This is MJ. I'm an author, I'm an artist, I'm an analyzer. You can find all my work at
Mjmunoz.com. Welcome to Story Over Everything, episode 27. I am trying a lot of new things
in this episode. I have initiated the author's log where I'm doing a daily recording of the
writing I've done that day and I will talk to you about it a little bit. And I am also
using a new editing software and experimenting with it and I'm having a lot of fun just using
the audio edit and it's going to be, well, anyway, it should improve my process for a lot of things
and I will be interested to see how that affects not my writing so much, but definitely if it makes
me more efficient of an editor and a content creator, you know, audio and whatnot that I make,
then it should also help with, it should help free me up to do more writing. So that's a good
thing. That's probably something I'll talk about next week. I want to get this episode out very
shortly so I will not dwell on it too much longer. This is basically the intro. I'm going to drop you
into my recording that I randomly started last Sunday, July 9th, and then you'll hear other,
you should be able to hear the shift into different audio contexts or different contexts with me
recording the audio in different places at different times, on different days after I'd read or
after I'd done my tenements of writing. And then at the end, I will have the Ava and the Grow Bug
recording the audio in here with an intro. I had to re-record for reasons that I talked about last
week actually and I will, I think I'll do better this next week getting maybe, well for sure Grow
Bug Tales 3 recorded. Who knows what I do beyond that, but hopefully with my efficiency, I'll be
able to get even more done. So with this intro out of the way, I'm going to go ahead and let myself
take over from myself and hopefully we will entertain you.
Author's Log. I'm not even a Star Trek fan but I like that idea. Author's Log. July 9th,
2023. 0653. The sun is shining. A clear cool day. And my dog is back for me now. Anyway, I just thought
this might be a little fun extra thing to do so that my story over everything episodes aren't so
babbly since I'm only writing ten minutes a day. I thought, you know what, I could record what I
write each day and I could talk about the writing process of it for a couple minutes and that could
be part of how I do these episodes. I will still include the Grow Bug book readings that I promised
in episode 26 but episode 27 will feature something a little bit new, a little bit different. Down.
And here we go. So I only wrote 39 words today. This is not an excuse. This is an explanation. I
had to look up stuff in my documents. Things were not organized in my documents as I want them to be.
So I paused my actual writing and I went ahead and I did my research and I corrected my documentation.
Why didn't I deduct that from my ten minutes a lot of time per writing? I just didn't feel
good about that. I thought it was better to go ahead and put in the work and not punish myself
but just show myself, hey if you don't do this right the first time you are going to create
problems for yourself down the line that affect your productivity and you don't want to do that
at all. So that's not good. As has become my custom I'm getting interrupted during my recordings
so I'm coming back now and I'm going to read you my 39 words in just a moment but I want to say
this week I want to make sure that I am doing different things to help myself out. So I got up
this morning. I thought it was morning with a kid, Toddler, had to try to walk him back down to
sleep so I was praying while I was doing that and then after I was free of my little munchkin I went
ahead and exercised for ten minutes and I was doing some exercise previously but as I've mentioned
before in my weekly roundup posts which go out on Saturday night before the week is over because
Sunday is the first day of the week right? I am working on my weight, my health and my fitness.
So it was a good nice hard challenge a good way to start the day. I did alternating squats and
push-ups and I did as many as I could for ten minutes I did try to do like 20 at a time and I
don't know if I got to this 30 of each or like three sets of each or I got to four sets of each.
I'm not sure. I was definitely weak and winded at the end and then I went out and fed animals.
You want to get down? Okay, we'll just get near. I fed animals at the end of that and it was
good. It was cool in the morning so it was refreshing. Yeah, they're eating and they're drinking.
So anyway, here's my 39 words that I wrote after I spent a bunch of time not writing because I was
finding information. Actually, the good thing was I started off writing and then I had to pause writing
because I had to go into the documents to find all my information but if writing is rewriting
then I can say looking for words is also writing. So anyway, I guess looking through your notes is
also writing. So here we go. From July 9th, 2023, my 39 words that I wrote in Girlbug Tales, I'm
still in chapter eight. I'm trying to transition out of chapter eight and get into chapter nine.
Here we go. Keeper and this is going to be totally out of context for you but I figure this will keep
context going and it'll be more true to my mandate, my self-imposed mandate of sharing with you my
journey as an author, artist, and analyzer. So here we go. Keeper grunt, selected grow bug cadets.
