do is be the winner of the Name That Book contest. 

Is this a cheap ploy to get help with my title?- absolutely. I am notoriously bad at finding my titles. I want it to stand out and still capture the essence of the book. Can you do that??? I'm too close to the story to do it justice. 

I would LOVE some feedback from my target readers too! Boys and Girls ages 9-12. You guys are the ones I need so hopefully mom or dad will share this with you.

How will you name the book? Well, you have to read some of it to get an idea of the story, so I'm going to put an excerpt here for you to read. 

My suggestion, print it out if you can. I have a really terrible time reading a book on the computer. I can't focus, probably because I'm thinking of all the other things I could be doing online. 

So, if you give me a good title and I choose it for the book, I will send you Golden Hope, my first book, free, or if you decide you want this one, I'll send you this one upon printing. Fair deal? Win-Win right?

Here are the first few chapters:
Chapter 1
Shut the door dummy!”
“Jojo, hush, you’re gonna get me in trouble.”
What a cheapskate!”
Katra groaned and pinched the Rantyre’s beak shut. She peeked into the auction room hoping none of the customers heard the exclamations. She saw the backs of the buyers, intent on her father’s rhythmic brokering.  None seemed to have heard the commotion.
I want to wear the pink one. I hate broccoli.  Where is everyone?”
Jojo waddled close to Katra and rubbed his head against her leg. She squatted down and ran her hand over his fluffy white fur. He extended his small flipper arms and rubbed his head against her arm. Katra tickled him under his chin and watched as he opened his long curved beak in a yawn as he always did when she scratched him. Except for his beak and the colorful feathers topping his head, he could be mistaken for a penguin. When Katra first laid eyes on him it was love at first sight, on both sides, and now he was her constant companion.
“Hands off unless you’re buying.” Katra jumped, thinking her father had slipped in behind her. Then she heard his voice rising and falling in the other room. She tilted an eyebrow at Jojo. It wasn’t the first time he had startled her. Sometime he would have her in giggles at his at his nonsensical mimicry. She walked to a closet. This wasn’t the time for laughing. Her dad had told her to leave him home.
Katra opened the door and set him inside. “You better stay here until after the auction. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Be careful! Don’t drop it, idiot!” This time she caught herself before looking behind her.
“Jojo, you’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.” She closed the door on her pet and scurried back to her duties. It was her job to record the winning bidder’s number and to make sure their purchase was tagged and safely wrapped.
As she slid into the auction room her father’s glance was a wordless reprimand that fell like a rock into her stomach and yet he never wavered from his auctioneer’s rhythm.
After the auction was over she helped the two assistants pack up the unsold antiques. She was taking her time as she was in no hurry to face her father. Her younger brother Rani came bounding into the storage unit.
“Katra, Mom says hurry up, and Dad looks really mad. Whad ya do?”
Katra ignored him and tried to push him out of her way. He stood his ground. Although short for his eight years old; he was solidly built.
Wash your hands! Hold still, let me put this on.”
“Shut up, you stupid bird.” Rani pretended to swat at the Rantyre, but it jumped off the carton where it was perched and quickly waddled away flapping its stubby wings. It peeked out from behind a box.
“Stop it Rani, you jerk.”
This time Katra was able to force him aside. Her height at two years older gave her enough advantage to send him staggering backward. He just laughed and made a rude noise at her. What Katra really wanted to do was kick his little butt, even if she did get in trouble.
She heard Jamick, the younger of the two assistants talking to Rani. “You going to the match tonight,” he asked the boy.
Of course he’s going to the game, Katra thought. He always gets to go. She continued her thoughts as she packed the last items.
Jamick was nice enough. She liked the way he dimpled when he smiled and she loved his green eyes. He was way too old for her but a girl could dream. She did wish she had green eyes like his though, or even blue like Rani, but no, she was stuck with plain brown eyes. Rani gets everything, even blue eyes. She sighed and placed the last item on the shelf.
 “I”ll probably go, I know Dad and Mom want to go. Dad says he’s gotta check my last unit on Pentel’s history. You goin’,” Rani asked.
