Just Some Things

   Has anybody else read a book or story by someone and thought that the author sounded like you? I was reading Beauty and the Werewolf, which is a good book by Mercedes Lackey in the series Tales of the Five Hundred Kingdoms, and I was really, really surprised. Because her writing style really reminded me of my own, and that was kind of exciting because she's a pro and I'm... Well, not. So I was thinking about sending her my book. The next one, not this one. Maybe this one. I don't know. I wonder if she'd think the same, or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.
   In any case, I got this really cool idea for a book or a story while I was reading it, and I think it's pretty neat. So, people make stories about werewolves all the time. Were-things, actually. People that turn into swans, rats, bats, and various other creatures. Well, doesn't that get a bit boring? That is how I got the idea that someone should make a story about a werewolf biting a wolf, which turns the wolf into a human for the full moon. But on the other hand, with that few days a month, storyline might get boring, so what do we say on the full moon all day long and at night from about midnight to three am.
   Of course this poor wolf would have just been minding his own business and is completely bewildered when this happens, and he will be horrified at his new hideous shape. But in the end he'll get sucked into a quest to get it removed somehow, blah de blah de blah. I don't know how this would go, but perhaps it would make a good second story in the next book I'm printing? I know I'd read it, but then again I always think that I'm more amusing than other people find me.
   Well, good news. Good-ish. Well, it's news.
   The goodreads.com giveaway ended a few days ago, which I was super excited about! In the last week or so of the giveaway I got almost three hundred people that hurried to enter to win. The final, amazing count was 509 people! That is not shabby. It's about average for a giveaway, I think, which is very nice for me since I am a first-timer. Congrats to Brittany, the recipient of my book! I hope she likes it. It's a bit scary to know that she's reading it, since basically everyone that read it was either related to me or I know them personally. 
   In any case, so that is very good, but now it's a little bit sad whenever I go to goodreads because I'm all excited to check how many more people have entered the contest just by habit, but it's gone.
   All right. In any case, I just want to say that I have read all of my books about a zillion times and I am bored of them and need new. Any suggestions for good books?
   You all take care now, and keep on reading. :) Love,
                                                                               -Eva Gould, Author

Here's another little piece of the next book. They just escaped from a group of Froygen; frog men who took a liking to what because she's green.

The sun was just breaking when the princess woke up. She was jouncing up and down on something broad and uncomfortable. She kept her eyes shut tightly. “Just let me sleep… Just a little more sleep…”

Jack’s voice floated from somewhere to her left. “Sorry, next time I’ll just let you be imprisoned in peace, shall I?”

What sat up and opened her eyes. She sat very still for a minute, looking around, before she spoke.

“Jack…”

“Yes, princess?” There was laughter in his voice.

“Why am I riding a horse on a rainbow without the asses over the bog we were just traveling through?”

A snort of laughter slipped out of him before he could stop it. “I…. I thought you might be wondering that. Princess, I’d like you to meet Charlie.”

What looked around, but it was just the two of them and the horse on the rainbow.

“Charlie?”     

Jack grinned. “You’d think that you’d learn, after the asses.”

What tried to make her stupefied brain start working again. “Um… The horse?”

Jack frowned and said “Not quite.”

The glummest voice that What had ever heard spoke, originating from the horses head. “It’s all right Jack, I’ve been called worse.”

What’s brain caught up. “Oh! I’m so sorry! It’s nice to meet you, Charlie. I’m sorry, I’ve never meet a talking horse before.”

Jack rolled his eyes and Charlie said “Oh, to be a full horse.” He came to a halt and, great head drooping, let out a huge sigh. “Alas, I’m only a pegahorse.”

What frowned. “A what?”

Jack was shaking his head and motioning for her to stop, but Charlie just said “Half-horse, half-Pegasus. Stuck in the middle, never part of either world, that’s me. Not even a part of the worser world.”

What was about to ask if a Pegasus wasn’t all ready half-horse, but Jack cut in.

“And you have been very useful to us. We would have been imprisoned and possibly dead by now if it weren’t for you, so we should say thank you.”