That's funny, I wrote that wrong. Keeper grunt, selected grow bug cadets, yawn, the ant, and
babble, the cicada. Whistle, pick gnaw, the termite, and quiver them off. Shush, chose chirp, the cricket,
and slipped the bumblebee. That left splash as the odd cadet out. Splash is a, okay so that's the
end of my reading, this is my commentary on it. Splash is the, is a water bug, it's a playful
character. I've given each of my grow bug cadets, actually each of my grow bug characters basically
a single personality trait that is like the focus or the lens through which they see the world and
through which they interact with the world so that it is a little bit easier for me to characterize
them and I was talking about this with my daughter on a walk yesterday. If you have a character and
you want to demonstrate who they are, yes I believe that conflict demonstrates character or
camera rehire, I've said that before in more succinct fashion, character reveals conflict is
what I say and yeah well she's gonna eat them if we don't take them away, give me the other two,
come on. Anyway and um, um, shh, you put one in one pocket but give me the other one okay,
I'm not losing more than one today, thank you, thank you. No you've, I've got bigger pockets
than you son, there you go, shh it's okay, it's okay, go look for more, go look for more inside.
Anyway, um, so yeah I think if you have a character who you want to be silly or adventurous or whatever
I think you need to demonstrate their silliness or their uh adventurist-ness right, I don't know
if that's the right way to say um say that word but if you won't you know three establishes a pattern,
I, I said this yesterday, once is an accident twice has happened since uh three times is enemy
action so how much more so is something that you're trying to do intentionally and to demonstrate
intentionally that you have to show, you have to establish a pattern just like your analytics on a,
on a podcast or on uh I don't know Amazon ads or whatever I'm sure um you have to do things a few
times, there has to be a trial you know one instance of something is not you know does not a data point
make or does not you know it doesn't make useful data for you, you need to have uh multiple instances
of something so that it can be truly observed and measured and examined oh I see what you're trying
to do, go ahead and that's what I think you should do with your characters and I was thinking I don't
know if there's something as you know simple as a children's book like this is you know four instances
enough where I show you know one two three uh instances or representations or not representations
manifestations of a character's inner self and then I do one more to contradict that to like show
a range in the character oh yeah this is the silly person but they're not silly right now
and that's a big deal because there are other interactions have been silly and you may not
have been sure that that's you know is that a one-off thing I don't know why I'm not going to
belabor the point so um Splash is his silly character and I've given him his uh one moment
to shine and show demonstrate his silliness by having him talk about them getting eaten
in kind of a funny way I mean it's not funny and he doesn't think it's funny but it's just it's
like that nervous laughter that nervous chuckle that little bit of uh you know madness that comes over
you when you're scared and uh he basically talks about him and his fellow crow bugs getting eaten
by these things that are coming to their camp to visit them come on son you gotta go they're gonna
get it they're gonna get it watch out whoa here you go I'll give it back to you here here okay
this is what I mean by gorilla podcasting I do things as I can how I can and how they come out
it's uh you know we live in a real world and I'm living a real life and this is what you're
getting so anyway I'll wrap this up quickly because if I do six or seven of these I don't want it to
become uh super long and irritating so uh anyway um I shouldn't be telling you about the story I should
be more telling you about my process I was very disappointed I made it what they call in permaculture
a type one error where it's an error so bad you basically have to go back and all right you you're
tempted to go back and rework everything so that you don't have to deal with that error all the time
because it is a constant trouble to you see what happens let's take it inside come on so anyway you
want to avoid that type of error and the system that I'm coming up with this uh eight-point
story arc based system of oh the I'm thinking about calling it the typhoon the writing typhoon
as part of the writing typhoon you have your cast of characters well established well defined at
least a a sketch or an outlining of them so that you know how to write them and when you put them
in different circumstances you know yeah hey you know what they're going to be like and you know how
to you know demonstrate them or how they're going to react to things based on that key factor and
again this is a system I'm developing on the fly as I go but I'm not going to go back and develop it
before grow bug tails is over I have to finish the grow bug tails writing and then I will go back
and do that before I embark on the next project so so that's that's that and yeah I was walking around
holding a kid writing on my phone you know one hand come on let's put that away now and it was
very difficult but it was more difficult you know less because the kid and more because of my own
lack of planning do you scratch that my own lack of planning it caused me to have to go back into
my notes and figure out you know on the fly what these characters are like and how to demonstrate
that and that and how it would affect my older characters who are in charge of the younger
characters selecting them for a team to do a particular task so that's that that I'm going
to go ahead and leave off for July 9th is part of a grow bug sorry grow bug tails it's part of a
story over everything episode 27
