Dream Big for a Book!

October 10, 2014 by Matina 6 Comments

I am excited to announce to you all that I will shortly be self publishing a book of my own! It’s a collection of short stories that I’ve been working on over the years. I’ve finally got enough to compile into something that I can share with others and that is what I have decided to do!

The short stories are all fairy tale retellings and continuations of classic favorites including Snow White, The Little Mermaid, The Wild Swans, and last but certainly not least The Goose Girl. I am excited about this and I hope you all are as well.

As things get closer to completion I will keep you all updated with things like book covers, titles, and a sure to be exciting summary. In anticipation of all of that I wanted to share a short excerpt from my Little Mermaid continuation entitled A Mermaid’s Tale:

Adam’s bare feet splashed through the ocean water as he made his way back towards the shore. He smiled to himself remembering the feel of the ocean and wind whipping past his face as he’d rode the waves of that day. Now the sun was close to setting and he needed to get back to his house before dark.

When he reached the shore he set his surfboard down to look across the beach he’d nicknamed Utopia. He savored the feeling of solitude that the beach brought him as he examined the stretch of trees that separated this beach from the main one. Few people knew about the hidden beach behind the forest and Adam wanted to keep it that way. Utopia was the one place he could escape the rest of the world and its troubles.

His eyes scanned the small beach taking it all in one last time before he had to leave for the night. His gaze passed over a rocky area and as he was turning away he glanced something move from the corner of his eye. Curiosity won over the need to leave and he jogged over to the jagged rocks that helped to hide Utopia. There, clutching on for life was a young woman dressed in a tattered gown.

Adam crouched down and gently pushed aside a strand of her long brown hair revealing her unconscious face beneath. ‘Where did she come from?’ he wondered thinking back on the day. Adam had spent most of the day at the beach surfing and he felt like he would have noticed if anyone washed up on the shore like this.

As Adam tried to pull her away from the rocks he realized that she must have passed out while holding on to them, her grip was powerful and it took a good deal of strength for him to pry her hands from the rock. He lifted her up into his arms and glanced back at his surfboard longingly, he’d have to come back for it tomorrow and pray the tide didn’t wash it away.

His car was parked close by the entrance to the beach and after strapping the girl into the passengers seat he drove home. Adam lived by himself in a small house that suited his needs. It was rumored that long ago it use to be a temple but years of remodeling had turned it into more of a home than anything. Remnants of what could be called a temple were scattered around the land surrounding it and sometimes Adam wondered if the rumors really were true.

He dried the girl off as best he could and settled her in his bed before making a bed for himself on the couch. As Adam stared up at the ceiling of his living room his mind wandered through the events of the day finally settling on the girl, who was she? Where had she come from? He shook his head clearing the thoughts away, hopefully those questions would be answered in the morning.

~                                              ~                                              ~

When Rayne opened her eyes the first feeling to hit her was warmth, the sun’s rays poured in through a slit in the drapes hanging by her bed. She closed her eyes savoring the feeling of the sun for a moment.

Then reality hit her with such force she shot up in the bed sending pillows flying in all directions. Where was she? Why was she here? She looked around the sparsely decorated room and anger flared up in her. She shouldn’t be here, she was suppose to be back in the sea… The sea! She threw the comforter off of her body and stared down at her legs in horror.

What was going on here? This wasn’t supposed to happen. Tears welled up in Rayne’s eyes, some one must have pulled her from the water before she’d finished changing back. The tears were replaced by fury as she realized that that someone was in this house. She leapt out of bed, scarcely aware of the tattered gown she was still in, and stormed through the building.