Announcements.

To my dearest friends and followers,

Nearly one month has passed since my book was released for sale. During that time, nearly 70 copies have been sold!! I truly couldn't have done this without YOU, my faithful readers. A huge thank you to everyone who has read my book or who has purchased it!!

For those of you who may be interested in checking it out, you can do so here: The Story of Hollyhocks (Tales from Beyond the Veil book 1).

There are just a few things I would like to bring to your attention this week.

First, if you have checked out my book on Amazon, you probably noticed that it's only available in one format: paperback. 

I am happy to announce that this autumn, my book will be released as an ebook for all you ebook readers!! XD

I made the decision to release the paperback book and ebook edition separately so I could focus more on formatting the paperback, and then promoting/marketing it. I felt that I would feel overburdened and stressed if I was working on both at the same time. I think it is also good for marketing reasons to release the physical copy first.

Someday, maybe a year from now or so, I would love to see my book as an audiobook, but I won't be working on that project in my foreseeable future.

I would also like to point out that I am still answering questions about my book on Goodreads!! I'm answering questions about my writing process, about my publishing experience, and any questions about the story, or particular points made, etc.. There are only five more days to get your questions to me, so make sure you do that!! You can check out my goodreads here: Vanessa Paige Israel (author).

Also, if you do have a Goodreads and you're thinking about reading my book, let me know!! Mark my book as Want to Read or Currently Reading. If you have read it, mark it as Read. And don't be afraid to rate the book!! Rating the book and writing a small review on it is so meaningful to me, you have no idea. So, please please please take a few minutes out of your day to rate and/or review my book in Goodreads!!

I'll be writing more on this next week, and the importance of leaving reviews on Amazon. Thank you so much for reading!!

Yours truly,

Me

Little Leo.

            .        

To my dearest friends and followers,

Two months ago, there were four little kittens who lived outside. They didn't belong to anybody, but were the offspring of the great cats who learned to survived in the wild decades before them. There were three little girl kittens and one little boy kitten. He was their leader and his sisters looked up to him. Yes, they were tiny, but they were fierce and strong like their ancestors.

In the course of just two days, these kittens' lives changed forever. They were captured, one by one, by two hoomans, a man and a woman. These kittens were scared, as would be expected, since their kind was always taught to fear mankind. Who were these people and what did they want with them?

The little boy kitten tried his best to protect his sisters. He was angry and hissed at these hoomans. But they didn't heed his warnings. Instead, they picked him up and just held him tight.

What is this? Did he start to like being held? He somehow decided these people weren't all bad. After all, they let him and his sisters out to play. They fed them the yummiest meals. They made them a warm bed to sleep in. Even his sisters began to trust these people.

And then one day, the hoomans introduced the kittens to another creature. It was small and black and walked on four legs. Was it a cat? No, no it was not. This creature was new, something they had not seen before. The hoomans called it "Weenie Dog". 

The little boy kitten was brave and approached the Weenie Dog. He grabbed its tail, to see what would happen. The Weenie Dog snapped at him! He thought surely this was the end, but the Weenie Dog didn't try anything else. It just watched him and his sisters. Perhaps it was friendly. Perhaps it just didn't like its tail grabbed. He thought he could manage to not grab it again.

The hoomans spent more and more time with the kittens as the days passed, but the woman kept holding the little boy kitten when the others were asleep. Could he sleep on her lap? Did he trust her that much? Yes, he did. He soon found it quite easy to fall asleep as she held on to him and rubbed his back. Perhaps it was because she always offered him yummies when she called him. Perhaps it was the yummies he liked, and soon found he liked her too.

One by one, other hoomans came to the house, and when they left, they took the little boy kitten's sisters. Why were they taking them away? He missed them. He missed playing with them. 

He missed cuddling with them, but he soon found he could cuddle with the Weenie Dog. The hoomans who rescued him from the wild began calling him Leo. He liked that name. The woman explained to him that it meant Lion. That was so cool.

He quickly found that he could live without his sisters. After all, he had all the yummy food to himself now. He could play with whatever toy he wanted to and no one would fight him for it. The hoomans were his playmates now. He even got to sleep in the big bed with the hoomans. He realized that these people were now his parents, his Hoomum and Hoodad. And he was content.

This is the story of how my husband and I came to owning another cat. XD 

He just turned three months old. Thank you so much for reading!!

Yours truly,

Me

Make sure to check out my novel,

The Story of Hollyhocks (Tales from Beyond the Veil book 1)  

Reading Challenge.

