# Throwing Clay Shadows is a 2012 Brag Medallion Honoree



## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

The time is getting very close for the release of THROWING CLAY SHADOWS. (a historical with a slight paranormal slant)

I'll be adding the cover art to this thread as soon as I receive it from Ronnell D Porter, who I'm thrilled to say agreed to do the cover art. I can't wait to see what he's come up with. I've been wanting a Ronnell cover since I started this journey and finally have enough cash to pay for one. that alone is squeee worthy.

The blurb for now with launch date and news to come soon.


On the Isle of Eigg, in 1807, four-year old Maggie believes she has killed her mother by saying bad things, and now she won’t say a word. It's true that Ma's voice stays in the cottage, and sometimes Maggie can see her in the shadows, but it's not the same thing as having a real ma. She's worried if she says anything, she will kill her da too. She doesn't want him to die, and so no matter how much he tries to get her to, she won't speak. 
The trouble is, the consumption that really took her ma and her premature sister’s lives, has marked Maggie too and forces her da to marry Janet so she can have a woman to look after her. 

It gets harder to stay silent because Janet tries just as hard to get her to talk. Maggie's not sure she can hold out when this new ma reveals secrets that make her squirm, that make her feel like Da is doing things he shouldn't be. 

It seems there is more to worry about than a few words. He is indeed in trouble and much of that danger comes from the things his new wife isn't saying.

If she can just understand what Ma is telling her from those corners, Maggie will be able to face her fears and find her voice and true power. And her true power should be enough to bind the family together even against the darkest secrets.


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## Sharon Red (Jul 23, 2011)

theaatkinson said:


> The time is getting very close for the release of THROWING CLAY SHADOWS. (a historical with a slight paranormal slant)
> 
> I'll be adding the cover art to this thread as soon as I receive it from Ronnell D Porter, who I'm thrilled to say agreed to do the cover art. I can't wait to see what he's come up with. I've been wanting a Ronnell cover since I started this journey and finally have enough cash to pay for one. that alone is squeee worthy.
> 
> ...


This is a genre that I wish there was more books in, please keep up the great work!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Hello again, Thea, and congratulations on your book! 

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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

well, it's LIVE! And it's selling. What more could a gal ask for?

A spiffy cover?

I got that! made by a fellow kindlelboarder

Check it out









US: buy link is http://www.amazon.com/Throwing-Shadows-historical-paranormal-ebook/dp/B005HZL3CM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314325191&sr=1-1

UK buy link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Throwing-Shadows-historical-paranormal-ebook/dp/B005HZL3CM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314325191&sr=1-1


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Live and selling well but needs a boost like most new books. Just 99cents for another 2 weeks then it changes to 2.99

Grab it while it's a steal.

It even got a 4 star review on goodreads that I'm really pleased with. 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12448967-throwing-clay-shadows-historical-paranormal-novel

US: buy link is http://www.amazon.com/Throwing-Shadows-historical-paranormal-ebook/dp/B005HZL3CM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314325191&sr=1-1

UK buy link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Throwing-Shadows-historical-paranormal-ebook/dp/B005HZL3CM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314325191&sr=1-1


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

One week left to grab it at 99cents before it goes to 2.99
===========================================

It's 1807 on the Isle of Eigg. Four-year old Maggie believes she has killed her mother by saying bad things and now she won't say a word. It's true that Ma's voice stays in the cottage even though Da says she's gone, and sometimes Maggie can see her in the shadows, but it's not the same thing as having a real ma. She's worried if she says anything, she will kill her da too.

She doesn't want him to die, and so no matter how much he tries to get her to, she won't speak.

The trouble is, the consumption that really took her ma and her premature sister, has marked Maggie too. It forces Da to marry Janet so Maggie can have a woman to look after her.

It gets harder for her to stay silent, though, because Janet tries just as hard to get Maggie to talk. She's not sure she can hold out when this new ma reveals secrets that make her squirm, that make her feel like Da is doing things he shouldn't be.

It seems there is more to worry about than a few words. He is indeed in trouble and much of that danger comes from the things his new wife isn't saying.

If she can just understand what Ma is telling her from those corners, Maggie will be able to face her fears and find her voice and true power. The question is: will that power be enough to bind the family together even against the darkest secrets?


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

In the late hours before the price increases, I'm thrilled to mention that sales have put Throwing Clay Shadows in the top 10 for historical fantasy on both sides of the pond.

