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About Toi

Happy Birthday to Me! Oh, and books for kids.

Today is my birthday and the last day to help me give away some of my new children’s books. All four books, in both print and digital, are available for sale at their regular retail prices plus tax and or shipping. I do so hope you will consider granting me my birthday wish before it’s too late.

The image below is a screen shot. Click to learn more and visit links containing book trailers for my new books.

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Chip and Skip Need Each Other
2.99 Kindle ebook – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MG1AT86
9.99 Createspace paperback –  https://www.createspace.com/6567755
Print available on Amazon soon.

What Does Joe Need?
2.99 Kindle ebook – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M4M0J01
9.99 Createspace paperback – https://www.createspace.com/6567804
Print available on Amazon soon.

Plants and Animals Change Over Time
2.99 Kindle ebook – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MDP74MU
9.99 Createspace paperback – https://www.createspace.com/6567685
Print available on Amazon soon.

Land Changes Over Time
2.99 Kindle ebook – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M7SJ45Q
9.99 Createspace paperback – https://www.createspace.com/6567733
Print available on Amazon soon.

For individual purchases, without Prime, Createspace may be better on shipping. Also, I make more off those sales. 😀

Categories
IWSG

#IWSG November 2015: Fear & Gratitude

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Created and hosted by the Ninja himself, Alex J. Cavanaugh, the Insecure Writers Support Group posts the 1st Wednesday of every month. Click the image to learn more or sign up.

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Hi there all. This will be a short post of mostly pictures, but I will share my current insecurity and my current source of gratitude. Hopefully my words will encourage someone.

As the first leg of my 3-part virtual book tour for It’s Like the Full Moon launches, I find myself in a constant state of jitteriness (not even sure if that’s a word, oh well). I guess what it all boils down to is that after all this planning and time and effort, I fear people will reject my story. I’ve put together some really fun activities to pique people’s interest, but I’m afraid no one will try them because I’m no one special. I’m not a big name. There is a chance that those who’ve agreed to review it may not like it. My concern with that is will they be constructive or cruel in their review?

On the other hand, though, I’m so grateful for everyone who signed up for my tour and are helping me spread the word. I’m grateful for all the FB group members who I know will help spread the word because that’s what they do. As much as I fear the unknown, I know I have so much more to be grateful for; including the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. I’m so looking forward to that special time.

Last month was my birthday and I promised to share some pictures, so here you are.

Vinyl Records Party – dress as your favorite musical genre, era, or artist(s)

Posted by Toinette Thomas on Friday, October 30, 2015

Also, I had a small book signing/meet & greet at a local indie bookshop. I kept forgetting to take pictures, but here are a few.


The first mini tour in my It’s Like the Full Moon, pre-order extravaganza has started and you can see the lineup or follow along over at the Author Promo Co-op blog. Please check it out if you have the time.


I’m trying to start a new bookish blog hop for anyone who might be interested. Last month was our first post and we all had a great time. It’s a great way to sample books and get an opinion on them without scouring their list of reviews. Please check out the BooktagsBlogHop.

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Do you ever worry that all your effort and planning will be rejected by others?
Is there something you are grateful for right now?

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After hanging out with Alex, be sure to stop by and visit this month’s co-hosts:
Tyrean Martinson,
Karen Walker,
Denise Covey, and
Stephen Tremp!

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Click here to visit other IWSG blogs and sites to receive and share more inspiration and support. (This month, I’m #98).

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords

Categories
EC: Giovanni's Angel Excerpts Fun Hops

Youthful Frights vs Adult Fears #WEPFF Challenge No. 2 featuring Dolls & Eternal Curse Series #amwriting #amreading #movie

Well, I’d like to start off by saying, Happy Birthday to Me! That’s right. I’m the big 3 5 today and not ashamed one bit. Reaching 35 years of age unscathed, non-committed, non-incarcerated, and non-impoverished is something to be happy and proud about. I am blessed to have lived another year, simply put.

Now let’s talk about childhood fears…

When I was a kid (and let’s be honest, even now sometimes) I collected stuffed animals and toys. I wasn’t much into dolls, but where my sister had Barbie I had G.I. Joe. I did, however, love teddy bears. One year for my sister’s birthday, my parents decided she could have a sleepover and pick out three movies to watch, and one could be something none G or PG as long as they approved it first. I still to this day don’t know how she got this movie passed them, but I think it had something to do with the title.