“If I get this packing finished. I’ll see you there,” Jamick said.
Jexson is so cute!” Katra heard her own voice from behind the box.
Rani looked at his sister with wide eyes and a full smile. “ Jexson huh? I knew it.”
“Oh, get vaporized you Tweezer,” Katra said. She chased her brother as he ran laughing out of the storage unit. Before she could stop her forward momentum she had slammed into a young girl.
“Jazzie, sorry. I didn’t see you.”  She grabbed her friend’s arms to keep her from being knocked to the ground.
 “I’m gonna tell mom,” she heard Rani’s voice float back to her as he ran down the walkway toward the transit entrance.
 “Rani again?” her friend laughed. “Hi Jamick.” Jamick gave a bright smile and waved at the young girl. She turned toward an older man, bent over a box. He was short with gray streaked hair, but had thick arms that still showed ropes of muscle when he picked up a heavy item.
“Hi Axel.”  The older man grunted a hello, and continued to pack merchandise. Axel had been working for Katra’s dad for as long as she could remember. He was quiet and worked as hard as Jamick, but Katra had noticed that he was beginning to hunch over and his gnarled hands often had to juggle an item to keep it from dropping it.
Katra turned back to her friend. “Go ahead, laugh. Just be glad you don’t have a spoiled little brother making your life miserable, not to mention a pet with diarrhea mouth,” Katra said.
Jazmine’s hand covered her smile, “Oh no, what’d he say this time?”
“Who, Jojo or Rani?” Katra said. Her voice was muffled as she was down on her knees trying to coax the animal out from the boxes. Her long dark hair fell forward, making a curtain in front of her face.
“Come on, Jojo. Rani’s gone.” She lifted the furry animal up and stroked his soft fur with her hand. He rubbed his beak against her cheek. Then she sighed and put him back on the carton where he could watch her work.
“I love you but I do wish you would forget everything I say, especially about boys,” she said.
“Ah ha, Jojo this time. Want some help?” Jazmine asked.
“No thanks, Jaz, I’ve about got it done,” she said.
 Katra carefully lifted a box to one of the shelves that lined the walls of the storage space. Boxes, vases, lamps, paintings and furniture filled all the spaces, leaving just enough room to walk through the warehouse. There were also steel enforced safes that stood as tall as Katra. They were anchored to the cement floor.
No, thank you, Jarret, tea will be fine.”
Jazmine sat on an oak stool that had a price tag worth most of the homes on Pentel. She stared at Jojo. “It’s weird how he can make any voice like that. Who was that one?” she said.
“I call that one, ‘The Old Lady’. Dad thinks that’s the voice of the lady that owned Jojo. That’s how I got him, because she died suddenly. For once, Dad decided to give me something instead of Rani, the perfect son.”
She ran her hand over the feathers on Jojo’s head and watched as they popped back up. “I’m sure glad, because he’s been my best friend— not counting you—ever since.”
“How come he got all her stuff?” Jazmine asked.
“She was some ambassador’s wife, but she didn’t have any living relatives, so Dad bought the whole estate, and Jojo was part of it.” Katra answered. “Rantyres are pretty rare and probably expensive, but there wasn’t anyone left to claim him. So now he’s mine.” She hugged the little animal who gave a squawk.
“I can’t figure out if he’s a bird or a mammal,” Jazmine said. She reached over to stroke his fur. Jojo rubbed his head against her hand.
“He’s both. He’s got a beak and webbed feet, but he also has fur. I accessed data on Rantyres after we got him. They originally came from Tyre and there’s very few left now. There’s not a lot of information on them since Tyre was destroyed,” Katra explained.
“What happened to it?” Jazmine said.
“From what Dad said, the planet had a huge civil war and the entire population was destroyed. He thought that Jojo’s ancestors probably had been a gift from someone on Tyre before the war started. The planet’s just one big desert now.”
Jazmine ran a finger over Jojo’s jeweled collar. There were four stones, red, blue, green and yellow. They matched the feathers on his head. “Is that a real ruby,” Jazmine asked.
Katra laughed, “Are you kidding? Dad would never let me keep anything that he could auction off. The topaz, emerald and sapphire are fake too.”
Shut up you jerk.” Jojo looked at Katra and shook his head, making his collar jingle.
“That was definitely you,” Jazmine said..
“That’s his signal for dinner. I better go or I’ll be in even deeper trouble than I am now. I’ll come by tonight if Dad doesn’t ground me for the rest of my life.”


