Rosalind Morris's Blog

Hello, readers and friends! March is here, and there is so much happening this month! This blog post is about all the happenings of March 2024. First of all, I have an announcement and a request.

I Could Use Your Vote

Most of you are probably familiar with the March Madness NCAA games starting today. I entered a similar contest with my serialized novel Patches! We are in the fifth day of the first round, and Patches is up against a story called Indigo Ink. This link will take you to a linktree with all the information you need to vote, including the google voting form and links to all of today’s matches. Please go here and vote for Patches. It’s a Supernatural Thriller (which is why it is in the category with horror and paranormal stories) and it is the only Christian Fiction story in the competition. I really appreciate your support.

March Highlights: Life Events Galore

I feel like it needs to be noted that in my life, March is the most eventful month:

March 10My Father’s Death Anniversary. He passed away on March 10, 2019. The Ides of March (March 15)My birthday! Fun fact: According to a TikTok filter (who knows if it’s accurate) my birthdate is super rare. I find that interesting considering I know at least one person with the same birthday as me. Another fun fact: On my birthday in 2019, I had a simple conversation that led to a life changing event.March 16 (A Double Whammy)March 16, 2013Founders day for my theatre company: Certain Curtain Theatre. Got theatre? Why Certainly March 16, 2019The day started talking to Justin Paul Kiewitt. (My hubby.) It started with a text. March 21 – April 8 NCAA March Madness! It’s a big deal at the Kiewitt house. I made my bracket a couple of days ago.March 29My wedding anniversary March 31Easter Sunday! He is risen!

You see why I say it’s eventful, right? lol Thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I would love to hear from you. Drop me a line to let me know you stopped by. What’s going on in your March? I would love to know. If you have not a had a chance to read PATCHES yet, check it out on Kindle Vella. If you enjoy the story please hit the thumbs up at the end of each chapter! Also you can leave comments to let me know what you think of the story. The first 10 chapters are free, and after that it is only 10 tokens per chapter. (100 tokens are $0.99) When you make it chapter 11, I would be honored if you would give it a crown. These things help the story gain traction and attract more readers. New chapters coming this week!

Hi friends! It has admittedly been a while since I have posted an update. By a while, I mean it’s been years. I now have a husband and a son. My sister still lives with me as well. With all of this, I have not been able to write or update this blog as much as I would like. Now that my son is getting a little older (He’s 22 mos.), I am finding a bit more time for creative expression. That brings me to my new venture.

A New Novel!

I am releasing my second novel, Patches, through Kindle Vella! Kindle Vella allows you to publish stories one chapter at a time. I don’t notice many Christian Fiction authors utilizing this, but I believe Patches works well in this format. For those of you who are unfamiliar with serialized stories, this is how it works. Each episode requires a certain amount of tokens based on the chapter’s word count. The good news is that you can read the first three chapters without tokens. I believe Kindle Vella gives everyone 200 tokens to start. You can click the Patches link to read the first chapter and click the “Follow Story” button across from the title to avoid missing new chapters. Also, one of my favorite things about Kindle Vella is that it is interactive. You can leave comments and ask questions, so let me know what you think about the story.

What’s it about?

I categorize Patches as a Supernatural Thriller. Much like a patchwork quilt, each chapter tells the story from a different perspective. The story starts in Purblind, AL, a fictional town. Citizens of Purblind are tight-knit, and they do not welcome outsiders. When architect Christopher White buys Purblind property and moves his family there, a war erupts in the spiritual and the natural world. Will the Whites and their allies be able to overcome the evil determined to destroy them and run them out of town?

Who are these people?

