Dark Discoveries Magazine

 Great new mag I just got in the mail - Dark Discoveries from Journalstone Publishing. Can't wait to check it out!

 Issue #23 has an interview with Jonathan Maberry and some great short fiction to read!


* See table of contents

* Submissions  open Oct. 1 (Oct-June)  - pays 5 cents word.

Miniatures Monday: New ladies shop bookshelves

Here are the bookshelves I just finished decorating for the larger room of the two-part ladies' shop. The shelves will hold purses, hats and probably perfumes. I really like how these came out. The bottom gold scrapbook paper had glitter-like dots in a design.

This is the larger room box, which is built but not decorated yet.

Other shop items from previous posts:
* See mini lipstick stand
 * Smaller roombox for shoes, etc.  - Before pic
* Victorian cabinet - Mini Perfumes 

http://candidcanine.blogspot.com - http://cverstraete.com

New AIM Miniatures Magazine #46

New free issue of the Artisans in Miniature (AIM) Magazine #46 celebrating shopkeepers. Download here.

 * Includes some great how-to projects!

* Make a vanity train case
* Medical printie labels by Jean Day
* Make 1/4" inch or half-scale poppies
* Cute summer dress pattern to make four summer dresses for a 4" tall doll by Kathi Mendenhall

* A pic of my finished half-scale hutch is on pg. 69

Miniatures in A to Z Blog Challenge Magazine

Something a bit different:

My blog post during the A to Z blog challenge (D is for Miniature Dresses) is included in a neat online magazine, The Woven Tale Press.

 Fun way to peruse a variety of different topics. Check it out!

New Zombie story, "Staying Alive"

Check out my take on surviving in city vs. country during a zombie attack in "Staying Alive: City vs. Country" over at the New Zombie-Fiction blog.

Another miniatures project for the Ladies' Shoppe - mini lipsticks

Thought I'd posted this here too... Thought  this came out really neat. Fiddly but worth trying. Going to do another with a different graphic... Isn't that cool? Something for a table in the ladies' shoppe...

Miniatures Monday, New Ladies Shop in Progress - Preview

Wanted to share a quick preview pic of the miniature Ladies' Shoppe I'm setting up. This is the smaller roombox. I have a larger one which will hold more items as well.

The two large cabinets in back are - ta-da! - thimble cabinets!! Been saving them and thought they'd look perfect painted white and filled with shoes and shoe boxes. I have another one to use for potion bottles in a wizard room I have to finish. 

Just was setting up this room to see what fits. The space on the right wall will have mirrors and a hanging rack with dresses.

It'll be neat to see the before and after photos once everything is painted and decorated. I got this box decorated from the flea market for -- $5. All it needed was a top molding and I have to put electric in yet.  (click for larger pic)

Why My Love Life Sucks, The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer - it takes a geek to be a hero

Today author Shevi Arnold talks about her book Why My Love Life Sucks (The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer)

Blurb-

Seventeen-year-old Gilbert Garfinkle is the ultimate tech geek. He likes to take apart, figure out, and fix things, and he dreams of someday fixing the world. But now his own life has been taken apart by the one thing he'll never be able to figure out. Her name is Amber, and she's a gorgeous girl with a killer smile who wants to turn him into her platonic BFF--literally forever! It's the ultimate geek's ultimate nightmare, and it leaves Gilbert asking life's ultimate question: "Why me?"  

Why My Love Life Sucks (The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer) is a funny novel about geeks, girls, gadgets, vampires, and the start of a most unlikely friendship. It's the first book in The Legend of Gilbert the Fixer, the series that proves it takes the ultimate geek to be the ultimate hero.

Meet Shevi Arnold:

When I was little, I'd take them apart and analyze them, kind of like what Gilbert Garfinkle--the hero of Why My Love Life Sucks--does with electronics. This continued into my college years, when I majored in English Literature and Theater Studies.

