Christmas Gifts Children Will Love For Less Than $3.50

The following covers show a selection of my fiction books available on Amazon Kindle. I write for girls and boys of all ages and interest levels, so you'll find an original story written by me for any child. My books are great Christmas gifts at less than $3.50 each. Please click on the book covers to purchase or find out more about each book.

              

            

             

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Working With Publishers Is Great But It Doesn't Mean A Publishing Contract

Back in 2006, I worked with Walker Books on a proposed series of fairy books. I wrote the first book, received notes from Walker Books, then went away to edit and rewrite. 

Eventually, after a few months, I emailed Walker Books the revised manuscript for book 1 in my Pru the Fairy series. Unfortunately, by this time, Walker Books had learned that Lothian Books was working on a fairy series. Plus, other fairy series were being published overseas. Walker Books decided not to go ahead with my Pru the Fairy series, with the explanation that the fairy market was saturated. 

The experience of working with Walker Books and receiving notes on my manuscript is priceless. The fact that my series wasn't published is disappointing to put it mildly.

But publishing is full of stories similar to the one above. I will share another. 

In 2007, Lothian Books accepted my children's story The Pony Game for publication in its Giggles series. I was thrilled, again, to put it mildly. After talking to the publisher at Lothian Books, I submitted another manuscript for the Giggles series which the publisher was interested in publishing. Then came the news - The Giggles series was to end, with my book The Pony Game being the final book published in the series.

In spite of the "near misses" which didn't result in publishing contracts, I love working with publishers. The experience for any writer is invaluable. 

Fast forward to 2014...  

Last month, I decided to sell book 1 in my Pru the Fairy series on Amazon Kindle. I sat down to edit Pru Gets Her Fairy Wings and, to my surprise, the book needed very little editing. Obviously the work I did back in 2006 was worthwhile, even if it didn't result in a publishing contract.

I plan to sell book 2 tentatively titled Pru And A Fairy Rescue on Amazon Kindle in the coming months. From there, who knows? 

As writers, we often have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and get on with creating books. Publishing is full of successes and disappointments. I've had plenty of both. All we can do is make lemonade when we're handed lemons.

I'm pleased to see Pru finally out there in the world, rather than hiding away on my computer. Pru Gets Her Fairy Wings is currently available for 99 cents on Amazon Kindle. Please go to the following web page: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q9V2E4O/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_K4hEub00G5NTG

Here's the blurb for Pru Gets Her Fairy Wings: When Pru is kidnapped by her new neighbor, a girl named Laura, she learns the shocking truth. Pru is adopted. Her parents are human. And she is a fairy. Pru has no idea what a fairy is, let alone what it’s like to be one. And what about her real family? Her fairy parents?:

I hope the story of how Pru Gets Her Fairy Wings came to be published on Amazon Kindle inspires you to keep writing and keep persisting. I wish you much success!



 

Little Horrors' Blog Tour with Tiffany Mandrake

Hi Tiffany. Many thanks for visiting my blog during your world tour. It's great to have you here and I hope you'll answer a few questions.

Thank you, Robyn. It’s an honour.

1. Now, I'm curious about you, Tiffany, and how you got to be here today. Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your journey which led you to being a guest on my blog.

Oooh, that’s a difficult one, Robyn, because my earlier life is veiled in mystery. (That’s partly because I drank a little too much forget-me-not tea and the effect reversed.) I started writing stories about the Little Horrors I meet at the Hags’ Abademy soon after I adopted Speedwell, my Hairless Sphinx. Speedwell likes his food, and I had to have some way of supporting us. I was persuaded that writing tell-all exposes of the Little Horrors would make my fortune. Along the way, I met Sally Murphy of Aussie Reviews. She offered me a chance at a world tour, so here I am.

2. Little Horrors is a new series with Little Hare. Can you tell me how many books you have written? And, if you're not revealing any secrets, a few details about the books?