Unsteadily What clambered down off of the Pegahorse and looked around. The rainbow was high up, about seven feet wide, and nearly touched the clouds, which there were few of. The sun had just risen and the day was all ready warm. The rainbow felt smooth, soft, and cool under her, and far below was the swamp. It continued off before and behind as far as she could see. A couple of ducks wheeled over head, and What… Well, ducked, but that was the only sign of life besides themselves. No village, no Froygen, no magical talking donkeys.

What sat down.

“All right boys, let’s talk.”

Jack took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Right… The story behind this…”

She kept her face very still, her voice under perfect control. “Yes, the story. Tell it, please. Now.” It wasn’t the order of princess to vassal, it was the order of an angry green woman to a man who was going to regret it very much if he didn’t tell her. Now.

He told her.

“I said that there was something wrong in the village. Shush, I won’t say ‘I told you so.’ But I did.

“I fell asleep as soon as I blew out that foul candle last night. I could feel that something wasn’t right. I was too tired, I couldn’t think clearly. In any case, I was asleep and I must have been really out of it. Good Ass had to bite me just to wake me up. Here, look.” He held out his arm for evidence, displaying a set of teeth-shaped bruises. “I could hear people shouting and Good Ass told me that we had to get you up and out of there, fast.

“My brain was fuzzy, it felt like someone had stuff it with moss and soaked it in brine for a while. I kept just asking ‘What? What’ like an idiot, but in the end it got through to me that this was urgent. I hauled you out of bed and draped you over Good’s back. You wouldn’t wake up no matter what I did and I thought… I… Well, I panicked. There was all this yelling and braying and sound outside of the hovel. As I tried to get you to stay on Good Ass told me that they had put some kind of sleeping spell on us. You, especially. They had been kicked out of the village, but they watched and saw what was happening. Wise knew enough magic to figure out what was going on, so they came in and surprised everyone to save us.

“It was havoc. All of the Froygen were surrounding the asses, trying to grab them so that they could hold them down and tie them up. We started out for the swamp, but Ga’anish was standing out of the fight watching everyone and bossing the Froygen around. He saw us and yelled for the others to grab us.” He shook his head. “There were more than enough to overcome us. They wore us down and surrounded us. Ga’anish came forward, that big ball of slime, and explained that he hadn’t wanted to hurt us. In fact, he said, he had simply wanted to preserve you because you were so precious, and we could leave in peace if we left you behind.

“Obviously, that wasn’t about to happen. We were all ready to make one last-ditch effort to get out; with you.

“Just then the rainbow appeared out of the middle of nowhere, right in the middle of the battlefield. Charlie was on it. All the Froygen stopped and stared at it, and Good, Wise, Smart and I all made a break for it. We knocked out a good eight and injured another six.

“Charlie didn’t know what was going on, but luckily for us he isn’t too fond of the Froygen. I started yelling for help and he came over right away and I loaded you up. About that time the Froygen, who had run away, all came back. I guess they really liked you, they were doing their best not to let you go. In any case, they tried to get you, but the asses formed a line in front of us and told us to run.” He smiled. “We did. After we were on the rainbow the asses escaped into the woods. I told Charlie here our story as we’ve been walking.”

The pegahorse was standing by them, taking a chunk out of the rainbow. He listened to the story as he chewed.

“So… I slept through all of that?”

Jack grinned. “Yes, snoring heartily the whole time. The spell gradually wore off the further we got from the villiage.”

“Oh.” She thought for a minute, then turned to the horse who had just swallowed his mouthful of red. “Charlie… How did you manage to show up at exactly the right time?”

He looked at her morosely. “Just bad luck. The rainbows play tricks on me once in a while.”

“Well, you were just eating bits of one. Hmm… I never knew that it was possible to walk on rainbows. Hang on! If we’re up here, why aren’t the Froygen chasing us? Are they afraid of heights or something?”

Charlie shook his hors-ey head sadly. He was tall and trim, all gray except for a white patch on his muzzle that was shaped like a pair of wings, and what looked like bronze hooves. “They can’t walk on it unless I say so. Of course, real  Pegasus can just fly, but I have to use stupid rainbows. I make them where I want to go. Jack can walk on here because I want him to.” He sighed and his great head drooped. “At least I’m not alone up here. Again.”

