A Glimpse of Starlight

Mondays can be hard and uninspiring (am I the only one who associates the color gray with Mondays?), but today I have some exciting announcements that will hopefully spice up your day. Ready?

1) The Monster Upstairs 

My dear friend and fellow blogger at From the Files of a Hilltop Homeschool, Elisabeth Newton, is publishing her first book, The Monster Upstairs. She’s doing it though the Kindle Scout program, where potential books have thirty days to get nominated before the Kindle Scout team review the books, looks at how nominations it receives, and decides whether to publish it as an e-book.

I am super excited for this book. I had the privilege of reading one of the early drafts, and I could not put it down. I kept dashing back to the computer so I could finish it, to the annoyance of my family.

I’m sure some of you are thinking, “Well, it’s her friend. She’s biased.” And I am biased, of course. But hopefully you all know by now that I take good literature seriously and don’t advertise anything that isn’t worth your time. I can tell your right now, the writing quality, plot, characters, and themes of The Monster Upstairs make it a book I am proud to recommend.

So, what’s it about? It’s told through the eyes of a house, and the unique choice of narrator is part of this book’s fascinating appeal. There’s travel to different worlds and times, but ultimately, as the title indicates, it’s about the Monster who lives upstairs in the house and the two children he traps. Here’s the blurb:

“I wait for time to allow me to rest, but I have to stand here, watch humans crumble, and feel the pain. My wooden skeleton bows under years of strain like an old man with failing knees. I want to collapse like dominoes, each world disconnecting and hurtling into oblivion, me finally at peace. Better that than watch the Scroggins kids fail. Things are hopeless. They can’t really change the Monster, they can’t possibly find the Truth. There are too many chances and risks. It’s just too much.”

If you want to read this book or simply help out a new author, copy and paste the link below into a new tab. Sign into your or a family member’s Amazon account and simply click the big blue “Nominate” button by the book cover and blurb. You can also read the first four chapters below the blurb, and I can promise you that they are enticing! Also, if you nominate the book and it gets picked for publication, you get a free copy of it. Best thing ever for a bookworm, right?

To nominate The Monster Upstairs and read the first four chapters: https://kindlescout.amazon.com/p/YCE83XRX352P

2) Void Press

Another friend and blogger at asotherswere, G. N. Boorse, has started a literary magazine called Void Press. Why the name Void Press, you may ask? Here’s the answer, from the website:

We all start with a void. An empty thing, a white canvas, a blank page. Art, by definition, is the assembly of something beautiful from the chaotic nothingness of life. We write from the ups and the valleys, the hills and the downs alike. We write to express, to exist, to explain everything we will never understand by way of the tiny things we do understand. It’s a way to cope, to breathe, to make something out of the disorganized bits and pieces scattered about our apartments and suburban living rooms.

It is with these pieces—your pieces—that we fill the void.

Without art, Earth is just Eh, so let’s pour into the vacuum space our words and pictures: novels and memoirs and collections of short stories and poetry. Submit something; pitch in and do your share. Design and make, pencil and partake.

The void is infinite; it will never overflow.

But here at Void Press, we fill it anyway.

You can find the official website here. Doesn’t it look attractive? I’m so excited for the first publication.

But here’s the thing: To be published, it needs to have content. That content, my friends, comes from you. I have met so many talented writers in this little corner of the blogosphere, and I want to encourage you to submit something (poetry, short stories, or essays) to this magazine. There’s also the option of submitting artwork, such as photography or graphic design.

Not only will your submissions get this magazine up and running, but it will give you a chance to see your name and writing published. In print. What writer isn’t thrilled by that?

So, as this week starts up, I encourage you to help a wonderful book get published (it’s such an easy process, for such great rewards!) and find something to submit to a magazine (maybe less easy, but still rewarding). Happy Monday!