Twisted Tales Tour (by Xpresso Tours)

I am pleased to announce that my blog tour is coming up this Monday April 1st!
It’s brought to you by Xpresso Tours (they are AMAZING and have my full endorsement).

So if you’d like to follow the Twisted Tales tour, here is our blog schedule
(click on the links to take you to the blogs):
Comment on their articles on the days specified and you can enter multiple times to win a set of the Twisted Tales Series in paperback!
(only valid for shipping addresses in the United States and Canada)

April 1st
-A Dream Within A Dream >> Guest Post
-YA Reads >> Review of Book 1
-The Book Belles >> Review of Book 1 & 2
-Project Read and Review >> Review of Book 1

April 2nd
-Book Briefs >> Review of Book 1
-The Bookmark Blog >> Series Review (Book 1, 2 &3)
-The Reading Diaries >> Series Review (Book 1, 2 & 3)

April 3rd
-Mom With A Kindle >> Guest Post
-Manhattan Reader  >> Series Review (Book 1, 2 &3)
-Izz “Pingle” Bookish Place >> Excerpt
-Phantasmic Reads  >> Review of Book 1 & Book 2

April 4th
-YA Novelties  >> Review of Book 1
-Whatever You Can Still Betray  >> Excerpt
-deal sharing aunt >> Series Review (Book 1, 2 &3) + Guest Post

April 5th
-Nancy Wakefield >> Review of Book 1 + Excerpt
-Cover2CoverBlog >> Review of Book 1
-Book To Book Reviews >> Review of Book 1

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How to make your book into a mobi for Amazon

I am dedicating this blog to Teyla Rachel Branton. She’s a fellow author. See HERE. She worked with me for seven hours straight to help me learn HTML a few Saturdays ago (while she mailed her books across the country, drove her kids around, postponed dinner, etc.). And I am wildly guessing that she probably NEVER wants to put seven hours into this again, and I actually DON’T blame her. Sooo, I decided to take everything she taught me and now I’m teaching it to you! I’m a firm believer that one good turn deserves another, teach a man to fish, what goes around—comes back around, etc, etc, etc. So for those of you who are DYING to know how to make an ebook, let’s do one together, shall we?

Things you will need for this tutorial:
(Hopefully you have these already)
Microsoft Word
Notepad
Internet Explorer
The next programs, you might not have already, but they are all free downloads.
Calibre: HERE
Kindle Previewer: HERE
Adobe Digital Editions 2.0: HERE
Notepad ++ (only for the bit in the end with the containing folder, not necessary, but helpful): HERE

I’ve decided for this tutorial that I will use one of my short stories. I really don’t mind if I give it to the world, so here it is (download all four of these attachments below, just click on them, it will take you to a weird page, and then click on them again and save them into a convenient folder):

Rapunzel, html to practice on

Rapunzel, html to practice on (what it will look like in notepad)

INSTRUCTIONS on how to make this into an HTML

Kindle html commands FOR STEPHANIE

INSTRUCTIONS: Okay, the document, “Rapunzel, html to practice on” will be the file that you will turn into an ebook.
In the document, “Instructions on how to make this into an HTML,” I will show you how to take the document, “Rapunzel, html to practice on” from Microsoft Word to a Web Page Filtered file where we’ll work on the html with notepad and internet explorer. (NOTE: I’ve already cleaned up the document–I mean, it doesn’t look as clean as Rachel’s stuff–nevertheless, I STILL provided instructions on how to clean your file when the time comes to turn your own novel into your own ebook). THEN these instructions I provided we’ll tell you how we take it from its web page filtered file to Calibre, and then make it into an ebook and test the mobi on kindle previewer and test the epub on the Adobe Digital Editions.
The document, “Rapunzel, html to practice on (what it will look like in notepad)” will be your cheat sheet. It’s not in the right document type (it SHOULD be in notepad, but it is what your notepad file will look like when it is done–except I highlighted important html that you will be putting in it). Just use it as a reference.
And finally, the document “Kindle html codes for Stephanie” are html hot codes that Rachel sent me that have been really REALLY helpful with formatting my Twisted Tales Series.
So, on that note,  take a go at it! And the best of luck to you! I hope this will streamline the process! And let me know if any thing is cloudy and I’ll try to make it more understandable.
Also, for a SUPERIOR and detailed Calibre/Start Tag tutorial. See Teyla’s site (I highly recommend this site, she’s a great author and smart too boot): HERE 

TWISTED TALES!

