Bruno Wants a Nose Horn

Alright guys, it's time to talk books. 

Publishing books in particular. Publishing one book in particular.

When I went to OsFest (Omaha Science Fiction Education Society's annual sci-fi convention), I met Nikita Rose Woltersen aka Nikita Dragonrose. This lady is amazing. She sculpts, she illustrates, and she's also obsessed with dragons. I bought some hair sticks from her with a dragon curled around the top of one and while she was showing me how to easily put my hair up with them within a few seconds (something I'd previously thought beyond my hair's capabilities) she showed me her new book. She's been working on a book called Bruno Wants a Nose Horn and it's an adorable book about a dragon names Bruno who was born without a nose horn and goes about searching to find one, getting into trouble along the way. She illustrated the book herself and has also made sculptures of the various dragons within the story. She hopes to expand the story after this first book gets published and to write more children's books starring the other characters in her series. For that to happen though, she's got to get this one published!

So if you have time out of your busy schedules (trust me, I hear ya!), check out her site at Dragonrose Designs to see her work. If you really want to support her, her Facebook site has the most recent updates for her book. 

She did a Kickstarter project earlier this summer to try to raise money for a hardcover publication, but it didn't reach full funding so she didn't get to keep any of the money. Publishing a book is actually a lot more expensive than you'd think, unless you can self-publish. Self-publishing works great, unless you want an audience other than those who know you already. Nikita Dragonrose travels to several conventions and such within the mid-west (as judged by the two that I've ran into her at and the schedule posted on her website) promoting her book and selling her dragon-related creations/wares. (Trust me, they are GORGEROUS!) This is a large step in getting a fan-base, but I really would like to see her get a larger following. So if you're out there and appreciate children's literature or at least books with dragons that learn valuable morals about loving themselves the way they are, I'd suggest looking up one of this lady's sites!

(She doesn't know I'm doing this, but I really wanted to see if I could try to get her a little more of an audience, and if we're really really lucky, maybe a donation? I don't want to push that too heavily on you though)

Don't Worry, It Gets Worse: One Twentysomething's (Mostly Failed) Attempts at Adulthood

This book started out as hilarious and ended up as touching. As a newly graduated college student, I found this book by Alida Nugent as a great find. I originally picked it out because I had just started my first job out of college and was feeling like I wasn't the right fit. Alida made me laugh with her as she was wallowing on her parents couch and not knowing where she was going to end up. I loved that she still kept acting like a college student who was coming home for vacation every time she visited her parents throughout the couple of years in the book. It was comforting knowing that some things change really slowly. That made me feel much better and as I kept reading, I was adapting to my new job.  I may be done reading it now, but as the last few chapters of the book aimed more towards being encouraging for the future rather than comedy, I remain hopeful. I'd recommend this book to any new graduate feeling a little unsure about their world at the present and who appreciates a good night of binge drinking.


Photo Google'd and taken from : http://powerhousearena.com/arena/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/9780452298187_Dont-Worry-It-Gets-Worse1.jpg

Storytime! I have a short story to share with ya'll!

Okay gang, I know I haven't posted an actual review in a while... Maybe I'll post for the couple of books that I've just finished reading for class. I'll work on something for them! In the meantime, remember that last post about the story that I was writing for a class and needed help on? Well here's the finished product!!!

Click to delve into the story via my LiveJournal account.


I hope you all like it, please leave a comment if you read it on here or on LiveJournal. I don't care if they're good or bad comments, but constructive criticism is always nice. Please keep in mind that this writing style is not very high on the Lexile range, it's just meant to be a humorous and slightly fictionalized account of what my April Fool's Day was like this year. I had to change some of it to make the story better or less dramatic, and others to protect names of people involved.

Nevertheless, I hope it provides enjoyment.

I Need YOUR Help!

So I wrote a new story for my Fiction Writing class and I need a few comments and/or ideas.  Help? (hint, start with the title, it needs one - and the ending, is it weird?)

Click Here to be Directed to the Story

Thanks in advance everyone! I'd appreciate any comments! The story actually happened, so it's a little hard to get perspective to make it a good FICTION story.