Chapter 2

Katra’a mom and dad were in the kitchen when she got home. Rani had just taken his supper plate from the warmer and sat down at the table.
“Wash and get your plate,” her father’s said. “And put that animal in its crate.”
She put Jojo in his crate and checked his food and water, then joined the rest of the family in the kitchen. Her parents had already gotten their plates and were waiting for her. Katra punched her favorite meal and sixty seconds later pulled it from the unit. When she sat down her mother added some fresh vegetables to her plate.
The lot goes to bidder 569.”  A voice shouted from the cage as Jojo bobbed up and down in his crate.
Her father speared her with a stern look, “I told you specifically not to bring that animal to the auction.”
She hung her head, but not before seeing her brother’s malicious grin. She swung her leg under the table and was glad to see him jump as her foot connected with his shin.
“I saw that Katriana.” Her mother said, but reached over and pinched Rani’s ear. “And I saw you too, Ranaldi.” Katra kept her smile hidden.
Turn down that music!” shrieked an unknown voice.
“You lost your pay for this auction and if I see that Rantyre at my auction again, you’ll work the next five auctions for no pay and he’ll be sold to the lowest bidder. Is that understood, Katriana?”
“Yes sir, I promise to leave him home from now on,” Katra said. She looked down at her plate, too guilty to face her father.
You look beautiful in your new collar.” The voice of an old woman came from the crate.
“And for heaven’s sake, cover his crate so we can eat in peace and quiet,” her father said.