For twelve years I worked in magazines and newspapers as an editorial cartoonist, illustrator, editor, arts-and-entertainment writer (specializing in children's entertainment and, of course, comedy), and a consumer columnist.

My last job was at the Jerusalem Post, but I had to quit when my family decided to move to New Jersey to pursue better education options for my autistic son.

This was in February 2001. Since then I've written 40 picture books and seven novels for kids and teens, four of which I've indie published. I was an ABNA quarterfinalist with Why My Love Life Sucks, and I won third place in SmartWriter's Write It Now contest in the the YA category (which was judged by Alex Flinn, the author of Beastly) for my romantic, YA ghost story, Ride of Your Life.

* Check out the Next Stop on the tour at LM Preston's Ramblings

Links:

* Read an excerpt free @ Freado

Pinterest- http://pinterest.com/shevistories/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SheviStories

Blog: http://shevi.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/shevistories

Website: http://www.shevistories.com/Home.html

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/SheviStories

Facebook Event-

https://www.facebook.com/events/592818107403748/?context=create#

BUY:

BN.com: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/why-my-love-life-sucks-shevi-arnold/1114274136?ean=2940015949377&itm=1&usri=shevi+arnold

Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/280989

Story A Day 12-14, zombies, sky and mothers

* In case you can't find the other links, I've removed the stories from online so I can publish them elsewhere.

Catching up for Story A Day for May so there're three stories and an amazing video.

Today's prompt is to finish Sam's Story. Sam just got a dream promotion, or so he/she thinks....

# 14
Sam's Story
by Christine Verstraete

The dream job Sam had wanted was finally within reach.

Any other time she would've jumped at the chance...

She took the letter from the envelope and read it once more.

All her hard work had finally paid off. All those hours and late night meetings.

Lead, it said. No more late nights. The opportunity to do more of the kind of projects she liked.

With a sigh, Sam crumpled the envelope and threw it on the floor.

It was too late now. Joke's on her.

Hands on the trigger, she held tight to the gun and peered through the upper window at the throng of zombies surrounding what was left of the mail delivery person, hoping they'd go away soon, hoping they'd go to some other house.

(c) 2013 C. Verstraete

* 128 words
--------

(A change of pace - loved this when I saw it!)



#13

Above

by Christine Verstraete

From my perch above, all is beauty.

Dots of light become stars on earth. Seas are spots of azure. The land is green and bright.

No decay, no death, no war.

Perfection.

(c) 2013 C. Verstraete

* 32 words

 - inspired by the beautiful photos and song of Canadian Astronaut and Commander Chris Hadfield.

-----

#12

... A mother's love never dies...

Mother's Day

by Christine Verstraete

No one expected the virus to do this.

No one.

Those who died came back and wandered the earth. Hungry, devouring, unexpected.

But the babies... so innocent, so precious.

When they began undying, panic set in. No one knew what to do.

I took them in.

I looked at my hungry charges, their faces gray, their eyes a milky white.

I filled the baby bottle with liquid protein made from raw meat. Disgusting, but necessary. The zombie baby grabbed it eagerly and began to suck.

It worked... for now. I wasn't sure how I'd handle it if they stayed alive and undead, if they continued to grow and thrive.

For now, I cared for them like any mother would, smiling when the baby's tiny hand caressed my cheek.

(c) 2013 C. Verstraete

* 128 words

Miniatures Monday - Victorian-style cabinet

This is one of those wood cabinets from Michaels. I want to fill it with a bunch of different type boxes. I decorated it with scrapbook paper on the back and top, then glued Victorian lady figures on the front and inner doors that I found at The Graphics Fairy.

 I love how this came out!  There is lace on the shelves and the shelf edge. I put Victorian lady stickers on the back walls. I replaced the knobs with regular dollhouse knobs that I painted white.

Next, I want to decorate another cabinet with a large door and a pole inside to hang miniature clothes. These will go in the display room for my miniature ladies' shoppe that I'm planning. More minis are at my website.