Carrie the Limping Lion is available for pre-order!

Yes, you read that right! I'm so excited!

I've set the release date for Monday, November 2nd. I'm self-publishing through smashwords, and I've discounted my book during the pre-order period.

(UPDATE: You can now buy 'Carrie the Limping Lion' through my blog, thanks to Payhip!) 

Two months away from the finish line!

The discount means that you'll get $1 off my $3 book. That's 33.3 recurring percent off, how exciting! This discount will end on November 2nd, the date of release, so be sure to reserve your copy before then to take advantage of it. ;)

So far, you can pre-order Carrie the Limping Lion through Barnes and Noble and Kobo, and soon it will be in the Apple iBooks store, too!


How does pre-ordering work?

When you pre-order a copy of Carrie the Limping Lion, you are basically pledging to buy the book the moment that it's released. Your money won't leave your account until the release date (so if something terrible happens and I can't finish and upload the book, you won't be charged), but you'll be guaranteed the discounted price, and you'll be one of the first people in the world to read the finished book.


A bit about my book:

Aimed at children ages 3 to 8, Carrie the Limping Lion is a short children's poem about a lion cub who has chronic knee pain. I've also written an information section after the poem, explaining more about chronic pain and hidden illnesses in a kid-friendly way. While children with chronic pain will be able to relate to Carrie, the aim of the book is actually to educate 'normal' kids about the conditions. Hopefully, that will encourage acceptance and friendships, making the lives of the affected children a little happier.

Francois is busy beautifully illustrating each of the eight stanzas, and we'll be working on the cover soon.

If you'd like a sneak preview of some of the illustrations, Francois has uploaded a few unfinished versions to his Coroflot portfolio. And if you'd like to read the (probably) finished poem, I've got it right here on my blog. Just remember, you'll be looking at the process, not the finished book, which will be so much prettier.


Will it be available in print? 

Not yet. Once the ebook has been published, though, I plan to start a crowd funding campaign to make printing a possibility.


What are you waiting for? 

Help a sister out! Go on, pre-order a copy now. You know you wanna. ;)

A Flowery Picture Post

Today I've decided to focus on something cheerful and pretty, to break the habit I'm getting into of thinking about depressing things. So here's a post about my garden! It includes lots of flowers and other random garden-associated things.

(I'm listening to Goldfish while writing this. Happy music!)

So, to begin with: Flowers!

I used to love popping these buds when I was a kid. These pretty things are outside the front of our house, surrounded by other huge plants, so are often overlooked.

I can't remember what these are called, but they're darn cute. They're on our balcony in a pot with other things that I don't know the names of, either.

I nearly didn't see this tiny purple flower, only spotting it because I was looking for a huge flower that I remembered seeing a few months ago. It's on the ground, surrounded by HUGE blades of grass (not so huge, actually). What a teeny tiny flower!

Little orange shower-flowers! I call them this, because they're all around our outdoor shower. They're all you see when looking at our shower-view.

Speaking of our shower-view, this cactus can be seen from our shower, as well. According to Sean (my step dad), this cactus is used as a really potent hallucinogenic drug. I also can't remember what this is called... But I find it hilarious that it's all over our garden. :P

These two flowers are next to a potted plant that sometimes displays some very pretty snowdrop-like flowers.


I don't know what these are. They're... Yellow. Round bunches. Of things. But they're also pretty and cheerful and stuff!

I noticed these flowers on the right a while ago. They're dying now, but have lasted for a very long time, and are still beautiful, even as they stop blooming and start withering away.

These make me think of lavender... But they're not lavender. And there's loads of the pretty, wild, pretty wild stuff.

Oh look! A butterfly! That's kinda hard to see. But I saw one, and I took a picture of it. So fascinating, I know.

The vines climbing up this structure are grape vines!! We've already had grapes from this vine, but all of this climbing is a recent accomplishment for the plant. Its mommy must be so proud.



And on the right, a pretty bird-bath, or fountain, or something... How sweet.

Here I am, relaxing on the hammock that Francois' mom bought for us (for her, actually, when she last visited us), enjoying the view into the forest.

And here are some pretty ferns and gooseberry bushes that are growing outside our kitchen window. They're quite overgrown, it's a shame that the gooseberry plants aren't as huge as the ferns. :P



Okay, I am late for work. Damn it. Bye now!