Sabrina's Blog

Can you imagine being an unwed, virgin teenage girl visited by an angel and asked to carry your god's child? Keep in mind the ridicule you'll endure, the possibility that your fiance may withdraw his proposal, and that no one will believe that you didn't give in to premarital sex. I admire Mary for the kind of faith it took to know what would happen, but to say anyway, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be as you have  said." As a mother myself, I know that she didn't regret her choice. I also cannot imagine the pain she must have experienced as she watched him sacrificed for the souls of an ungrateful people. As you celebrate Christmas with your family, give your own children an extra special hug and send up a prayer or two of thanks to a God who loves us so much as to provide salvation in Jesus to an unworthy people and for sending such an amazing example of a mother's love and strength in Mary. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth...

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop I was very kindly nominated a while back for The Next Big Thing Blog Hop by Melanie D. Sokol . It's taken me a bit, but I am finally getting this post up. I hope you enjoy learning about my newest WIP. *** What is the working title of your book? Diomere's Prince Where did the idea come from for the book? One of my very odd and detailed dreams after watching a documentary on Mermaids on the Discovery Channel, I believe. What genre does your book fall under? Fantasy/YA What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? A misplaced prince must discover his true heritage and find his way home to present himself before a magic gate by his 16th birthday to prevent the destruction of his people and an entire world. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Chris Hemsworth as my protagonist  Mark Addy as my Antagonist Angus T. Jones as my protagonists' brother. Will your bo...

Rules: Ever attended a Christmas party where you bump into the person who was always there for you during the last year? You'd thank them for being such a RockStar, right? If there's one person in the Blogosphere who you want to say cheers to, who would it be? For us, it was a no-brainer. Alex "no hyperlink needed" Cavanaugh . Alex is an awesome blogger who's helped hundreds of us via book releases, guest posts, guest interviews and always positive comments. While we can't have a live part-ay for the Ninja Captain, we can host a BlogFest: Welcome to the "Cheers, Cavanaugh BlogFest." Hosted by Mark Koopmans , Morgan Shamy , David Powers King, and Stephen Tremp, the BlogFest runs from December 10-12. Two winners – chosen by Alex – will each win one prize: FIRST PLACE: A signed copy of CassaStar. GRAND PRIZE*: A picture of Alex and a download of him playing the guitar. (*One caveat: Alex asks the picture or download NOT be shar...

This week I have the honor of having writer, poet, editor, and friend Erin York as a guest on my blog.  She has a fabulous review to share with you AND a chance for you to win a copy of that same book. So without further ado, please welcome Erin.  *wild applause & happy dancing* Take it away, Erin!!! *** Because I work at Full Circle Bookstore in OKC and because I met a wonderful YA (young adult) salesperson from Penguin Books there, I've come into many advanced reader's copies of books. I was lucky enough to receive a copy of PRODIGY, the second book in Marie Lu's dystopian series, Legend.  Here's a quick synopsis of PRODIGY, which will come out in January 2013: June  and  Day  arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. T...

To prepare for a social media workshop I am co-hosting with writer friend, Erin York , on December 8th, I have been researching all the things I don't know. I didn't think it would be that long of a list. I was wrong. So much for knowing it all... *laughs* Just with Facebook, I have learned some really cool tips that I didn't not know, per se, but really just hadn't though of. For example, do you have an author or book page? Do you have it listed as a place your work on your personal profile? Thanks to Andrea Vahl at the Social Media Examiner  I now have another way to link my page and my personal profile so that when people look me up, they can click right on that to find their way to my page. It's such a small thing, but what a difference it could make for those readers who might try to look me up, wanting my author page. It also makes it more simple for my friends and family to find my author page. Twitter is my weak link in social media. The point of it...

This week is about being thankful. Thankful to God for all the blessings in my life. Thankful to my hub for being my rock. Thankful to my family for their love. Thankful to my friends, both near and far, who are only a phone call away. But this post is especially for my writer friends who know exactly how to lift me up when this seemingly impossible dream overwhelms me. Today, I thank God for you. I know that I wouldn't have come as far as I have in my writing without you. I wouldn't have one MS ready for submission for the most part and another 2  in progress. Without you, I never would have believed that I CAN do this. Who/What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving? Anyone else prefer ham over turkey?  Anyone else eating(have already eaten *guilty grin*) a whole pumpkin pie themselves or is that just me?

