The Sidhe Princess Is Available!

I'm THRILLED to announce that my novelette The Sidhe Princess is now available on Amazon (just click on the title of this post to go to the Amazon page)!

I hope you will take a look and "like" (just click on the box below my author name) my story. It will be available on SmashWords and other ereader platforms in a few days.

The world of books and publishing is undergoing major changes even as I type this post, and I'm excited to be a part of it. The release of The Sidhe Princess marks a milestone in my writing career, as it is the start of my journey as an "Indie Author."

As an Indie Author, the good news is that I am the one responsible for all aspects of getting my book out there for my readers. The bad news is that I am the one responsible for all aspects of getting my book out there... Yep, definitely a two edged sword, that responsibility! Success or failure is all tied to how well I handle that responsibility. But I firmly believe that getting my work out there for my readers IS a big success.

The Sidhe Princess is a real departure for me in that it is NOT a romance and is not even a novel (at 14,000 words it doesn't even quality as a novella)! No traditional publisher would have even considered publishing it, so self-publishing was really my only option. But I'm not only happy to have this option, I'm pleased to be able to offer my readers a story through this option.

So here's a brief excerpt from The Sidhe Princess, which is about 16 year old Moira Mullins, who sees and hears other-worldly creatures that no one else does:

Nine days later, Moira first saw the new apparition. Mum and Da went off on their usual Saturday shopping expedition, and Moira elected to stay home alone.

Though Mum looked worried, Da actually took Moira’s side. “She’s not a wee lass any more, Mary,” he scolded. “You don’t need her right by your side every waking moment.”

He’d given Moira a wink behind her mother’s back when they climbed into the ancient farm truck that was their only means of transportation. With hearty calls of “Be home for tea!” they rumbled off in a cloud of dust.

The day was far too fine to stay inside ironing, so a couple of hours later, Moira slipped her little yellow transistor radio into her apron pocket and went outside to simply enjoy the sweet autumn sunshine. Even if she felt relief at coming and going as she pleased, she did feel oddly alone after the constant voices and presence of the staff and patients in the sanitarium. Not that she missed the place, far from it!

She missed her sister.

On the radio, the Beatles crooned about “…please me like I please you…” and she sang along. But by the end of the song, the signal was fading. She turned the radio off and wished she’d asked Mum to pick up new batteries while she and Da were out.

As she slid the radio back into her pocket, her fingers brushed over Fiona’s letter. Moira had already read it more than once. In fact, she’d given Mum her reply to mail in the village today. But she walked over to the stump at the edge of the yard to read the letter yet another time.

Something about the letter wasn’t right. It wasn’t so much the things Fee wrote, but more like what she hadn’t. Moira couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling that not all was well. However, she also knew Fee wouldn’t say anything for fear of worrying Mum and Da.

The thin onion-skin paper rattled like the waxy stuff wrapped around the fancy scones that came from the village bakery. Moira smoothed the folded sheets across her lap and read Fee’s sprawling script, heard her voice in the written words as she described the crazy city traffic all going in the wrong direction. The Richardsons had a brand new Lincoln Town Car and Mrs. Richardson intended to buy herself a car too, as soon as she found one to her liking.

Moira closed her eyes and imagined what it must be like to be so rich you owned two new cars and a fine house so big that your three children each had a bedroom and the nanny had one too. While she pictured the lovely wall-papered room Fee had described, the sound of childish laughter invaded Moira’s daydream. Her eyes popped open and she scanned the brushy border of the fens, catching a glimpse of a white figure.

“Who’s there?” Moira cried, shoving the letter back into her pocket and jumping to her feet.

The fens could be a dangerous place for a child, full of boggy spots and stickery piles of brambles, as Mum had never failed to tell her. But as Moira crossed the over-grown expanse of the meadow and drew closer to the fens, she heard the giggling again. A scrape of doubt tugged at her mind, making her hesitate. Something about the sound wasn’t childish. Or even human.

While she paused, the being came into view. Small as a child of nine or ten and clad in a long gown of gauzy white, the girl’s golden hair streamed behind her, strands of it braided around bird feathers or woven into bits of metal or bright colored beads. Her skin was almost the same shade as her hair, like rich honey, and when she stopped to regard Moira, her dark eyes shone with the same flecks of gold.

One of the fae, Moira guessed, and the most exquisite wee thing she’d ever seen.

“You can see me as well as hear me, can you not?” asked the small woman. The proud way she stood and the commanding tone she used were not the least bit childlike.

Moira nodded mutely and twisted her hands into her apron. ‘Twas not the first time she’d seen and even spoken to other-worldly creatures, though never before had one been so bold in approaching her. Nor so beautiful.

Please join me in celebrating this new direction in my writing life. I hope you enjoy The Sidhe Princess!

Along with taking my writing career in a new direction, I'm going to be trying some different things on the blog too. I hope to do more interviews with Indie Authors and maybe give away more prizes. Also, this Friday, my friend and chaptermate Jensen Schmidt will try her hand at blogging for the very first time. Be sure to check back and see what she has to say!

Have you read other Indie Authors? What do you think of electronic books instead of traditional paperback or hard cover books? Is there someone or something you'd like to see on this blog?