Ghosts of bad dates past #8sunday

Hey, weekend writing warriors! And readers ;)

Hope you have having a great weekend and that your shopping is already done so you can snicker at the last minute shoppers. (Not that I do that of course ;) )

This week, I'm giving you a snippet from the first chapter where Ari is on a horrible date, set up for her by her sister Jane. The woman has horrible taste and as Ari has nothing better to do, she starts remembering those past dates to get away from having to pay attention to the man seated across from her. Here are the first two she remembers.

******

Letting her mind drift, Ari tried to remember why she accepted this date in the first place. Oh, that’s right—her sister Jane set it up without asking. Well, it wasn’t the first time. Ever since she entered college, Jane had taken it upon herself to introduce her little sister to men just like her husband Tony.

First, Jane set her up with Sebastian. The main thing Ari remembered about him was he looked like Rambo and giggled like a girl when someone passed gas. Then there was Erin, though he went by Igor. He had an unnatural obsession with Frankenstein even going so far as to take upon himself the appearance of a prometheus—neckbolts and all—to prove whatever point he was trying to make.

******

Your Dimension Or Mine?
The Dating Service Series
Release: 2014

Unofficial blurb:

When Ari Reynolds signed up for an online dating service, she only did it to get her sister off her back about her dateless life. She did not expect to be contacted by men from other dimensions, find out that she herself did not belong in her own dimension and have a demon claim ownership of her through a magical DNA contract she did not even know existed. Now that her eyes have been opened, she is catapulted to Dimension Zeta to be trained by a magically powerful Fae named Mayir in defending herself against Orion from one of the demon realms. As if things could not get any more confusing, she finds herself falling for a man from an entirely different dimension - one who promises to help defend her. But when Orion steals something of great importance to her, she must stand alone against him. Can one mere human truly fight off the magical control of an immortal being who wants her more than he has wanted anyone else?

An even worse thought hit her #8sunday

Just thought I would give you an update...and little excerpt for Your Dimension Or Mine? - which will be coming out in 2014 - for Weekend Writing Warriors.

First the excerpt...Ari should be thinking about the evil Orion who is after her, but she can't keep her mind off Terrian, someone she 'met' online, who has turned out to be from a different dimension, and who she is about to meet.

******

What if he actually had three eyes and his nose was on his chin? Well, no, she had seen his picture. Then an even worse thought hit her.

What if the rest of him wasn’t like other human males? If he didn’t have a…

Moaning at that horrible thought, she turned over and glared at the wall. “Seriously,” she grumbled aloud to herself. “There is an evil demon who wants me to be his and is coming after me, and the thing I am worried about is if Terrian has all the right equipment?”

******

Edits are done and it has now been sent onto The Wild Rose Press's Production team to do their magic and make it available in both print and e-formats. 

Your Dimension Or Mine?

The Dating Service Series

Unofficial blurb:

When Ari Reynolds signed up for an online dating service, she only did it to get her sister off her back about her dateless life. She did not expect to be contacted by men from other dimensions, find out that she herself did not belong in her own dimension and have a demon claim ownership of her through a magical DNA contract she did not even know existed. Now that her eyes have been opened, she is catapulted to Dimension Zeta to be trained by a magically powerful Fae named Mayir in defending herself against Orion from one of the demon realms. As if things could not get any more confusing, she finds herself falling for a man from an entirely different dimension - one who promises to help defend her. But when Orion steals something of great importance to her, she must stand alone against him. Can one mere human truly fight off the magical control of an immortal being who wants her more than he has wanted anyone else?

2013 Holiday Garden Gourmet Cookbook

Have you heard of the Holiday Garden Gourmet 2013 cookbook from The Wild Rose Press?

No?

Well, it is a collection of recipes by The Wild Rose Press authors. I even have one of my favorite recipes in there ;)

Even better news? The PDF version is free!

Or, if you are like me and like cookbooks in the hand, the spiral bound edition is only $4+S/h.

Go on...get a copy. You know you wanna ;)

Cover Reveal for new Dating Service Novel

I am very excited to show you the cover for Your Dimension or Mine? my new dating service novel.

Your Dimension Or Mine?
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
(Release Date TBD)

My first dating service novel L'Amore Perfetto was a wonderful fairy tale.

In Your Dimension Or Mine?, Ari Reynolds is a 28-yr-old independent woman who is just fine on her own, thank you very much. She joins a few dating services to get family off her back. This should have been easy.

Instead, next thing she knows, she is having to jump dimensions to stay out of the grasp of an evil demon who has magical claim to women in her line and wants her. While trying to stay out of Orion's clutches, she has to deal with a surly Fae whose sole job it is to teach her to defend herself against magical attack and her growing attraction for Terrian, a man from a completely different dimension.

Dating just became a lot more complicated.