The LUCK OF THE IRISH is with me today (though one day early)!
‘Twisted Tales’ is OUT (in it’s ebook format through Amazon). They are done, done, DONE!!! I feel like I can finally be a real person again, go see the Hobbit and Les Mis, see a few Bollywoods, and do every other thing I’ve been wanting to do . . . like exercise
As everyone knows (or doesn’t know), I announced these were coming out in January–and about a million edits later, HERE we are, haha.
Today is also another big day for me, seeing as our Musical, “The Raven,” will be performed in Calgary, Canada for the FIRST TIME! Double whammy happy things today!
Now, I am OFF to the St. Paddy’s Parade, guilt free. And we are going to celebrate this properly. Sugar cookies glazed in green frosting, maybe some Lorna Doone episodes, the works!
With a Kiss: HERE
At Midnight: HERE
As the Sun Sets: HERE

The Raven: A Love Story Beyond Death

It all started when I walked into church one day. Hilary Hornberger came the other direction and we bumped into each other at the doors. I gladly gave her directions to the nearest classroom and blabbed her ear off. As we introduced ourselves, I found out that she was a composer. I told her that I was a writer.
And then bam, we both thought it would be an awesome idea to write a musical together. That was strange happening number one because I NEVER think it’s an awesome plan to write a musical with anyone (especially after my ‘Sleepy Hollow’ incident—WAY different story).
It gets even weirder.
Hilary happened to be visiting from Canada and she was going to a composer’s workshop in Salt Lake. This was her only Sunday here in the states. She was looking for a different church building altogether, but she got lost and walked and walked (just like the good ol’ Primary song) until she found the building where we ended up running into each other. Unbeknownst to me, it was my last day to grace this particular single’s ward since I was (cough) graduating to a family ward the following week.
Yup. So basically, in my mind, this fortuitous meeting was soooo meant to be.
Since that time, Hilary has played a zombie saloon girl, a big ‘little’ girl, a crazy femme fatale, and an evil robot genius in some of our movies and NOT ONLY THAT, but we’ve also managed to put together a fantastic musical on the side (wink).
Hurray!
Our musical is called The Raven, and  it’s going to have its first reading in Calgary, Canada on the Saturdays of March 16th and April 6th. Yes, THIS March and April! After five years, this is really, actually, truly happening! Hurray for Canada, aye!
The Raven is based on, no other than, Edgar Allan Poe’s poem. As Hilary and I brainstormed (also with the help from my sister, Jacqueline), we sketched out a little behind-the-scenes story of the poem as we saw it in our warped minds. We set it in 1825 London, because let’s be honest, we LOVE period pieces and British accents. Sure, Edgar is from America, but this is the story based on the poem NOT on Edgar, even though we named the main character after him as a nod of respect to our beloved poet.
I’m sure he’s thanking us . . . OR shaking his fist at us.
Either way, in our musical, Edgar is hiding a terrible secret. He is forced to work for Death, and must fight to survive. From the poor wastelands of the Rookeries to the opulent halls of the rich, neither world is fully aware the other exists, until Death comes to call.
Sooo, as we all know the actual poem is about the tragic ending of Lenore and that Death is out to get her (if the poem has anything to say about it). So of course, in our story too, Death asks for Lenore. That’s when Edgar enlists the help of ‘Raine,’ a beautiful, but poor street urchin, who doesn’t know the power she holds over Death. With her, Edgar plans to take on Death.
Edgar’s plan gets complicated when loyalties begin to blur at the edges and he starts to fall for this girl. Now he must choose between saving Lenore or the only woman he can touch without killing.
Yes, we made it nice and dramatic for our romantic souls. And now for my favorite part: Hilary’s music is amazing. I love how she wove my dialogue through the music, so that no song is stagnant—the action in the story is always going somewhere. It’s just fun how it worked.
Now with auditions behind us, (though sadly, I didn’t get to participate in that because Hilary is in Canada and I don’t have a passport BUT . . .) Hilary and I will be working together through the means of skype and other magical technologies to make this workshop successful. The plan is to take it to New York after this, and/ or maybe do some readings in Salt Lake (or wherever we can find producers) because hey, we love this musical and we want to share it with as many people as we can. We will ALWAYS be grateful to all those who helped us to put this musical together throughout the years and for those who are helping us now.
If you’d like to see more behind-the-scene news, please visit our official website where we have Hilary’s sample music, bios, (soon to be) pictures of the cast, the latest news, and a video of me talking about the musical (Hilary will have hers up soon, probably).  And uh, please ignore the excessive bobbing of my head in the video—that was me trying to stay awake. And yeah, I put the Raven logo on the side of the screen to cover the dirty laundry in the background of the shot. My bad.

