When I
wrote my young adult action adventure novel, The Elemental Odyssey, I included
several rhyming riddles. I’ve always loved riddles (ever since reading the
Hobbit as a child), and I thought that having a few in a book about a dangerous
quest would be cool.
One of
the readers of The Elemental Odyssey, one of the shuttle drivers for Microsoft,
enjoyed the riddles in the book and suggested that I write an entire book with
nothing but riddles. It didn’t take me long to agree with him that it was a
good idea. I’d love to find a book with nothing but rhyming riddles in it. They’re
kind of like poetic crossword puzzle clues, and I’ve always enjoyed crossword
puzzles.
So, I
spent some time on our vacation creating a bunch of riddles, and Derek’s Rhyming Riddles Book #1 is the first batch. In it you’ll find 60 new, original
riddles.
Here
are just a few examples:
Riddle
#1
Colors
clinging, colors falling, colors on the ground
Empty
branches, pumpkin patches, night is sooner found
Apple
cider, back to school, harvest queen gets crowned
Costumes
worn, treats dispensed, ghosts and ghouls unbound
Riddle
#29
They
make up a sentence
Some
know how to leap
Methuselah
had hundreds
Rip
spent many asleep
Riddle
#58
Tiny
little bowls
Filled
with many eyes
Windows
to the world
Through
them one spies
If you
can’t figure out the riddles, you should buy the book! if you like word games, crossword puzzles, or even poetry you might find this book provides a bit of entertainment. I hope you enjoy
figuring out the riddles as much as I enjoyed writing them.
You
can buy Derek's Rhyming Riddles Book #1 for your Kindle on Amazon for only $2.99. That’s just 5 cents a
riddle!
That's pretty awesome, Derek. I think that's a great idea for a book. I've been fond of rhymes and riddles for along time, too. That's pretty much the reason I published Granny Gruesome - Nursery Rhymes to Terrify Children, because if you can't find the books you want to read, sometimes you need to create them yourself.
ReplyDeleteAnd, on a side, this is a smart way to diversify yourself and reach more readers. This'll be another book in another genre (or category).
Derek, this is off-topic but I thought you might be interested to know that the Wall Street Journal had an article today about the Big 6 price fixing e-books. I was happily surprised in the comments section to see a number of posts directing other readers towards Indie authors. In one, you were mentioned specifically. You may not be able to read the article without a subscription (try searching for the title on Google) but I think you can access the comment section.
ReplyDeleteThis is the comment:
"This is about publishing companies trying to put the e-book genie back in the bottle. It won't work.
If the famous authors stay with the publishing companies then the quantities of their readers will decline. Eventually those big authors will leave the huge publishing companies to protect their sales, profits, and ultimately brand. People with ebooks, most often, in my opinion, when they run across an over-priced ebook, will just look for a cheaper ebook. Most will not go out and buy the paper version, they bough an e-reader for a reason.
You can find many, quality, self-published ebooks for free, $1, $2, $3.
List of the best self-published or reasonably priced books I have read in the last 8 months:
In Her Name: Empire by Michael R. Hicks (currently free)
Spinward Fringe, Origins by Randolph Lalonde (currently free)
The Old Man and the Wasteland by Nick Cole (currently 99 cents)
Dead Dwarves Don't Dance by Derek J. Canyon (currently 99 cents)
A Star Curiously Singing by Kerry Nietz (currently 2.99)
Containment by Christian Cantrell (currently 99 cents. free for prime members)
Some of these books are just the first books in great series."
Anyway, here's the link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204336104577096762173802678.html?mod=WSJ_article_comments#articleTabs%3Darticle
That's a cool idea, Derek. :) Sounds like fun!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the book, but I'm not sure about your cover on this one. Yes, I know "the wise old owl" and all, but I don't think that it's says riddles.
ReplyDeleteJust my 0.02
Eric, I plan on having several of these riddle books and I don't have the resources to commision new artwork for each one. Therefore, I'll be using free stock photography for each cover. Unfortunately, finding free stock photography that says "riddle" is problematic. What do you think says riddles? I couldn't find anything. So, instead, I've decided to come up with a consistant style for the books. Each one will have a closeup of a face of some kind. In this case, an owl. I used an owl for the first one becomes riddles often ask "who?" Well, who says who the most? Owls!
ReplyDeleteJamie, I just saved your comment from the automatic spam filter. Thanks for telling me about that WSJ story!
ReplyDelete