Author News

10 Reasons to Buy Drawkcab Brown Meets Yuck Mouth Pete!

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10. The pictures are bright and colorful! If there is one thing kids love, it’s a colorful children’s book.

9. The story rhymes and has been known to make kids laugh.

8. Adults who read it to their children have been known to have a notable amount of fun.

7. There is a simple lesson at the end. It’s nothing too deep, but the kiddos will get it.

6. It’s Black History Month. Support a culturally diverse children’s book starring a little black boy.

5. A kid you know is likely having a birthday soon.

4. It has maps!

3. You have a child between the ages of 4-8.

2. It only takes about 7 minutes to read.

#1 You could win a free audible code for Drawkcab Brown Meets Yuck Mouth Pete!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway! For those who missed this one, I still have some more codes. I will doing more giveaways in the future.

Rosalind “Kai” Morris

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The Meaning Behind the Pen Name for my Children’s Books.

For my novels, I write under the name Rosalind Morris, but for my Children’s books, I write under the name Rosalind “Kai” Morris. I posted a video about this around 8PM on Thursday night (2-4), however, the video hit a snag. So I will just tell you the story. When I was a little girl, my mother read books to me almost every night. I am a huge proponent of story time by the way. I write all my children’s books with a great story time in mind. That is largely due to my experiences with it as a child.

One of my favorite books to hear at story time was a book called Marvin K Mooney, Will You Please Go Now! by Dr. Suess. In the book, Marvin is asked to leave, and then given suggestions on ways to leave. But Marvin does not leave until the end of the book, when he is good and ready. I loved that book, and the way my mother would say Marvin K. Mooney so much that my mother started to call me Rosalind Kai Morris and later Roz Kai (my official nickname) after Marvin K. Mooney.

I don’t really have a middle name, and I like that I don’t have a middle name. However, for my children’s books, I wanted to use my nickname Rosalind “Kai” Morris since that name represents the very early stages of my love of storytelling as well as the fond memories of having story time with my mother as a child.

Parents, grandparents, parents to be, teachers, librarians, etc. when you are considering your next story time read, get Drawkcab Brown Meets Yuck Mouth Pete by Rosalind “Kai” Morris. It’s fun to read, and your kids will love it! I hope they do anyway. Thanks for stopping by my blog and allowing me to share a little about myself with you.

A New Year, A New Release and What Comes Next…

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First of all, it’s been literally over 2 years since I have posted anything here. It took me until the last part of 2020 to get my creative juices flowing enough to act on them. Why you may ask? 2019 was probably the harshest year of my life. My dad died in March; my mama died in June. I instantly became a Pseudo-Mom to my autistic sister. I lived in two states for while. Had to find a a new place to live. Then in 2020: The Pandemic started in March. I had my first major surgery in July. Recovery took a few months. But anyhoo, it’s now 2021, so Happy New Year! Today we changed Presidents. And we have our first woman Vice President! Historical! That’s all I am going to say about that.

A New Children’s Book!

Pre-Order: Ebook Print

I am super excited to announce that Drawkcab Brown Meets Yuck Mouth Pete is available for pre-order. It’s the sequel to my first Children’s book, Drawkcab Brown Stops a Bully. In this story, Drawkcab travels west and encounters a mean outlaw named Yuck Mouth Pete. It’s up to Drawkcab to stop Pete from terrorizing his new friends, the citizens of Cloverville.

Will Drawkcab save the day again? Or this time will the villain win? One will triumph; One will retreat, when Drawkcab Brown Meets Yuck Mouth Pete!

It’s a rhyming good time with a western twist and some fun surprises along the way!

An Audiobook too!

Also, I just finished approving the master copy of the audiobook. This time I waited until the project was in post-production to announce anything about it. Not to repeat what happened with my novel, The Wages or the Gift (Audiobook still to come.) The audiobook is Narrated by James Cogan also known as Storyteller Jim Cogan, who has a long career of reading books to children. He even does workshops on bullying. Which is awesome, because thwarting bullies is Drawkcab’s favorite thing to do! Jim was awesome to work with, and he did an excellent job on the book. Stay tuned for more information on the release.

To the Drawing Board!

This month, I am working on the pictures for Drawkcab Brown’s Astounding Defeat of Peg Leg Petey and His Pirating Keet! It is the third Drawkcab Brown book and the first Drawkcab Brown Musical (Produced in 2015 by Spotlight Children’s Theatre in Tulsa, OK).

Also, Sharon Howard, my aunt and an amazing artist, has been working diligently on the pictures for yet another of my children’s books: Lucy Meets a Stinker. Lucy is a Luvbug, and she is pretty adorable. Her bug sound is, “luv, luv, luv”, her head is heart shaped, and she is super kind and sweet. Luvbug’s are loving by nature, of course. 😉 I will have more information on this book and Lucy after the illustrations are done.

Merry Christmas to all!

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I pray that you can find joy in this season, as we reflect on the great love of a God that would gift His son to save the world.  Merry Christmas.

It’s Been a Year!

