A Genie’s Day Off – Amazon out 28th May
I love it when I am reading a series, and a familiar character comes on stage. Maybe they’re not there all the time, but you know **** is about to get real now they are here. It’s a sense that you know them, you have seen them so many times that you’re on solid ground, even if the characters in the story are not.
But it’s more than that. It’s how a character, or a place, can bring back that essence of how it felt the first time you read them. It makes me feel connected.
It can work the other way around as well. There are a series of songs that always trigger the pleasure of the summer I binge read the Belgariad and Malloreon Series by David Eddings. Years later I can still remember that feeling, that emotion of those characters on that journey, when I hear the songs. I can’t tell you what the songs are called, it isn’t that kind of memory. It’s just sensory. When they come on, I can feel that connection.
I also remember driving my sisters up the wall as I refused to let them change the TV away from the music channel. That was back in the day of sharing a bedroom with my twin. No personal space. But that’s another story, and a less sensory memory. One I suspect they will remember less fondly. Sorry, not sorry.
I know this is not the first time I have said it, but that feeling is truly one of the major reasons I like series as much as I do. To be lost so far in a world that your skin itches to read the next one.
I find writing is the same – probably not a surprise. I get to hold on to the same characters and bring them through the world I have created. See them from different perspectives.
When I sat down to plan the Ernie’s stories, I wanted to give the reader some of this experience. I created re-occurring characters, and of course Ernie himself.
Then I remembered Wishing for Truths. My story that WAS NOT GOING TO BE A SERIES. I use capitals here because I really had meant it. That had been the plan. But then I had an idea!
Like the Ernie series, what if I made it so it stood on its own?
You don’t need to read Wishing for Truths to understand A Genie’s Day off. Just like you don’t have to have read any of the Ernie stories to understand the rest. BUT there are pieces that will be funnier if you have read both.
So, with the idea firmly in my head, I set about writing A Genie’s Day Off. What had I enjoyed about John’s character, and how could he interact with Ernie? The story definitely didn’t turn out how I originally planned, but Ernie’s rant about the expectations of what a genie should look like was some of the most fun I had writing Ernie’s dialogue.
I am pretty pleased with how this story turned out, and how I got to use John, even if he was only in it briefly.
A Genie’s Day Off is out 28th of May and is the 3rd short story in the Ernie series. It’s available on Kindle Unlimited, or for 77p on amazon. The Ernie series can be read in any order, so even if you haven’t read the others you can pick this one up.
A Genie’s Day Off – Amazon – Out 28th of May
Don’t forget that if you join my mailing list, you can pick up the first in the Ernie series for free. Or you can check out the last two blog hops Feb and April for a free flash fiction about Ernie.
A GENIE’S DAY OFF
28th May 21
£0.77 (& Kindle Unlimited)
Be careful what you wish for, it’s the Genie’s day off.
Being retired was supposed to be easy. No drama, no family, no problems. Considering what he was, Ernie should have known better.
Trusting a Genie might not have been the best idea, but when an old friend asks Ernie for a favour, he can’t say no.
He should have.
When Ernie is summoned, the wish looks simple enough. Food without cost. He even followed the rules; maybe that had been where he went wrong?
The Magic is only trying to help, but the wishes are almost done, and nothing is going to plan.
Ernie must find a way to make it right before Gluttony really does become a deadly sin. But not before he finishes the popcorn.
Ernie Smith and the Seven Deadly Sins is a series of short stories that will make you laugh and Ernie cry.
No need to wish for a laugh. Pick up this book today.