Re-Issue! Wee Folk and Wise

Posted on by
A fairy woman sits in a mystic forest. Title reads "Wee Folk and Wise." Illustration by Carol Hightshoe using Midjourney.

After more than a year of rallying and agitating, Wee Folk and Wise is being re-issued by Wolfsinger Publications. This is the anthology of fairy stories I first edited for Sky Warrior. I’m excited to see it return to print, possibly as early as next week. Never fear, I’ll post purchase links as soon as I have them.

A World of Enchantment

All over the world, fairy tales are told. There are big fairies and little fairies. Ugly fairies and pretty fairies. Wise fairies and silly fairies. Sweet fairies and scary fairies. Sixteen authors share their own fantastic fairy tales in this magical collection. What kind of fairy will you meet here?

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky.

Future Release

Posted on by
The moon glows over a beautiful fantasy library. Text reads "Aunt Anne's Archive, Tales of Magic and Mystery by Deby Fredericks."
Illustration by DeKreator

Here’s a sneak peek at the cover for my next planned release, Aunt Anne’s Archive. Isn’t it pretty? Bear in mind, this is a work in progress and there are bound to be changes. It gives you an idea what I’m going for, though.

This will be a short story collection, companion to one of my first independent releases, Aunt Ursula’s Atlas. Where Aunt Ursula collected Lucy D. Ford’s short work, Aunt Anne will be under Deby Fredericks’ byline. My initial plan was to also re-release Aunt Ursula with a new cover. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to determine whether AI had been used in that image, so it’s temporarily on hold.

I almost have enough stories for a second collection of Lucy’s work, but one thing at a time. Besides, I’d have to decide which literary aunt I wanted to dedicate to.

Anywho, I’d love to hear what you think about this cover. Tell me about it in the comments!

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky.

Woman At Work, March 2024

Posted on by

What’s Happening? It’s March, and I’ve started to think about doing yard cleanups, pruning, and so forth. It’s snowing this morning, though, so I don’t have to get right into it. My wildest dream is to get a grape arbor this year. We’ll see if that comes true.

What I’m Working On. Part 2 of The Spirit Binder is done and I’m taking a thinking break before I go on to part three. It’s a complete change of setting and I’m sure there will be parts of it I blog about. It’s about 40,000 words now and I’m getting worried about it going beyond the expected length for a middle grade book. I might have to prune this book pretty hard, eventually.

What’s Next? It took some harping, but I connected with all the authors for the re-issue of Wee Folk and Wise. With their approvals of the final proof, I turned in the master document to Wolfsinger. It may be released as soon as the end of this month, so brace yourself for the announcements.

Where I’ll be. Not exactly a where, but it’s time to start thinking about Queen Titania’s Court for 2024. That means scaring up some authors to participate. If you know any fantasy authors, especially independents, feel free to share the link to the details.

Fun and Games. Right now I’m playing Animal Crossing and replaying Dragon Age Inquisition for about the eighth time. It’s like visiting old friends.

It’s snowing outside, right now. Happy spring?

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky.

After RadCon

Posted on by

Last weekend I was Author Guest of Honor at RadCon science fiction convention. So how was it?

Incredible! And exhausting. And educational.

Incredible, because being Guest of Honor was a rare honor for me. I’m pretty much an unknown author, even in my region. It was more recognition of my career and skills than I’ve ever had — and probably ever will have again. (Just keeping my expectations realistic, here.) I really had the chance to talk about my series, Minstrels of Skaythe, and why I chose a message of nonviolence.

I also know that a lot of aspiring authors, artists and other creative people flock to these conventions, and I tried to put out an encouraging message for them. “People will tell you, don’t give up your day job. I say, don’t give up your art.”

Exhausting, because I was on so many panels. Each panel is about an hour, and they take concentration to stay on topic with relevant things to say. They had me scheduled for three in a row, twice during the weekend. I moderated some of them, too. It was just a lot of being on camera and focused.

Educational, because it was my first time doing a dealer’s table to sell my books. My husband sat in during the times I was on panels. He was willing to help, and in fact he was a great salesman, but it took a lot of his time, too. The table itself went really well. I sold lots of books, partly because I was Guest of Honor and that always creates interest and partly because people heard me speak on panels. My main takeaway was that I can’t volunteer for so many panels, and if they try to put me on more, I have to say no.

Will I do a book table again? Absolutely. I wouldn’t want to do the full con circuit, with a convention every month, but two or three a year would definitely be possible. It also coincides neatly with my resolution to make 3 personal appearances each year.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky.

At RadCon

Posted on by

I have been at RadCon this weekend. Hope you all have a great weekend and I’ll check in with you next week.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky.

RadCon 9 Schedule

Posted on by

This is where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing at RadCon! At all other times, I will be in the Dealer’s Room.

Friday, 5 pm – Opening Ceremony, where I’ll be introduced as Author Guest of Honor in an interview format. Olympic Ballroom.

Friday, 6 pm – 1980s Anime, panel discussion, which possibly will overlap with Opening Ceremony. Sage Room.

Friday, 7 pm – Writing Mythology in Fiction. Panel discussion, Room 3125.

Saturday, 10 am – Guest of Honor Keynote. This is my big chance to shine, talk about my writing, read from my work, and so forth. Bin 20 Lounge.

Saturday, noon – Student Writing Workshop. A private discussion with student writers.

Saturday, 3 pm – Why We Create. Panel discussion, Harvest Room.

