Once Upon a Beanstalk is LIIIIIIIIIVE on Amazon!

The Amazon news:

*Tosses confetti*

Well, I'm excited.

Once Upon a Beanstalk appeared for sale on Amazon at $0.99 late last night. Today it was #53 in the top 100 Fantasy Anthologies on Amazon, which was pretty fun to see (but by the time I took a screenshot it had dropped to #59... boo).

So anyway, if you have a Kindle and like funny, twisty short stories ... head on over and check it out. Feel free to like it or tag it too ;-)

Anyway, it isn't available on Smashwords or Barnes and Noble yet (those files have not been formatted, but hopefully they'll be ready for upload by the end of the week!), but when it is I will be giving away a few free copies in exchange for honest reviews. I'll have more info about that later.

Other announcements:

I have gone ahead and changed my name to Kate Avery Ellison on GoodReads, Twitter, this blog, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Smashwords. I think that about covers it ... I am still searchable as Kate Ellison, of course, but this way the other author's books aren't showing up in the lists of mine.

Great Quotes

Another quote from Bird by Bird:

"The core, ethical concepts in which you most passionately believe are the language in which you are writing ... you can't tell them in a sentence or a paragraph; the truth doesn't come out in bumper stickers. there may be a flickering moment of insight in a one-liner, in a sound bite, but everyday meat-and-potatoes truth is beyond our ability to capture in a few words. Your whole piece is the truth, not just one shining epigrammatic moment in it. We're dealing with the ineffable here--we're out there somewhere between the known and the unknown, trying to reel in both for a closer look. This is why it may take a whole book."

--Anne Lamott

Doppelgangers and funny stories (And ... HELP!!)

A doppelganger???

So.

Guys.

I have a doppelganger.

I've mentioned it before, but there is another Kate Ellison out there. And she writes books. YA books, I think (or maybe MG?)

When I chose my pseudonym, I did a google search, an Amazon search, etc to make sure that I wouldn't be taking another author's name. I wanted my own name. I flirted with the idea of having 3 names (First, Maiden, Last), but eventually discarded that for the more streamlined first and last name approach (which I am now regretting).

ANYWAY. I published The Curse Girl in May, yada yada yada. I set up a Google alert for my name so I'd know if people were talking about me.

Wellll ... about a month or two after The Curse Girl came out, this book called The Butterfly Clues pops up in my Google alerts. I check it out--sure enough, there's someone with a book coming out in 2012 and the listed author name is Kate Ellison. I was flabbergasted, and a little worried that this would cause some problems for either her or me (or both of us), but then I decided, Whatever. No harm done. Lots of people have similar names. I'm sure it will be fine. I was "there first," technically, but it doesn't matter. I'm sure nobody will care ...

I DID try to find this author's email or blog, because I thought we might want to discuss it, but no luck there.

Well, today I got an email from a fan who'd read an ARC of Ms. Ellison's book.

Funny, not terrible, whatever. I was all "Funny story--there are two authors named Kate Ellison!"

But it gets worse! Then I was noticing that I was getting lots of traffic to this blog from GoodReads, which is cool but also surprising. So I clicked over to my profile (I never check that thing) and ... WHAAAA? I'm listed as the author of The Butterfly Clues?!

Yep. There's my picture, my face, and then listed under my books is her book.

I'm not sure who did it, but it's there.

So I think this is getting out of hand a bit. If I were the other Kate, I wouldn't want my book being attributed to someone else. As far as I can tell, she doesn't have a big internet presence. I'm going to try to track her down and at least talk to her so she knows what's going on and doesn't think I'm trying to steal her identity or something.

Here's where I need some HELP. 1) Does anybody actually know her? I have tried asking around on Twitter, but I haven't gotten any response. If someone knows her or knows someone who knows her, please email me or tweet me or something. 2) Does anybody know how I can take down The Butterfly Clues from my list of "books by this author" on my author page on GR? I don't really ever use GoodReads ... I made a profile and stuck it up there, but I generally avoid review sites.