Unofficial blurb:

When Ari Reynolds signed up for an online dating service, she only did it to get her sister off her back about her dateless life. She did not expect to be contacted by men from other dimensions, find out that she herself did not belong in her own dimension and have a demon claim ownership of her through a magical DNA contract she did not even know existed. Now that her eyes have been opened, she is catapulted to Dimension Zeta to be trained by a magically powerful Fae named Mayir in defending herself against Orion from one of the demon realms. As if things could not get any more confusing, she finds herself falling for a man from an entirely different dimension - one who promises to help defend her. But when Orion steals something of great importance to her, she must stand alone against him. Can one mere human truly fight off the magical control of an immortal being who wants her more than he has wanted anyone else?

New novel accepted by publisher!

Okay, I am excited. Up until now, I have self-pubbed my books that I put out under this name. But I am thrilled to say that my novel Your Dimension or Mine? (Working Title) has been accepted by The Wild Rose Press for publication.

Your Dimension or Mine? is the second in my Dating Service stories. (The first was L'Amore Perfetto.) This one has a paranormal twist to it and I love it. I mean, who doesn't want to read a great story with a strong heroine, an even stronger hero, and an evil demon who is out to get her?

As the process goes along, I will keep you updated!

Hit and vaulted over my goal #ian1 #JulNoWriMo

Well, JulNoWriMo has passed, but I am very happy to say I surpassed both goals. I started off wanting to write 100k for the month, but when it was the 14th and I had already reached it, I doubled that to 200k. Toward the end of the month I was not sure I would reach it, but I did.

My official total for July was 210,060 words written. I am very proud of myself. Setting and reaching goals has never been easy for me. Maybe that is because it was a goal that did not resonate with me? Because this obviously did.

I wrote 3 novellas and one novel as well as started on a third novel and added to a few other pieces. This was a great month and I plan to do it next year. But even more than that, I plan to keep up the writing style last month has created in me. 3-4 hours a day is all it took to do 200k+. I am focused on 50k for this month as I have several things going on.

Hope all of you are having an amazing time reaching your goals!

138,848 and marching on #IAN1

Hey everyone! Thought I would give you an update on my JulNoWriMo month. My original goal was 100k words. I met that July 14th so I elected to double my goal to 200k.

Currently I am at 138,848 words and going strong. I am pretty sure I will reach my 200k goal by July 31st. I have 2.5 novellas written of the same story line. When I am done, there will be 4 and I plan to combine them into two YA novels. These are different than anything I have ever written because while there is the occasional humor I write into all my stories, the events that happen to the individuals in these stories are not fun, not nice, and are quite horrific at times. Who knew I could write about a Dystopian society? This is one of those stories that needs to be told as I have not been able to switch to anything else.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful July.

Namaste

JulNoWriMo

Anyone else doing JulNoWriMo this year? I did it last year and even though it stressed me and by the end of the month I was in desperate need of a vacation, I was thrilled at having topped 100k in a month.

I have elected to do it again. I have a YA story that I have been working on as far as the back stories and getting to know the characters for close to six months. It is time to put all that work into writing.

So my goal for July is to finish the 1st draft of this story - it will be somewhere around 100,000 words I am assuming so that is what I am shooting for. Dividing that by 31 days - it is only 3300 words a day. And that's not bad.

In the next couple weeks I will finish a basic outline so that I can just write.

Wish me luck~!

Where am I?

I can hear the theme music to "Where in the world is Carmen Santiago" as I write this.

I've been working hard and haven't done much lately here. I know. But...as an update. I am in submission mode for the second Dating Service story - this is a paranormal one.

I'm job hunting, looking for a new place to live, and staying out of the heat of the summer.

Such fun.

Okay, back to the grind...

Make your own intention cards

Hello, everyone!

Over on This Thought Counts, I have posted instructions for making your own intention cards. Think of them as super-charged intention boards.

I hope they help you make your dreams come true.

Yes, I'm AWOL

Yes, I've been awol. So much has been going on in my normal every day life that my websites have taken a backseat. I apologize for that, but reality must be obeyed.

On the plus side, I am almost finished with my second dating service story, this one is a new adult paranormal romance. It should be out next fall.

Sorry I am not 'around' much, but I'm still here! Just dealing with the day-to-day.

I will probably be back late summer.

Just the Three of Us

The following is a flash fiction piece I wrote exploring DID. You may read, but please do not copy.