To my dearest friends and followers,

I am excited to announce that I am an official author on Goodreads!! For anyone new here, I have written a Fantasy novel titled The Story of Hollyhocks (Tales from Beyond the Veil book 1). You can also check it out more here: My Books.

I know it's not a huge accomplishment or anything, but hey, who says there's no such thing as simple pleasures?? XD

What is Goodreads?

I actually began using Goodreads several years ago (2016 I think??).

For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Goodreads is a great way for readers to connect with the book community. It allows you to find books you may be interested in, and check out book reviews. You can also build your own "bookshelf" of books you've read, books you want to read, and books you're currently reading. You then have the ability to rate each book between 1-5 stars, and write your own review on it. You can follow other users on Goodreads, or follow you're favorite authors. People also host book giveaways. You can also vote for the best books of the year. It's so much fun to use if you love books. It's like a journal where you can keep track of everything you've read, but so much more!!

I highly recommend getting a Goodreads account if you don't have one already.

So on my new author page, viewers can see my book and mark it as want to read, read, etc. You can also rate my book and write a review on it if you want. The thing I am most excited about is, all during June, I am answering questions about my book!! So if you have any questions for me regarding the book or my writing process, check out my page on Goodreads and ask away!!

Reading Challenge.

This year, I've actually been reading a lot more than I have recently. Between the second half of 2018 and the first half of 2019, I read 14 books. During the months that followed, however, until now, I've really not read much of anything. I think this was in part, due to me working so hard on my own book, with revising and editing, designing the cover, formatting it, and finally publishing it. A lot of my time was being taken by that, not that I minded.

Once the pandemic started, my husband and I were keeping busy caring for some kittens we were fostering. Things have slowed down though and my book reading has gone up.

From January to March, I read 7 books. Only within the last week or so, I decided to give myself a "reading challenge". This can be done on Goodreads, where you enter the amount of books you'd like to read in a year. I decided to set mine to 20 books, since I already had 7 down. In the last week and a half, I read 4 novels, so I'm 55% finished with my goal.

I would really encourage you to come alongside me in setting a Reading Challenge for yourself. Just set a goal, and keep to it (even if it's just 1 book). You can also check out my book on Goodreads if you like, read it, rate it, and review it. As someone who loves books (both reading and writing them), I know how important it is to review books (or really, anything you buy). It helps the seller/writer immensely. I have a goal to sell at least 300 books, 1 book for each US dollar I spent to publish it. I would be honored if you helped me reach that goal!!

Yours truly,

Me

Check out my novel on Amazon!!

Everyone Has A Song.

I would rather see the world through the eyes of a child.

~Aurora

To my dearest friends and followers,

and to my fellow creatives,

I think everyone has a song.

That one song that makes them feel good. That song that they've forgotten about, but upon hearing it again, it makes them feel like they were home again - that familiar sense of belonging.

Sometimes I think that each person is a song. It is that energy which flows through them, casting out an aura of their innermost self. It is a song which reflects who they are. It can be a happy song, a haunting one, even a melancholy one. It is the one thing that can be felt by another person without even talking to them - that something that makes you look again.

I have often thought, what if I was a song? Or, what if my newly released novel was a song? What song would it be? What if my novel was ever turned into a film? What songs would make up the soundtrack?

I will do my best to not say exactly what is happening in the story, as I list those songs (as I do not wish to give away any spoilers for those who have not yet read my book since it is such a new release).

For the third chapter in which Hollyhocks is in the field and thinks she sees the stars dancing around in front of her (but quickly comes to realize that they are, in fact, fireflies celebrating a grand occasion), I imagine the song Caribbean Blue by Enya. It sounds so whimsical and flows along with the content of the chapter, which I perceive to be a very poetical scene.

The other two songs I have in mind are interchangeable. I think it would be slightly more fitting perhaps, if Carry You by Novo Amor played during the 31st chapter. The song is so full of emotion that moves the reader/listener. That's all I'll say here. 

And lastly, Through The Eyes Of A Child by Aurora would be at the end of the book, or in the case of a film, during the end credits. Honestly, if there was just one song for my book, I would say this is the song.

To me, it is about wanting that innocence back - that longing to be a child again, for what are we if not childlike dreamers trying to reach something seemingly out of reach? Trying to reach something bigger than ourselves? Trying to return to the place from which we came? Trying to be innocent and pure once again?

Yours truly,

Me

Additional:

Check out my book on Amazon!!

The Story of Hollyhocks (Tales from Beyond the Veil book 1) by me XD

Also, check out my profile on Goodreads, where I'll be answering questions about my book all during June!!