okay so this is um this is me coming back for July 10th I had a whopping 60 words put down
most of them are not actually story they're more outlined for me to write tomorrow because I'm
using the time I have allotted the best I can and that means that because of my type one error that
I made you know they referred to earlier I'm not able to write as quickly as I want to so
my wife thinks it's because I'm dealing with bugs I think it's because I didn't have them I didn't
have my notes structured well enough for me to know who these characters were before I started
writing with them uh not that I something I'm opposed to my characters blossoming and growing
as I'm writing them which they are doing but because it's more that I just I want to know who
they are and I just kind of let my hand wave that away knowing who they were and just trusted
that I'd be able to get it done but it's turning out to be extra work and I don't like it so
I'll read you everything I have and then hopefully tomorrow I'll actually be able to use the
probably two-thirds of what I wrote today to actually write something meaningful and cool
so here's the actual like narration and then I have notes so narration uh grunt whistle and
splash looked at each other for no let me start over grunt whistle and shush looked at each other
for a few moments before whistle invited splash to join him saying splash I think you will round
up my team nicely uh the joke is kind of and this is a comment not notes the joke is that
splash is playful and like nobody wants him on the team because he's a little bit of a goofball
but they all pick teams that make sense by the contrasting personalities of the grow bug cadets
and they're hoping to have them the clashing personalities ameliorate them their bad traits
and be able to forge like a you know properly working unit to get done everything that they need
to get done so in my notes I have this and which is what I'll work off tomorrow shush the comforting
grow bug keeper secures the grow bugs her job is to take her her job is to take care of the grow
grubs and she's going to use her two cadets to help her do that whistle the frazzled grow bug
keeper is going to be securing all the food stores and ready rations for all the grow bugs and all
the grow grubs and his frazzled nature means that he's kind of on edge and has in mind who you know
who everybody is how much they need and what's a good provision for them plus maybe backups and
he knows where things are stored and he kind of organizes that kind of stuff because of that
aspect of his personality or you know that major aspect of his personality and he's going to have
he's going to have so you're gonna have splash room yeah he's going to have splash so he'll be
able to get splashed to like gamify things and make it work to round out whoever the rest of his team
is at the moment and then grunt who's the salt of the earth grow bug keeper so he's got like a
good sense of humor and he rolls with things and he's a hard worker he's going to take down the
structures to increase concealment so my idea is that in the grow bug camp and this is the comments
now in the grow bug camp they have little structures that they build they're not full on like human
structures of building you know boxes and bridges and things like that because they're bugs not human
so they can fly and they can hide stuff away and you know tree holes or whatever um I don't have
that all worked out but basically they function as close to natural animals as they can but because
they have like a human type intelligence they can also build structures when it's useful and
beneficial for them but they can also they construct them in such a way and so deftly and
cleverly um that they can take them down easily and you know move them if they need to or uh like
here conceal them or also reconfigure them for bulwarks and whatnot so my next note is that
whistle and grunts teams will um finish or will fashion bulwarks with materials hump locates so
while uh shush is taking care of all the grow grubs and like securing the hiding places for
everybody um which is going to be contributed to with the structures that grunt and his team brings on
um then after that's done the you know grunt and whistle their teams will go out and collect the
building materials to secure and fortify everything really nicely and in a concealed way that blends
in with the environment um that way they're better hid and they're you know armored basically um
they're like a fortress type thing you know Helms deep if you will uh so that they can survive the
oncoming assault and that's all I have for today continuing with the author's log on July 11th I
actually end chapter eight in on July 11th and then I started chapter eight on July 11th so
I'll just go ahead and read what I have uh let's see glimmer address it addressed to the keepers
and their cadets cadets listen to your keepers work hard all our lives may depend on your efforts
lose be with us all dismissed that's the end chapter eight then starting chapter nine um
I am just going to go ahead and go to my uh my next bit which this was a total of 78 words I believe
um let's see so I have notes about what they should do I'm still directing myself because
my type one error and I updated the the notes for this chapter so uh in chapter nine I want to
show the cadets doing tasks with keepers uh conflict appeals character so sorry so how each team
so oh so I'll show each team dealing with some issue one for each team then do a fourth section
with hump and the two cadet uh teams uh getting and setting up the bulwarks so that's my outline
for this chapter that I'm planning to follow it's a very small outline and it can expand or contract
as I need it to and here we go so shush shush or shush I don't get it for you I would say that shush
chirp and slurp hurry to the cradle to prepare for the grow grubs to be taken care of it's important
for you two to stay calm we don't want to upset the grow grubs shush advised and the soothing voice