Please check out our website here
Also, before, I bid you adieu, I will leave you with the musicals’ tagline: “Death will bring Life to Death, Life will bring Death to Life…NEVARMORE!”
And no, we did NOT spell Nevermore wrong on accident. If you watch the musical, you’ll find out why.

Sundance: It’s about waiting in line…and waiting

So, last Friday was fun.

Yup, we woke up oober early in the wee dark hours of the morning, drove to Sundance, froze to death in 7 degree weather, stood/ sat in a line for about three hours in a black box, walked outside for a bit where I exchanged glances with Jane Seymour and quickly turned away because I didn’t want to stare at some random girl who I thought looked familiar, but… “Hey, was that Jane Seymour? Wait, she’s in this movie?” And moments later realized that Bret from Flight of the Conchords wasn’t actually so short (so Jermaine must be a monster). And “Hey, Bret is in this movie too?” We also discovered Ricky Whittle—we didn’t know he was an actor, but he was really good at posing for pictures…but not for ours because we didn’t bring a camera. Darn! Oh, and I also realized that my sister loves JJ Fields and knows his name because she grabbed my arm and told me. And that’s when I saw his side profile when he turned away. And “How come I didn’t know the guy from Northanger Abbey was in this movie too?” Dash everything, now I really wanted to see this show.
These were the extent of our adventures because after that, we went back inside the black box to wait for another hour and joked about being the first people to get turned away…only to have it come true. Why or why? Sandra was #23, Jack was #24, and I was #25…and that’s where they cut off the line. So basically, I blame Jane, Bret, and JJ for taking our seats. Thanks guys!

And that just proves it—Sundance oozes drama. Usually Sundance is about chatting it up with volunteers and talking about the inversion with out-of-towners, freezing, and other forms of torture. The normal MO of audience waiting in these lines consist of filmmakers dressed in black and grey, staring at their laptops. If you don’t have tickets (who does?), you ‘usually’ get into the movie if you come four hours early, though you want to leave seconds after the movie starts. Heh. Heh. Heh.
It is usually NOT about stargazing. Heck, I didn’t think I would recognize any actor out of context–but then Jane’s an exception. It also isn’t about seeing the new thing—even though guys, I saw Napoleon as a short. Oh yeah! But that was at BYU, not Sundance, so I guess that doesn’t really count.

So, why do I put myself through this kind of torture? Well, one, it’s tradition, and two, my sister’s in film school, my cousin’s into casting, my brother’s an awesome cinematographer, and I’m a writer, so we’ve got dreams of making our own movies…and putting them into Sundance. Our favorite thing is to see their worst movies and thinking, “Hey, we could do that!” So really, it’s probably a good thing we didn’t get into Austenland. We might actually want to see this movie in real life, or at least on Netflix, and we can’t have them stomping on the dream.

Bad Reviews: Welcome to the Industry!

True confessions: I look up my favorite books, movies, series, actors, and I find their worst reviews . . . and I read them.
So why would I do such a horrid thing?
Because it makes me feel better when I get a bad review. Rotten tomatoes for everyone!

