Writing – Page 3

Release Day!

December 3, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

Release Day is here! The print version of After the Snow Falls is now available. If you’ve never read the first chapter, now is as good a time as any. It’s available to read online.

Here’s the back cover blurb:

In the middle of a soccer drill, in an awful, awkward moment, Celia Bennett’s eight-year-old son Caleb lands on his face and chest in the grass. The diagnosis blindsides her, bringing her face-to-face with every parent’s worst nightmare.

Desperate to save her son’s life, Celia pursues a cure through alternative medicine, but her quest ends in frustration and disappointment. As she faces despair, hope walks in on the most unlikely set of legs, when her father returns after a 30-year absence. Can she release pain to embrace hope? Will it make a difference, or is it too late?

I am humbled by the great reviews it has already received from readers of the eBook. You can read some of them here.

And NOW, you can WIN your own print copy (and probably have it in your hands before I can–a copy is shipping to China and should arrive sometime before Christmas, I’m told).

Don’t want to wait to find out if you won? You can buy a copy from CreateSpace and apply discount M592B7SE for 15% off for Christmas. (If you’re buying five or more copies as gifts, contact me, and I’ll give you a deeper discount. I have a reseller/bookstore discount code as well.) The giveaway is available in the United States and Canada.

Click on the link below to enter:
the Rafflecopter giveaway

- Carey Clark

What’s Your Favorite Snow Memory?

November 26, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

I normally reserve the observance of Christmas for December alone. When I was a child, we always put the Christmas tree up on my birthday (December 2nd) and that marked the official start of the holiday season for me. I have warm memories of decorating the tree, my mom in the kitchen making Christmas cookies and Christmas specials on TV with those Kraft commercials in between advertising all sorts of yummy Christmas recipes (remember those?).

However, for some reason this year, I have been in the Christmas mood since the beginning of November. It would be hard to explain why. The temperatures here have been up and down, but mostly up, and it’s not like being in North America–every store isn’t decked out for Christmas–although the newly-opened Sam’s was playing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” yesterday when I finally finished up the Christmas decoration shopping. (In our new apartment our tiny Christmas tree looked too–well–tiny. So we bought a bigger one and didn’t have enough decorations to deck it out.)

It may or may not be a white Christmas here. Most years there isn’t a lot of snow, but we heard that last year, when we were back in Canada, it snowed on Christmas morning. But I have lots and lots of snowy memories from growing up just east of Toronto, Canada. I borrowed one of them and made it a scene in After the Snow Falls:

Fat snowflakes whirled between the tall, gray buildings. Snow used to deliver warmer memories: the season’s first snowman, snowball fights in the backyard and afterwards mugs of hot chocolate, warm against cold fingers.

The year Caleb turned five, the autumn had been particularly warm. Christmas Eve arrived without even a hint of snowfall, and the weatherman held out no hope. Toward midnight, Celia wrapped presents and stuffed stockings while Jeff puzzled over the instructions for Caleb’s first two-wheeler. Snow began to fall. It fell all night, laying a thick blanket over the world. Like giddy children, they woke Caleb early Christmas morning, threw open the curtains in his room, and unveiled what Mother Nature had done while he slept. As though they’d placed an order especially for him.

So in honor of my Christmasy mood, my upcoming birthday, the imminent print release of After the Snow Falls and generally just because, I’d like to hear your favorite snowy memory. Please post in the comments below.

- Carey Clark

An Update

November 20, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

My apologies, in advance, to my subscription readers for this post. You may want to read it on the blogsite instead.

You may be wondering, “Where in the world is Carey Jane Clark?”

NewImage

Well, I’m still here in China

NewImage

But have been busy with NaNoWriMo

Screen shot 2012 11 19 at 1 48 09 AM

But also with final pre-publication editing of the print version of After the Snow Falls

Screen shot 2012 11 21 at 2 07 56 AM

since it will become available for sale in the very near future.

Screen shot 2012 11 21 at 2 09 40 AM

I have also been very busy as we’ve started a weekly ESL Class in our home

ESLFriday1

which has been taking some time to prepare.

While we won’t be celebrating Thanksgiving this week

NewImage

because we are Canadian

NewImage

and celebrated Thanksgiving in October when it is proper and fitting for a Canadian to do so,

I am still thankful

NewImage

for all our many blessings

and I will post again tomorrow, when I am all caught up with life again.

- Carey Clark

NaNoWriMo 2012

November 5, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

I made a decision recently to write every day. To see if I could keep that up for a whole year. The plan was to use 750words.com and just do it.

Then a friend on Facebook asked who was doing NaNoWriMo. I’ve wanted to. Every year I’ve wanted to. I always made excuses, and I never did it. Sometimes, the excuses were somewhat legitimate. The rules are that you must be working on a brand-new novel–not a single word can be written before midnight November 1st. So when I was still finishing After the Snow Falls, I thought it would give me literary ADD if I started something else.

But this year, I had already been doing research for a new novel. I hadn’t written a word yet because I was still working out details of plot. I put the push on, hammered out a plot I’m very pleased with, and took the plunge.

Today is day five (5), and I’m just packing it in for the day after writing my 6,387th word. I’m a little behind–our furniture arrived last week. We spent a chaotic day in a sea of dressers, chairs and tables with mountains of cardboard and protective plastic wrap. We had to rush to get everything set up because 20 students were coming for an ESL class THAT NIGHT!

With the help of some good friends and neighbors we finished the job and the house looked beautiful and serene in time for 20 kids to come in and bounce all over the new furniture! (Pictures and post to come).

I’m hoping to make up the words over time–I exceeded the daily count today and yesterday. And I’m loving this! I’m wondering why I’ve never tried it before! I learned so much the first time around with After the Snow Falls. The seasoning of that experience has definitely taught me the tricks I need to keep going.

And this experience is teaching me a valuable lesson of its own: you never know what you might be able to accomplish unless you try.

- Carey Clark

« Previous Page