Not sure it'll last but it sure feels great.

Please, if you were thinking of trying this one out, get it at 99cents, it's going up very soon.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

How exciting! for one brief shining gaudy moment, TCS was at #4. whoo-ahhh!

thanks to everyone who purchased it.

http://www.amazon.com/Throwing-Shadows-historical-paranormal-ebook/dp/B005HZL3CM/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Throwing-Shadows-historical-paranormal-ebook/dp/B005HZL3CM/


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Update as per bookbazaar threadipedia. Hope I'm not doing this wrong


I'm SQUEEEing this morning as I found a 5 star unsolicited review for this lil ditty on the Red Adept site.

when I got word it was going to happen, I totally clammed up and panicked. Phew. I feel like I dodged a bullet; I so respect this site.

I saw this little book climb to #1 for a short while in Canadian Lit. How exciting was that?

Alas, it's now back to its usual resting spot of off the charts. grin. Do sample, won't you?


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Have you seen the great review from REd Adept Reviews?

thanks to the adepts for making my week.

http://redadeptreviews.com/throwing-clay-shadows-by-thea-atkinson/


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

I think I'm still selling some of these based on that awesome 5 star review from Red Adept Reviews. The link is in the very next post. Please do click and see.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

not much news to report. sorry, but I'd love it if you'd read the review from RedAdept

http://redadeptreviews.com/throwing-clay-shadows-by-thea-atkinson/


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Yup. 5 stars for a book that I changed the ending to after I wrote it. This one was originally very much like a Shakespeare ending. I knew that wouldn't fly so I found a way for them all to live. grin.

I have a blog post about the bedrock of family and how it drove the setting for the story.

http://theaatkinson.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/bedrock-of-family-and-story-theaatkinson-mywana/

If you enjoy any of my postings, do consider tweeting or sharing them in some way. I'm a poor, small sale gal who really hates marketing. I'd love it if you'd share what you enjoy. (if you enjoy)


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Just a lil bump for my darlin'. So far the only review has been on RedAdept, but I've had a few tweets saying they have enjoyed it. Please do sample. Samples are always free.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Well, all I can say this week is that I'm offering a deal on my blog.

Basically, if you subscribe and I get to 100 by Christmas, I'm giving away a total ebook package. Throwing Clay Shadows i is in the package.

http://theaatkinson.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/do-you-want-to-win-ebooks-help-me-build-my-blog/


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Please feel free to sample. 5 stars from Red Adept is a pretty nice brag, methinks.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

this lil puppy needs some loving.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

sorry to say, no news to report, but happy to say I received a lovely tweet from a reader about this book. It's nice to hear when someone likes something.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

4 stars on Goodreads

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12448967-throwing-clay-shadows-historical-paranormal-novel


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

no reviews so far on Amazon, but a couple on good reads. If you've read this and liked it, I would love to see even a quick review.

http://www.amazon.com/Throwing-Shadows-historical-paranormal-ebook/dp/B005HZL3CM/ref=sr_1_8?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1324908877&sr=1-8


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Won't you add TCS to your Goodreads TBR?

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12448967-throwing-clay-shadows-historical-paranormal-novel


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## CaitLondon (Oct 12, 2010)

It sounds really, really good. BTW, how about listing your kindleboard designer? Sorry, if I missed it; I'm on that hunt now.


>A spiffy cover?

>I got that! made by a fellow kindlelboarder


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Hey Cait!

I can't believe I forgot to list the designer as Ronnell Porter. He was quite easy to work with and I think the cover shows his talents.

Thanks for asking and for the compliment!


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

I'm currently working to find reviewers for this book. If you'd like to read a historical (slight) paranormal, I can get you a free review copy. Just comment on the thread.

It's 1807 on the Isle of Eigg. Four-year old Maggie believes she has killed her mother by saying bad things and now she won't say a word. It's true that Ma's voice stays in the cottage even though Da says she's gone, and sometimes Maggie can see her in the shadows, but it's not the same thing as having a real ma. She's worried if she says anything, she will kill her da too.

She doesn't want him to die, and so no matter how much he tries to get her to, she won't speak.

The trouble is, the consumption that really took her ma and her premature sister, has marked Maggie too. It forces Da to marry Janet so Maggie can have a woman to look after her.

It gets harder for her to stay silent, though, because Janet tries just as hard to get Maggie to talk. She's not sure she can hold out when this new ma reveals secrets that make her squirm, that make her feel like Da is doing things he shouldn't be.