Yup. If the best of the best (in my opinion) get terrible reviews then how can I feel bad when I get one? In fact, I should feel left out if I don’t.

It’s like wanting to hear how Einstein or Winston Churchill were losers in high school or how Bill Gates and Henry Ford failed their first businesses. I eat up stories about how Steven Spielberg got rejected by film schools and how Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. You’ve heard these, right? After Elvis’s first performance, his manager told him to go back to driving trucks. Walt Disney got fired from a newspaper for not being original and creative enough. Edison was told by his teachers he was too stupid to learn anything. Seinfeld was booed off the stage. Some jerk at an audition told Fred Astair he couldn’t act, couldn’t sing AND he was balding. Yeah, seriously! And of course, you have Harrison Ford, Marilyn Monroe, Steven King, Sony, Socrates, Lincoln, and so many more . . .

Well, that’s what they get for trying. Failure. And success. Did these “failures” regroup and polish up their act or did they just find a more appreciative audience? They could’ve brainstormed different ideas and strategies. Practiced harder. Or just gritted their teeth and pushed themselves out for another round. Who knows? But just knowing that these guys and gals fell short in someone else’s eyes (sometimes they’re own) evens out the playing field a bit. It’s not so far to climb . . . or FALL—sometimes in the public eye. Ouch.

So, here’s the big question: can my pride take it? Can yours? Can my favorites take a low rating on the tomato-meter? Will they be okay when they get two thumbs down, three out of ten stars, and forums bashing their acting, writing, and directing skills? Sure. Welcome to the industry. It’s like making a ‘bad’ on the highway and someone road-rages on you. You can either blame yourself, road-rage back, or get tough skin. Here’s a hint: the last suggestion takes less energy.

Alright, that’s easy enough to say when you’re successful and looking back at your failures or at people sour-graping, but what about now? What about all those people who DO keep trying and keep failing—people you know and love? Maybe you? Well, c’mon, did you really fail? Think about it. Fame and appreciation does not equate success.
This is why:
All of my favorites got voted off American Idol or kicked off the island. The cult classics I love are scorned by some of my best friends. My favorite actors are obscure—they’re in Bollywood or BBC (though FINALLY some are getting recognized, yeah, Sherlock and Watson that’s you!). Van Gogh only sold one painting in his lifetime and that was to his friend and at a discount. Monet’s paintings were mocked by the artistic elite.
So what is our moral? You need to die so you can be famous? No. And it isn’t that we’re asking everyone to play nice and like everything we’ve created either. What’s the fun in that? Archenemies are awesome; you can even go out to lunch with them. What it means is that we need to forget about being a carbon copy of what everyone wants and get to work on what we want.
Martin Luther said, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”

Do what you love. Make it your art. Think of all the voices that have been silenced because of some perceived failure—it might’ve been because they didn’t fit into a supposed status quo or because they listened to the criticism of others (or their own).
We can’t give up.
I just found one of my favorite quotes from Thomas S. Monson. He talked about being our best and said, “. . . no failure ever need be final.”
So for all those out there who create, invent, and otherwise put their stuff out there for the world to see, use, and tear apart; pull yourself up by the straps of your boots and charge. Don’t stop for the road-rage.

Story Time! A hairy Rapunzel Tale inspired by lunch recess

So, my “Twisted Tales” Series is coming out, and to celebrate, I decided to do story time. Yup. These are short stories I wrote back in the day–they were inspired by the children I worked with at an elementary school a long time ago.
Aw, those kids. It was 2005, I was fresh out of college, and I was looking for a job to support my writing habit. That’s when I found myself in charge of some first-graders. One of them was a boy who wouldn’t eat. The goal was to get him off a feeding tube, so I’d sit with him at lunch and try all sorts of tricks to make him take a bite of his sandwich. I made his sandwich dance. I made the sandwich plead with him to eat it. I tried to make it run away. Nothing was working . . . until I started the ‘story’ game. I’d tell a story then stop at the most suspenseful part and refuse to go on until he took a bite. Then as he chewed, I’d tell some more. As soon as he swallowed, I stopped and made him take another bite before I could go on again. And so it went like that, but it wasn’t too long until the other first-graders started to gather around our table to listen to the stories too, and then some second-graders joined us, then other-graders. It turned into a regular story time until the teachers had to take action because no one was going out to recess. What? So, I’m a bad influence.