if we have unexpected guests we won't want them to hear our young charges it is our duty to protect
them I may be a keeper but I am a guardian to these grow grubs as I was to you so again that was
78 words I was on 11 on the 11th of july I ended it one chapter began another and July 12th uh let's
see I've got 107 words in and I will go and read those now so um I never thought about that before
slurp sat down the leaves he held in a tendril of light mean either but it makes sense chirp picked
up the bundle in her own glowing tendril of light and hauled it into the cradle shush had prepared
shush came out of the cradle and asked have you heard that ordinary bees are quite the energetic
workers they can really do amazing things working as a unit slurp well I've never heard of bumblebees
working in groups like that but I get your point chirp hopped from the cradle hey why don't we work
like we're our own little beehive that's all I have for that and you'll have to wait to hear what I'm
gonna write for July 13th I got 107 words on July 13th no 97 words July 13th one beehive team coming
up slurp spun in place scooping up leaf litter and tossing it to chirp I wasn't ready leaves covered
most of chirp she shook them off and glared this will work trust me okay ready ready catch slurp
threw a tightly packed bunch of leaves which chirp mostly caught chirp dropped the pile and worked
out now you catch it slurp managed to catch the bundle with hardly a part falling to the ground
take this he threw it back so hard and fast that chirp had to jump to catch it
this is MJ I'm an author I'm an artist I'm an analyzer you can find all my work at mjmonus.com
this is a recording of Ava in the radiant rescue this is part of the grow bug tales series and this
is book two it was originally called Ava in the grow bug and yet I for some reason well I changed
the title because this is a better title and I hope you enjoy the story let me know what you think
about it sleep tight sweetie was the last thing Ava heard for a long time before she tried to go to
sleep dad had fluffed her pillow mom had tucked her in and she was cozy but she just wasn't sleepy
enough she had learned by now that sleep tight meant stay in bed and don't get out but it was
hard to stay in bed it was hard to go to sleep she wasn't a baby anymore and she knew mommy and
daddy were still awake she wanted to be with them Ava whispered to herself sleep sleep sleep
skitter skitter thump screech Ava bolted up and looked at the window her eyes danced around as
they tracked a wild flashing and glowing she threw off the covers and ran to the window a strange bug
flapped glittery wings frantically and scrambled all over the glass something else banged against
the glass to help a small voice cried out Ava slid the window open a few inches and the bug
flitted in close it close it the voice cried out frantically Ava froze for a moment then slammed
it shut a rapid tapping on the glass made her shrink back the little bug flew to the window
sill and fanned out its wings for a few moments it glowed with a warm golden light and the tapping
from outside slowed down Ava could just see a small set of glinting eyes on the other side
of the glass the eyes turned away as the light grew stronger with a bright flash the tapping stopped
and the mysterious bug quietly folded up its wings the light slowly fading
in stunned silence Ava watched the bug she didn't want to blink would it vanish if she didn't keep
looking thank you for helping me you you're welcome Ava mumbled please speak up what are you she
whispered if you want to be heard you need to speak up Ava frowned then whispered loudly
they want me to be asleep right now soon enough dear what is your name i'm Ava and what's your
name bug please to meet your acquaintance Ava please note that i am not a bug i am a grow bug
thank you very much my name is swoosh i ask that you do remember that and the floor creaked outside
Ava's door and her father called in i hope you're still in bed hide you've a croaked in a horse whisper
he opened the door and saw her standing by the window how many times he trailed off were you scared
she nodded he smiled and softened his tone let me help you get back in bed sweetheart
he picked up Ava and tucked her in spray she asked he scanned the room for a few moments and
saw the bottle by the window is that why you were up she blinked here you go he said the bottle next
to her and pat at her hand you're safe with us he kissed her on the forehead and closed the door
behind him as he left what is that swoosh the grow bug flitted over to the bottle my shadow spray
your what swoosh jumped back and glowed dimly we made it keeps the shadows away oh i see
the glow bug flitted close to Ava's face and said that's good but you really ought to call it an
anti-shadow spray because it is made to keep them away but it is a spray for shadows Ava
protested her brow wrinkling yes dear but it doesn't sound that way you feed your cat cat food don't you
yes Ava answered well no wonder that shadow was at your window it probably wanted to take your
spray that it thought was for it you mean the shadows are real Ava squeaked of course they are
why else did you have that anti-shadow spray swoosh chuckled i was scared but mommy and daddy made
it better they helped me make this magic spray i practiced spraying shadows and we snuggled and
prayed and it was all a game i wasn't supposed to be afraid anymore oh dear the grow bug said
quietly there was a shadow outside why was it by my window what does it want with my spray
Ava pulls her covers up dragging swoosh near now Ava the grow bug said slowly there is a shadow
no need to two there are two shadows rattle rattle scrape stand back Ava swoosh bolted to the window
glowing again shadows squished and squeezed and spread fingers between the window and frame
one set of hands forced the window open just enough a shadow bat swatted the grow bug away
shadow spiders ooze down from the ceiling spray them Ava swoosh called from the floor
