The summer sun bathes the earth in warmth and light,
Faeries dance under the moon at night.
Cross through the portal into a land ancient, beautiful, and wild.
See the wonders that enticed the stolen child.
Come away, O reader! To the Realm of Faerie.
But if you want to make it back home, you had better be wary…

Only one week left until The Faerie Summer bundle launches!!!!!

I am so excited about this bundle! I’ve loved stories about fairies since I was a kid. And I know you’re thinking: what’s the difference between fairies and faeries? 🙂 It’s mostly a stylistic thing. “Faery” is a more archaic version of the word, whereas “fairy” is more commonly used today. Sometimes people will use “faerie” to denote the land or realm of Faerie, and “fairy” to denote the inhabitants.

The story I wrote, “The Faery’s Choice,” is set in a world where I chose to use “e” instead of “a” because it felt like it fit the world. I would use a different spelling in other stories – for example, Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s beautiful “Flower Fairies,” which made me all teary-eyed by the end, uses the “i” version, and that feels totally correct to me.

I found the artwork for the cover months ago. I think it’s perfect for this bundle. I wanted an image that would convey the feeling of summer, while adding a magical touch. I could have fiddled with the cover forever, but I finally made myself stop doing things like moving the text around a few pixels at a time, or adjusting the shade of the text color so slightly no one else would even notice. 🙂 I’m really happy with the result.

The bundle has a Facebook page – I’ll start posting information about the stories and authors there after launch. We also have a Goodreads page. And just look at the covers!

In other news, my wonderful editor, DeAnna (who has a story in The Faerie Summer bundle, because she’s also a fabulous writer) gave me great feedback on “Clyde and the Ghost Cat.” Annoyingly, her main comment was that I needed to write something that I knew I should write, but I couldn’t figure out how to pull it off. So now I have to do it. 🙂 I have less than a week to come up with something, write it, and submit the story.

As soon as I get Clyde straightened out (which you’d think would be easy, but he is a cat, and has a mind of his own) I’ve got to wrap up some edits on one story, then write another that I only have vague idea about at the moment. And then I need to find an interesting piece of artwork that involves tentacles for the cover of the Beneath the Waves bundle, which launches in mid-June. And after that… It’s a long list. 🙂