The Wages or the Gift is a bit (three days) over a year old now, and I think that we had a great first year.  If you have not had a chance to read it yet, it is on sale on Amazon right now.  It’s a great time to check it out.  If you do I hope it blesses you as it entertains you.  🙂

Review Goals

I try to stress the importance and significance of leaving a review ever so often.  I need about 50 reviews before Amazon starts to really pay attention to my novel.  Right now I have 13.  I am so grateful for everyone who has left one.

I am grateful to all of you who read the book, regardless of whether or not you posted a review.  But reviews are so helpful. If you got the book somewhere other than Amazon, you can still leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads.  So just saying if you have read The Wages or the Gift even if it was not a favorite, please just take a few minutes to leave a review.

About NaNoWriMo

Okay, so my first attempt at NaNoWriMo was not successful.  I wrote under 2000 words.  Sorry.  It honestly was a flow issue.  The words were not coming like I needed them too.  Still working on it, but I will get the first draft of Wrong Number finished.

The Audiobook

The Wages AudioCover

I was hoping to be able to release the audiobook this year, but it looks like that will not happen before 2019 as well.  There was a delay in production on my producers end.

#LiveTweetANovel

I am still doing #livetweetanovel.  If you have not had a chance to check it out yet, my twitter name is @Rozkai.  Currently I am reading and tweeting about a book called Miranda Warning.  Next up will be a book called The Awakening.  Stay tuned.  Please retweet, and check out the books if they sound interesting to you.

 

OKC Event Debrief, NaNoWriMo Decisions, and Hashtag Adventures.

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About Last Night…

A big thank you to everyone who came out the Bricktown Freaky Book Bang in OKC!  We had a great time.  I signed and sold a book, and I was able to meet and introduce some new people to my work.  I call that a success.  Also it was fun to be a supermodel for a day. lol OCKpic

NaNoWriMo 2018

November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).  This year, for the first time, I have decided to do the NaNoWriMo challenge.  I’m still feeling my way around the site and trying to get the gist of this phenomenon, but I already have a couple of writing buddies. So yay! The challenge for me now is deciding which work in progress (WIP) to focus on for the challenge.  Also I think I am supposed to set a word goal.  I guess that will depend on which WIP I choose.  Here are my choices:

God or Mammon

Originally, I was going to choose the second book in the Life Choices series,God or Mammon (Life Choices Book B). It’s a medical thriller.  This one will be fun to write, and I am very excited about it.

Patches

The first draft of Patches is already finished.  It is a supernatural thriller with angels and demons, and all kinds of wonderful spiritual warfare.  It’s about an interracial couple that moves to a small town called Purblind.  Christopher White is an architect and his wife, a black woman, is  his lawyer.  After doing a remodeling project in Purblind, AL, Christopher falls in love with the quiet little town, and purchases a house and some land there.  Purblind only allows certain families to own land, so imagine their surprise when not only has an outsider purchased their land, but he also shows up with a mixed family.  I still have a few beta readers who are reading it, and I recently got it back from my editor.  So if I choose it, I will be mostly correcting and rewriting.  Which can be fun as well, but I want to hear from more of my Beta Readers before I get started on this one.  And some of them are still reading.

Wrong Number

I started working on this novel a few years ago, and lately it has been calling me back to it.  Here’s the blurb:  Billions of digits randomly collated into systematic sequences of ten, doled out according to nation, state, and area have linked our society in an intricately woven tapestry of communication. For Jason Gord, one systematic sequence became a lethal obsession, and for Cardigan DuPree the same phone number started a life altering nightmare. It is a thriller suspense novel. I am seriously itching to work on this one again. So I think I will choose it for NaNoWriMo.

#LiveTweetANovel

So I have started to do this new thing on twitter.  You know how people live tweet their favorite shows and such?  Well I thought it might be a fun thing to do with novels as well.  So I started #LiveTweetANovel.  Basically I am giving my reactions to what I am reading as I go along.  Not for every page of course, but ever so often when I have a comment or thought about what I am reading.  I am hoping this catches on, as I think it could be kind of fun.  I am currently reading Miranda Warning by Heather Day Gilbert.  Follow me on Twitter @Rozkai to find out what I am thinking about the novel so far.

 

 

Join me in OKC! Win a Glam Box!

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It’s a Costume Book Signing Event!

On October 27, I will be signing copies of The Wages or the Gift at the Bricktown Freaky Book Bang in OKC.  I know it may seem a bit weird for a Christian Fiction author to be signing books at a Halloween event, but there will be a great variety of authors there, and I feel like its a chance to be a light.  Also to have some fun.  There will be games, free massages, food, and a costume contest. My costume will be Ebony Reynold (the supermodel) from The Wages or the Gift.  I will also have a few glam boxes to give away.  If you are in Oklahoma City or near it, please come and see me.  Tickets are on sale now, and I would love to meet you.  For those of you who would like to preorder your signed copy, or at least reserve one (there are a limited number), you can fill out the this form.

Glam! Glam! Glam!

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You automatically get two entries into the Glam Box drawings for getting your book in advance! If you choose to reserve and pay at the event, you get 1 entry.  Of course there will be plenty of opportunities to get additional entries at the event.  (The treasures inside are a surprise.)