Now at that time, I was nine years old (turning 10 in four months) and my sister was turning 12. She picked this movie thinking it would be corny and not really scary. Ha. I was the only one out of her bunch of friends to actually finish watching it, which I still regret to this day. I wasn’t even supposed to be at the party, not that I wasn’t invited, but I wasn’t interested in all the girly stuff that happened before the movie watching began. In a rare instance of kindness, back then (she’s lovely now), my sister gathered me from my room to watch the movies because she knew how much I enjoyed films; even at that age I knew more trivia than all the adults around me.

So, what all this boils down to is that after watching the movie, I realized that I needed to find a place to sleep. My room was out of the question. Every toy and doll in that freakish scary movie was in my bedroom along with dozens more. I’m pretty sure I remember waking up in the bathroom tub to the sound of my mom yelling, “What did you do to your sister?”

I’ve watched this movie since and it’s not nearly as scary, but still very creepy … Who makes these movies!

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I find dreams to be nerve-wracking sometimes. When it’s a good dream you don’t want to wake up from it and when it’s a bad dream that’s all you want to do. I don’t throw around the word hate a lot, but I hate it when I’m having a bad dream and I can’t wake up from it, even though I know it’s not real. I can’t stand that sense of helplessness, of not being able to do anything about my situation. It’s like being mugged or trapped. That’s my adult fear and I used that idea to write the following passage. Not sure if I quite captured the sense of desperation I wanted.

Looking for general feedback here. Even though this piece has been published, the beauty of self-publishing is that I can update my work anytime I choose. 😉

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     He looked down toward the ground and saw an attractive young woman carrying a large pail into a barn. Her skin was freckled and pale, and she had rosy cheeks. Her hair was long and straight, and it was black like the night. She seemed so familiar to him, but he didn’t know her. Giovanni watched as the young woman filled feeding troughs with water to be cleaned. As she reached for a scrubbing brush, Giovanni could see that someone or something was following her. He sensed that trouble was on the way. He tried to call out to her, but she could not hear him. His voice made no sound. Giovanni left the tree and swooped down to the ground to achieve a closer look.

     There he saw a creeping perpetrator bouncing from beam to beam in the rafters of the barn. Drool slipped from the monster’s mouth while it hovered over the unknowing young woman. Giovanni tried to fly up to see this fiendish stalker, but he couldn’t lift his feet off the ground, and his wings would not flap. Giovanni knew something bad would happen, he could feel it in his heart, but it seemed he could do nothing to stop it. He did not understand. Why was this happening? How could he appear to be so powerful, be so angelic, and not be able to help someone in need?

     Giovanni refused to give up his pursuit. He pushed his body forward and moved from door to door, and window to window, trying to get in to warn and protect the young woman. Looking through a window, Giovanni finally saw the villain’s full horror. He established a clear vision of the attacker as it leaped down from the ceiling toward the woman. It was the most hideous monster he’d ever seen, much worse than his own reflection.

     A twisted and mangled troll with charcoal for skin on a hairless body stalked about. It had empty holes carved out of its skull where eyes once were. There were two large dull spikes protruding from its hunched back, where it looked as though wings had been violently ripped from its body. Its hands were made of jagged bones held together with rotting ligaments, and its feet crackled as it moved along the floor.

     In the troll’s hands were two long golden rods that whipped back and forth almost like lassos. Each rod was attached to the end of a large iron spike that punched through the shoulders of a young man’s dying body. The rods held up the young man’s body as though he were a puppet being pulled by strings. To the young woman, however, the troll simply appeared as a shadowy figure lingering around the painfully disturbed and ailing young man moving toward her.

     The troll maneuvered the young man’s body around the girl for attack, delivering blow after blow.  The monster had taken over this young man’s body; it was using him as a weapon to attack this poor girl for what seemed to be the sheer enjoyment of it. It laughed a loud cackle as it threw the girl down to the ground, tearing her raggedy dress. Giovanni could see the girl’s anguish and could hear her screams. Throbbing empathetic pain consumed him in every place the girl was struck, but Giovanni could do nothing to stop it.

     Giovanni began to cry out, weeping and sobbing. He tried to look away and he tried to get away, but he couldn’t. That’s when it began to happen. He became consumed with anger and hatred. Giovanni’s body grew hot and began to sizzle. Smoke and steam began to rise up from his body as his wondrous glow began to fade and he became shrouded in darkness. Everything around him began to catch fire as he began morphing into anger. The smell of burning wood and flesh assaulted his tortured senses and Giovanni knew he was changing.

Eternal Curse: Giovanni’s Angel 4th Ed. Copyright © 2015 Toinette Thomas

Since it’s my birthday and it’s the season of spooky, the EC: Giovanni’s Angel ebook will be on sale for 99₵ the next few days. Check it out if interested and be sure to visit other stops on this challenge hop.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords