09/02/2014

Live and in Color! Preorder “Above the Stars” on KICKSTARTER, NOW!

Phillip took a deep breath, and rose to his feet. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and turned towards his companions. With a stern, and focused voice, he said,

“LIVE from KICKSTARTER, it’s “Above the Stars!”

Dear Friends,

Boots and britches! I am excited to announce that Book II of Phillip’s Quest: Above the Stars is available for pre-order on KICKSTARTER, today!

THANK YOU to everyone who has supported Phillip and myself on this journey to publication. Phillip’s Quest is a series of beautifully illustrated Middle Grade books of the tale of an ordinary garden gnome, Phillip Tuber, on an extraordinary quest and is the inspiration of Tolkien’s Middle Earth and Lewis’s Narnia.

You can preorder your copy of Above the Stars on the KICKSTARTER site, until September 30–but, if you want to give Phillip, the book, and me a SPECIAL boost, please consider buying your copy today, on launch day, and help build an early momentum. And remember, if I do not reach my goal, I do not get one dime! All you have to do, to get to my KICKSTARTER page is click on the picture or the links embedded at the end of each paragraph!

In addition to the books, there are all kinds of great perks available at the campaign. They range from the original artwork of Dean Kuhta and Louise Goodchild to my own jewelry and an Italian dinner for four! Please check out the campaign for more details.

Again, many thanks for your support. I will be back in touch with campaign updates throughout the month of September! Ciao, grazie.

Love,

Belinda

PS – In case you’ve never visited KICKSTARTER before, or you don’t even know what it is, I’ve attached a little example that shows how to order something there.

It’s a few easy steps. KICKSTARTER is the largest crowd funding platform in the world, having raised over $1Bn for creative projects like Above the Stars. They process payments through Amazon, the largest retailer in the world. So, preordering Above the Stars on KICKSTARTER is a snap!

And, just in case you missed the link, here it is: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1907899413/above-the-stars

07/15/2014

Winterfrost’s Gone International!

Hello, Brazil, Italy, Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, England, Wales! Wow! All of you have visited the land of Winterfrost and have met my friends Phillip Tuber and Rawlink Ragwort! Have any of you bought a book for your children, or for yourself? Please let me know. I would love to hear from you!

: Phillip Tuber

: Winterfrost Castle

: Poppa Ragwort

: Wait to read in October, 2014

Just go to my Buy Phillip’s Quest and The Ragworts page to purchase!

06/27/2014

Now, he’s pretty!

Meet Razorsnoot! You’ve read about his before in Phillip’s Quest, Book 1: Winterfrost. You know, the goblin with digestive issues–probably from eating small rodents–and henchman for the Red Queen, well, here he is again. In living–sort of–color!

Such a pretty fellow! And now, the poor guy has competition. It was bad enough when Jet set his butt on fire in Phillip’s Quest, Book 1:Winterfrost, but now he’s dealing with the Queen’s favorite chiroptera bat, Bael! But, he still has to learn how to deal with Jet!

He rode to the top and approached the witch, head bowed. His

spider slinked up the knoll, ever so quietly. Razorsnoot was

dumbfounded by the Red Witch’s transformation. Where was that

hideous dragon of hers? He peered at the huge, black horse with his

one purple eye. He hated the dragon, but a horse? He decided he

could handle a horse, until he saw its eyes. They were red! The horse

watched Razorsnoot as he approached on the spider.

“Your report, Razorsnoot,” said the witch as she peered down at

the skulking figures.

“Yesssssss, ma’am,” hissed the goblin. “Market destroyed, jusssssst

as you commanded.”

“And the bodies?” she responded.

“We captured a bunch of the little runtssssss and locked them in

the wagonsssss. The resssst are lying dead in the market.”

“Very well!” replied the witch. “Run and fetch me that little

gnome, Phillip, and his wife Ivy and our business shall be complete.”

Razorsnoot picked at a large wart on his nose and looked around.

He had a tendency to pass wind when he was nervous.

“Umm…Phillip and hissss wife Ivy, ma’am? I don’t recall (fart, fart)

their whereaboutssssss (fart).”

“You don’t recall their whereabouts?” responded the Red Witch

with a raised and dreadful tone. “One of your very simple instructions,

goblin, was to capture OR kill two VERY specific gnomes. You were

provided descriptions. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU VILE

CREATURE. GO BACK DOWN THERE AND BRING ME THEIR BODIES!

NOW!”

“(FART, fart, FART, fart) Yes ma’am! (fart),” cried Razorsnnot.

Jet’s eyes glared at the mumbling and frantic goblin. The steed

had become agitated and his nostrils began to smoke.