It seems there is more to worry about than a few words. He is indeed in trouble and much of that danger comes from the things his new wife isn't saying.

If she can just understand what Ma is telling her from those corners, Maggie will be able to face her fears and find her voice and true power. The question is: will that power be enough to bind the family together even against the darkest secrets?


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

I guest blog about TCS on As the Spine Breaks

http://www.asthespinebreaks.blogspot.com/


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

wrote a short blog post about this book, kind of exploring endings and mass marketing.

http://theaatkinson.wordpress.com/2012/02/10/the-happy-crappy-ending-or-can-you-afford-to-write-what-you-want/


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Strange week:

I just discovered that RedADept gave TCS a drama award. Wow. How could I just be finding this now? Thanks to Mel Comley, I now know I received a pretty nice little award that I missed. Celebrating now!

redadeptreviews.com/2011-red-adept-reviews-indie-awards-drama/

Also: got a nice 5 star from a reader today on Smashwords for _Throwing Clay Shadows_, and the thoughtful person added it to Amazon too.

I'm always so grateful when a reader reviews...and it helps when they like it. grin

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B005HZL3CM/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76339


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

slowly picking up readers for this historical. Won't you put it on your Goodreads TBR?
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12448967-throwing-clay-shadows


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Some kind soul picked it up yesterday. sweet. Thank you reader. I do hope you enjoy.

Meantime, I blogged about this book during its launch; maybe you'd drop in and give it a read

http://theaatkinson.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/bedrock-of-family-and-story-theaatkinson-mywana/

and purchase here:

http://www.amazon.com/Throwing-Shadows-historical-paranormal-ebook/dp/B005HZL3CM/


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

A quick sample:

CHAPTER 1: 
Isle of Eigg: The Croft: March 26, 1807
Something was wrong with Ma's belly. It was as big as a lump of bread dough, puffing up over the bowl so secretly, it didn’t seem to grow at all till she looked at it next.  Maggie hated that about bread dough, that it grew when she wasn’t looking, and now matter how long she stared at it, trying to figure out how it got bigger, it just wouldn’t budge till she got tired and started playing with her favorite dollie Bessie. She’d forget all about watching the bowl, and there would be the dough. All rounded up and stinky and wanting fingers to poke into it. So for sure, she hated how the stuff grew. And she hated that Ma’s belly seemed to be keeping the same kind of secret.

It had grown into a bulging thing that made Ma sigh a lot and rub it a lot and, when she thought Maggie wasn't watching, talk to it a lot. The belly shortened Ma's usual long step and made her breathe heavy as though she was lugging a pot too large to handle. The belly pressed forward all the time, taking all the attention in the cottage and stealing touches from Da. But the belly couldn't trick Maggie; it hadn't  always been big. Oh no. The day Maggie had made it to four fingers old, it had barely been there. 

That was when Ma told Maggie there would be a sister, and because Ma knew things, Maggie believed it. Once, Ma told her that Da would hurt his thumb with his axe and sure enough, the morning came and he came clumping in from the yard, holding onto his hand with thick, red liquid covering the sleeve of his leine. 

Later, she sat with Ma next to the fireplace where it was good and warm and listened to all the stories Ma had of the old days and the Highlands that she didn't visit no more. Sometimes there'd even be lessons about how to come to know things like Ma did, all in the accent that was so much stronger than Da's, "Close yer eyes, my own. Look a' the colors behind. They'll turn into kin, if ye want them tae."

Maggie tried hard to let the colors behind her lids change; she really wanted Ma to be proud of her. Sometimes she'd manage it, and she'd see Ma or Da, and sometimes if she was lucky she got to see the young boy wearing a strange white kilt that sometimes visited her in dreams. She wasn't sure she liked those dreams; they always made her feel all squirmy when she woke up. Mostly, though, all she saw when she tried to see things was just the black that came with closed eyes. 

It was much easier to spend her open-eye time watching for the sister.

So she waited and waited for the sister but nothing changed except the belly in its own secret way. It kept swelling like bread in a pan till she had to bend her neck backward just to look up and catch Ma's attention. Ma got a cough, too, that came more often and lasted longer as the belly grew. The cough made Ma's eyes water and made Da squinch his caterpillar brows together and grumble about the damp that came up through the mud floor. 
Then Ma stopped moving around the cottage at all. She took to lying in bed all day. The coughs came in between horrible moaning sounds, then yelling sounds--and then cursing sounds. Hearing Ma curse was terrible enough but when she cursed at Da, well, that made Maggie grab her dollie and hide under the table to get away from it all. 