Just the Three of Us
© Cynthia Kimball

          Slamming her book on the table, Teri glares into thin air.
          “You know, that really is not a good look for you,” says a voice from behind her.
          Rolling her eyes, Teri doesn’t even bother turning around. “Cute, Jonathon. We have limited time and once again she hasn’t shown up. Now what do we do?”
          “What we do every time, Teri,” he chuckles. “We talk, make decisions, and then work with her when she cannot understand them.”
          Growling softly, Teri takes a deep breath and opens up her notebook. “That really doesn’t help when she is the problem we need to talk about. Every time we make a decision and go forward, she throws a wrench into the works and you know it. If she isn’t part of the solution, then she is part of the…”
          “Well, that is trite,” he cuts her off with a snort. “Really, are you going to go there? It is not like she is so different from us.”
          Blushing with embarrassment, Teri concentrates on a speck of paint embedded in the table.
          “Fine,” she says through gritted teeth. “Let’s go over the issues. First, she has been getting into my things again and screwing everything up.”
          “Like what?” he asks calmly, taking a seat close by.
          “Everything!” she splutters. “She goes online and changes all the settings for my accounts and sometimes doesn’t even let me know what the new passwords are! And no matter how many times I tell her to stay out of my room, I go in there to find crumbs in my bed. Do you know how hard it is to sleep when you are laying in crumbs?”
          Even though he doesn’t make a sound, she knows he is laughing without having to turn and see him. “You think this is funny, don’t you?”
          “Ah, you have to admit,” he snickers, “she is very good at getting your attention. Your problem is that you keep trying to ignore her.”
          “She’s a little child,” Teri whines softly. “We have nothing in common.”
          “That is not true,” he chides and she grimaces at the truth of his statement. “Come on Teri, you need to stop ignoring her and start treating her with some respect.”
          Her glare is back full force. “How is it that you get along with her so well?”
          “I saved her from hell,” is his only response.
          Sighing, she scribbles along the margins in her notebook. “I just don’t understand her. All she wants to do is what she wants to do. When she decides she wants something, she simply takes over and I’m helpless. Why can’t she grow up?”
          Silence meets her question and for a moment, she wonders if he left.
          “You know the answer to that,” he responds calmly. “Little Girl will never grow up. I wish you would accept that and instead of forcing her to try and act like an adult, accept her as she is and learn to have a little fun. That is all she wants, after all.”
          “But you act responsibly,” she says, immediately feeling stupid. “I know, I know,” she groans, “you are an adult, she’s not.”
          “And it is not that she does not act responsibly. She is only five years old,” he reminds her. “She will always be five years old. You are the only one of us who gets older here, Teri. Please remember that.”
          The only sound that breaks the silence that follows is Teri’s deep breaths. “I will try,” she finally concedes. “How come you always know the right thing to say?”
          He chuckles as he stands up and walks away. “I have been thirty years old for a very long time.”

Death of a Dream

This is a flash-fiction piece I wrote a few weeks ago. Please do not copy.

Death of a Dream

by Cynthia Kimball

She struggled through the storm, the snowflakes striking her like tiny shards, each one leaving a sting behind as though they pierced her skin.

It wasn’t always like that.

There was a time she did not have to walk to and from. There was a time when she wore clothing that actually protected her from the elements. There was a time when she had a future.

Not anymore.

Not since… Him.

He was so exciting at first with his devil-may-care attitude and his wild and crazy ideas. She jumped on board, thrilled to do something different, something scary. Her family begged her not to do something so reckless, but she did it anyway.

She turned her back on everyone she knew, burned every bridge, spent every penny to be with him.

And he proved to be everything her parents warned her about. He used her until there was nothing left he needed and then he dumped her off in a city she didn’t know and left, never to be seen again.

That was three years ago.

At first she got odd jobs to make enough money to survive, but then the pain came.

And the illness.

And then state aid.

They took her baby at birth; her one and only gift he couldn’t take, someone else did. They told her it was a boy. She never thought about him or who had him. It was too painful.

And now she had received her final pink slip.

It was over. There was no use trying to pretend otherwise. There was no chance of a job. No chance of friendships as she did not trust enough to accept any if offered.

It just wasn’t worth pretending any more. Dreams were for others.

She pushed open the wooden door, slamming it against the storm. Not that it mattered.

The shack she lived in had no insulation, no protection from the elements. When she found it last summer, it felt like a godsend. A place nobody cared about that she could live and not have to worry about paying rent.

Now she knew it was her tomb. Wrapping her ratty sweater around her, she huddled in the only corner where there weren’t holes in the wood and listened to the wind whistle around her.

Her stomach gurgled, but she ignored it. Since him, she had learned what going hungry was truly about.

Shaking against the cold, she stared into nothing. No thoughts entered her head, for dreams were for other people.

She would never dream again. Some might call her stupid to lie out and freeze to death, but for her, it seemed the most likely solution to her problem.

No more pain.

Warmth began to enter her and she sighed as the sting of the cold receded.

No more injections.

She curled up and laid her head against the wall.

No more dreams.

She closed her eyes for the last time.

No thing.

Looking for an Illustrator

Hey everyone!

I have a children's story that I absolutely love, but I cannot release it until it is illustrated. Does anyone know of a good illustrator that isn't super expensive? Or even one that would be willing to go in for a % of royalties?

Anyway, if so, please comment with the URL of said individual. I would appreciate it.

I AM

The phrase I AM is incredibly strong when trying to get what you want. Find out why and how you can make it even stronger over at This Thought Counts.

Make your own Intention Cards

Over on my This Thought Counts blog, I am going to show you how to make your own Intention Cards.

Today I posted a supply list! Next weekend I will teach you how to make them.

Happy New Year

Just a short note to wish everyone a tremendously wonderful 2013. May all your dreams and goals come to fruition in the easiest way possible.

Keep your eye on my This Thought Counts blog. I will soon be posting the items list for the Intention Cards.

Happy New Year