Monday, December 24, 2012

Attack of the Sugar Plum Fairies

Attack of the Sugar Plum Fairies

Just in time for Christmas, I wrote "Attack of the Sugar Plum Fairies, A Story for Demented Children", the fifth installment of the Stories for Demented Children.  It's a humorous adventure story featuring three pretty little sugar plum fairies and their quest for equal rights . . .




Stories for Demented Children

My first story for Demented Children, "The Emo Bunny that Should" has been wildly popular.  I then wrote Zachary Zombie and the Lost Boy, which is rated and reviewed higher than any other story I've written.  The series is becoming popular and probably creates the best chance of getting me noticed.

When I write these stories, I try to think of something or someone that wouldn't normally be a hero.  A common term is anti-hero.  Emo bunnies, rainbows, cows and zombies are definitely not the standard hero.  Then I put them in an odd situation and try to figure out what they would do.  Throw in a dash of humor and there you have it.

The snowflakes were added to the cover using a brushes pack for GIMP

The story

I decided a few months earlier that I wanted to do a Christmas story.  Various ideas came to mind, but some of them had been done and others just didn't really catch my imagination.  I honestly don't remember how I came up with this one, but it started with the title, "Attack of the Sugar Plum Fairies".

Next was figuring out the plot.  I had to have attacking Sugar Plum Fairies.  Why were they attacking?  How many of them?  It's not always easy to come up with something odd.  One of the biggest issues was that I had to limit how many characters I actually showcased.  In a short story, there is very little time to develop characters or a plot.  The key is to keep the characters to a minimum and the timeline of the plot to a single event.

I remembered in "The Emo Bunny that Should", I wrote about labor issues with the Easter Bunny and woodland creatures.  In it, I commented that elves had organized a labor union.  I decided to latch onto that idea and have it so that the Sugar Plum Fairies weren't treated fairly in the original contracts.  Then I came up with the concept that they always had to wear skimpy outfits and were being exploited.

At this point, I'd like to remind you that they are stories for "Demented Children", not normal children.  I gear them towards older kids too.  Plus, I think I have more adults reading these things than kids, so . . .

When I went to write it, I made up the three fairies that were the main characters.  Araedae is the leader of the group. She's brave and smart as any leader should be.  Sydae is the wise-cracking fairy and Zannae is an MIT graduate . . . because I needed a computer hacker . . . Remember, the title says "A Story for Demented Children".

I generally have little favorite parts of a story.  A lot of people may not notice them, or think they're all that great, but I find them enjoyable and fascinating to write.  In this book it was the descriptions of the fairies and how each had their own color.

An excerpt:   Her brilliant violet eyes sparkled in the light from the nearby streetlamp.  Every Sugar Plum Fairy in the world had different color eyes with wings and hair to match.



The tutorial I used to make the candy cane text.  It isn't the best tutorial, so I spent a lot of extra hours trying to get it right.

Description

The Sugar Plum Fairies are tired of dancing for nothing. To make matters worse, the North Pole is freezing, they have to wear skimpy outfits and their poor little legs get worn out quickly. When the Elvin Labor Union was formed, the poor little fairies were left out of any sort of fair bargaining agreement.

The time has come for all of that to change.

Everyone knows Christmas Eve is the best time to attack the North Pole. Santa’s getting ready to deliver toys, the elves are partying and the reindeer have finished playing their reindeer games. Can the legendary North Pole withstand yet another attack? Will Christmas come to a screeching halt?

Join three stealthy fairies: Sydae, Araedae and Zannae, as they try to make life easier for all Sugar Plum Fairies. Will they be able to succeed in their mission? What’s happened to Santa? Will the elves stop the fairies from their task? And what secret is Mrs. Claus hiding from the world?

This is a short story approximately 4600 words long.

Diesel

"Attack of the Sugar Plum Fairies" is also included in "A Collection of Stories for Demented Children", a compilation of all five of the Demented Children stories.  Each story can be had individually for free and I encourage you to download them.  I charge a token price of $2.99 for the collection in hopes of increasing my chances of becoming a self-supporting writer.  :)



10 comments:

Tunks said...

I read Attack of the Sugar Plum Fairies just last night. I liked it! =) On a side note, I think there were 1 or 2 typos that may need editing. Sadly I cannot remember them now :(

John H. Carroll said...

Hi Tunks!!!

Good to hear from you and I'm thrilled that you liked it. :)

I will double check it for typos. It was edited 5 times, but there always seem to be a couple that escape notice. I'm always very happy when notified though so that I can fix them. :)

I hope all is well with you. All my best. :)

Tunks said...

Hi Hi
Thank YOU for writing it! Last night I was having a bit of the Christmas blues and wanted something to lighten up my mood, and it sure worked =) so thank you.
I will re-read it today to see if I really did find things to edit or if I merely dreamt it :p ... & will get back to you :)

John H. Carroll said...

Anything for one of my favorite fans. I'd send you a little bit of snow if I didn't know that it'd end up in a puddle by the time it reached you. :D

If you do find it, that would be wonderful! After a while the words all blend together. Either way, I'll take a look to be on the safe side. :)

I hope your blues turn . . . whatever a happy color is. :D I really am thrilled to hear from you. You've made my day. :)

Tunks said...

Thank you! :) I miss the snow! It would have been great to have a White Christmas this year... but I know a lot of ppl out there freezing would be wishing for a nice tropical Christmas instead haha.

I emailed you with the edits I found. Let me know if you get it. I sent it to johnhcarroll@about.me

I hope my blues turn a happier color as well! It's going to be a difficult Christmas for me since my mom passed away rather unexpectedly a few weeks ago...it hasn't been easy. My only resolve at this moment to keep myself from spiraling is to lose myself in books. I don't know what life would be for me w/o reading. It's my one true passion!

John H. Carroll said...

I got them! Wow. Thank you. And that thing about the quotations at the end of a paragraph is one of my biggest weaknesses. I find countless instances in my novels when I'm editing too. Thank you so, so, so very much.

I am very sorry to hear about your mom. :( Mine passed away 4 years ago and it was a hard time for me because we were close. Hold her memory close and cherish it. Know that she would want you to be happy and enjoy your life to the best of your ability. Do that and you will do her memory proud. :)

I'll email you back with a surprise. Do you use mobi for Kindle, or epub format when you read?

Tunks said...

No probbies. I first thought that the lack of ending quotations was intentional, but then I saw discrepancies where you did close them! I just happen to pick up on little errors when I read due to a few years of doing editing for some local publications... mostly as a hobby lol.

I'm sorry to hear about your mom as well. It's always hardest when you're really close to them, as I was. I had taken 2 years off school and spent a lot of time w/ her towards the end. Classes resumed the very week after she died; I am still not sure how I've been managing to do that, but like reading, school provides a good distraction. And yes... I need to live the best life that I can! :) One day at a time.

Owww I love surprises! I use .mobi format for my kindle :) *excited*

John H. Carroll said...

The corrections have been made and uploaded. I've emailed you back with the files. :) Let me know that you've received them.

I'm really glad that you were close to her and I wish you all the strength in the world. :)

D. Andrews Bishop said...

John,
Came across your blog while surfing. Thanks for the post on how to market indie eBooks. I'm taking your advice. I included you blog in my blogroll. My blog is http://dandrewsbishop.wordpress.com/

Peace,
D

John H. Carroll said...

Hi D,

I checked out your blog. I like having a librarian's take on being Indie. I've added your blog to my list and look forward to seeing what your future holds in store.

I'm glad to be able to help. :) It's a lot of work and it's easier if we all work together.

All my best,

John