When the kids found out I was a ‘real bonnified’ author with ‘real bonnified’ books out there, they started asking for my autograph. I felt bad because they’d ask me about my books like they had every intention of buying them, but my books were a little too old for them, so I decided to write some kid stories for them to read. I based them on our ‘stolen recess time’ stories, and planned on doing something with the tales and dedicating it to them and everything, but life got in the way. Whoops.

Soooo, now I am going to do it. And since many of these stories are based on fairy tales, I think it’s a perfect way to celebrate my upcoming release of my ‘Twisted Tales” series (which once again, might be a little too old and scary for first-graders). Whoops again.
So, this week, here’s my first story about Rapunzel (a very hairy, very sarcastic tale that has nothing to do with love, so why would it conquer all?). Click here.

New Years Resolution: Resolve to write on this durn blog!

Me again! Well, I’m looking at the last time I wrote. September? Whoops. I missed out on some good writing material—my thoughts on haunted houses, scary movies, pumpkin pie, my new Supernatural craze, and a Christmas break that tripled as my nieces’ wedding and a reunion. Yup. Busy. So, who didn’t write about it? Uh me…

So, NOW that I’m emerging from my cave (at the pleas of my mother), let me tell you what I’ve been doing! ‘Twisted Tale’ edits. Lots of them! This is my series about some arrogant faeries who toy with the lives of my poor ‘put upon’ characters. It’s coming out next month! Hey guys, three books to edit, this is officially a huge project. I decided to release the trilogy all at once because there is nothing I hate worse than waiting for the next book in a series…plus then I forget all the characters because of my crammed mind. These books are MEANT to be read in order. We’ll see how this little experiment goes, shall we? Check out the series here!

Also, another bit of exciting news! ‘The Raven,’ a musical I have been working on for about five years with Hilary Hornberger is also about to see the light of day. It will be workshopped in Calgary, Canada. Yeah, Canada! See here. With so many projects in the works, do I feel overwhelmed? Haha, you bet I do!

But New Years always brings out a special ‘something something’ in me, a ‘Try again, idiot!’ attitude. So, here I am! I am DETERMINED to get a blog out! So stay tuned for future blogs to celebrate the release of the ‘Twisted Tales’ series, and ‘The Raven,’ and whatever other crazy project I’ve got going up these sleeves of mine!

Go New Years!

Write what you love and make it the best (even if it’s been written ten billion times before)…

Have you ever had the best idea for a novel, and then the next day you wake up and everyone everywhere all over the world is writing it and producing it? You turn on the TV and there it is. You watch a movie trailer or pick up the hottest new bestseller and your stomach sinks when you read the back blurb!
“They stole my idea!”
Well, that pretty much happens to me EVERY TIME! Now it’s the joke around here. My family (a group of creative geniuses in my biased opinion) is convinced that there is someone following us around with a candid camera and taking notes and stealing our ideas.  Pretty sure.
Now…
Juxtapose that to the happy moment you get when you open a writer’s market book or stalk your favorite agent on his or her site and you read, “If I get another Vampire book I’ll scream! I want original. I want something different. I want something no one has done before. I want the new thing!”
Well, how am I supposed to do that when my ideas keep getting stolen—retro?

My advice when this happens to you? Write it anyway. Yep.

Do you think Michelangelo got angry at Da Vinci for taking the religious theme in The Last Supper and refused to do the Sistine Chapel?
Or did Goldie Hawn or Gwyneth Paltrow listen when someone said, “Oh no, honey, there was already a blonde in Hollywood about thirty years ago. Don’t bother.”
Did Picasso even think twice about painting some flowers because Van Gogh already did some?

No!
Well okay, if they did…they didn’t let it stop them. Don’t let it stop you!

