Promo Monday

Today, I'll be promoting another Emerald Tales issue, "Winter Solstice." My story "Io Saturnalia" is in it, and it is the first story I've had published in print and my first story I received payment for.

Emerald Tales, Vol. 1, No. 3 "Winter Solstice"
Publisher: Scribblers and Ink Spillers (December 2009)
To purchase:  http://www.scribblersandinkspillers.com/emeraldtales.html
The electronic version of the issue is free, but please consider a donation.

All stories and poetry in this issue had to revolve around the winter solstice.  

Here is the blurb from the website:
A couple are reunited on Winter Solstice; a slave has a day of freedom on Saturnalia; a worker at a crisis line has a scary drive home in the snow; an eight-year-old boy gives his great-grandfather the best gift of all; a young trapper discovers a gruesome scene at his neighbors cabin; a young boy and his grandfather must avoid a Viking raiding party; a teenage girl records the last seven hours before the arrival of the Centaurians on Earth; and a young woman encounters the not-so-grim reaper.

Contributors: Guy Belleranti, Heather Gregson, Damien Walters Grintalis, Bruce Golden, John Hayes, D. L. Hegel, Neil James Hudson, Raymond Koonce, Kristina Lee, Lauren McBride, Heather Parker, Cherie Reich, and G. W. Thomas.

Here is the blurb for my story "Io Saturnalia": As a Greek slave for the Roman Lucius Valerius Corvinus, Hermes has always longed to be free. During the festival of Saturnalia, his master grants him his wish with a price. Hermes, a scribe, has to come up with 700 sestertii for his freedom. When the slave travels to the sigillaria or special market, he comes across an Etruscan fortuneteller. She guarantees his freedom, if he doesn't tempt the Fates. With magical knucklebones, the Greek scribe seeks out his destiny.

November is the last month to read the "Winter Solstice" issue, since this issue will soon be out of print. So, go now and read some great stories.

"Io Saturnalia" is now available for purchase!

Emerald Tales, Vol. 1 No. 3 "Winter Solstice" issue is now available. This issue has my short story "Io Saturnalia" as well as twelve other short stories and poems. I'm so excited that the issue is finally out for people to buy. You can purchase either electronic or print versions, and either one is only $5.00. You can learn more about Emerald Tales at http://www.scribblersandinkspillers.com/emeraldtales.html. To purchase a copy of Emerald Tales' Winter Solstice issue, please go here: http://cart.scribblersandinkspillers.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1.

"Io Saturnalia" is my fourth short story accepted for publication, but my second short story to be available for purchase.

For more information on what "Io Saturnalia" is about as well as my other stories being published and written, please visit http://cheriereich.webs.com.

Submission: IO SATURNALIA

I know I haven't written in my blog for a while. I would like to say that I've been busy, which I suppose I have. I was also too stressed out to write for a while, but things are better now. *smiles*

I finished writing an ancient Roman horror short story titled IO SATURNALIA on Friday. I sent it to my critique buddies, and they sent me edits and comments. I fixed the story up today and sent it off to Emerald Tales for their Winter Solstice volume. I had previously submitted SOUL SURVIVOR to the editor for their previous issue, and although she liked the story, she said it wasn't for her. I am hoping that IO SATURNALIA fares better. *crosses fingers*

Here is what the story is about:

IO SATURNALIA     3,929 words        (Historical Horror)
As a Greek slave for the Roman Lucius Valerius Corvinus, Hermes has always longed to be free. During the festival of Saturnalia, his master grants him his wish with a price. Hermes, a scribe, has to come up with 700 sestertii for his freedom. When the slave travels to the sigillaria or special market, he comes across an Etruscan fortuneteller. She guarantees his freedom, if he doesn't tempt the Fates. With magical knucklebones, the Greek scribe seeks out his destiny.

I do think that this story is one of my better stories. As a writer, I feel that I get better with each story, but I think that this is probably the same with all writers. At least, we all hope that we get better with each story!

I did not write much this month. With NEPTUNE'S TREASURE and now IO SATURNALIA, I only wrote 8,630 words. I hope that I'm saving up all the rest of my words for NaNoWriMo, which is less than a week away.(I'll be blogging a lot about NaNoWriMo later.)

I haven't submitted anything else lately or heard anything new from my submissions still out there. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.

By the way, I'm getting a new laptop. I'm so excited! It's supposed to come in by November 6. *crosses fingers* The laptop is a Dell Inspiron 15 laptop, and it is purple. I'm hoping to get a lot of writing done at home once I get the laptop, including doing my rewrites/edits for THE PHOENIX PROPHETESS.