Saturday, 4 pm – Trends in SF, Fantasy and Horror. Panel discussion, Room 3125.

Saturday, 5 pm – That’s Too Political! Panel discussion designated as 18+ in the Sage Room.

Sunday, noon – Finding Time to Write. Panel discussion, Room 3125.

Sunday, 5 pm – Closing Ceremony, Olympic Ballroom.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky.

Woman at Work, February 2024

Posted on by

What’s Happening? One of my kids moved back in two days ago, with girlfriend, two cats, and a lizard. Their landlord jacked the rent and they need a couple of months to recoup and find a new place. It’s going to be an adjustment — 5 people and 1 bathroom? — but it’s family. It will be fine.

What I’m Working On. The Spirit Binder is nearing the end of its middle section. I know, I keep saying that. Work and moving-in have slowed me down. You know what they say about middles. I just remind myself that when the readers are reading it, they won’t know all of that.

What’s Next? My current second project is Wee Folk and Wise, an anthology of fairy related short stories. It originally came out in 2016 from Sky Warrior and is being reissued by Wolfsinger. I’m at the point of chasing down four more authors to approve the galley. Then I can send it on to the publisher.

Where I’ll be. RadCon is in two weeks. The book table is all figured out, but my schedule is more complicated now that I’m a Guest of Honor. They also sent me homework for their writer’s workshop. I’ll be going through that today.

Fun and Games. Right now I’m playing Animal Crossing and building my town, but I’m starting to think about another game. There are a couple I’ve had my eye on and I haven’t chosen one yet. Should I do the one with the lost cat trying to get home, or the fisherman dredging up increasingly weird creatures?

Take care, all.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky.

Run With It

Posted on by

Recently I’ve been mentioning that I hope to get a book table at RadCon, where I’m planning my first in-person appearance of 2024. They haven’t been answering my e-mails, which doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence. You might also remember that my schedule there was going to be a marathon — yikes!

But, on Sunday, I got a different e-mail from them. Are you ready for this? They want me to be their author guest of honor this year!

This is the opposite of yikes. More of a yippee! So I said yes, and I will be the author guest of honor (or keynote speaker, if you prefer) at RadCon 9, February 16-18, in Pasco, WA.

After having helped run a lot of SF conventions, I am pretty sure this invitation comes because another of their honorees cancelled. Normally conventions schedule their guests of honor well in advance. However, I’m going to take the opportunity and run with it. When I get done with this blog, I’m going to start writing up a press release and see if I can get some coverage in my local papers and even the PBS radio station.

My schedule may possibly be even more of a yikes now, but in a good way. And, who knows, maybe I can get them to commit on that book table!

Training Issues

Posted on by

In the last week I’ve crossed over 20,000 words on my middle grade novel, The Spirit Binder. The initial goal was 30,000 words, and that’s fast approaching. Methinks I think I’ll be revising that goal before long.

The current stage is basically a training montage. The main character is Cleodora, who starts out at age ten. But if she’s going to trot out spellcasting and such, I thought her growth and training ought to be on the page. By the time she sets out at age 13, she’ll have had several years of preparation.

It isn’t something I had planned on, but possibly I’m also writing this stage in response to so many stories where a young protagonist is trained to be some kind of super-assassin or thief. Cleodora is learning how to avoid being grabbed, and how to get out of holds. Her spells are things like a shield that deflects attacks, and a light, rather than attacking people herself.

A couple of creeping issues have appeared. Most of the training is under the structure of the guilds I mentioned in an earlier post. I still haven’t come up with titles for the guild leaders and such. I really need to get going on that. Also, my characters in Minstrels of Skaythe used light spells and barriers a lot. I’m not anxious to be repeating myself with their magic.

More seriously, Cleodora doesn’t know who’s behind all the troubles, but she has a spirit companion named Tef who really should have at least some of the answers. I need to come up with a good reason for it to not clue the humans in.

I know I will, though. The first draft is for putting the plot and characters together. Second draft is for fixing plot holes.

I hope you’re all writing along without those creeping issues.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky.

Coming Soon!

Posted on by

I’m into preparations for RadCon, which will be in about a month. It’s one of my favorite SF conventions, held in the Tri-Cities, central Washington State, over February 16-18 (Presidents Day weekend). In addition to the usual panel appearances, I’m pushing myself to get out and sell some books.

I’ll be partnering with a fellow Indy writer, Sanan Kolva. I had applied for an Artist Alley table and she had applied for a Dealer’s Table. Neither of us has heard back yet, but when we do we’ll decide which table we want. If we both turn out to be on panels at the same time, my husband and kid will be there to cover. It should be good for both of us to raise our visibility and sell a few copies.

Red blood cells drift on a dark background. Title: "Borne in the Blood"

Our memberships and room reservation are already taken care of. Later today I’ll be filling out their form to volunteer for specific panels. I’ll probably also check in with Sanan on whether we need table decorations and so forth.

Aside from that, a couple of projects are moving forward with Wolfsinger Publications. Their anthology Borne in the Blood is in the final stages of preparation. I have a story in it. I’ve also received back the last author contract on Wee Folk and Wise. Later today I’ll be going over that ms one final time before turning it in.

January is going pretty well, in other words.

Have you read one of my books? Then it would be great for you to leave a review! Meanwhile, if you’d like to learn more about me and my work, check out my blog, Wyrmflight, or follow me on Bluesky.