writing – Page 3 – Tiffany Shearn

Soccer and a Giveaway

It has been a while since I blogged. I feel as though I am finding my feet again to be able to step in the right direction. While my chest still feels tight, straining against the weight I imagine on my shoulders, there are moments and days I can take for myself now.

Soccer Week

Last Sunday, I had a booth at the Wizard’s School put on by Wizards of Washington. The charity organization does a wonderful job supporting local authors, so I was one of around eight authors offering my books. I went straight from the event to the OL Reign game that evening, so I did not have time to change. While only one person commented on my Renaissance attire, I’m sure other soccer fans wondered what drove my strange garb.

I mixed up a couple of boxes, and my partner had to make a trip home and back to bring copies of Hidden Promise. Oops!

Friday was another Reign game and a special event for many soccer fans. Megan Rapinoe announced her retirement earlier this year, and Friday’s game was her final home match of her final NWSL season. I envy her confidence and self-assurance in the face of controversy and opposition. A record-breaking crowd turned out to see her off and thank her for her contributions to US women’s soccer and other social issues.

Finally, Saturday was fan appreciation night for the Sounders. After over a decade, I have still yet to win any of the big screen giveaways, but my sister and I got a lunch box they were offering out front and some championship trinkets. Both weekend games were exciting, despite ending up as draws.

Upcoming Giveaway!

I teased this on Facebook yesterday, and there will be more posts about it in the coming days. In celebration of reaching the fifty-review mark for Hidden Memory on Amazon (thank you all!), I’m giving away another paperback copy of one of my books!

The entry process will be similar to last time, where I will receive entries via replies to the October newsletter. If you signed up for my newsletter at the faire this summer, I will add all those emails this week. If you don’t see a welcome email by Friday, I recommend signing up on the website.

This event will be open to all, but I’m capping shipping at $25. If you are outside the USA and win, I would ask that you cover the difference in shipping or it would go to another person randomly selected.

If you win, you will be able to pick the Hidden Series book you want to receive. So, if you have the first three already, I’ll hold your win until Hidden Strength comes out and send you that one if it is your selection. Your reviews mean the world to me, and I am so excited to send another signed copy of my book to another recipient.

Not Alright

The last month or so has been a significant struggle for me. I have felt overwhelmed, depressed, and at a loss for how to move forward. Many factors have contributed to the situation, and not all are entirely negative. The combination has driven me to the point where my emotional cup is full and every additional trigger sends it overflowing.

I’m working through the challenges. My husband has been an immense pillar of support, taking on more in the home and providing administrative support for the business. He and my sister were also extremely helpful with the Renaissance Faire over the last three weekends. I would not be where I am today without their help and support.

My blog posts and social media have not been as reliably regular as in the past. The timing will continue to be a bit sparse for a while longer. Something has to give while I recover my time, but it will not last forever.

To shift my focus, I want to highlight a few of the good things that have happened recently.

The Renaissance Faire was an immense success. I met many wonderful people and received overwhelmingly positive feedback on my books. On top of the faire, I have also received five more reviews on Amazon, hitting the fifty mark, and more people are reading through the series.
My business is going well in most areas. While I have felt back at square one, it is well beyond that point with potential upside remaining.
I took some time last weekend for myself. I went to a family lunch, watched TV, sat with my cats, and made some jam.

I will continue to push forward, focus on the positive, and take my counselor’s advice to apply the skills for emotional management. One day at a time, I will work to get back on track and find my balance. In the meantime, everyone please give my alpha readers some encouragement as they work through the draft of Hidden Strength.

(If you are curious about the muffin picture, I have also treated myself to chocolate muffins.)

2023 Ren Faire Moments

The Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire is the first three weekends in August. While this might feel a bit premature to highlight some of my favorite moments, I will probably do a full Ren Faire review next week after it is all over. I’ll include any additional excitement in that one.

The Superfan

A young person working at a food stand for the fair walked past the first day just after opening. We snagged her with our stellar sales shouts, and she spared a few moments before her shift to come over and chat about my books. She was excited about them and said she would talk to her dad about getting them.

I underestimated the level of excitement, though. Over the first two days of the faire, she stopped by a few times, as did her dad. He works at the faire and wanted to make sure we would still be there other weekends or at least have enough on Sunday for them to buy a set.

He made a brief stop on Sunday and paid in advance so I could sign them for her when she came by after her shift. With her personalized books in hand, she stuck around for a while longer to chat and talk about how excited she was to read them. Sticking around could be problematic, but she did a wonderful job of letting us continue to sell and interact with other customers.

All respect for this young lady, and I hope she enjoys them even half as much as she anticipated.

On a Mission

I mentioned this one on Facebook already, so act surprised.

Having just finished a sale and signing, I turned to the next person in line holding one of my books. I thought it was the one my husband had been using to wave at the passing crowds. We tend to hold a copy of Hidden Memory so we can hand it to people for them to read the back.