“Oh. Well, thank you Charlie. Umm… If you don’t mind me asking, where are we going now?”

Jack was the one to answer. “Rainbow travel is twice as quick as normal land travel, some kind of magic, but from the sounds of it we need to hurry. Charlie’s going to lead us to someone who can get us to the Crone even faster.”

The pegahorse gave another forlorn sigh. “Yeah. Someone will always be better at everything than I will. Well, except for that one thing that I can do with my ears.”

            “Your ears?” They looked normal enough to her.

            “Yes. I flick them and whoever I’m looking at gets incapacitated by cramps. They Froygen tried to get me a couple years back, that’s why I don’t like them, but I did that to get away.” He sounded marginally more cheerful, so What smiled.

            “That sounds like a useful talent to have!”

            “Yeah. Well, except that all the other Pegasus foals were jealous. They’d corner me in my stall and call me names. ‘Charlie Horse, Charlie Horse’ they used to chant.” He looked like he was going to start crying soon.

            “Oh. I’m… Very sorry, Charlie. If it makes you feel better, my name is What Gruman and I’m green, so I know how you feel.” She didn’t really, but maybe it was better to make the attempt. Not that it was going to work, not on him.

            “Yeah, but you’re a princess.” Charlie looked very upset now. Luckily Jack was there.

            “In any case, Charlie, you saved us both. That seems pretty lucky to me. But we should get going.”

            “Okay.” Said the Pegahorse. He took a deep and stabilizing breath and What stood. “We just reached the downhill part of the rainbow, so we can slide down the rest of the way. Just watch me and be careful not to fall off.”

            Jack and What watched side by side in amazement as Charlie lowered his front half carefully and clumsily to the ground. Then he pushed off with his back legs.

            He started to slide down the long curving slope slowly, then picked up speed as he went until he was just a gray blur slipping gracefully along the rainbow. Jack and what turned to look at each other. He smiled.

            “Ladies first!”

Chapter Twelve

            If you had been standing down below just then and happened to look up you would have seen a gray horse zipping across the downside of a rainbow at blurring speed, front half lowered and back half kicking to give him speed. Behind the horse would be two blurs, one of which looked remarkably like a green woman in a tattered and stained dress, curled into a ball as she slid, mouth opened wide in a silent scream. The man behind her would have been hooting and waving his arms back and forth through the air, while sitting up straight, apparently enjoying himself.

            Not knowing that they were a half-goblin princess with a  peculiar name, a Pegahorse named Charlie with a talent for cramps, and a Mann named Jack running from a group of evil bog-dwelling frogmen, you would probably go home immediately home and lay in your bed in the darkness swearing off of drinking for life until your mother found you there and coaxed you down to dinner. You would then spend the rest of your life wondering if you were crazy deep down inside.

            Since you weren’t there, however, that wouldn’t happen.

Ideas, Ideas, What to Choose...

   Hello my wonderful readers! And how are you this stiflingly hot summer day?
   Well, I am doing well. Now, I wanted to just throw a little something out there... 
   The story that I am working on now is currently about 62 pages long. There is maybe ten or fifteen more pages of content. That is not enough to make a full-sized book, and if I know one thing, it's to not drag simple things out just to make them longer. So, there are also some unresolved questions in the Scarlet Sash book, especially right at the ending. For example:
   1.) If World Changers can't get married, how will Danny manage to marry Lynn?
   2.) Where does his faerie blood come from?
   3.) How is the faerie assassin Shard related to him. Why do they look exactly the same?
   4.) What happens to the rebellion?
   The answers to these questions is; I don't have a clue. Not a single one. So, I'm going to write and find out. Now, I am betting that this won't end up as a full-blown book, maybe... mmm... 100-110 pages long, so what I plan to do is combine these two stories into a single book. Two for one? Yeah. 
   All right, what do you guys think?
   Now, since no one said if they wanted another sneak peek or not... I'll probably do one anyways! Look for another, longer post here in a couple of hours. I'm still translating that part over from my notebook to the computer. So, what I'd like to know is if there's anything that you want to know about being a writer.
   Well, for now take care my dears. Stay out of the rain and keep on reading.
                                                                                             Love always,
                                                                                                         -Eva Gould, Author
    P.S. Just because I wanted to:

I Missed You!