As Razorsnoot reared his spider around to go back down the hill

to the wagons, he started to fart uncontrollably. The other goblins

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could even here his farts from the bottom of the hill and they began to

snicker and giggle.

Jet’s nostril’s opened up. He shot a flaming hot blast of fire right

at the goblin’s backside.

“AYYYYEEEEEEEEEEE!” screamed Razorsnoot.

He lept off the spider and rolled down the hill. His rear was on

fire.

“Help me!”–Phillip’s Quest, Book 1: Winterfrost

06/13/2014

Meet Llamont!

Is he not the sweetest llama you’ve ever seen? Llamont is from my newest book–to be out on October–“Above the Stars,” Book II in the Phillip’s Quest series. He is drawn by the brilliant illustrator/artist, Dean Kuhta and lives, with his wife, Llemura, in the mountains of Ice Cave Canyon. An important character to the series, Llamont may be one of the prints available during our Kickstarter campaign in September! –From: Phillip’s Quest, Book II: Above the Stars, by Belinda C. Barker and Illustrated by Dean Kuhta–

He was chomping on a long blade of grass. This odd looking fellow wore no boots on his very furry feet. He was the herder of the spotted goats. The goat herder had a few of the silly goats lagging behind. He seemed completely unaware of the dinosaur beside him or the gnome standing on top. Edward had managed to scramble to the top of Stinky’s head where he perched himself so he could get a better view of the activities.

“Lassies, p-p-please now. Yur a-laggin’ b-b-behind. It’s almos t-t-time fer t-t-tay.” As he spoke, there were little sprays of liquid coming from his mouth. Indeed, he spit as he spoke.

“We’re goin’ as fast as we…” The head goat, Veni-Vedi, fell over in faint. It lasted two or three seconds and then, “can. Hold yer britches!”

This odd fellow plus many more make their appearance in the newest book of the Phillip’s Quest series as Phillip and his two companions, Edward the Squirrel and Stinky the Dinosaur, continue on their quest for Winterfrost Castle. Meet Bael, the Red Witch’s new villain who tries to straighten out Razorsnoot, the farting goblin. Meet Oli, Edward’s sister who is taking care of a special gnome. And meet Chaspere, the lizard who’s a wizard!

Look for the “Above the Stars” Kickstarter Campaign beginning in September, so that Llamont, Llemura and their silly, spotted goats can leave Ice Cave Canyon for the pages of “Phillip’s Quest, Book II.” Win free prizes–jewelry, art prints, gift cards, free signed copies of “Winterfrost” and “The Ragwort Chronicles,” and MORE.

Sign up for the “Gnome Gnews-Letter” at this website for updates about the campaign, new books and exciting offers!

04/17/2014

How to Find a Gnome

I look at the writings of my collegues and remark at the careful and, I’m sure, sometimes tedious research that they perform to authenticate their writing. I admire them and sometimes feel guilty because my writing requires nothing but my imagination! Even though I had Dean Kuhta’s wonderful illustrations to follow and knew the kind of characters I needed to create, I knew little about gnomes. I mean, what did you need to know? Short and stocky? Yup. Bearded? Sure. Conical hats? Mostly. I mean, just look at the annoying Travelocity gnome (my cousin started that company, so I hope I won’t get in trouble). Voila, a gnome! Then, after the third book, I decided maybe I should do some research.

Did you gnow that there is a whole gnome culture out there! First of all, I went nuts on Pinterest. Too much fun. Beautiful illustrations of gnome and their habitats. Artists have put together mini-gnome habitats. Too cute — so I went wild “pinning” all these pictures to my Phillip’s Quest page. Talented people. A bit weird, but talented. Yeah, right, look who’s talking! I’m obsessed.

So, of course, I must gnow MORE! Low and behold, I remember some of these illustrations and remember, from somewhere, the book called Gnomes. Immediately, I’m on Amazon and there it is, by Wil Huygen and RienPoortvelt. Two Dutchmen who put wrote and illustrated the iconic guide to all things gnome-ish. The illustrations are amazing! But, what’s more amazing is that I did okay with Phillip.

Except for some “nude-y” gnomes, (I’m not kidding), it would be a great book to show and read to children. One of my favorite parts is about the “other” night beings. One particular troll is called a “snotgurgle.” Must be Razorsnoot’s cousin! Gotta love it. Needless to say, I feel so much less guilty about not doing research. Goes to show you, you can find anything on the internet. Next research project–dragons!

As Phillip would say in his native language, “Slitzweitz!” (“Goodbye!”)

Of course, Phillip’s Quest and Gnomes are available on Amazon!

Winterfrost Publishing

Author, Belinda Miller

goblins