I thought it might be fun to give you insight into some of the characters you will encounter in Patches:

Hatred: He is the strongman demon residing over Purblind. He enjoys ruling over its citizens and the demons under his control. Carl Evans: He is the boy who lives across the street from the Whites in Purblind. He is a Christian. He enjoys whittling, spying, and talking on his walkie talkie. Christopher White: He is a successful architect with a family of 6, including his wife and five children. He enjoys spending time with his family.Karen White: She is a lawyer and the wife of Christopher White and mother of his 5 children. She enjoys spending time with her family.Carson White: The White’s eldest son. He enjoys listening to music is his room and moping, and playing with his dogs.Samantha White: The second child, Samantha, enjoys watching her siblings, reading, and protecting her younger sister from boys.Abigail White: She is second girl, and she loves playing in creeks, walkie talkies, and secret club houses.Cody and Chaison White: The youngest of the bunch, these twins love playing and arguing with each other.Randy Evans: This is Carl’s dad. He enjoys being the leader of the town council, keeping his wife in line, and teaching lessons.Patreon

For those who would like to support me and receive exclusive content like early chapter releases, inside scoops on new writing ventures, etc., join my Patreon. Also, I will do video updates about the stories I am writing and how I got the ideas for them. You will also receive at least one LIVE fan event a month. To join my Patreon just click the link.

10. The pictures are bright and colorful! If there is one thing kids love, it’s a colorful children’s book.

9. The story rhymes and has been known to make kids laugh.

8. Adults who read it to their children have been known to have a notable amount of fun.

7. There is a simple lesson at the end. It’s nothing too deep, but the kiddos will get it.

6. It’s Black History Month. Support a culturally diverse children’s book starring a little black boy.

5. A kid you know is likely having a birthday soon.

4. It has maps!

3. You have a child between the ages of 4-8.

2. It only takes about 7 minutes to read.

#1 You could win a free audible code for Drawkcab Brown Meets Yuck Mouth Pete!

The contest runs for the next five days. It’s easy! Buy the book (eBook is only $2.99, and Kindle Unlimited reads count), Tweet about why you bought/read the book. (You get two entries into the contest.) You get three bonus entries if you leave an honest review of Drawkcab Brown Meets Yuck Mouth Pete on Amazon.com.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/8b26a24d2/?

The Meaning Behind the Pen Name for my Children’s Books.

For my novels, I write under the name Rosalind Morris, but for my Children’s books, I write under the name Rosalind “Kai” Morris. I posted a video about this around 8PM on Thursday night (2-4), however, the video hit a snag. So I will just tell you the story. When I was a little girl, my mother read books to me almost every night. I am a huge proponent of story time by the way. I write all my children’s books with a great story time in mind. That is largely due to my experiences with it as a child.

One of my favorite books to hear at story time was a book called Marvin K Mooney, Will You Please Go Now! by Dr. Suess. In the book, Marvin is asked to leave, and then given suggestions on ways to leave. But Marvin does not leave until the end of the book, when he is good and ready. I loved that book, and the way my mother would say Marvin K. Mooney so much that my mother started to call me Rosalind Kai Morris and later Roz Kai (my official nickname) after Marvin K. Mooney.

I don’t really have a middle name, and I like that I don’t have a middle name. However, for my children’s books, I wanted to use my nickname Rosalind “Kai” Morris since that name represents the very early stages of my love of storytelling as well as the fond memories of having story time with my mother as a child.

Parents, grandparents, parents to be, teachers, librarians, etc. when you are considering your next story time read, get Drawkcab Brown Meets Yuck Mouth Pete by Rosalind “Kai” Morris. It’s fun to read, and your kids will love it! I hope they do anyway. Thanks for stopping by my blog and allowing me to share a little about myself with you.

First of all, it’s been literally over 2 years since I have posted anything here. It took me until the last part of 2020 to get my creative juices flowing enough to act on them. Why you may ask? 2019 was probably the harshest year of my life. My dad died in March; my mama died in June. I instantly became a Pseudo-Mom to my autistic sister. I lived in two states for while. Had to find a a new place to live. Then in 2020: The Pandemic started in March. I had my first major surgery in July. Recovery took a few months. But anyhoo, it’s now 2021, so Happy New Year! Today we changed Presidents. And we have our first woman Vice President! Historical! That’s all I am going to say about that.

A New Children’s Book!

Pre-Order: Ebook Print

I am super excited to announce that Drawkcab Brown Meets Yuck Mouth Pete is available for pre-order. It’s the sequel to my first Children’s book, Drawkcab Brown Stops a Bully. In this story, Drawkcab travels west and encounters a mean outlaw named Yuck Mouth Pete. It’s up to Drawkcab to stop Pete from terrorizing his new friends, the citizens of Cloverville.

