Hi, I’m Erika Wassall, the Jersey Farm Scribe. I live on a small farm with my husband, Keith. I’m an entrepreneur, author, freelance writer, speaker and also what I like to call a full Liver of Life.
I believe in the power of words, whether they are spoken, written or even implied.
In my journey to share my words with the world I’ve learned about far more than just word counts and query letters. I’ve learned patience, determination and checking ego at the door.
Whether it be a blog post, a non fiction book, a press release, a piece of flash fiction, or a novel, writing is about more than just me. It’s about the world it describes and what that says about the world we live in. It’s about the essence of a story and how one story connects to another, and ultimately connects us all. It’s about those who engage with it and their perspectives. Their realities.
It’s about you.
I write manuscripts for children’s books and YA, both fiction and nonfiction. I also do frequent guest posts and a variety of freelance writing.
Want to connect? I love connecting with writers, readers, artists, photographers, parents, teachers, adventurers and any other livers of life. Reach out to me on Facebook, Twitter or right here!
Erika Wassall here... The Jersey Farm Scribe 
I love this story! It’s so well written and so imaginative. Well done!
Oh thank you Cheryl! Which one is yours?
I with the mc – not fond of zoos either! Good luck!
Me either actually!!! Although didn’t really think of that while writing….
We unearth a lot about ourselves through writing!
Oh SO much. My characters always seem to encourage me to be more myself.
I find aspects of myself in them, of course, sometimes aspects I didn’t intend to put there. Often these are aspects of myself I try to keep hidden. Then when I fall in love with the character, I turn around and realize, hey, if I can love this character with this flaw, than maybe it’s not so bad. 🙂
🙂
Terrific job, Erika! The first one I’ve read so far that has a scary element to it which is so true of many of the original classic fairy tales! I love your imaginative twist on Goldilocks – very well done 🙂 Thanks so much for joining in the March Madness fun, and looking forward to seeing your around the kid lit blogosphere 🙂
Thanks so much Susanna! I’m thrilled to be a part of this wonderful contest!
Yes, I love the fear factor, it makes this stand you & honors Grimm. Never thought of the zoo as scary, but that makes this even more original. TY for stopping by my story, too.
Thanks! If you like the darkness of original fairy tales I HIGHLY suggest: The Blue Fairy Book complied by Andrew Lang. It has the original unabridged stories (and illustrations) not just from Grimm, but Perrault (these are actually still in the old English versions from the 18th century) and Madame d’Aulnoy.
It’s one of my all-time favorites!
Nice job, Erika! Was fun reading this.
Neat twist on the hot/cold/just right part. And I love “the cackling calls of the creatures rained down on her…”
Wonderful story, Erika! Truly scary…and, as Susanna said, that’s how most classic fairy tales were.:) I love your language and imagery…very vivid…the hair on the back of my neck was raised also.:) 🙂
And I LOVE your mission statement at the end…this is an amazingly generous and supportive kid lit community…welcome aboard!!!!
THanks for the super warm welcome! I can’t wait to get more involved!
Hi Erika! So glad I found (and followed) your site. I truly enjoyed reading Goldilocks and the Grizzly Zoo. That poor girl never gets it just right, does she? Glad you did!
Hey Juliana! Thanks for all your great comments. I’d like to follow you too, but couldn’t find a link on your site. But I did get to share how much I LOVE the idea of chocolate black raspberry ice cream! YUM!
Thanks Erika. We’re both on wordpress, so just look at the top bar (mine is black with white letters), there is a plus sign in a circle and the word ‘Follow’. It should work. Hope so!
Hehe! So I just went to your site to do that…. and it said I was already following. Lol. I must have done it and just THOUGHT I did it wrong.
I’m new to everything social media related (a bit late to the game, but I’m here now! lol) so it’s all a bit of a mystery to me. hehe
I followed you on Twitter too. I’m @NJFarmScribe
I’m pretty new too. I always surprise myself when I actually help someone else! I’ll look for your twitter feed now.
I love the zoo setting you’ve chosen for your fractured fairy tale!
Thanks Elliah! I absolutely LOVED your story too.
I was so intrigued by the title this morning, but so disappointed when the link didn’t work. ‘So glad it’s fixed . Great job. (And I am slowly collecting all the fairy books myself. Crimson has always been my favorite 🙂
Glad you liked the title! (Yeah, the link thing was 100 percent my fault obviously. Susanna was kind enough to figure out how to fix it for me).
Great Job. I love the scary aspect. For some reason I have a 4 year old that loves witches and all things scary so this would be right up her ally.
Oh fun! What a cool kid!! I have one called The Three Repulsive Pigs too!! lol
Poor goldilocks! So glad she made it out safe and sound! Love all the action going on Erika!
You really can’t help but feel bad for her can you…. 😉
I quite enjoyed Goldilocks trip to the zoo. The visual of her loosing her footing in the penguin cage is terrific. 🙂
I wonder if a tiny part of her had fun going down that slipperly slide….
Woo scary! I love all the noises you put in, it’s a great take on the original.
Scary! I love you placing our heroine in a zoo and making it a scary place!
I love it. Especially the alliteration!
Very clever! Just loved the horribly hairy hyena and the hideously humongous hippo.
Alliteration IS fun, isn’t it? And thanks Steve! Glad you stopped by!
What a fun, scary story! I love the twist with the zoo!
Fantastic, Erika! You did a superb job with this . . . next time, you’ll have to put her on a farm, shearing sheep!
LOL. That would be HYSTERICAL! (of course largely anyone shearing sheep who isn’t a professional is basically hysterical…. if you’re not the ones doing it that is!!!)
Too fun! Just when Goldilocks found a comfortable, safe place to slumber, the big burley bear discovers her. Run, Goldilocks!
Terrific twisty tale. Loved the beginning and the horribly hairy hyena and the hideously humongous hippo!
Until I read your story, I always thought Goldilocks was a little bit of the brat. Your fractured fairy tale makes me feel sorry for her. Poor thing!
Wonderful! I love it! 🙂 Nice! You have great imagery! 😀
Fun story to read.Great use of figurative language! 🙂
I kept trying to guess where Goldi would end up next. Great job keeping me guessing!