The October 1st Announcement!!!!

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October 1 is almost over, but I could not let it end without making the big announcement that I promised!  I am super excited to announce that I finally found the right producer for the audiobook version of The Wages or the Gift!

Audiobook Cover/Producer Reveal!!!!!!

The Wages AudioCover

You know how I said earlier that the surprise is what is missing from the cover?  You might have guessed that it was the narrator.  I am overjoyed to announce that Christopher Lane, winner of numerous Audie and Earphone Awards, has agreed to produce the audio version of The Wages or the Gift (Life Choices Book A)!

Have a Listen!

The book is in production and will be released sometime before the end of this year on audible and i-tunes.  I will announce the release date in a later post.  However, to whet your appetite, I am posting the first 20 minutes here now. Please enjoy this audio excerpt narrated by Christopher Lane for The Wages or the Gift.

Also, Thank you!

I truly appreciate you stopping by this site and reading the blog.  Let me know what you think of the sample.

 

 

 

 

Exciting news…

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Something Awesome is Happening!!!

Do you hate it when people gush about having something exciting to tell, but they can’t tell you?  Even though they keep stressing how excited they are and how very much they want to just tell you now?  But they shouldn’t just yet.  Would not be prudent and all.  Well sorry.  I have some super exciting news!   However, I cannot say anything until October 1st.  See there, a date.  That’s makes it better, right?

October 1, 2018

Something awesome is happening in the “life” of The Wages or the Gift (On Sale for $1.99.  Yes, I know that’s good news too, but that’s not the BIG news.)  On this date, I have a big announcement to make about soon coming bit of wonderful, and trust me, you do not want to miss it.

A Hint?

Ok, I will give a hint.  The exciting proclamation has something to do with this picture:

The Wages AudioTemp

You may say, Rosalind, Roz, Ma’am, that’s just a picture of your book cover. Not exactly.  Anyway, the exciting part is in what is missing from the picture more than what is there. That’s a riddle.

Moving on…

A couple of days before the joyous unveiling (September 29 @1:00 PM Central), I will be discussing The Wages or the Gift on Facebook in an open group called The Bookshelf: Christian Readers and Writers.  You should join me.  Especially if you have read the novel and have thoughts or questions you would like to share.  I can promise you a lot of fun and some interesting stories about this books journey to publication. So if you haven’t had a chance to read the book yet, now’s a good time!  It’s on sale for $1.99 until September 26!

 

 

 

 

September to Remember Giveaway Extravaganza!

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Today I noticed that I finally made it to ten reviews!  Granted I need about 50 before Amazon starts to pay more attention to my novel, but ten is a really good start.  So a big thank you to everyone who has left a review so far.  If you have read the book and have not left a review, you could be among the forty others that I need to reach my goal of fifty. 🙂  At any rate, the enthusiasm of number 10 really blessed me. Here it is:

Latest 5 Star Review

A big thank you to the reader who left this review!  I am so glad you enjoyed the book! To celebrate the first ten reviews, I am running a giveaway.  Enter for a chance to win a signed copy of The Wages or the Gift.

Talent, Research, and Betas! Oh, My!

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Happy Friday all!  As my title might suggest, many exciting things are happening with regard to Author Roz.  I would like to share some of them with you today.

Before I get into today’s blog, I want to let everyone know that I finally finished reformatting the e-book.  For everyone who had a previous version, you should receive an update.  Now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Talent

First of all, I am looking for the right male voice talent for The Wages or the Gift.  Yes, that’s right, my next step for the novel is to make it into an audio book.  I am super excited to get started, but first I need to find the right guy for the job.  I have invited numerous voice actors to audition, but the auditions are trickling in slowly.  At this point, I have no clear trajectory as to when audio book enthusiasts can expect to listen to The Wages or the Gift, but as soon as the voice has been chosen, I will update.

Research

I have started working on the next book in my Life Choices series: God or Mammon.  I am super excited because this book is going to be a medical thriller.  This is a fun genre that will require a lot of research.  I am studying everything from medical terminology to hospital administration.  Fun stuff!

Betas

Right now my second novel (completely unrelated to The Wages or the Gift) is with a wonderful group of people called Beta Readers!  My Beta readers include my publicist (Jen Thomas), my editor (Martha Lowe) and a group of around 7 or 8 random lovers/readers of Christian Fiction.  Most of them are still in the process of reading the book, but I have gotten a few of the results.  So far, the general consensus is that I am on the right track (ie. they already really like/love the book), which is good.  After I hear back from everyone, I will start working on draft two.

Oh, My!

I am super excited to draw your attention to  The Voice of Literature Ezine at www.voxlit.co.uk. It’s a great publication out of the United Kingdom that features book reviews, excerpts from novels, author articles, and a section called Writer’s Notes. I am excited to share that an article I wrote on the technique of zooming is featured in this month’s Writer’s Notes section! It’s the first one you’ll see.  Check it out!  If you are a writer, or a person who loves literature, this is a great e-zine to follow.