THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER CLUB

 Challenge 12 stories in 12 months

 THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER CLUB

© Hazel Campbell 2017

Prompt: The Club | Wordcount: 750 | Genre: fairy tale)

Disney Princesses

Snow White was bored. Prince Charming was away on Kingdom business and she was lonely. Then she had a brilliant idea. She would invite some of the other fairytale princesses to form a Happily Ever After Club. They would meet regularly and tell their stories.

Six princesses came to the first meeting. Cinderella arrived in her pumpkin carriage. Two of the twelve dancing princesses came in a carriage shaped like a slipper. Belle and Rapunzel rode horses. SweetPea, the Delicate Princess, came in a coach padded with cushions.

There was much excited laughter and exchange of greetings when they met in the palace.

When they were refreshed and comfortable, Snow White explained her idea for the Happily Ever After Club, and they were all enthusiastic for they all shared the same loneliness when their Prince Charmings had to leave home.

"I'll go first,' Cinderella offered." I'll tell you about my happily ever after." So they eagerly settled to hear Cinderella's story.

"The first year was pure bliss," she began. "Prince Charming and I set up house in our part of the palace. The king didn’t give him any duties, so we played games and had picnics and balls and he helped me set up a sanctuary for my forest friends. It was wonderful!

"But, at our first anniversary ball, the king stormed in shouting, 'Babies! Where are the babies? I want to see my grandchildren.'

"He kept muttering about babies and quite spoilt the ball.

"That night, when we were having our usual bedtime snack of milk and cookies – Charming prefers to drink a glass of wine with his cookies – I asked Charming why the king was in such a temper. Did he expect us to go out and buy some babies? Charming was just as bewildered.

"When Charming left to go to his room, I couldn't sleep. I paced back and forth and finally decided that I needed to talk to Fairy Godmother.

'Goodness, Cinderella,' she said, when she arrived. 'I was in Far, Far Away Land. What could be the matter? You got your Prince Charming.'

'It's the king,' I told her. 'He wants grandchildren.'

'Well?' she said.

'He wants babies!' I wailed. 'And I don’t know where to get them.'

"Fairy Godmother's eyes popped wide open.

'You mean  . . .'

'You have to help us,' I interrupted her. 'I don’t know where to get them. Should we buy some, or borrow, or what?'

The listening princesses gasped, looked at one another with eyebrows raised, or rolled their eyes.

'Seriously?' Rapunzel exclaimed.

"Fairy Godmother looked at me as if I was Dopey or a Silly Goose," Cinderella continued.

'Where is the prince?' she asked.

"In his room, of course."

'You don't sleep together?'

'Of course not. After we have our bedtime snack he goes to his room and I to mine.'

'I see. And you don’t . . . ?'

'Don’t what?' I asked.

"Fairy godmother waved her hands. 'You know . . .  ' And she coughed.

"But I didn't know.  'What should we be doing?' I asked her.

'Cinderella, this is a fairy tale. I can't tell you that here.'

"She tapped her forehead as if she was thinking hard, then she waved her wand and a small Vial appeared.

'Tomorrow night, make sure you have your bedtime snack in your room,' she said. 'Put three drops of this in Prince Charming's milk.'

'He drinks wine,' I told her.

'Even better. Don’t let him see you, but put exactly three drops in his wine.'

'"How will that give us the babies?" I asked.

'We'll find out, won't we?' And then, POOF! She was gone."

"So did you?" The other princesses were hanging on to Cinderella's every word.

"Well, the next night, I made sure there were only two cookies on the plate, and sent Charming to get more. While he was gone, I put three drops from the bottle Fairy Godmother gave me into his wine, and when he came back, he drank it all."

"And. . . and . . . and . . .?" The others were eager to hear more of the story.

"Girls! Girls! I don't know if I can tell you anything more," Cinderella said. This is a fairytale."

"Tell us! Tell us!" they chorused.

"Well, he fell asleep, right there in my room . . .

"HE DID WHAT!"

"He fell asleep and I had to undress him and put him in my bed."

"And? And? And?"

Ran out of words:TO BE CONTINUED   

Thanks for downloading When Times are Strange

Thanks to all who downloaded a free copy of my ebook 

When Times are Strange.

 

The offer ended yesterday, Sunday 28th.

 I hope you enjoy reading the stories. 

Please consider writing a review for the Amazon page. 

Blessings!

 

www.amazon.com/When-Times-Strange-Hazel-Campbell-ebook/dp/B00EEAWWCG/

 /

Relationships!

Relationships! relationships! relationships!