Ava grabbed the bottle squeezed her eyes shut and covered the closest shadows with glittery
sweet smelling mist they withered and fled new shadows grew larger and crept towards Ava
Ava before they could grab her the grow bug rocketed up from the floor glowing brighter than before
Ava cowered as swoosh shone above her Ava covered her eyes it's okay now Ava she looked and saw
the grow bug blinking faintly as it fell to the floor she scooped up swoosh and held her close
Ava poked at the grow bug and asked are you okay swoosh said nothing she poked again and
whined swoosh shadow birds whooshed in through the window encircled above them Ava closed her
hand around the grow bug to protect it and screamed out go away shadows she sprayed at the
shadows above them she shouted again and kept spraying she sprayed and sprayed until she
chased the shadows out the window she gently set swoosh down then closed and locked the window
Ava heard two terrible screams from down the hall go Ava swoosh said weekly Ava wheeled
around and ran to her parents bedroom as fast as she could she opened the door and saw their window
wide open she heard more screaming and yelling outside she ran to the window and saw her parents
clutched in two large talons Ava ran back to the grow bug and told her what happened
Ava said I'm too tired Ava I can't get up swoosh answered but you have to help me Ava pleaded
I need more time Ava you can fight the shadows but I can't you already have but I'm so scared
fear is your enemy don't let it control you Ava hesitated for a few moments then said
you can't fly but I can run I'll take you to my mom and dad and you can stop the shadows
Ava darted around her room getting ready to face her biggest challenge yet
boots check jacket check backpack check flashlight check shadow spray check grow bug check
are you sure the shadows are this way Ava asked keep going Ava we're getting closer
I can feel it what do you feel the shadows what do they want fear why for food
Ava's heart leapt as she saw her parents trapped and helpless mom dad I'm here now it's gonna be okay
hisses and whispers spit from shadow mouths Ava pointed her flashlight at the shadows and sprayed
them be brave be brave be brave she chanted over and over again the little shadows fled
and the big one cried ferociously I knew you could do it Ava swoosh cried triumphantly she
popped out of the container and glowed more brightly than ever now Ava let's do this together
in a moment the grow bug and the girl were gone an angelic golden giant stood opposite the shadow
Ava and the grow bug had transformed together to fight the darkness the shadow howled and
sprouted a riot of arms and mouths and animal shapes it lunged towards the golden giant
a light bloom from the center of the giant's chest it's shown forth mightily destroying the
shadow as if it had been nothing the golden giant caught Ava's parents in one enormous hand and
brought them close to her chest back home Ava snuggled in bed with her mom and dad the grow bug
kissed Ava's forehead and flew out the window Ava smiled in her sleep from that night on Ava would
sleep well because she knew she was not alone and she knew she could be brave thank you for
listening to that reading please check out my other grow bug tales projects I will be updating them
with some regularity and I will be letting you know in each of these posts where there's or when
there's going to be a launch campaign crowdfunding campaign to get all the illustrations done for
the five grow bug picture books and then well also there's going to be the release of the
chapter book which is which will not have illustrations except for the cover and maybe a
chapter heading or two but I'm not quite sure on the details yet so stay tuned for more information
on that anyway thank you for your time and attention I hope you're well this is MJ signing out
this is MJ I'm an author I'm an artist I'm an analyzer you can find all my work at MJMenus.com
this is a recording of Ava in the Radiant Rescue this is part of the grow bug tales series and this
is book two it was originally called Ava in the Grow Bug and yet I for some reason well I changed
the title because this is a better title and I hope you enjoy the story let me know what you think
about it sleep tight sweetie was the last thing Ava heard for a long time before she tried to go to
sleep dad had fluffed her pillow mom had tucked her in and she was cozy but she just wasn't sleepy
enough she had learned by now that sleep tight meant stay in bed and don't get out but it was hard
to stay in bed it was hard to go to sleep she wasn't a baby anymore and she knew mommy and daddy
were still awake she wanted to be with them Ava whispered to herself sleep sleep sleep
sleep skitter skitter thump screech Ava bolted up and looked at the window her eyes danced around
as they tracked a wild flashing and glowing she threw off the covers and ran to the window
a strange bug flapped glittery wings frantically and scrambled all over the glass something else
banged against the glass too help a small voice cried out Ava slid the window open a few inches
and the bug flitted in close it close it the voice cried out frantically Ava froze for a moment
then slammed it shut a rapid tapping on the glass made her shrink back the little bug flew to the
window sill and fanned out its wings for a few moments it glowed with a warm golden light
and the tapping from outside slowed down Ava could just see a small set of glinting eyes
on the other side of the glass the eyes turned away as the light grew stronger with a bright
flash the tapping stopped and the mysterious bug quietly folded up its wings the light slowly fading
in stunned silence Ava watched the bug she didn't want to blink would it vanish if she didn't keep
looking thank you for helping me you you're welcome Ava mumbled please speak up what are you
she whispered if you want to be heard you need to speak up Ava frowned then whispered loudly
they want me to be asleep right now soon enough dear what is your name i'm Ava and what's your