Will Drawkcab save the day again? Or this time will the villain win? One will triumph; One will retreat, when Drawkcab Brown Meets Yuck Mouth Pete!

It’s a rhyming good time with a western twist and some fun surprises along the way!

An Audiobook too!

Also, I just finished approving the master copy of the audiobook. This time I waited until the project was in post-production to announce anything about it. Not to repeat what happened with my novel, The Wages or the Gift (Audiobook still to come.) The audiobook is Narrated by James Cogan also known as Storyteller Jim Cogan, who has a long career of reading books to children. He even does workshops on bullying. Which is awesome, because thwarting bullies is Drawkcab’s favorite thing to do! Jim was awesome to work with, and he did an excellent job on the book. Stay tuned for more information on the release.

To the Drawing Board!

This month, I am working on the pictures for Drawkcab Brown’s Astounding Defeat of Peg Leg Petey and His Pirating Keet! It is the third Drawkcab Brown book and the first Drawkcab Brown Musical (Produced in 2015 by Spotlight Children’s Theatre in Tulsa, OK).

Also, Sharon Howard, my aunt and an amazing artist, has been working diligently on the pictures for yet another of my children’s books: Lucy Meets a Stinker. Lucy is a Luvbug, and she is pretty adorable. Her bug sound is, “luv, luv, luv”, her head is heart shaped, and she is super kind and sweet. Luvbug’s are loving by nature, of course. I will have more information on this book and Lucy after the illustrations are done.

I pray that you can find joy in this season, as we reflect on the great love of a God that would gift His son to save the world.  Merry Christmas.

It’s Been a Year!

The Wages or the Gift is a bit (three days) over a year old now, and I think that we had a great first year.  If you have not had a chance to read it yet, it is on sale on Amazon right now.  It’s a great time to check it out.  If you do I hope it blesses you as it entertains you. 

About Last Night…

A big thank you to everyone who came out the Bricktown Freaky Book Bang in OKC!  We had a great time.  I signed and sold a book, and I was able to meet and introduce some new people to my work.  I call that a success.  Also it was fun to be a supermodel for a day. lol [image error]

NaNoWriMo 2018

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  This year, for the first time, I have decided to do the NaNoWriMo challenge.  I’m still feeling my way around the site and trying to get the gist of this phenomenon, but I already have a couple of writing buddies. So yay! The challenge for me now is deciding which work in progress (WIP) to focus on for the challenge.  Also I think I am supposed to set a word goal.  I guess that will depend on which WIP I choose.  Here are my choices:

God or Mammon

Originally, I was going to choose the second book in the Life Choices series,God or Mammon (Life Choices Book B). It’s a medical thriller.  This one will be fun to write, and I am very excited about it.

Patches

The first draft of Patches is already finished.  It is a supernatural thriller with angels and demons, and all kinds of wonderful spiritual warfare.  It’s about an interracial couple that moves to a small town called Purblind.  Christopher White is an architect and his wife, a black woman, is  his lawyer.  After doing a remodeling project in Purblind, AL, Christopher falls in love with the quiet little town, and purchases a house and some land there.  Purblind only allows certain families to own land, so imagine their surprise when not only has an outsider purchased their land, but he also shows up with a mixed family.  I still have a few beta readers who are reading it, and I recently got it back from my editor.  So if I choose it, I will be mostly correcting and rewriting.  Which can be fun as well, but I want to hear from more of my Beta Readers before I get started on this one.  And some of them are still reading.

Wrong Number

I started working on this novel a few years ago, and lately it has been calling me back to it.  Here’s the blurb:  Billions of digits randomly collated into systematic sequences of ten, doled out according to nation, state, and area have linked our society in an intricately woven tapestry of communication. For Jason Gord, one systematic sequence became a lethal obsession, and for Cardigan DuPree the same phone number started a life altering nightmare. It is a thriller suspense novel. I am seriously itching to work on this one again. So I think I will choose it for NaNoWriMo.

