NEW AUDIO SAMPLE from "The Blackberry"

We received a lovely thank you card from the Smyrna Public Library in New York State recently.  It is one of two libraries currently carrying my published works in paperback.  Thanks to the success of our recent Kickstarter campaign, there will soon be more!

Today's post includes a new audio sample from the title story – The Blackberry – originally written in 2014.  In this sample you get a sneak peek behind the events which inspired me to ask the question “what if a blackberry actually had evil intent?”

As people in the northern hemisphere begin to resurrect their gardens from the rest of Winter, see if this episode is not a little familiar to you.

Click Here for The Blackberry Audio Sample

If you have been following Gorak the Gobbler and are finding it frustrating that the re-posting is so far back, CLICK HERE to go directly to the latest installment.

Coming Soon: the cover reveal of The Blackberry & Other Tales That Creep!

AUTUMN IS HERE!

"Herfstkleuren" by Dick Muddle from Wikimedia Commons

The trees are starting to turn, and last night I had that "first frost" feeling as I climbed into bed that made me seriously consider rechecking all the windows and curtains versus staying invested in my warming, blanketed cocoon.

But there was no denying this morning that the turn of seasons is well under way and no longer just lurking.

So I thought I would drag out an old favorite to take us into the season ... Christina Rosetti's Goblin Market. It bridges the transition from harvest to "spookable" October quite nicely, and contains one of my favorite poetic sequences which I always think of as "the Fruit Orgy."

I recorded the entire poem in parts last year ... it's a bit of a trial to read, and even harder to edit as the poem is full of tough plosive words and phrases.  Even with professional equipment it was a challenge, but totally worth it.

CLICK HERE for The Goblin Market ~ Part 1
CLICK HERE for The Goblin Market ~ Part 2
CLICK HERE for The Goblin Market ~ Part 3
CLICK HERE for The Goblin Market ~ Part 4
CLICK HERE for The Goblin Market ~ Part 5 

NOTE: As always, Audio Clips offered freely, but tips of appreciation are always accepted.  We are, after all, a struggling artist and author.  Many Thanks!

HAPPY U.S. INDEPENDENCE DAY!

I have several personal traditions around July 4th, and these are among them.

Abigail Adams is a remarkable woman whom I greatly admire.  Her writings show a quick, incisive intelligence that does not lack humor or circumspection.  The correspondence between her and her husband, Statesman and President John Adams, is an inspiring look inside the lives and minds of unique couple at an important moment in history.  Surely, these two souls, who were "one", were meant for each other, and meant to be exactly where they were in history.

So many amazing women to admire,but if I had to make a list of those whom I would love to sit down to a long afternoon of tea and conversation with, Abigail Adams is the list topper - No Contest!

As with all the audio downloads on this blog, these are offered freely. I am an artist and fledgling indie author.  I only ask if you enjoy the files, you consider leaving something in the tip jar on the right hand margin.  Even $1 helps keep the stories coming!  

Selections from the Letters of Abigail Adams - March 31, 1776 ... Click Here

"… I long to hear that you have declared an independency -- and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors." 

Selections from the Letters of Abigail Adams - May 27, 1776 #1 ... Click Here
"We ought never to despair of what has been once accomplished. How many things have the Idea of impossible been annexed to, that have become easy to those who knew how to take advantage of Time, opportunity, lucky Moments, the Faults of others, different dispositions and an infinite Number of other circumstances." 

Selections from the Letters of Abigail Adams - May 27, 1776 #2 ... Click Here
"And in saying this I make a Sacrifice which those only can judge of whose Hearts are one."

BONUS!

A Selection from the Declaration of Independence - July 4, 1776 ... Click Here
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

LAST DAY for A Trio of Cat Tales free for Kindle from Amazon!  See previous posts for reviews and samples.  Click on the tab at the top of the page to go to the Amazon page and download YOUR copy!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! A New Short Story!

My Mom as a child

I am paying tribute to the two Moms in my life (pictured here) and to all Mothers everywhere today with this special Audio Clip of my recent short story Walking to the Music. In this story, a toddler is inspired to take his first steps by the sounds of his Mom playing a Grand Piano.

Click Here to enjoy Walking to the Music
by Judith Cullen (c)2013

My sister : the other  "Mom" in the family

As with all the audio downloads on this blog, this one is offered freely. I am an artist and fledgling indie author.  I only ask if you enjoy the files and decide to keep them, you consider leaving something in the tip jar on the right hand margin.  Even $1 helps keep the stories coming!   

Many Thanks and Happy Mother's Day!

Coming Soon!

The release of A Trio of My Father's Tales in Kindle and Paperback.     

Carroll D. Cullen circa 1898

Does this seven year old boy look happy?  He wasn't.  It was 1898 in the immigrant neighborhoods of Chicago, where a little boy lived with his Irish-born parents who dreamed of a bigger and better life for their only son.  Find out the lengths he went to in order to shed the various effects of that scratchy, itchy, hot, embarrassing costume in "The Little Lord Fauntleroy Suit."

A Trio of My Father's Tales is my tribute to Fathers - three of  the many family tales we begged my Dad to repeat over and over again around the kitchen table: "The Little Lord Fauntleroy Suit", "Flying Down to Cour D'Alene", and "The Skunk War."

See the tabs above for other titles currently available:
Reflections from the Golden Wheel, A Trio of Irish Tales, and last week's purrrfectly delightful release:  A Trio of Cat Tales 

VIRAL SUNDAY!

If you'd mentioned a viral Sunday to me six months ago I would have thought you were talking about a weekend socked in with a bad cold.  But it was a very different kind of viral yesterday, and an exciting one!

I am sure for a more seasoned author it was not that big a deal, but it was huge for me and an amazing experience.  Reflections from The Golden Wheel did respectably well for a first time author on a three day promotion, bringing in just under 200 downloads and reaching the #66 in the Humor Rankings before it finished. Thanks to everyone who downloaded and who shared encouragement!

A Trio of Irish Tales started its three day promotion yesterday and WENT VIRAL in the afternoon.  At one point, and for several hours, it was being downloaded every 90 seconds!  Over 600 downloads on the first day and it has two more to go!  I'm not going to be smart or cool about it, whatever else happens THAT was cool! Literally, I was on a brief phone call with my sister and ten books uploaded while we were talking.

This morning A Trio of Irish Tales ranks #6 in Fiction-Mythology and #9 in Fiction-Historical at #345 overall in the Free Kindle Store.  LET THE PIGEONS LOOSE!

In celebration of our Viral Sunday here are audio samples from A Trio of Irish Tales

Click for a sample from In the Mists
Click for a sample from Shadow by the Gate 

If you LIKE it, RATE & REVIEW IT!  If you LOVE it, SHARE THE LOVE ~ TELL OTHERS!