First Love reminder

Quick Reminder!

First Love: A Dragon Soul Press Anthology (Epic Romance Anthology Book 1)

Publisher: Dragon Soul Press

Release Date: February 28, 2019

Genre: Romance

ebook – $4.99 (available now for preorder)

paperback – ? (coming soon)

Where: Amazon

Contributing Authors: Meg Boepple, Sofi Laporte, Kathryn St. John, Zoey Xolton, Melinda Kucsera, A.R. Johnston, Simon Dillon, A.M. Cummins, Edeline Wrigh, D.S. Durden, A.D. Carter, Galina Trefil

335 pages full of romance. Keep your eyes open for more news as the time draws nearer. There’ll be a launch party on Facebook full of games, giveaways, and tidbits from all the authors. More info available soon.

(In an aside, life has dictated that the majority of my writing be put aside. I’ll continue trying to get short stories out into anthologies, but my Fathom’s Below has been put on the back burner for the time being. It’s unfortunate but the reasons behind my change of plans are all good, so I’m attempting to go with the flow and keep a positive attitude.)

New Books…yes, plural!

I was hoping to make these announcements in December but life was too hectic. Just as well. I had good news already in December. It’s nice to start the new year off with more good news.

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My first announcement is that I finally settled on which project to work on.

Fathom’s Below

Fathom’s Below is going to be a retelling of The Little Mermaid from Hans Christian Anderson. Don’t expect Disney. This isn’t light and happy. There is no Sebastian, Flounder, or Scuttle. There will be no singing and dancing. That’s not to say the Disney version wasn’t awesome. I grew up with it and still love it. I’d dream about being a mermaid and wish and hope all the time that there was some kind of magic potion that could change my legs into a tail. Lacking that potion, I’d find pants that were way too big (not an easy task for an overweight kid who usually had to squeeze into her pants to begin with) so I could use one pant leg for both my legs and pretend I had a tail.

The only reason I haven’t bought one of those mermaid tail blankets from Walmart etc is that I chronically forget things so I’m always sitting down and standing up millions of times before I get situated…at which point I then have to go to the bathroom. It’s not practical for me to bind my legs up in a tail in that case.

In my world, mermaids drown sailors. They don’t avoid them and then fall in love with them, they kill them. Briny is my mermaid and she’s obviously the exception to the rule as she has to fall in love with the prince. Her story will not have a happy, lovey dovey ending. Why is this not a spoiler? Read the original Hans Christian Anderson story. His Little Mermaid dies! Because of her choices, instead of becoming foam after her death, she becomes an air spirit. I’m not saying my Briny will die…but I’m not saying she won’t. All I’ll say is that she’s not Ariel getting a Happily Ever After with her Prince Eric. This is not Disney…which is good because I would be treading on copyright infringements if it was.

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My second announcement is that I was accepted into another anthology! Yay!

First Love Anthology

First Love is a short romance story anthology from Dragon Soul Press. My story is called A Season’s Time. It was really difficult getting this story completed. It will have a dryad…hamadryad actually…and a young man. Leaf and Bastian. Although writing this story wasn’t “fun,” I did enjoy pushing myself to try something different. It was a struggle from start to finish. I’m glad it’s done, and I’m looking forward to doing more.

I enjoy writing short stories because they’re like writing exercises. They’re not long so they don’t take months and months like a book takes. I can try something entirely new and see how I do. For example, in A Season’s Time, I’m writing it from Bastian’s perspective. While I’ve written male characters plenty of times, I had never dived into one and written from his viewpoint. I think that’s what made this story so difficult for me. I didn’t want him sounding like a woman, not did I want him to fall victim to stereotypes. I believe I managed it.

First Love will be released February 28, 2019. As time draws near, I’ll have more info for everyone. I’m really excited about this. The last anthology of theirs that I was accepted into was All Dark Places. It was the debut of my horror pseudonym. This time, I’m back to my fantasy pseudonym – Kathryn St. John.