   Hello ladies and gents! :) And how are my wonderful readers today? Yes, today, this very early morning. Why is it that I always seem to find myself posting blog entries about about 3 A.M.?
   In any case, I'm sorry for the wait.
   I haven't really been doing much writing. Yes, I know, I'm a writer and that's what I'm supposed to do but after a while I just get sick of words. So I put a stopper on things, but then again in another couple of weeks it'll all come tumbling out in ten, twelve, twenty pages at a time, and then back to a steady pace. I know, an odd way to get things done. But that's the Eva system for you!
   Also, writing when there's noise? Bad idea. Writing on the computer? Terrible idea. There's this website called reddit, and it seems to suck away the hours like a vacuum in time. (doo DOO doooo!)
   In any case, I am up to page 54 and counting. I seem to be a little stuck for ideas though. It's hard to hone plays on words in the spur of the moment, so if you have any please, please let me know.
   So if I haven't been writing what have I been doing?
   Working.
   Reading.
   Visiting Missouri a few days ago and re-meeting awesome people. 
   Watching a show called Eureka. My wonderful sister turned me on to it, and now I just can't stop! Netflix...
   In any case, I solemnly swear to write more, probably before I go to sleep because that's the best time, when it's quiet and I'm too tired to think.
   A couple of updates. First, my interview that I was super excited about and was supposed to have come out this month... Well, obviously that hasn't happened yet, much to my disappointment. Still, there's not much to do about it except to seek out others.
   My goodreads giveaway will be ending in ten days, and I all ready have the book ready to send out. It's kind of exciting and nerve-wracking both to know that someone who is unrelated to me and not my personal friend will be reading it. Well, hopefully all goes well. 241 people requesting, and growing pretty quickly now as it nears the end.
   In any case... Do you want another sneak peak of the next book? Feedback please! All right, well take care and here's a little something as an apology for the wait.
   I love you all. Take care and keep on reading! 
                                                                  -Eva Crazy Gould, Author

For My Mother

   Today is mother's day. The day that we celebrate all of the sacrifices our mothers make for us, all the unconditional love that they've given us, and yes- even the times when they've sent us to our rooms to cool off for a bit.
   Now, this isn't going to suddenly become one of those blogs about family life, but of course I will talk about them, because I love them all and they're a part of my life. My four sisters and a brother- all older, all supportive and loving. My cousins, who I grew up close to, and I couldn't ask for better friends. My parents, my dad who I didn't see much of as a little girl, but who I love despite our differences. And my mother, who I love so incredibly much.
   I couldn't ask for a better mother.
   Thank you for making this house a home. Thank you for being here making delicious food for us all year around. Thank you for muddling through all the times that I was sick and moaned and groaned about silly stuff. Thank you for all the times you bandaged my boo-boos, all the times that you gave me hugs and kisses... And for all the love and care that you've given me, and all of us. 
   You were never afraid to do what needed done. You're strong and wise and caring, and my aspiration in life is to one day be as great of a woman as you've been.
  Mom, to me you'll always mean home, because I know that wherever you are there will be love and comfort, and good advice- even if I don't actually follow it. I love you very much.
   Here's to mothers.

                         -Eva Gould, Daughter.

Movie, Book, Movie, Book...