#LiveTweetANovel

So I have started to do this new thing on twitter.  You know how people live tweet their favorite shows and such?  Well I thought it might be a fun thing to do with novels as well.  So I started #LiveTweetANovel.  Basically I am giving my reactions to what I am reading as I go along.  Not for every page of course, but ever so often when I have a comment or thought about what I am reading.  I am hoping this catches on, as I think it could be kind of fun.  I am currently reading Miranda Warning by Heather Day Gilbert.  Follow me on Twitter @Rozkai to find out what I am thinking about the novel so far.

 

 

https://rosalindwriter.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/audio-files-unknown-album-00-first-20-minutes-of-the-wages-or-the-gift-for-review-approval.mp3
It’s a Costume Book Signing Event!

On October 27, I will be signing copies of The Wages or the Gift at the Bricktown Freaky Book Bang in OKC.  I know it may seem a bit weird for a Christian Fiction author to be signing books at a Halloween event, but there will be a great variety of authors there, and I feel like its a chance to be a light.  Also to have some fun.  There will be games, free massages, food, and a costume contest. My costume will be Ebony Reynold (the supermodel) from The Wages or the Gift.  I will also have a few glam boxes to give away.  If you are in Oklahoma City or near it, please come and see me.  Tickets are on sale now, and I would love to meet you.  For those of you who would like to preorder your signed copy, or at least reserve one (there are a limited number), you can fill out the this form.

Glam! Glam! Glam!
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You automatically get two entries into the Glam Box drawings for getting your book in advance! If you choose to reserve and pay at the event, you get 1 entry.  Of course there will be plenty of opportunities to get additional entries at the event.  (The treasures inside are a surprise.)

October 1 is almost over, but I could not let it end without making the big announcement that I promised!  I am super excited to announce that I finally found the right producer for the audiobook version of The Wages or the Gift!

Audiobook Cover/Producer Reveal!!!!!!

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You know how I said earlier that the surprise is what is missing from the cover?  You might have guessed that it was the narrator.  I am overjoyed to announce that Christopher Lane, winner of numerous Audie and Earphone Awards, has agreed to produce the audio version of The Wages or the Gift (Life Choices Book A)!

Have a Listen!

The book is in production and will be released sometime before the end of this year on audible and i-tunes.  I will announce the release date in a later post.  However, to whet your appetite, I am posting the first 20 minutes here now. Please enjoy this audio excerpt narrated by Christopher Lane for The Wages or the Gift.

https://rosalindwriter.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/audio-files-unknown-album-00-first-20-minutes-of-the-wages-or-the-gift-for-review-approval.mp3
Also, Thank you!

I truly appreciate you stopping by this site and reading the blog.  Let me know what you think of the sample.

 

 

 

 

 

Something Awesome is Happening!!!

Do you hate it when people gush about having something exciting to tell, but they can’t tell you?  Even though they keep stressing how excited they are and how very much they want to just tell you now?  But they shouldn’t just yet.  Would not be prudent and all.  Well sorry.  I have some super exciting news!   However, I cannot say anything until October 1st.  See there, a date.  That’s makes it better, right?

October 1, 2018

Something awesome is happening in the “life” of The Wages or the Gift (On Sale for $1.99.  Yes, I know that’s good news too, but that’s not the BIG news.)  On this date, I have a big announcement to make about soon coming bit of wonderful, and trust me, you do not want to miss it.

A Hint?

Ok, I will give a hint.  The exciting proclamation has something to do with this picture:

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You may say, Rosalind, Roz, Ma’am, that’s just a picture of your book cover. Not exactly.  Anyway, the exciting part is in what is missing from the picture more than what is there. That’s a riddle.

Moving on…

A couple of days before the joyous unveiling (September 29 @1:00 PM Central), I will be discussing The Wages or the Gift on Facebook in an open group called The Bookshelf: Christian Readers and Writers.  You should join me.  Especially if you have read the novel and have thoughts or questions you would like to share.  I can promise you a lot of fun and some interesting stories about this books journey to publication. So if you haven’t had a chance to read the book yet, now’s a good time!  It’s on sale for $1.99 until September 26!