Whether it’s Happy Valentine’s Day or Happy Galentine’s Day, love is in the air!
While people are preoccupied with love stories and Cupid’s arrow, we’d like to give a special shout-out to those who love us unconditionally year-round — our furry, four-legged family members.
Issue 7 of Second Draft Journals: Love Notes & Paw Prints is the puuurfect journal for pet lovers everywhere. Whether you journal about your day-to-day life and goals, or you keep a record about your fur baby (because there’s just too much to tell if you have to rely on someone else to care for them), we hope that you love the original works of art, the short story, Puppy Love, and the poems about self-care and our four-legged friends. With white and rose-tinted lined pages, this Second Draft Journal is meant to be soothing and sweet long after the Valentine’s Day candy is gone.
Issues Of Second Draft Journals (scroll for links)
Second Draft Journals are created by A.F.S. Green (writer) and Dixie Roach-Foxton (artist), a mother-daughter duo in Ontario, Canada. This series of paperbacks is titled Second Draft Journals because those who will remember the COVID-19 pandemic will likely think of their life in two parts: what happened before the pandemic (our first draft) and what happened after (our second draft).
At the time of writing, the COVID-19 pandemic continues but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Whatever you desire from a journal, I’m confident that we have an issue for you!
Issue 5 of Second Draft Journals: A Dignified Collection
This is a celebratory issue that includes all of the original art and short stories featured in the previous four issues. Printed in vibrant colour, complete with goal-setting and lined pages (white and tinted pages), this journal is perfect for you and your loved ones.
Issue 4 of Second Draft Journals: For The Child In You
Second Draft Journals: For The Child In You (our first black-and-white issue!)
This is our first black-and-white issue. Enjoy the original works of art as printed or colour them in. (Which is great for stress relief!) It has lined pages, goal-setting pages, and blank pages (in case you like to doodle).
Enchanted Outlines (the short story in this issue), explores the secret world of colouring books as the characters in little Easton’s colouring book come to life! It’s for the child in all of us and is great for kids.
Issue 3 of Second Draft Journals: Fly In The Face Of Fear
Second Draft Journals: Fly In The Face Of Fear (our first issue with tinted pages!)
This issue is available in two sizes (8.27″x11.69″ and 6″x 9″). Printed in colour, it is the first one that has both white and tinted lined pages! With lots of lined pages, goal-setting pages, and original works of art throughout this issue, it’s one of our favourites.
Take Flight, the short story offered in this issue follows human and avian characters as they face their fears and an unlikely friendship forms. Fun for kids and adults alike!
The Storytellers’ Compact Size (6″x9″) is available on all marketplaces, including Canada, the USA, Australia, the UK, and Japan as well.
Issue 2 of Second Draft Journals: A New Beginning
Second Draft Journals: A New Beginning (Issue 2)
This issue is available in two sizes (8.27″x11.69″ and 6″x 9″). It is printed in colour with original works of art, goal-setting pages, and lined pages for you to journal, brainstorm, and take notes as you please. It’s perfect for the serious writers in your life!
The short story included in this issue reminds readers that Looks Can Be Deceiving (which is its title), as a group of friends examine the snap judgments that they make when they see an elderly lady sitting at a bus stop in their community. Heartfelt and hopeful, you’re sure to enjoy Looks Can Be Deceiving.
Issue 1 of Second Draft Journals: A Time Capsule For Hospitality
Second Draft Journals: A Time Capsule For Hospitality (Issue 1)
This issue is available in two sizes (8.27″x11.69″ and 6″x 9″). Published in the spring of 2021, our first Second Draft Journal was inspired by the plight of small-business owners (restaurateurs, in particular) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
If These Walls Could Talk (the short story in this issue) follows a restaurateur and his group of friends that is narrated by the very walls of a restaurant itself.
Second Draft Journals: A Time Capsule For Hospitality is printed in colour, with original works of art, goal-setting pages, and plenty of lined pages to use as you please.
Life is a work in progress. Enjoy your second draft!
A.F.S. Green
Staycation For The Soul: A Collection Of Short Stories
Staycation For The Soul: A Collection Of Short Stories by A.F.S. Green
Female reindeer fight for equality and respect in the North Pole after a multi-generational cover-up is discovered. A masterpiece narrates its journey through time. An atheist talks to God. A premature baby decided when to be born. A mature dog finds a new life after the death of her beloved owner.
In Staycation for the Soul: A Collection of Short Stories, each story is imaginative and heartfelt. A.F.S. Green’s first collection is for anyone looking for a short break from their day-to-day life with messages of hope that are sure to reverberate long after the last page is read.
*Intended for readers who are 8-years-old and up (at the discretion of their parent or guardian).
Available on all Amazon marketplaces, including Canada, the USA, the UK, and Australia.
The Ties That Bind
The Ties That Bind by A.F.S. Green (18+)
It was unfathomable that Angel would lose her twin sister, Eve, to an underground community in early 2009, but after Eve was attacked, things started to change — quickly.
The Ties that Bind is the premiere novel in a series about sisterhood and friendship, lust and affluence, and control and loss. When a seductive woman and a man with smouldering good looks present the twins with the keys to a world where lines are blurred between tradition and an alternative culture, professionalism and desire, and loyalty and a sexy, taboo lifestyle, which path will each sister choose?
*Intended for a mature audience, 18+.
