The Italian Version of Aveline is Now Available!

The Italian Version of Aveline is now available on Kobo, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords!

La piccola Aveline non ha idea di che cosa la aspetta quando si sveglia una mattina di Ottobre. Tutto d’un tratto si ritrova a parlare con delle fate e a guardare il suo cagnolino Milo che balla al ritmo di musica. Ovviamente, nulla e’ mai come sembra quando si tratta di fate, e molte sorprese attendono Aveline e i suoi cari. 

Max Underpants is Now Available!

Some crazy kid named Dingleberry Small just published his first short story, Max Underpants. Check it out!

Aveline & The Great Pumpkin Bash - Chapter 3: Emerge

Chapter 3: Emerge

Instinctively Aveline veered aside just as the spell wore off, sending the behemoth shooting past her in a fiery blur. The longer she lingered in the chasm, the more obvious it became that she could not outwing the wicked worm, and that her only hope of survival was through the aid of magic and any clever designs that she could devise. But dragons were clever creatures too, and full of magic.

“How did you do that?” The dragon roared, its ravenous hunger unfulfilled.

“The name’s Aveline: fairy princess, Wishbringer and junior architect of the threads of fate.” She bowed. She particularly liked the word ‘architect’; it made her feel big inside.

“You overestimate your ability.” The dragon’s eyes blazed.

“I think not. Now stop right there, Mr. Dragon.” Aveline raised her hand. Again the dragon froze as it whipped its spiky tail. “I’m headed to the pumpkin patch. Would you mind pointing out the way?”

Suddenly her tiny legs snapped together, tighter and tighter as if they were being wrapped in bubblegum. She gazed down in horror as a glowing spindle bound her legs together and surged past her waist. Though Aveline was blinded by the beast’s fiery eyes and glow of the ghostly webbing, she could still make out the ugly spider clinging to the dragon’s underside like a wart. Somehow it was impervious to her time spell.

And as the arachnid sprung for her, the little girl discovered a new magic word in her arsenal. “Aside!” she yelled, and this one sent the spider and its webbing falling harmlessly away.

But the insect provided the distraction that the dragon needed, and Aveline barely evaded the dragon’s slashing tail as it sliced through the air before her. She shot upwards, hoping to find a ceiling to the endless void. “Abracadabra! Um…Hocus pocus!” she blurted out, but those were the feeble words of fantasy. “Open sesame!” She called. Didn’t she see that once in a Bugs Bunny cartoon? Finally she thought back to the stories that her mother had told her. ‘Stop’ and ‘aside’ were featured prominently in those tales. Yet there was one more that she had not uttered. “Illuminate!” she screamed.

A ring of light severed the darkness above her.

“Did you hear that?” came a familiar voice.

“What’s that, dear?” came another.

“It sounded like Aveline.”

The voices became louder, and giggles, more frequent.

And as the dragon closed in, one last word escaped her. “Emerge.”

Aveline & The Great Pumpkin Bash - Chapter 2: Abomination

Chapter 2: Abomination

At first, she mistook his rasp for the snickering of little girls just a short distance away. But strange sounds ebbed through the abomination’s rotting lungs, its exhalation culminating with a mangled whistle.

Aveline thrust forward, not questioning the wings sprouting from her back. How large they were or at what velocity she was traveling she had no idea; she only knew that she needed to get out of there fast, even if it meant delving deeper into the void. “Light as a feather-”

“Hasten thy demise!” The creature roared.

The little girl surged through the chasm with renewed vigor. “Please, mother. Deliver me from this pit of ruin.”

“Only in ruin shall you find her. And now that I have come for you, your reunion is all but certain.” The beast’s stench flooded her nostrils.

His booming voice rocked through her, striking a familiar cord. “I know you. You were in the backyard with the fairies just a short while ago.”

“Are you certain of that?”

Though she did not see him through the dense thicket in her backyard, she could feel his presence. On the journey over, he had slipped in behind her, patiently waiting for his opportunity when she swept past the gates of the netherfaery.

His glowing eyes snapped open behind her, pale and glassy like chunks of dusty ice. “There is no sense in running any longer. Accept your fate as any primitive creature should.” White and blue fire erupted from the shadow’s mouth, causing its teeth to glow as well. Row after row of hideous teeth snapped at her, roughly the size of her abbreviated form.

“Anabelle, Anaia, Amorina!” she cried.

“They cannot help you here.” The monster unleashed its volcanic breath again, singeing Aveline’s wings.

It was a dragon, here in the darkness with her! And it wasn’t some cute little pet dragon as found in children’s books, but a demon born of nightmares.

“Mommy, daddy…please!” She knifed through the air.

“Yesss…cry for mommy and daddy…” The dragon illuminated the void with its white-hot breath. Before Aveline knew it, the winged serpent had closed the distance behind her.

As he snapped down, the little girl cried out, “No, stop!” And suddenly all was still in that dark, dank place. “Stop.” She repeated, and turned and faced the beast. Though its jaws were extended and fiery breath gushed from its mouth, the dragon was held there, suspended in time. “You did what I asked of you,” she gasped.

A Little Book About You is Now FREE on Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords and Teachers Pay Teachers!

Now FREE on Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords and Teachers Pay Teachers!

A LITTE BOOK ABOUT YOU

Take a few moments and read this heart-warming picture book to your child. Featuring over 30 pages of vivid, computer-generated art, there's plenty to keep them interested in addition to the awesome message inside.

There's no better way to tell them that you love them!

Descriptions of my other popular children's books are included after the main feature (an additional 8 pages).

Work in Progress: Baby Blue

Coming Soon!

Sneak Peek: Aveline & The Great Pumpkin Bash

Chapter 1: Void

“I feel different this time,” Aveline said as a spidery tingle raced up her spine. She waited for a response, and when none came, tried to adjust her eyes in the black void that she found herself. “Mommy, are you there?” Her lips trembled, the warmth of her mother’s embrace now a distant memory. “Arby?” she called, knowing that addressing her father by his first name would elicit an immediate rebuke.

Still, there was nothing inside this cold, dark place.

Just a moment ago she had been in her kitchen, sketching a picture of her lovely family. At first, she thought that her crayons were enchanted, but when her mother told her about the magic teeming within her, she knew that she had to find out more about the fairy realms that she was tied to. The fairies in her backyard had offered an invitation of sorts, to a magic festival located in the heart of a giant pumpkin patch where the pumpkins grew to be the size of boulders. Now that was something that she had to see!

A warm draft swept over her like hot breath, making her tremble anew. The dark space around her smelled musty and old. “Light as a feather, carry me though,” she uttered. “Mom? Dad?” Her calls became more desperate. Aveline needed to find them soon, especially mommy; otherwise, she might lose herself in the fairy worlds for a small eternity. She’d heard of such tales, from her mother no less, about fairies and time distortion and a little girl that had lost her way. If only she could remember the lessons of yesterday; the underlying wisdom might spring her from the void, and help her navigate the tricky worlds of fae.

For a moment she heard it, then again: teeth chattering, followed by the scattering of tiny feet. His odd stench filled her senses, like honey mixed with buttersquash and rotten broccoli. “Who’s there?” she said, realizing the gravity of her error once the words left her lips.