“What are we doing for you?” I asked.

“Oh, I was just hoping you could sign this,” she replied, holding up a copy of Hidden Promise.

It took my brain a moment to process the sequence of events and associated possibilities. Did someone hand her the third book by accident? What did she mean by just the signature? I recovered quickly enough with a big grin.

Someone liked my books so much they did not want to wait for the faire to get the next in the series, but they still wanted the signature. That someone would bring a book to an event specifically for me to sign made me feel, for a little while, that I had made an impression.

Real-Time Feedback

During the days of weekend two, a few people who purchased books during the first stopped by to tell me how they, their friend, their child, or another person for whom they bought the book was loving it and could not put it down. A handful of people have also messaged me on social media with similar messages. One told me she regretted only picking up the first while she was at the fair, and that she already ordered book two.

Another two reviews have also already come in on Amazon, and I hope to see a few more. I’m up to 45 on Hidden Memory, which is so close to my goal for the year.

More to Come

I also got my hair braided, braved the extreme heat, and shipped a lost book to the person who bought it from me. Someone turned the book into lost and found, so that was wonderful of them. I will try to do better at getting some pictures next time, but no promises.

Stay cool out there, friends!

Hidden Promise in KU!

Earlier this week, I pushed the button that shifted Hidden Promise, the third installment in the Hidden series, over to Kindle Unlimited. After a dip in April, I saw an uptick in page reads for the first two books in the series over the last couple of months, so if you have been waiting for the KU release, it has officially arrived!

The first three books are all available on Amazon in ebook, paperback, and now on KU. When you finish each one, please take a moment to leave a rating/review to help others find the series.

Happy reading before the World Cup starts!

Elaria – Origin of the Fairy

This post contains minor spoilers for Hidden Promise, and I recommend holding off reading further until you are caught up with the series so far. It is also my first foray into creative writing in about a month, so please bear with the rusty attempt.

Origin

Between the balance of vampires and fairy in Elaria, the vampires emerged first. In the east and south, an airborne menace swarmed far and wide each night, devastating the surrounding landscape. Storms raged through the air and over the denuded ground. Animals fled, rivers ran dry, and fires raged after lightning strikes.

Ripples ran through the realm, and it shifted, and adapted. Points of calm appeared around the chaos, gentling the atmospheric turbulence. The fairy had evolved.

The weather disturbances were merely the first stage of the conflict. As the storms calmed, the people clashed. Vampires and fairy filled the skies, vying for control, establishing strongholds, and spreading through the realm.

Upon their emergence, the fairy had greater numbers. It had worked for the gilar to counter the elves. Unfortunately, the greatest weapons of the vampires overmatched the fairy, and the fairy numbers slowly dwindled away. They did not possess the brutal-minded aggression of the gilar and were not inclined to attack the vampires unprovoked.

Infighting among the vampires initially saved the fairy. While the fairy built strong communities, the vampires fought for control of their colonies. The insect and bat wings clashed, both subjugating their prisoners until the two types integrated so much that they became one.

Both the gilar and elves stood firm against vampire incursions and held their territory. Skirmishes with the gilar set the vampires back further. The gilar proved highly resistant to the vampire’s venom and highly motivated toward revenge. Sometimes the fairy came out victorious in a confrontation with the gilar, but those occasions were, more often than not, followed by significant retribution. The hubris of the vampires and aggression of the gilar bought the fairy time.

Migration

Through the centuries, the fairy migrated and spread across the realm. They sought places to call their own, flying far and wide. The vampires followed, always.

The fairy trained to defend themselves. They created weapons to combat the threats of fighting their balance. None of it saved them, not enough. Vampire venom had a devastating impact on any fairy struck by it. Within hours of being clawed, a fairy would fall ill, becoming weak, shakey, and sweating. In a day, after suffering even a minor injury, half the fairy would be dead, and only half survived. Even with the precautions they took and the defenses they developed, the fairy faced destruction. They could not continue to defy the odds, nor escape into the far reaches of the continent. There was nowhere the vampires could not follow.

Disappearance

In the mountain ranges to the north and east, battles raged. Over the ocean to the south, vampires and fairy fought and fell. The fairy became desperate and withdrew into defensive positions around their disparate settlements. While the elves wondered at the extended silence from the friendly race, the fairy leaders sought radical solutions. One woman found a solution.

She went away, disappearing for a time before returning with a promise: her life, and all to follow in her line, in exchange for the protection of her people. She would sacrifice and live a life of solitude, and the fairy could disappear into their newly established sanctuaries.

Seven islands of safety, the sanctuaries connected on an essential level while remaining physically remote. No one could leave, but no threats could enter either. The protector of the sanctuaries went into hiding, and the world thought the fairy were lost. All that remained of them were stories and legends.