name bug please to meet your acquaintance Ava please note that i am not a bug i am a grow bug
thank you very much my name is swoosh i ask that you do remember that and the floor creaked outside
Ava's door and her father called in i hope you're still in bed hide Ava croaked in a horse whisper
he opened the door and saw her standing by the window how many times he trailed off were you
scared she nodded he smiled and softened his tone let me help you get back in bed sweetheart
he picked up Ava and tucked her in spray she asked he scanned the room for a few moments
and saw the bottle by the window is that why you were up she blinked here you go he said the bottle
next to her and patted her hand you're safe with us he kissed her on the forehead and closed the
door behind him as he left what is that swoosh the grow bug flitted over to the bottle my shadows
spray your what swoosh jumped back and glowed dimly we made it it keeps the shadows away
oh i see the glow bug flitted close to Ava's face and said that's good but you really ought to call
it an anti-shadow spray because it is made to keep them away but it is a spray for shadows
Ava protested her brow wrinkling yes dear but it doesn't sound that way you feed your cat cat food
don't you yes Ava answered well no wonder that shadow was at your window it probably wanted
to take your spray that it thought was for it you mean the shadows are real Ava squeaked of
course they are why else did you have that anti-shadow spray swoosh chuckled i was scared but mommy
and daddy made it better they helped me make this magic spray i practiced spraying shadows and we
snuggled and prayed and it was all a game i wasn't supposed to be afraid anymore oh dear the grow bug
said quietly there was a shadow outside why was it by my window what does it want with my spray
Ava pulls her covers up dragging swoosh near now Ava the grow bug said slowly there is a shadow
no need to two there are two shadows rattle rattle scrape stand back Ava swoosh bolted to the window
glowing again shadows squished and squeezed and spread fingers between the window and frame
one set of hands forced the window open just enough a shadow bat swatted the grow bug away
shadow spiders ooze down from the ceiling spray the mava swoosh called from the floor Ava grabbed
the bottle squeezed her eyes shut and covered the closest shadows with glittery sweet smelling mist
they withered and fled new shadows grew larger and crept towards Ava before they could grab her
the grow bug rocketed up from the floor glowing brighter than before Ava cowered as swoosh shone
above her Ava covered her eyes it's okay now Ava she looked and saw the grow bug blinking faintly as
it fell to the floor she scooped up swoosh and held her close Ava poked at the grow bug and asked
are you okay swoosh said nothing she poked again and whined swoosh shadow birds whooshed in through
the window encircled above them Ava closed her hand around the grow bug to protect it and screamed
out go away shadows she sprayed at the shadows above them she shouted again and kept spraying
she sprayed and sprayed until she chased the shadows out the window she gently set swoosh down
then closed and locked the window Ava heard two terrible screams from down the hall
go Ava swoosh said weakly Ava wheeled around and ran to her parents bedroom as fast as she could
she opened the door and saw their window wide open she heard more screaming and yelling outside
she ran to the window and saw her parents clutched in two large talons Ava ran back to the grow bug
and told her what happened I'm too tired Ava I can't get up swoosh answered but you have to help me
Ava pleaded I need more time Ava you can fight the shadows but I can't you already have but I'm so
scared fear is your enemy don't let it control you Ava hesitated for a few moments then said
you can't fly but I can run I'll take you to my mom and dad and you can stop the shadows Ava
darted around her room getting ready to face her biggest challenge yet boots check jacket check
backpack check flashlight check shadow spray check grow bug check are you sure the shadows are this
way Ava asked keep going Ava we're getting closer I can feel it what do you feel the shadows what do
they want fear why for food Ava's heart leapt as she saw her parents trapped and helpless mom dad
I'm here now it's gonna be okay hisses and whispers spit from shadow mouths Ava pointed her
flashlight at the shadows and sprayed them be brave be brave be brave she chanted over and over
again the little shadows fled and the big one cried ferociously I knew you could do it Ava
swoosh cried triumphantly she popped out of the container and glowed more brightly than ever
now Ava let's do this together in a moment the grow bug and the girl were gone
an angelic golden giant stood opposite the shadow Ava and the grow bug had transformed
together to fight the darkness the shadow howled and sprouted a riot of arms and mouths and animal
shapes it lunged towards the golden giant a light bloom from the center of the giant's chest it's
shown forth mightily destroying the shadow as if it had been nothing the golden giant caught Ava's
parents in one enormous hand and brought them close to her chest back home Ava snuggled in bed
with her mom and dad the grow bug kissed Ava's forehead and flew out the window Ava smiled in
her sleep from that night on Ava would sleep well because she knew she was not alone and she knew
she could be brave thank you for listening to that reading please check out my other grow bug
tales projects i will be updating them with some regularity and i will be letting you know in each
of these posts where there's or when there's going to be a launch campaign a crowdfunding campaign
to get all the illustrations done for the five grow bug picture books and then well the also
there's going to be the release of the chapter book which is which will not have illustrations
except for the cover and maybe a chapter heading or two but i'm not quite sure on the details yet
so stay tuned for more information on that anyway thank you for your time and attention i hope