So far, I have written four books. The first one is about Flax, a feral fairy who ran into trouble when she attended Miss Kisses’ Academy of Sweetness. There she met Kirsty Breeks, a Scottish water hag. Kirsty helped arrange a better future for Flax. The second one is about Mal the Mischievous mermaid. I learned a lot about merfolk while writing this one. Did you know they can walk on their tail flukes? They call this “tip-tailing”. Then came Nanda the Naughty Gnome. Nanda told a fib to Hag Maggie Nabbie, and that earned her an invitation to try for a Badge of Badness. Nanda said she didn’t want one of those… can you believe it? And the fourth book is about Tikki, a pixie from Pisky Marsh. She got up to some tricks, I can tell you. Lock up your golf balls when Tikki’s around.

3. What is it like working with Little Hare? Are they Little Horrors? Can you give us an insight into this experience?

The Little Hare people are so sweet I’d suspect them of being good fairies if it wasn’t for the gleam in their eyes. They are, however, very eager to get every word exactly right. Each story has to glitter like the quartz Nanda’s Grandpa Clog polishes for the good fairies. Mind you, the tatts in the books aren’t the kinds of things a good fairy would countenance.

4. Who is your favourite character in Little Horrors? And why?

I love the Little Horrors (I have to say that, otherwise Flax would set the dog-fae on me). Actually, I love the critter-fae too. And the hags. If I have to have a favourite, it’s probably the dog-fae. It’s an imp with canine DNA. It looks like a fluffy brown and white dog with fuzzy little wings, and its crankiness makes it a perfect foil for Flax the feral fairy. What’s not to love?

5. I'm interested in how other writers work and create their books. Can we have a peek into the writing life of Tiffany Mandrake?

Every morning, I dress in flowing velvet, brew some herb tea and go to sit in the grounds of my creepy cosy cottage. At some point, one of the critter-fae will come to visit. They say they like my company, but I believe the snacks I provide have something to do with their visits. I pay attention to detail, and I have arranged perfect little habitats for each one when it comes. The dog-fae has a neat little crocheted kennel stuffed with liver treats. For the fox-fae, I made a cosy den lined with black velvet and honey-coated bugs. The gull-fae has a rock with a pool by it, and plenty of chips to eat, and the filly-fae has a green stable with peppermints in the manger. Anyway, when the critter-fae come to visit, I make them feel at home and ask them a few general questions. They tell me all about their fairy breed friends. I take notes. Every afternoon, I retire to my cottage to write up my notes, then have a nap with Speedwell before rising with the moon to dance to the Hags’ bagpipes and gather dodgy herbs. It’s a hard life, but someone’s got to live it.

6. What advice would you give a writer who'd love to be in your shoes and have a book or series published?

Stay out of my shoes. I have somewhat unusual feet, and no one else would fit my footwear. As to books and series, all I can suggest is that they should move to a weird place and wait for weirdness to happen. On the other hand, they could take the difficult route and come up with a killer idea, write a killer proposal, hypnotise the editors and… well, forget I said that. Oh, some people don’t know how to write a proposal? If they go to www.affordablemanuscriptassessments.com and click on Workshops, they may learn something to their advantage.

Thanks for including my blog in your first world tour, Tiffany. May this tour be the first of many. I look forward to having you visit again one day. And thanks for answering my questions.

Thank YOU!

Of course I know you're interested in purchasing Flax the Feral Fairy. Who wouldn't be interested? So here is the link: http://www.harpercollins.com.au/books/9781921272707/Little_Horrors_Flax_the_Feral_Fairy/index.aspx

If you would like to learn more about Flax the Feral Fairy and Tiffany, and I know you do, then make sure you catch this blog tour at:

Saturday 21 February
BJ Cullen – The Writing Life - http://www.bjcullen.blogspot.com

Sunday 22 February
Sally Murphy’s Writing for Children - http://sallymurphy.blogspot.com/

Monday 23 February
Writing Children’s Books with Robyn Opie - http://www.robynopie.blogspot.com

Tuesday 24 February
Let’s have Words - http://www.letshavewords.blogspot.com/

Wednesday 25 February
Dee Scribe Writing - http://www.deescribewriting.wordpress.com

Happy reading and writing,

Robyn Opie

http://www.robynopie.com