Let’s talk about readers for a second. What do you read? I am a genre reader. I love to read the same types of books over and over again. And I’m about to admit to you my deepest, darkest secret.  I LOVE Bonnet movies and books; i.e: Jane Austen type books written by contemporary authors. I can’t get enough of them. I can tell you right now that I will NEVER get tired of that governess traveling to that old family seat (in her faded black bombazine gown) where she turns everything around at that house, finds love, happiness, and that perfect book (when she has to go to the library to get one in her nightgown that shows off her trim ankles). I am never mad when she finds love in the end. Never. I promise. I can read this same book over and over again. Scene: debutante enters her first season and is scorned somehow. Well, she’ll show them! There is always something different to these formulaic stories. The exact words for instance…

Even if you put aside us readers who are addicted to our formulaic books, and claim that YOU only read original books, I invite you to hear the argument that I have with my coworker on a yearly basis, and that is that there is no original idea! Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl again
OR
Boy goes on quest. He has some setbacks. He finishes quest.  In fact, I’d love to hear someone give me a storyline that has never been done before. Change the gender. Change the names. Change the setting. But even if you’re one of those artists who thinks you can throw a can of soup on the ground and draw a picture on the kitchen floor with it so you can be completely original, I promise, I really really promise it’s been done before.
My nephew did it…and you stole his idea!

My point? Even if plots aren’t original, you are. Every time I enter a theater or begin reading a book with a story theme similar to mine, I go in worried and leave completely relaxed. It wasn’t even close to what I came up with. Sometimes I’ll avoid watching or reading that particular entertainment while I’m writing something similar just so I won’t be influenced. Other times I give in, and I’m glad I did because I feel inspired to keep writing.

The honest truth? If you like to write about vampires (during the Twilight age) or witches (during the Harry Potter age) or first love or epic adventures or whatever’s hot right now (like faerytale remakes which is what I’m writing)
Or ALL OF THE ABOVE…
No one can write your story the way you’ll write it. So write it! And people LIKE ME will read it! Especially if you make it good. Yes, quite honestly! You’ll have the advantage because you’re writing about something you LOVE to write about (and read about). Just that alone will make your novel shine.

Some Poetry for my Birthday (some guy wrote it for me)

This is monumental. I don’t share my age with anyone, but when I came upon this poem, it was too good to pass up because this poem can only be celebrated on one day in your life, the day before your (thhhhhirdddyzzzevthhzhhhhh)….birthday! I was just hoping that I could share it on a really slow day so no one would really read it, haha.
My fingers are crossed.
–Or maybe I should just admit that I’ve grown up.

But you see, Lord Byron and I share a common day today. He wrote about it…and now I’m living it!
 (Good ol’ eccentric Byron—never for a second did I suspect we’d ever have a connection between us).

On This Day I Complete My Thirty-sixth Year

‘T IS time this heart should be unmoved,
Since others it hath ceased to move:
Yet, though I cannot be beloved,
Still let me love!

My days are in the yellow leaf;
The flowers and fruits of Love are gone;
The worm, the canker, and the grief
Are mine alone!

The fire that on my bosom preys
Is lone as some Volcanic isle;
No torch is kindled at its blaze–
A funeral pile.

The hope, the fear, the jealous care,
The exalted portion of the pain
And power of love, I cannot share,
But wear the chain.

But ‘t is not _thus_–and ‘t is not _here_
Such thoughts should shake my soul, nor now
Where Glory decks the hero’s bier,
Or binds his brow.

The Sword, the Banner, and the Field,
Glory and Greece, around me see!
The Spartan, borne upon his shield,
Was not more free.

Awake! (not Greece–she _is_ awake!)
Awake, my spirit! Think through _whom_
Thy life-blood tracks its parent lake,
And then strike home!

Tread those reviving passions down,
Unworthy manhood!–unto thee
Indifferent should the smile or frown
Of Beauty be.

If thou regret’st thy youth, _why live_?
The land of honourable death
Is here:–up to the Field, and give
Away thy breath!

Seek out–less often sought than found–
A soldier’s grave, for thee the best;
Then look around, and choose thy ground,
And take thy Rest.