That's what it's all about

Love stories where the lovers don't even touch? Oh yeah!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC

Love is in the air but it's more mental/spiritual than physical- but not any less real or intense.

Check it here http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC

A very good read as the reviews reveal

“ They are all love stories in some sort of way and, though short, relationships between the characters are clearly defined. ” StephiiStephii  |  2 reviewers made a similar statement

“ Brilliantly written, with strong characters, and although short, well crafted. ” yaz  |  1 reviewer made a similar statement

“ These are stories of love, hope, promise and sexuality. ” Sandy Bose    
go there now http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC

A different read!

Read outside the box today 

Buy a copy

like and review

It's good!

Read the reviews

Check my ebook at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC

Who Are These People?

Like many other persons who teach writing fiction courses, I advise my students to make detailed character sketches for the persons they put in their stories. This is a must for the protagonists and any other significant characters in the story.
We go down the usual check lists : name (nickname if any); age; physical description; primary relationship(s) MOTIVATION etc

You know the list. As a writer/creator you should know every aspect of your characters' lives. This will help if you run into a roadblock in the story-knowing how your character responds to various situations etc.

Good advice, but not all writers write in the same way.

My characters tend to be born whole. I don't have to work at creating a back story, they come with it. I often find that as I write I am following the character with great interest to find out just what it is they are planning and will get up to next and they tell me why. Once I know what it is I want to say, I can start writing and trust the characters to do their thing. Characters even force their way into my stories. I find that these are usually very interesting persons. They very often add another dimension to the story. (see my earlier post on this blog at http://hazeldeebooks.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-favourite-story-in-my-darling-you-4.html

I tell my students that they need to know the 'rules'  - i.e. what usually works for writers, but not to be so hard bound by the 'lessons' that they stifle their own creativity. The guidelines work for some, but not for everybody.

See my ebook of short stories My Darling You at
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC

Appreciate your support Please buy a copy

BACK to normal

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC

My two days free download of my ebook My Darling You have ended. Thanks to all who took the time to get a copy.I hope you like the stories. If you read AND liked the stories, please consider writing a review, clicking the 'like' button and telling others about it.
If you scroll down this blog you will find some insights as to how some of the stories in this ebook came to be written, as well as a couple of free stories. 
My favourtie story in the ebook is Emancipation Park. Here's why.
http://hazeldeebooks.blogspot.com/2012/04/my-favourite-story-in-my-darling-you-4.html

My ebook is available.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/

B007U78HEC

My ebook My Darling You (love stories - sort of )  Short stories from Jamaica. Please help me get into the top 100.  Please buy  a copy and write a review.Thank you.  

 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC

Some great reviews on the page. Check it

You don't need to own a kindle to read ebooks on your PC.Check the right side of the page for a free app which allows you to download the ebook and read it on your PC.

Another way to sell/buy ebooks

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC

Here's how you could get to buy my 'ebook' if you do not have a USA credit card facility to order online.

 

Some days ago ,I posted on Linkedin my frustration at poor sales of my ebook despite very good reviews. There were many useful replies suggesting ways of finding my niche and getting more contacts and sales.

In response to one of the suggestions to sell to friends, acquaintances, church buddies etc, I had responded that I live in Jamaica and many persons had said to me that although they would love to buy the ebook, they did not have the foreign credit facility to purchase books via a USA credit card.

Here is my respondent's great reply:

"To get over the problem of foreign credit facilities (if you have access to foreign credit facilities) have you considered taking orders yourself and then via amazon.com you can 'buy' a copy as a gift for someone else!"

Very good idea, IF I myself had a credit card facility BUT it occurred to me that this is something a book store like Bookophilia in Jamaica could take on.

Persons could go to the bookstores and ask them to order Hazel Campbell's ebook ,My Darling You (love stories –sort of ), pay them what they work out as the cost and they would then order it from amazon and 'gift' it to the person ordering. On the amazon page, the purchaser is allowed to send the book as a gift to someone's kindle or computer You don't have to own a Kindle to read the ebook since there is a free download which allows you to read ebooks on your computer. Instant download,by the time you get home the book would be there for you to read.

This is just one step up from ordering physical books.(cheaper too) I wonder if anybody has thought of this possibility. Please let me know if it exists.

Ban 'vagina' and 'penis' - Censorship in Christian lit

 I found this article on  Rachel Held Evans's blog.from which I have quoted below:

A lot of folks have been expressing outrage and surprise over the fact that LifeWay Christian bookstores recently banned the movie "The Blind Side" from their shelves due to language and objectionable content.  The 2009 biographical film about a black high school student adopted by a white Christian family is rated PG-13 and became something of an evangelical darling when it released, receiving endorsements from Christianity Today and Focus on the Family.