Today is about appreciation. Appreciation for those men and women who sacrifice so much for freedoms so often taken for granted. Though many disagree with those in control, we all can appreciate those brave soldiers who sacrificed their time and in many cases their lives. So this heartfelt thanks is from one veteran soldier to my fellow veterans and those still serving today. Thank you! (Me, 10 years ago, as a new U.S. Army basic training graduate. I looked so young.)

Why is it that as soon as you take on something as intensive as NaNoWriMo, everything else in your life explodes? The orders coming in for the awards business I own were steady, but managable. My word count was over my goal for the first 3 days. Then an explosion occurred. An explosion of orders. November happens to be the end of fall cross country, fall soccer, and fast pitch softball seasons. *typed as I stare crazy-eyed at the computer screen*  Don't look too closely, you'll see the tired bags beginning to form, the fact that my eyebrows need tended too, and even a few lines that I swear showed up on my 30th birthday in September. *grin* I've been so busy that it's Wednesday night and I am just getting to my Monday post. Yep, it's just one of those weeks. But you know what? I haven't missed one morning of getting up early to write. Sure, I don't always get as high in the word count as I would hope, but I am still up trying. For that I...

Creepy crawly and all things shivery. Today you'll meet creatures that make you jittery! Today is Monstrous Monday and I must give a huge shout out to the host of this fabulous blogfest, Tim Brannon. You can still signup by visiting his blog, here , and posting one of several fabulous buttons. The button below was my fave. And now to introduce you to one of the monsters from my MS, I thought I'd post a bit of the scene that introduces her. The poor creature was made using the body of my MC's mother and another poor woman that had the misfortune of being a captive of a dark mage. I'm sure you can imagine poor Ruark's horror at seeing his beloved mother's face on such a ghastly creature. *** Excerpt from The Severing by Sabrina A. Fish Namur took the vial of blood and uncapped it. He tilted it over the woman’s slowing heart as he chanted softly to the dark flame.             “Beating heart, powerful blood. Black flam...

My number one favorite thing to do as a writer is world building. Some people like building characters, but I find my imagination prefers creating a unique world all my own and then finding characters that fit in it. It's so complex, involved, and overwhelming. Non-fantasy/sci-fi writers tend to get big eyed when I tell them I write fantasy novels. The first question they usually ask me is, "How do you create a whole world like that and make it believable? Isn't it really hard?" I admit, it's no walk in the park. However, the challenge is part of the fun. I have learned so much about weather patterns, ore mining, environmentally based cultures & religions, and weather patterns over bodies of water versus large sections of land. Though much of the information I have learned hasn't made it into any of my writing, I had to know these things to make my world believable. Putting an ore mine in a place where ore couldn't possibly be found might make your...

My writer buddy, Erin York, and I met the other day for dinner and of course had to open up the laptops and talk about our current WIPs. I'm not sure who(probably her as I'm known for being a bit oblivious *grin*), but one of us noticed that all 3 of my current writing projects have MC's with 'R' names. We found it so funny, that we decided we needed to do something to immortalize this inclination of mine. So, I decided to dub my followers and fans: I don't know about you, but this totally cracks me up. Especially as I spent the early years of my 20s in the Oklahoma Army National Guard. This got me to thinking about other fan community names. For example: Steve Berry calls his fans "Malone's Clones", our own Alex J. Cavanaugh calls his fans "Alex's Ninja Army", and then there are Star Trek fans, who prefer the term "Trekker" over "Trekkie", just to name a few off the top of my head. What do you think, bl...

Technology and I aren't great friends. I don't feel the need to have the latest and greatest gadget, the most recent program, or the trending app. I don't care for the complication of changing programs and having to learn where everything I need is located. However, I know that to deny the usefulness of these things is akin to banging my head against the proverbial wall...a total waste of time. My mom was a high school business/computer teacher. You'd think I'd have inherited some of her love for the infuriating machines, but I haven't. I loved my  mom as a teacher, but I hated her preferred subject. And my feelings haven't changed much. Thanks to my mom, I am familiar with Microsoft Office. And have felt no need to put out the effort to learn any other system. I chose fantasy over science fiction for a reason. *grin* But thanks to my friends constantly barraging me with how great the Ipad is, how fabulous Scrivener is, and showing me examples of what ...