Anyway, that's my funny story for the day.

Please help?

Cover reveal of my new book!

I'm always a bit nervous to reveal cover art, because I have some followers on here who are professional artists and designers, and I've never taken a design class in my life.

Nevertheless, I AM pretty excited to share with you the cover art for my new book!

Once Upon a Beanstalk (And Other Fairy Tale Mashups) is a collection of humorous short stories. Rumplestiltskin and Red Riding Hood are married and running a royal wedding planner venue, Rapunzel has been rescued from her tower and is about to start her happily ever after, and the Grimm Brothers are a group of notorious thieves who are forced to rescue a kidnapped princess from a mobster giant. 

All the stories take place in the same world and involve characters met in previous stories.

I've truly enjoyed writing them and I can't wait to get the book formatted and released!

Behaving Like a Diva

Good morning, everybody!

Today I'm being featured as a guest poster on The Caffeinated Diva! You should definitely stop by to say hello, because you could win a copy of The Curse Girl. (Also I'd love it if you left a comment!) So if you'd like a free copy, or just want to see what I wrote about fairy tale retellings, definitely head over to check the post out.

You can also read her review of The Curse Girl here.

In other news, I am hoping to finish the secret book project I've been working on (instead of Darkdweller ... I know, bad Katie!) today. I was supposed to finish it last week, but I was out of town ... so it will be TODAY. #promises #maybe

I will have cover art and blurbs soon!

$$Gift Card Giveaway$$

Right now, author Megg Jensen is having a $50 gift card giveaway-but-you-have-to-work-for-it/contest on her blog in celebration of her newest release, Sleepers.

But DON'T YOU DARE GO ENTER IT because I want to win.

:-) :-) :-)

Kiiiiiding, of course.

........... Or am I? *raises eyebrow, looks mysterious*

Anyway, you can get the deets here ...

Here is one of my entries:

And here's the other one:

I Love Anne Lamott

I'm currently reading Bird by Bird as part of my "continuing education" as  a writer. If you haven't read it, you should. Anne Lamott is brilliant.

I particularly liked this quote, which I read today:

"The problem that comes up over and over again is that these people want to be published. They kind of want to write, but they really want to be published. You'll never get to where you want to be that way, I tell them."

~ Anne Lamott



In other news, I will be releasing another book very soon! It doesn't have a title yet (grrr) but I'm working on that. More news coming soon ...

Conversation vs. the "Writer's Voice"

When I was a kid, I used a lot of big words (and was generally harassed for it). I was a walking dictionary, and I wasn't afraid to whip those SAT words out in conversation.

But I wanted more. I loved language. Sometimes I wished I talked more like the stories I read--colorful metaphors, strong verbs, and vivid descriptions.

Unfortunately, it felt awkward whenever I tried it, like I was reciting lines in a play. 

Plus, I was pretty sure it would go down like this:

So instead I talked like everybody else, and now I'm pretty sure I am irrevocably stuck doing so:

Sometimes I think I don't really "sound" like a writer. But usually I'm glad I keep the poetry on the page. It just sounds false to me otherwise.

What do you think? Do writers talk differently than everyone else? What about poets? Do you ever order your words in a conversation the way you'd do in a story?

Interview on Kai Strand's blog Strands of Thought!

Hello, everyone, and happy Wednesday!

Author Kai Strand has interviewed me about The Curse Girl for her series Three Times a Charm, so head over and read/leave a comment if you'd like!

I'm also going to be announcing some news about upcoming books in the next few weeks if everything goes well. I've been hard at work, and it's been a long summer full of starts and stops, but I think I'm finally making good progress with Darkdweller (and some other projects that sort of came out of nowhere).

Anyway, have a lovely day everyone!

The Eternal Question

Maybe this never happens to anybody else. But it happens to me. Inevitably, someone who is offended by monsters, zombies, or other kinds of fantasy elements asks about my books ...

 

I just don't know how to explain my books to some people . . .