Available on all Amazon marketplaces, including Canada, the USA, the UK, and Australia.
I’ve started publishing under the pen name, A.F.S. Green (formerly, ‘Amber Green’) and I’m excited to do everything in my power to ‘make it’ as an author (because if not now, when?).
Pre-pandemic, I thought that signing a deal with a major publishing company was my only ticket to literary success, so I started publishing short stories in hopes that I would attract their attention and build an audience while I focused on my freelance writing business. Then COVID-19 hit.
All of a sudden, publishing my own full-length novels was a better idea than to wait for professionals to take notice of my work, so I started writing a novel I thought would be enjoyed by a mature audience (likely adult women).
I turned the short story that started my foray into publishing, Musings of a Masterpiece (which is available in Staycation for the Soul: A Collection of Short Stories) into a screenplay and my work has been sold and enjoyed by people in Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, and Japan. (Which is incredible! Thank you to everyone who has read and purchased my work.)
What’s on the Horizon?
Throughout 2020, my focus has shifted from merely wanting to attract attention from people in the industry to a desire to become a respected professional in publishing as time goes on. (I would like to help other writers as I progress and grow, so I am starting a writers’ group in 2021.)
Though The Ties That Bindis the first novel I published, it’s not the first novel I wrote. I completed my first novel (an untitled work of fantasy intended for readers 16+) in the summer of 2019.
Since we’re in a 28-day lockdown in Ontario, I am focusing on editing and publishing it as soon as possible.
If you’d like to receive updates and special offers as I continue on my journey, please join my mailing list.
Twitter users chose ‘Sports’ as the major theme for my next short story!
Sports was the clear winner on Twitter. Also discovered, Twitter users do not like weddings…
Now that the major theme has been decided, my second Twitter poll is live! Visit my profile (itsago_blog) to vote on the sports-related Canadian charity that my first community-driven short story will support (details below).
This Twitter poll is live RIGHT NOW until 10 am EST on Thursday, March 5th, 2020!
I am challenging myself to write, edit, and publish a community-driven series of short stories but I need your help.
Follow me on Twitter (itsago_blog) to help me choose the main theme of my next short story (voting starts right now; Monday-Tuesday, March 3 at 11:30 AM EST).
Which major theme interests you the most?
-Weddings
-Sports
-Winning the lottery
Let me know what you would like to read about, and I’ll start writing!
Charitable Donations
Visit my Twitter page this Wednesday-Thursday and you will have the opportunity to choose between two charities.
The charity with the most votes on my Twitter poll at the end of 24 hours will receive 10% of the net proceeds made via the sales of this short story (the donation will be made at the end of the year), so please visit my Twitter page on Wednesday, March 4th-Thursday, March 5th to have your say!
Thanks for helping me challenge myself as I create a community-driven series of short stories.
We’ve all heard the stories: a woman unexpectedly finds a priceless work of art in a second-hand store, a family had no idea their grandmother’s furniture was worth a fortune, and he was down to his last $10 when he sold a garage sale knick-knack for untold millions, etc.
You’d think it was the financial windfall that inspired me, but it wasn’t.
I asked myself: If a masterpiece painted centuries ago was aware, what would it think of life? What would it want us to know?
I hope that you enjoy reading Musings of a Masterpiece. It is one of my favourite works. (And if you happen to know Thomas Adamson, kindly send him this link.)
It’s A Go!
Amber Green
**Please note: Depending on the device, the book cover may be best viewed in landscape orientation.**
Like her name, Candy is a sweet six-year-old dog who never imagined life without her beloved human. When she finds herself up for adoption, she learns about the dark past plaguing the dog in the neighbouring kennel; hardships she hadn’t contemplated.
In this heartwarming short story, a dog’s point of view uniquely illuminates the human experience of overcoming hardship and heartache, establishing friendship, and the virtue of loyalty.
Inspiration for ‘Puppy Love’
Before writing this short story, I was talking to a family member about depression and the prevalence of anxiety in our society. (As an aside, I’m so happy that mental health is discussed openly. Have you seen Oprah’s 2020 Vision Tour Visionaries: Lady Gaga Interview? If not, do yourself a favour, and check it out. I hope that the stigma surrounding mental health issues comes to an end in my lifetime. Go, Gaga!) During our conversation, a re-run of Cesar Millan’s Dog Nation: Meet Me in St. Louis (season 1, episode 4) played. In that episode, they discussed the atrocity of puppy mills.
Combining these themes, I was inspired to consider how dogs from different backgrounds would be impacted by mental health issues (if they experienced life the way we do). Employing significant creative license (the story is in the perspective of a dog, after all), I wrote ‘Puppy Love’ (fun fact: I named the human character ‘Ellen’ after Ellen DeGeneres, as she loves animals).
The Power of the Internet
This is the first story that I’ve released exclusively to Amazon’s KDP Select publishing platform. It was on the #1 New Release List on Valentine’s Day (thanks for your support!), and it has a 5-star rating, which includes reviews from Canada and the UK. Extraordinary! Thank you for your kind words, Val and Julie!
Praise for ‘Puppy Love’ from readers in Canada and the UK.
Young Readers
‘Puppy Love’ has inspired me to write short stories for young readers, as my stories are intended to be enjoyed in thirty minutes or less, and they are inspirational and thoughtful. I hope that my words resonate with parents and teens alike, as I truly believe that- even when life gets you down- each and every one of us can have an impact.