you're well this is mj signing out this is mj i'm an author i'm an artist i'm an analyzer you can
find all my work at mjmoneywest.com this is a reading of grow bug tales harmony and the fight
for freedom which is the third book in the grow bug tales picture book series there is a sixth book
which is not a picture book it's a chapter book that i am currently writing i'm about halfway
through and i will continue to release updates on story over everything as i uh as i make updates
which i'm chipping away at every day adding or i'm adding to it every day uh so anyway this
is going to appear in an episode of story over everything and i might have it also as i stand
alone as a bonus episode on the story over everything feed and you can find it at the
website mjmoneywest.com which will be linked in the show notes if you're hearing this on the
podcast and if you don't know about the podcast and you're finding it on the website there's a
podcast check it out you might like it so in a moment i will go ahead and start reading the story
this is the longest of the grow bug tales picture books and i'm glad i'm self publishing these because
the links are kind of all over the place but i feel like i wrote each book at the link that needed
to be so here we go grow bug tales harmony and the fight for freedom written and read to you by mj
monios all hail her royal highness harmony of harmonia thunder the lioness lady with peach
rimmed spectacles as the procession made its way down the promenade harmony left from her throne
tumbling twirling and swinging through the series of obstacles bars and apparatus set up by her
dutiful knights of harmonia the crowd cheered and clapped she bowed happy to accept the adoration
until her eyes fell to a stick in the mud night propped against a rail staring off into space
harmony balanced on the rail and put on her best pouting face after a few moments the half-hearted
night bellowed a hearty was ah and another chorus of praise rang out back in suburbia
you weren't looking dad harmony called to her father as he stared at his empty plate
don't use that tone with your father young lady harmonies mother chided her
i might be late i need to hurry harmonies dad kissed his wife and daughter he collected his
things and turned to leave he turned back and said i love you sweetie but you need to learn
that you aren't the only one who matters we all need to have the chance to be heard or helped or
left in peace sorry i need to go i'm already excited to head home he flashed a toothy grin then left
harmony dreamt once more of the kingdom of harmonia after feasting playing snacking dancing
and tea time with cake harmony rang a bell that sat on her table where is my dessert she asked with
her nose up and chin forward your highness and i asked with a slight tremble dessert she demanded
i haven't had the chance to make it yet and i don't appreciate your tone the lady cook night
answered wiping her hands on her apron so you don't like my tone harmony bolted up and jabbed
her butterfly scepter toward cook night there it is again cook replied and don't you know it's rude
to point cook didn't finish a beam from the scepter struck her and she spun on her heels and
then marched back to the kitchen muttering as she went your highness a knight asked send out a
messenger harmony responded all of harmony is to report here for a pie eating contest cook
night will be baking 100 dozen pies every day for the next 100 years unsure voices called out hail
harmony as knights and ladies cautiously looked about the room anyone who doesn't like it can help
cook harmony huffed and sat with her arms and legs crossed still holding her scepter which glowed
menacingly back in suburbia happy to see me harm harmony's brother called to her dex harmony ran
to her big brother and wrapped her arms around him all right that's enough of that let go he
said patting her on the head she stuck fast and looked up at him with pleading eyes he
grown what do you want let go i won't let go until you give me my presence she exclaimed what presence
he scoffed the ones in your bags she bounced in place and potted the bags this is my stuff
just the essentials no gifts no toys no candies harmony wind not this time kid i didn't think you
needed anything well you should have i'll die if i don't get some new toys soon candy would be nice
too you just don't get it you're such a spoiled baby dex spat and pushed past her to go settle into
his room well you're just a big dummy she stamped and sputtered at his back whatever don't say whatever
harmony went to bed angry that night but in harmonia she was free of her stuffy older brother
and was having a great time she played new games and did new feats and everyone was having so much
fun barum barum thunder claps startled the merry band kakoo lightning seemed to split the sky
harmony saw a figure moving where lightning stabbed down from clouds she dashed to the site and saw
a strange night she had never seen before greeting stranger where do you come from what do you seek
asked one of the knights of harmonia after a long silence harmony said welcome to my kingdom stranger
night we love to laugh and play come and join us a while to find out if you will stay after another
silent i have seen your games stranger night told harmony sometime later and i have a brand new one
for you a new game harmony leaned forward on her throne it's called usurper one of us will seek
this he held up a beautiful crown she had never seen before oh indeed since you rule here the crown
starts out with you i have to find it take it to the town square and put it on there if i do the
crown is mine and i win i can tag your knights to freeze them out or have them help me when do we
start she asked as soon as you wish your highness he answered and handed the crown to an attendant
stranger night laughed as he placed the crown on his head now it's my time to reign
ha ha games over stranger night let's play again give me the crown harmony approached