It's cold here in Oklahoma. I'm talking, thick socks and hot cocoa while you curl up on the sofa with the lap top and write, cold. This bipolar state I live in will most likely get warm again before it decides to stay cold, but for now I am enjoying this glimpse of my favorite writing season.  I don't mean that I can't write any time of the year, because of course I can. There is just something about the fall and winter that I feel gives me permission to hibernate. I love that NaNoWriMo occurs in November when the cold really settles in and the snow makes its appearance. Being trapped in the house by snow while other people are prevented from visiting... now that is perfect writing weather for this writer. *mischievous grin* I'm working on the sequel to my first book(which is in the submission process right now). It is an intense challenge to figure out that perfect balance of telling just enough that a new reader would understand what's going on an...

I turn 30 this coming Friday. Eeeekkk! I remember when I used to think that was old, but truthfully, I don't feel old now that I am staring it in the face. I actually feel more confident, beautiful, and motivated than I ever did at 18. This last weekend, I checked off another of the items I had on my list of things to do by 30. I went skydiving.  It was SO FUN!!! The hub and I went together. And now we are thinking about working toward the 25 jumps for an A License. How cool would it be to take our gear to other places we visit on vacation and take advantage of their skydiving facilites?!! What do you think? Are you ready to go jump from a perfectly good airplane?

Genre Favorites Blogfest, September 17, 2012 One blogfest, four favorites! List your favorite genre of: Movie Music Books And a guilty pleasure genre from any of the three categories! I thought I'd try an light hearted and fun blogfest being hosted by Ninja Captain Alex this time around. I hope you enjoy learning a little more about me. You can visit Alex J. Cavanaugh's blog here . My favorite genre of movie: Fantasy, of course! I especially love all of THE NEVERENDING STORY movies.  My favorite genre of Music: Modern Country! What?!! I grew up in Oklahoma. Give me some Reba, Travis Tritt, or Carrie Underwood any day and I'll belt it out at the top of my lungs. *grin* My favorite genre of Books: Fantasy! Brandon Sanderson's MISTBORN Trilogy being my ab-so-lute favorite! My guilty pleasure genre for books: Paranormal Romance...I love the Anita Blake Series by Laurell K. Hamilton or REJAR by Dara Joy. One word: Wowser! (Hey, I didn...

Feeling somewhat nostalgic tonight. The hub and I were driving with the windows down and Springsteen by Eric Church came on the radio. Suddenly, I was transported back over 6 years, to the passenger seat of that white Chevy, speeding down the interstate, my hair whipping in the wind as Billy & Shania sing 'Party for Two' and the boyfriend(now the hub) waves at me with his side mirror.  The chorus for Springsteen came on and I looked over at the hub and smiled. When the 2nd verse started, I found myself transported back 2 years as I sway to the sound of Sugarland on stage at the Zoo Amphitheater, sticky with sweat from a hot summer evening, the hubs arms around my waist as I lean my head back against his chest.  *sigh* I love when a song can evoke such beautiful memories. While that one song played, I was once again living those memories. Do you have a song that does this for you? In other news...BLOG CHALLENGES! Last week I signed up for a new challen...

"What's the point of social media and building an author platform if you aren't published yet?" the girl in the third row said as she lowered her hand. Heat climbed from my chest, up my neck, warming my cheeks. I cast a quick sidelong glance to my fellow panel members and could not think of a response. The audience watched me with growing skepticism. Many began to fidget. I wanted to sink into the floor. ****** This was the star attraction in my recent nightmares...as in, just last night. You see, I am to appear on my first panel as a writer, albeit unpublished, at a local small conference this month. I will be talking about building an author platform. And I. Am. Terrified. So I thought I'd excise this fear plaguing me and use you, my dear bloggy followers, to show myself that I can actually answer this question and do it well. *grin* So what is the point of social media before you are published? Why bother wasting good time that you could be workin...