But Florida pastor Rodney Baker of Hopeful Baptist Church submitted a resolution to the Southern Baptist Convention, demanding that LifeWay pull the film. Lifeway bowed to the pressure from Baker, and removed the movie from their shelves—a response that Baker saw as obedient yielding to the Holy Spirit.

Those of you who followed “vaginagate”—in which I was asked to remove the word “vagina” from my upcoming book in deference to Christian bookstore standards—will know that I’m not at all surprised by this story.

For all the amazing people who work in Christian publishing, and for all the amazing books they produce every year, there is this undercurrent of fear and insecurity that undoubtedly stifles our collective creativity. And this fear and insecurity is a direct result of the unreasonable standards held up by Christian bookstores.
But here's the thing...
Christians are not called to create a subculture untouched by the beauty and ugliness of this world. No, Christians are called to speak the truth, even when it is uncomfortable....especially when it is uncomfortable.

 Here's another comment form another blog   her.meneutics  at    http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2012/03/when_christian_bookstores_ban.html

The problem with Vagina-gate and similar forms of “censorship” is that, in an attempt to protect customers, publishers and bookstores are making it a lot harder for writers to tell the stories God has called them to write. And when Christians are barred by other Christians from serving God, it dishonors God. In fact, it’s sin.

I found the arguments interesting because I am in the process of writing what I would describe as a Christian novel. I plan to put it out as an ebook on Amazon, so I won't get into any hassles with bookstores, but presumably I would want to attract a Christian readership and if censorship is such a strong part of the culture,(the articles mention other taboos) then I know I won't be getting any readers there.

Strangely, I didn't see 'penis' mentioned. Presumably Cristian writers don't write about penises OR maybe only vaginas are evil.

Anyway, the argument reminded me of a personal experience.

Many years ago, when he was alive, my husband developed a problem with haemorrhoids.Too embarrassed to go to the doctor, he asked me, when I was going in for my checkup, to ask our family doctor to send a prescription for him.

I duly made the request and the doctor was immediately annoyed. I still remember his response. "If his elbow was hurting him he would come in. I don't understand why people behave as if God made only some parts of the body and Satan the rest."

He gave me the interim prescription with a strong message to tell my husband to "get his___ into the office for examination and treatment."

The doc's statement stayed with me and with this as the premise, I wrote a story which I called Version OR the Devil Made Some Parts published in my collection of short stories  Singerman by Peepal Tree Press some years ago.

It is a version of the Adam and Eve story. If you are squeamish don't read it. Naturally, some readers were not happy with it.One man observed: why does it always have to be sex. You couldn't choose something else? Others simply said that it gave them a problem. Really, it calls for an examination of this attitude that makes parts of our bodies taboo and unmentionable . It's not as if we are using street names or writing pornography.

Anyway, if I am fearfully and wonderfully made; if I am made in God's image; if He knew me before I was born and in my mother's womb, how come He used these parts to initiate me. Are we saying He should have chosen some other way of getting us here OR some other parts? (which we would then have quickly made unmentionable anyway).

Found this listing for the genre on Amazon

• Christian Romance
• Christian Fiction
• Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy

• Children's Christian Fiction Books
• Christian Mysteries
• Christian Poetry

  buy a copy of my ebook on amazon My Darling You (love stories-sort of) by Hazel Campbell

Good Reviews

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC

Getting some good reviews on my new ebook My Darling You (love stories-sort of)

Helen 'Billy Elm' Williams   

 Hazel Campbell's `sort of' love stories are certainly original....

Yaz

 Brilliantly written, with strong characters, and although short, well crafted. Kudos!!!!!My Darling YOU (love stories - sort of)

Geoffrey Philp

The stories in My Darling You are engaging in their deft development of character, use of dialogue, and adept handling of plot. But there's more.

Go on over to http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC

My amazon page

My author page on Amazon
amazon.com/author/hazelcampbell

Regrettably not all my titles published in Jamaica are on sale on amazon

I AM ALIVE

Hi everybody, My ebook has been published on Amazon.
check it out here
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007U78HEC#reader_B007U78HEC

Six short stories from the Caribbean on  the theme of love - requited and not.

You can read the first story on the Amazon page and then buy the book


By the way You don't need to own a kindle to read the Amazon ebooks. Download a free app here which allows you to read ebooks on your PC

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=kcp_pc_mkt_lnd?docId=1000426311