   Hello there and good morning! So, I've had a little something on my mind; movies and books.
   Should books be made into movies or shows? There are several different kinds of books that have been converted. For example A Game of Thrones; not a bad  show, but diverges from the books in nearly every way except the characters. I would recommend watching if you've never read the books. Also along those lines, Sherlock Holmes; the new show. I would even put the recent Sherlock Holmes movies featuring Robert Downey Jr. in that category, because while they have a detective named Sherlock in them, they are action rather than mystery, and let's face it; Robert is just not Sherlock. So, I would say, if you've never read the books feel free to watch it; they're great movies, but they're not about Mr. Holmes as he will always be to me, as I have always read of him, and as I will always love him. If you have read the books and liked then, you are going to have a bad time watching these.
   Next up; movies with slight alterations from the books. These are movies with only little bits from the books left out, and that is mostly for time's sake. This includes all of the Harry Potter movies, The Hunger Games, the Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and other such movies. I was sad that they cut out Tom Bombadil from LoTR, because he was one of my favorite characters. Still, you can't deny that they stayed true to the books, and all of the movies were wonderful enjoyable.
   Lastly there are the ones that are completely true to the book, and everything is exactly as you imagined it in your head while reading. So far, I can think of exactly zero of these, though I know they must be out there somewhere. If you know of any, please give me the title, because I would be ecstatic to see them!
   So what do you think? Should books be made into movies or show?
   My answer is a resounding "It depends!"
   Should they be made into a show? Absolutely not. There wouldn't be enough content to fill more than one season, as demonstrated by A Game. Should they be made into movies? Here is my answer, and listen closely, movie makers; if you are going to make a movie from a book... follow the book as close as possible. Why? Because people watch the movies because they loved the book. Well, I do in any case, so... don't let me down!
   So there it is! If you have any discussion for me on that topic, feel free to let me know!
   Also, I am very happy to say that I now have over 115 page views on my blog, probably from all two of my wonderful followers checking up on me. I'm sorry that I haven't written any more lately, I have been working a lot, and yesterday I was busy spending time with my sister and my sweet nieces and nephews.
   Lastly, I have been writing on my new book; slowly but surely, and it's coming along quite nicely! I've been thinking of new plot twists to throw in. Obviously the prince has to be an evil womanizer of some sort... Maybe I should make him an evil wizard that wants to take over the kingdom and enslave everyone? Hmm. Perhaps. I'll ponder on it more while taking a bubble bath and drinking hot tea.
   Thanks to the 195 people on goodreads.com who have requested my book! I hope that whoever wins it will enjoy it. For now good night, I love you all, and here is a thank you for staying with me through my boring and pointless blogs. Never stop reading, my dears.
                                                                          -Eva Gould, Author

The Whys of Books and Some Pictures.

   Good afternoon, my beautiful, wonderful men and women! 
   My topic of the day is... books! Shocking, right? All right, not so much, but there you have it.
   Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that the main selling points on books these days is the shock factor as much as the storyline? If it's not controversial no one will buy it, because people aren't satisfied with reading books that have happily ever afters at the end. Or at least, if there's going to be one it has to be filled with pain and sacrifice and only after what seems like a lifetime of uncertainty and torture. Let's explore a few examples here, shall we? Books that have become astoundingly famous and sparked controversy while rising to heights basically unknown to book-kind. 
1.) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
2.) The Golden Compass (though that was the movie more than the book.)
3.) The Game of Thrones series.
   All right, these are the main ones that I've been thinking about. Now, the big thing for all these is the shocking factor, the controversy. People read this because they want other to think that they're on the cutting edge. The shock factor is similar in two of these cases; The Girl, and The Game of Thrones. In The Game of Thrones there's a lot of killing. Like, this man is not afraid to take out his main characters. I am just starting into the second one and I'm pretty shocked, but the thing is, while it's in an unfamiliar fantasy world, he makes it all sound so believable. And how did he do that? By not being afraid to make bad things happen to good people, and describe it in full and sometimes horrible detail. 
   Same thing with the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The writer makes it sound like something that could have actually happened, here, that you would hear on the news. They do this by making their characters human, and by having bad things happen to them!
   The Golden Compass wasn't quite the same thing, though. It was controversial from a purely religious point of view. It was also not as famous as the other two.
   Of course other book have become famous in the last few years, but never, I think, to quite the extent. This is because people no longer want the happy endings, generic princes, and token dragons. They want what sounds like the brutal truth. Because it could be. Because the books are realistic.
   And there it is! That's my thought! Controversy is popular. I would be interested in hearing any feedback that you have for me, but meanwhile, that's pretty much all I have to say.
   By the way, today I have reached the 97th page view, and I hope to make it a hundred! So, thank you everyone for reading, and I love you very much! Stay safe, keep reading, and keep dreaming. But mostly reading. Also, because today was such a serious and possibly boring post, I'm going to add a little something for you below, in thanks for sticking with me. Love,
                                              -Eva Gould, Author