Cue the fireworks! Pop the cork on the champagne!  Thanks to Ciara Knight , I have reached 100 fabulous followers and as promised I have randomly selected one lucky follower to win a $10 Amazon Gift card.  ELISE FALLSON If you'll send me your address, I will get your $10 Amazon Gift Card in the mail! Thanks to all my fabulous followers who have been such great friends, taught me many wonderful new things, and been such great supporters as I travel down this bumpy road. 

This weekend I enjoyed making fabulous progress on the sequel to my first novel. I figured that since I am waiting to hear back about whether I'll be accepted or rejected, I'd go ahead. That was 3 months ago. I am just now making any real progress on book 2. Why? Because when I looked at beginning the 2nd, I was assailed with self-doubt. Did I have another book in me? Could I really make a 2nd book as good as the 1st? What if the 1st was rejected? These questions went on and on and on. So I continued tinkering with the first. You know, looking for spelling errors, typos, grammar mistakes. Anything to keep from having to figure out how to start the 2nd book. Then about 3 weeks ago, I sat down and wrote the prologue. I liked it, but I had known since the beginning of book two how the mini story of my prologue was going to go. I tried to start the actual 1st chapter, but I totally stalled out. After the end of the 1st book, a different tone needed to be set. A lot happened...

There I was sitting in our workroom, cranking out another large order of name badges for my business, Award Solutions, when I noticed the little light on my cell phone blinking. Now I don't know about you, but when I am busy my cell phone can be forgotten for hours. And so it was no different today. Imagine my surprise and thrill when I opened up a message from fellow blogger and "What If?" Fairytale Blogfest co-host and judge for the tragedy category of the challenge, Leigh Covington, left me a message on my Facebook page to tell me that I had won for my entry in the tragedy category. How cool is that!!! If you missed my entry, you can read it HERE . If you missed the list of winners for the different categories, check them out on Leigh's blog HERE . Now I am going to go do a happy dance and then crank out the medal order due this week. Thanks to Leigh, Morgan, Cassie Mae, and Mark for an awesome blog challenge!

Today begins the "What If?" Fairytale Blogfest and I am excited to share my entry. I have had it picked out since Morgan Shamy first announced it, so imagine my surprise upon checking out her page to find that she had picked the same fairy tale. Great minds think alike! She went the way of the love story, but I am of a little darker bent and chose to join Team Tragedy. I hope you enjoy my little 300 word piece.  What if the queen hadn't figured out Rumplestiltskin's name by the end of the 3rd day? My Scene(exactly 300 words)    The ominous beat of the drums vibrated the ground beneath her feet as Queen Serena made her way toward the platform that floated amid the sea of silent spectators. Head high, she fought against the weight of her grief even as her tears made glistening tracks down her cheeks. She could feel the King’s gaze boring into her, his words at discovering the reason for their missing child imprinted in her mind forever.   ...

As some of you may know, my husband and I recently purchased a trophy and award company that we are running out of our home. My husband is continuing to work his regular job as a project manager out of our home as he as done that past 3 years. Which means that I have been responsible for a busy load with the company while he sees to that. Today begins week 4, and I finally feel like I am beginning to get into a rhythm. I even managed to work on my WIP last week! Seriously! Unbeknownst to us, we purchased the company a week before the 2nd most busy time of the year for our company. So not only have I been trying to learn how to do everything, but I have also been trying to crank out the load of orders that have come in. It was overwhelming the first week. My WIP was spared barely a thought. The second week I thought about it with nostalgia. This coming week, I might get to spend a couple hours on it each day if I manage my time well. My non-writer friends don't understand...

I lost track of time and forgot to post my Monday post yesterday, so it's a Tuesday post this week. *sheepish grin* Better late than never, right?! The ugly fish man creature surged toward me through the eerie green water, a sharp coral knife in each hand. The portal, my only hope for returning home, stood on the other side of him. I pushed against the water to propel myself backwards in a vain attempt to dodge the bite of his weapon. He moved like the viper of my homeland, quick and without mercy. Time slowed as he loomed closer, his right hand arcing toward my chest. My heart thundered in my ears as my thoughts splintered. Part of me wondered how it was I breathed under water, another part wondered that mermen weren’t as handsome as I’d always imagined, and still another part continued to watch the knife move closer. My mind gathered itself as the tip of the knife sliced through the odd seaweed shirt I wore. Just as I braced to feel the sting of its bite, I woke up.  ...