no i don't think i will he chuckled then pointed at her knights freeze her
harmony twisted and weaved but was quickly overwhelmed she stood frozen and stranger king
plucked the scepter from her hand good game kid stranger king raised the butterfly scepter high
who will follow me he called a few drew close the scepter grew into a staff he stabbed the
ground spreading cracks the crowd gasped and more people drew near some froze and others
shrank back so be it he said walls of flame blazed from the cracks and divided the people
further frozen in place and trapped behind fiery walls harmony watched helplessly as
harmonia changed the bright colors soft edges and warm atmosphere gave way to stone and steel
and flame and smoke okay everyone let's unfreeze on the count of three harmony called to her subjects
one two three she grunted and strained and sputtered she rolled her eyes from side to side to see who
was there with her no one she liked playing with all that well she strained to turn her head but to
no avail all harmonians report she commanded silence i rule all of you so you have to answer me
murmurs sounded from around and then someone said you lost your crown you have no power
you can't force us to listen to you anymore so we won't why should we you never listen to us
other voices agreed and then all were silent
the monotony of far off noises was broken by footballs harmony didn't see but it sounded
like toad night with a robotic ring to his voice called out to her fellow prisoners and said
unlike some rulers stranger king is wise and merciful anyone who wants to leave this place and
and join him is welcome to come with us and led yourself to his service and you too can become
a stranger night we are strong we are free we are a stranger he croaked the flame wall parted
and harmony heard sighs of relief and voices of assent everyone but her had been freed from their
frozen shackles hail stranger king toad nights shouted hail stranger king the others answered
without a word they left her harmony felt so alone i'm sorry everyone i guess i'm not better
than stranger night harmony confessed to no one then she had a good cry it will be all right
you'll see a woman's voice soothed her so you messed up that's good milady it's the only way to
really learn i'm still learning as hard as that is to admit a man chuckled cook night and stick in
the mud night stepped in front of her and each took a hand harmony was free three of them hugged
and she cried with happiness and relief thank you harmony sniffed poof i knew you could do it kiddo
though i thought you never might a new voice said from out of nowhere who are you harmony
gawked at the bright butterfly flitting about there's no time for that wait yes there is sorry
i have been trying to get to you for days thank heaven i finally broke through i wonder what
happened i'm a grow bug and i'm here to help you can call me wisp nice to meet you wisp my name
is harmony and these are my parents i think harmony answered a bit confused greetings we're in a bit
of a time crunch here wisp continued what does a grow bug do will you grow giant and beat up
stranger night for me harmony asked hopefully that's not how this works kid i can help you but
you have to put in the work harmony nodded okay wisp lend me your power i shone around harmony
and she transformed into butterfly armor and burst through the flame wall freeing herself and her
steadfast nights harmony reached the top of the tower with cook and stick in the mud they dashed
off to hold back the knights of stranger while harmony confronted stranger king as they dashed
attacked and parried harmony thought only of freeing the others from this greater evil they
locked weapons and harmony said i was wrong to force everyone to play my way you making everyone
into copies of yourself is wrong too it's the same thing everyone needs to be free to follow
their own dreams and take their own path whether we like it or not you would let them choose a
foolish path when you know better you really are a silly child stranger king slipped his staff through
her defense catching harmony and flinging her to certain doom as she fell she had a thought
and wings unfolded from her back she flew at stranger king yelling harmony a kick and with a
crash she knocked him deceptor and crowned to the hard stone both instruments of power
shattered sparks streaming from them how could you beat me he strained to ask i may be a child
but we're always changing and growing you never know when we'll surprise you
sorry harmony cut into the conversation at the breakfast table what her dad asked i'm sorry for
being such a brat lately harmony said sweetheart her mom reached out and touched her hand i know
dex is going today and i want to make it a good day for him and you too mom and dex sat back in
his chair he smirked and said you're really growing up harm harmony smiled and said okay everyone get
ready for a lovely day brought to you by yours truly she curtsied and giggled back in suburbia for good
harmony and the grow bug chatted while she rode down the street on her bike
harmonia had been nice but seeing real people going about their lives and knowing that they all had
the potential to chase after their dreams filled harmony with hope after the nightmare they had
all gone through so there will be no more crazy dreams like that wisp harmony asked at least not
anytime soon around here and i'll have to be off to you kid well that's too bad but you'll come back
if there's more trouble right i'm sure you can handle most anything coming your way but if anything
too wild happens you know what to do i know harmony said wisp the grow bug shot up into the sky and
harmony rode on and that is the end of the story i hope you enjoyed that
i hope you enjoyed that go to MJMunoz.com to leave any questions comments or other feedback you
might have there you can find all of my analysis art and fiction i cover books tokasatsu comic books
anime and more look around you're sure to find something else that you'll enjoy as well this
has been a story over everything production