***


Jazmine was staring at herself in the mirror when Katra came into her bedroom carrying a sack.
“Oh good, you’re not in trouble.” She turned around and Katra saw that her friend had one eyelid shadowed with a plum color and the other was a teal green.
“I may not be grounded, but that doesn’t mean I’m not in trouble,” Katra said. She stared from one of Jazmine’s eyes to the other.
 “What do you think, this color or that one?” Jazmine pointed to each lid. Katra thought that sometimes her friend could be too consumed with her looks. Of course, she didn’t have to worry about a strict father or over protective mother. She gave up on trying to get any sympathy from Jasmine.
 “Both make your eyes even bluer, but I like the teal. It goes with both blue and green. Did your aunt say you could get them tattooed now?” Katra said.
 “No, but I’ve already got permanent eyeliner and cheek color. I don’t see why she’s making me wait for the eye shadow.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. The light brown curls bounced down in the middle of her back. Once again Katra had to stifle the stab of envy at the young girl’s natural curls.
“She’s probably going to surprise you for your birthday,” Katra said.
“I hope you’re right. And I’ll only be a year younger than you, at least until you have your birthday in a couple of months,” Jazmine said.
“I never can understand how you and Rani can be the same age and you act so much older than he does. Just the other night he put his pet crawlie in my bed. It scared Jojo to death.”
Jazmine squeezed her lips together to keep from laughing.
“I see that Jaz,” Katra said. She punched her friend on the arm. “It’s not funny,” but a grin slipped out in spite of her words.
Jazmine put her hands up in surrender. “Sorry, but I keep seeing Jojo squawking and waddling away. Remember, boys grow up slower than girls.”
“Well, in Rani’s case, I think the maturing process has stopped completely. And of course, Dad didn’t do anything, just told him not to do it again. I swear, he gets away with everything, but let me mess up one time and look out.”
“Well, I’m glad I don’t have a little brother to deal with. Anyway, what’s in the bag,” Jazmine asked.
“Oh yeah, sorry. Rani gets me so mad I forget about everything else.” Katra pulled some old fashioned dresses out of the bad. “Dad said we could have these. They belonged to the same lady that owned Jojo. He doesn’t sell clothes, and the material is almost exactly like what I’ve seen in the stores this year. I guess it’s true that styles repeat over and over. These are practically antique, but they barely look used and I kind of like the patterns,” Katra said.
Jazmine was pawing through the pile of dresses, tossing them left and right.
“Speaking of Jojo, where is he? You never leave him—Oh, that red one would look really good with your dark hair and eyes. Wow, look at the buttons on this dress,” Jazmine said.
“I left him home, he was sleeping.” Katra rubbed her finger over one of the buttons.  “Those are great, they look like a sunburst, except with different colored centers.”
“They’re gorgeous., I wonder what we can use them for,” Jazmine said.
“Let’s each take two and maybe we can use the dress material to make purses or backpacks. We can use the buttons to hold them closed.”
“That’s a good idea. They’d make really cool earrings, too,” said Jazmine.
“That’s true. I like the ones with the red and green stones in the center. Is that okay?” asked Katra.
“Sure, I like the blue and yellow anyway—and yes—I know they’re not real,” Jazmine  said with a grin.
Just then her bedroom door opened and a woman entered carrying a tray loaded down with drinks and chips. She was tall and thin, with silver streaks shimmering in her brown hair. “I thought you two might like a snack,” she said.
“Thanks Aunt Merrisol. You didn’t have to do that, we could have gone to the kitchen.”
“It looks to me like you’re immersed in a new sewing project,” she said. She smiled down at Jazmine and winked at Katra.
Katra smiled back at Jazmine’s aunt. Jazmine had been orphaned at a young age and her aunt had raised her. Katra loved Aunt Merrisol, who was great for spoiling both girls. She often took them out to their favorite eating places or to the Funzone where they could experience virtual adventures. Katra’s favorite virtual trip was the jungle. She loved swinging through the trees with monkeys racing through the tree tops on either side of her.
“What beautiful dresses. Are they something your father picked up?” she said.
Katra nodded her head. “Yes, but he said we could have them. He doesn’t deal in clothes.”
“You’re so lucky to be exposed to artifacts from so many different planets,” Aunt Merrisol said.
“I guess so,” Katra said. “As long as I don’t drop any of them.”
“I’m sure you’re a great help to your father,” Aunt Merrisol said.
Katra decided it would be best to just smile and nod.
“Well, I’ll let you get back to work—or whatever,” Aunt Merrisol said. She hesitated at the door. “Jazmine, is your math module finished?”
“Yep, Aunt Merry,” Jazmine said, using her pet name for her aunt.
“Okay then, I’ll go check it over. It’s almost eight thirty,” she reminded Katra.
“Thanks, Aunt Merrisol,” Katra said, glancing at her watch, “We’re almost done, and thanks for the snacks.” The door closed behind the woman.
“Okay, let’s get started. Do you have some scissors so I can cut the buttons off,” Katra asked.
Katra was in the middle of telling Jazmine the latest about Jexsom when a loud beep caused them both to jump.
“Oops, should have turned the volume down, but I wanted to be sure I heard it,” Katra said as she glanced at her watch, “That’s my reminder, gotta go. Dad said to be home before nine. I can’t afford to make him mad at me twice in one day.” She gave her friend a quick hug and hurried out of the door.