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."  ~Albert Einstein To me the fantasy genre is the epitome of what using your imagination is all about. Reading fantasy makes  you think 'what if' and encourages you to move past accepting what you are told. Would Einstein have received his Nobel Prize in Physics for developing his theory of general relativity without first using his imagination to 'think outside the box'? I very much doubt it.  As a child, fantasy stories helped me learn to question the world around me. My mom might have told me that the wardrobe leading to Narnia was simply a figment of C.S. Lewis' imagination, but I still wondered if she could be wrong. This one is still up for debate. *grin*  I firmly believe that when  your perceptions of reality are blurred as a child, that ...

I am a goal setter and have been since I was a child. I just work better if I have something I am working towards. During high school my goal was getting into college. During college it was getting my degree. After college it was being a good wife and mommy. I have goals to complete by my 30th birthday , goals for my family, and goals for my writing group . It only makes sense that I would make a list of goals when I started writing a year and a half ago. So I thought I'd share it with you. Sabrina's Writer Goals 1. Get better at editing.  2. Be offered a contract by a major publisher. 3. Win a contest. 4. Keynote a conference. 5. Sell my books worldwide. 6. Inspire new writers. 7. Teach new writers my hard won knowledge. 8. Learn to like editing. (Yeah, I'm not holding my breath either. *grin*) I'm sure I'll add to this, but for now it's a good start.  How about you? What are your goals as a writer? Have you completed any ...

Old episodes of one of my favorite shows, Xena Warrior Princess, made me a bit nostalgic, so I thought I'd theme this Friday post: Flashback Friday and post pics of some of my favorite shows that helped develop my love of the fantasy genre in which I write.  Having Hercules and Xena team up was awesome! I have always been a huge fan of Greek mythology, so this show was a big hit with me as a kid. I never missed a new episode and LOVED reruns...especially marathons! Having Xena be such an awesome and beautiful female hero was an added bonus.  On the science fiction side of things, I can remember watching Star Trek Original and my favorite, Star Trek: The Next Generation, with my mom. I have never been one to become overly obsessed to the point that I ever wanted to learn Klingon or dress in a Trek uniform, but I still enjoyed the adventures of both Captain Picard and Captain Kirk.  Space became even more interesting when the series ROSWELL...

Last night I struggled to find motivation for my usual evening walk. I just wasn't feeling it. I wanted to plant my rear on the couch, eat another bowl of the homemade butterfinger  icrecream I had made the night before, and play on Facebook or watch a show. Definitely not one of my more shining moments. *laughs* You know you'd have a hard time choosing a walk over this, too!! Then I started thinking about the domino effect that would commence if I skipped the walk. One night of skipping would lead to another and another until all the progress I've made would go out the window like waste from a medieval chamber pot.   This struggle struck me as extremely familiar and I realized only a couple of weeks before, I had struggled with lack of motivation to write because I knew I had edits that needed done.  I HATE editing. Finding all the places I've made some grammar mistake, become repetitive, contradicted myself, or basically forgotten how to spell,...

One of my writer friends recently read my complete novel for the first time. She loved it, of course. *grin* However, like any great critique group buddy, she had suggestions for me. One of those suggested figuring a way to break up my novel into 'parts' to help the reader realize that years are passing.  In theory, I understand what she meant, but I wasn't sure how to actually go about doing it. So I turned to my trusty Google and this is the very helpful site it found for me. Anatomy of a Novel So I thought I'd share it with others of my writers friends who might understand something in a theoretical way, but like me, might need more of an explanation. In other news, my husband and I are in the process of becoming entrepreneurs. We are buying a company called Award Solutions . So beginning in about 2 weeks or so, if you are in Oklahoma and looking to purchase trophies, medals, certificates, name tags, plaques, or anything else listed on the website, give us...