"I want Ma not to cough," she told Bessie as they played beneath the table, but Bessie said nothing back, her painted-on dollie mouth was tucked into a smile that Maggie wanted to scratch off, just this once.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

a little more?

She loved Bessie. Bessie slept with her every night and grinned at her every morning, but today she couldn't stand the dollie's frozen smile. It was wrong to smile today. Wrong with Ma in bed and Da touching her forehead every time she groaned.

Maggie wanted to shut out the sounds, and every time she heard Da complain, "It isn't time. It isn't time…" she wanted to fling Bessie across the floor and yell at him to stop. She wanted everything to go back to the way it always was, with Ma and a small belly, with Da looking after the sheep and with Bessie being just a dollie with a stupid smile. Dumb dollie. Didn't she know she shouldn't smile today. Dollies should be careful if they didn't want to get a licking. 

Maybe if she scraped a nail across the pink lips, she could scratch off the stupid smile. The pink stayed bright. She tried again. Again the lips stayed painted. No matter how much she scraped, Bessie still smiled and Ma still groaned and coughed.

Maybe she could work on the lessons. Maybe today she could get the colors behind her eyes to change into pictures. She'd pretend to be that boy with the white kilt. Sentu, his name was, Sentu, in his land with no water. And Bessie could be his friend, the one called Ahmen. Of course, he would get hurt--and good for him too, for smiling on such a day.

A screech came from Ma's bed that made Maggie feel like she did when she got caught pulling hair out of the hound's ear. Oh oh. She was going to get a licking now and all because she wanted Ahmen to get hurt. She shouldn't have wished it. Ma always knew when she was being a bad girl. Maybe if she squeezed her eyes right tight no one would see her and they'd forget she was being bad.

The colors behind her eyelids exploded into tiny bits. They had never done that before. And when the colors disappeared, she saw a new person in her mind: a young lass with skin the color of walnut bark. She had on an airisaidh of feathers instead of the usual plaid, this lass. How grand it would be to wear wings like that and not have to wear the stinky wool plaid that scratched her shoulders when it got wet. Those feathers looked soft on the lass; she looked content to wear such finery.

The lass beckoned to her with a long finger and Maggie caught a look at her eyes; they were different colors: one brown, one green. She wasn't sure she liked the way those eyes looked at her--looked through her and made her feel as though the bad things she'd been doing were even worse now the young lass knew about them. Oh, how she wished she'd not wanted to hurt Ahmen.

Then she was gone, and Maggie felt like her head was spinning in circles and Da was saying, "Come to, lassie, come to."


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

What a lovely 5star review for Throwing Clay Shadows. so humbled and thrilled.

a piece of it?

"Thea Atkinson is one of the most versitile authors I have had the pleasure of reading. Her work has soul and THROWING CLAY SHADOWS stays true to her style"

Please do sample. Just click on the thumbnail below.


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

If you've bought Throwing Clay shadows, please enter my contest to win a $50 gift card

straight to the contest
http://theaatkinson.blogspot.ca/2012/05/haystack-giveaway.html

to my blog for the details
http://theaatkinson.wordpress.com/2012/05/06/is-your-ebook-lost-in-the-straw-jungle-of-amazon/


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

a spanky new cover that I think matches the genre a bit better. Loved the old version, but thought I'd try something more historical specific.

What do you think?


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

a short snippet from a reviewer:

"Although this is certainly not a light read, if you want a story that feels true, deep and real, this is for you. "


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

A chance to win some swag just by reading a sample of Throwing Clay Shadows. I'm offering a lovely lined notebook shipped straight to you if you win. Check out the contest at:

http://theaatkinson.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/get-your-july-swag/


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

Throwing Clay Shadows is on sale for a short time for .99 cents. That's $3 dollars off. Get it now, if you've thought about it, as it'll be going back to regular price verrrrrry soon.

US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HZL3CM/
UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B005HZL3CM/


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

a lovely 5star review for Throwing Clay Shadows. Thanks for taking the chance on me, Kel

http://www.amazon.com/Throwing-Shadows-historical-novel-ebook/product-reviews/B005HZL3CM/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_recent?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending


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## theaatkinson (Sep 22, 2010)

A total of three 5 star reviews. Historical fiction with a splash of supernatural.


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