Chapter 3

Just made it, Katra thought as her watch chimed the hour. After speaking her name, the door slid open.
“Dad, Mom, I’m home,” she called out. “On time, like I prommmiissssed,” she sang. There was no answer. If fact the absolute silence of the house caused her to stop and listen. No muted television, no murmurs of conversations, nothing but silence.
Katra rubbed her arms, smoothing the sudden goosebumps. The game must have gone into overtime she thought. She waved on the light and entered the kitchen to grab a drink. She sucked in her breath as she tried to make sense of the sight in front of her. Every cabinet door was open and food packages were strewn all over the floor. The kitchen table was laying on its side and the contents of the drawers were emptied, creating a pile of crushed glass interspersed with silver utensils and plastic ware.
Such a wave of fear flowed over her that she felt separated from reality. She felt like she was suddenly plunged into a nightmare. Thoughts raced through her mind.  Am I in the wrong house No, I recognize that antique clock What happened Is someone still here Are they going to hurt me Where are Mom and Dad I need help I’m all alone. In spite of the frantic thoughts flying through her head, her body was frozen in place.
She heard a thump from the back of the house. Her heart pounded so loudly in her ears she could physically feel the pulsing of each beat. Forcing her legs to move, she backed out of the room, grabbing the doorframe when her knees threatened to buckle. She reached her hand blindly behind her and felt for the com unit beside the front door. She didn’t dare turn her back on whatever was there. It could be creeping down the dark hallway even now.

Have at it! I'll be waiting to here from you at donnachubbauthor@gmail.com or post a comment with your email address so I can contact you.


Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Is Christian Science Fiction an Oxymoron?

I sure hope not, because that's what I ultimately want to write. I'm not there yet. Yes, both my writing-and my published book Golden Hope- are appropriate for young, old and Christian alike. I haven't actually put much about religion in my books other than maybe an off-hand comment about my characters sending up a prayer when they were in trouble, but seriously doesn't everyone? Mostly? I betcha even atheists turn Christian when hanging off a cliff.

 The book I'm working on now is middle grade science fiction, but still not a "Christian" one. Once again, appropriate, while, I hope, still full of fun and danger. It does seem weird to me to write about people on another planet that believe and pray to God. It's almost like God only belongs here on earth and it's anti-Christian to bring him into the future. But who knows? It could happen!

I will branch out to "Christian Science Fiction" with my third book if possible. I wonder though, will Christian publishers consider a book that's merely appropriate and doesn't include how the characters relied on faith? If you have that answer, please share.

I know that as a Christian, Young Adult, Science Fiction writer I'm pretty much at the bottom, well, more like under the ground, of the food chain when it comes to publishing, or popular genres. My goal is to write books kids and teenagers will enjoy, can still relate to, but won't have bad language, sex or in any way encourage drug abuse. Now, some of you may be thinking, Are there any kids left who would even be interested in a book that doesn't have sex, swearing or drugs? Or you may not believe that kind of book would ever get published, or maybe it will get published but no one would ever buy it. You may be right- But it doesn't stop me from wanting to write them. Or, maybe I'm just plain old-fashioned. I guess time will tell. Oops, there's a cliche'

Monday, April 8, 2013


Birds of High Fashion

  Here's the link I promised in the last post. Next, maybe weird animals of the world. Enjoy

What isn't Sci-fi-lite.

So, what books are the opposite of sci-fi-lite? I would guess, Asimov, Abrams (Star Trek, right?), Orson Scott Card, and I'll think of some others. But, that doesn't mean those aren't great authors because obviously they're all well known. And I've read many of their books, well except for Star Trek, I watched that. All of the episodes; more than once. I read Enders Game by Orson Scott Card recently and it was excellent. I read lots by Asimov, probably most of them years ago. Oh, and the Dune series, I read those. So, that's what I call science fiction, with all the nuts and bolts of sci-fi. I am either not smart enough or technologically savvy enough to write hard sci-fi, or I'd just rather read it and leave the really brainiac stuff to someone else.

I like to write stories about people, how they interact, communicate, love and hate. I also love to include strange animals and places. Speaking of which, I'm going off on a tangent here but I'm going to try and link a powerpoint someone sent me. It is about all kinds of birds and believe me, we writers of sci-fi-, lite or otherwise- don't have to come up with original creatures often because right here on earth or some of the weirdest. I'll try to add it to the blog or my website. www.sci-fi-lite.com


So, my point tonight is, sci-fi or sci-fi-lite, they're both good reading. So enjoy.




Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Media Meltdown

My mind is a maelstrom-I looked it up, it's spelled right-of social media sites and advice about social media. Everything I've read is that it's important to get known. You must, blog, tweet, web?, email, Facebook and pretty much stand on your head. My brain is scrambled. I published a book, and now I must advertise, both my book and myself. So, I created a website. I used GoDaddy, and thankfully their cheap one is okay for me since I'm just learning. By the way, their technology support people are really good and very nice. I have a separate Facebook account just for writing. I have two blogs, one for science fiction and one for beginning writers. The second one is only because I can't seem to stop teaching, so, even though I consider myself a beginning author too, I want to help/teach others. And thanks to a young girl on YouTube, I have all kinds of buttons and links. Are people reading about me/my book? I don't know. Are people interested in my blogs? I don't know. Some of the writing advice I have read says that it takes time to get known and collect followers. I'm sure that's true, and I will continue to blog, tweet, web, FB, and email, oh yeah, and google+. Forgot that one. Why? I feel compelled. Now, to be honest, I'm not really doing all of that so I can sell enough books to be financially independent. I know you just said, Yeah, right. I think the reason why I'm not trying to support myself with my writing is because I don't have the confidence in myself that it will ever happen, so it's not a goal of mine-yet. I just want to know what people think of Golden Hope, and how I can improve my writing. And hopefully get noticed so publishing my next book will be easier.
So, I will try to limit, categorize, and develop my social media so that maybe, on the off chance I do get a following they will enjoy my writing. Then maybe I will develop a little bit of confidence and faith in my writing. Who knows? It could happen.


Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Do you create or do you write?

What's the difference? Well, to me if all boils down to the books that you have on your shelf. Those would be books that you love and want to read over and over, never mind that you can read them on Kindle, Nook, or other readers, these books are your friends. They come with memories. I have the following books on my shelf; The Lord of the Rings Trilogy- which I have read at least six times, Watership Down, all the Harry Potters,  Dragon Drums, Dragon Song and Dragon Singer plus the White Dragon, and Alas, Babylon. These are my favorites. Some are classics and some are just my personal favorites. But why? What makes them special. I have read hundreds, thousands maybe, books and enjoyed most of them, but I don't usually go back and reread them. But my favorites I will return to again and again. They're like comfort food to me. I especially like it when I have gone a long time without reading one of them, then it's almost like reading it for the first time, again.

I think that what sets the authors of the above favorites apart is that they were were creators, not just writers. They created a world. Their writing had depth and detail. When you read these books, you forget that you are reading words and you enter into that created world. You walk alongside the characters and you become an unnamed character that is part of that world. There are many books that can make you cry or make you happy, but these special ones, they take you away, and quite often, you don't want to come back.

So, that's my question, are you a creator or are you a writer? Right now, I'm a writer. I hope someday to become a creator. There is so much more I could say about this subject that I think I'll stop now and leave it for another day.

Random statement of the day: My bluebirds have built a nest.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Alone in the bloggasphere

Yes, still alone. I have tried to connect to the world out there, but so far, no luck. I"m not giving up, but this social media has to be taken in small chunks at a time. The reason for this is as you find a great blog, there are blog sites listed on it that are also great blogs, so you go deeper and deeper. I'm just diving into what @rachellegardener has to share, and that's only the tip of the iceburg. I just signed up for the HootSuite app.. I think it might simplify things for me, but so far I have yet to figure out how to get my blog noticed-rachelle has an answer for that too- and to figure out that google+ thing and how it can help. I also looked for local writing groups. The only one is half an hour away so I may be forced-gulp-to start my own. Anyway, here I am, legs crossed because I've gotten so deep into great blogs I don't want to stop to go to the bathroom. I know, you've been there too, right? Just agree, okay. I'll be back, even if I'm still talking to myself, about myself talking to myself.