Another piece of the puzzle falls into place

I went out looking for a prop for The Celtic Fan today. I'd been looking on eBay and Amazon and couldn't find anything. I was looking for a hand mirror and I needed a fairly large one, and it needed to be decorative.

So I went to The Shed; it used to be The Peddlers Mall. I wandered from booth to booth, wondering if I'd find anything. There have been tons of things that I've needed and I've managed to find them there or at the big antique mall in Gilbertsville. (That's where I found Winston's frame. Rounded a corner and there it was. Measured it and it was perfect. And he looks perfect in it. You'll get to meet Winston in the near future, I hope.)

Anyway, I meandered up and down aisles, looking for one, and eventually, about halfway through, I found it! It's one of the old face-shaped hand mirrors - wider at the top than the bottom - and it has a beautiful, ruby-red back and a beveled face. And it was $5.00! Can't beat that.

On the way out, I noticed some phone cases. I love my Lifeproof case, but I needed a brightly-colored one (mine is white). Sure enough, they had a bright pink one - for $29.99! I paid over $60.00 for the one I have so, of course, I snapped that baby up. I did the underwater test and it held up fine. Now I can find my phone when I lay it down in the house!

I got a prop that I needed. Now to get the outfit picked out for The Witch of Endor. Or maybe not. Maybe I'll just wear . . .

Uh-uh-uh. I'm not going to say. You'll just have to stay tuned! Oh, I'm so wicked . . .

And speaking of wicked, I think I'll give you an excerpt tomorrow from one of the Harper's Cove novellas. Would you like that? Yeah, just what I thought!

And for the witch in all of us . . .

The Witch of Endor is coming down the pike. One of the books has already been started, and they'll be a reality by early spring, I'm hoping. So I need costuming for them. The same photo will show up on each book with some differences, but they'll be dark, so I need something that will show up. And I'm thinking steampunk. See what you think.

They're all steampunk, which I think is fitting. The bottom one also comes in brown and a dusty red - both very pretty. I can get skirts to go with them. So whaddya think? Anybody got an opinion? These will be very rough-and-tumble paranormal romances and I think they'll need something with an edge. I have a personal favorite - let's see if anyone else likes mine!

It's costuming time!

We're working on the artwork for the cover of The Celtic Fan. There will be photos taken - oh, yes, there will. So here's what I'm coming up with.

I have this vision for how this photo will look. It'll be taken from above, either over the shoulder or from the front, with only the hair falling around the cleavage and the inside left forearm showing above a wedding ring quilt with the book lying beside the model on the quilt. And the photo will be in only tones of dusty mint green and sepia. So here are the costuming ideas.

All of the skirts also come in white. And I was thinking that if the khaki and beige were used, the little short Lolita skirt (fifth photo from the top) over a longer skirt might be good. The model's skirt will probably show a bit. So, I'm thinking . . .

any opinions out there? I'd really like to hear what you think. And who knows? You might even get a costuming credit in the book!

Maybe tomorrow I'll share with you the costuming ideas for the covers of The Witch of Endor series. That'll be fun!

DA-dada-DA-da-da-DAHHHHHH! They're almost here

Yesterday I finished the second of the new Harper's Cove series! And today, I finished the covers for both. They look really good. I've got probably another week's worth of work on both of the books and they'll be ready to go to the conversion company.

I'm so excited to be able to offer these to my readers. In case you didn't see an earlier post, these are just short, sweet little novellas that are almost pure erotica. They're right at 20,000 words each, and they'll sell for $.99, so anyone can afford them. The first one is about . . . nope, I'm not going to do it. You'll just have to read them to find out. But they're fun.

I'm also working on the costuming for two photo shoots, one for The Celtic Fan, the 13-year-old found novel. It's finished and it's pretty incredible. I can't wait to get it out and into the world. It's been hidden for a long time, and I think it's time.

The other photo shoot will be for my upcoming series, The Witch of Endor. That will be a fun series, and I can't wait to get started on it.

In between the novels, I'll continue to plug Harper's Cove novellas in to give you something new to read. Be sure to come back tomorrow - I'm planning to put some photos of the costuming in the post so maybe somebody can help me decide. So much to choose from!

This is too much fun! Come on back and have fun with me. No telling what I'll do next!

The adventures of cover design

I tried to hire a cover artist. The last time I heard from her was Oct. 22. I don't think I'm going to hear from her again, and I don't know why.

I hear it over and over - if you need help, just ask for it. Oh yeah? Well, I asked for a beta reader - she took my book and I've never heard another word from her. I have money to pay a cover artist - I sent her my current covers and told her I had several more that needed to be done, and I've never heard anything else from her.

I don't get it. I keep hearing how it's hard to get work and no one has enough money. I'm happy to pay people, and I can't get them to work. What the heck is that about?

So I'm going it alone. Well, not completely alone. I've got an artist working on a piece of artwork for a cover, and I've got a photographer friend lined up. I'm counting on these two, because I sure haven't been able to count on any of the others. I've always been the one who, when the chips were down, can't seem to get anyone to do the things I ask, even for money. I'm pretty easy to work with, so I don't understand it. Maybe that's my problem; maybe I should be more demanding. I don't know what the secret is.

Today I've worked on covers for three of the Harper's Cove novellas and started writing the second one. The third one is already past concept and well on its way to being a reality. I know it'll all eventually get done, but right now it feels like too much.

But if I'm not busy enough for it to feel that way, I'm not busy enough!

Coming right along

I'm so happy to say that the 13-year-old novel is done! I finished the 17 mini-chapters today and cried through the last three of them. Not because they were bad, but because they were sad. It's funny, the book itself ends happily, and the background novel ends sadly. Weird, huh?

I also have an artist working on a pivotal piece of artwork for the book. I'll be going down this week to Creatures of Habit, our local professional costuming business, to see what I can find in the way of costuming for this book and another series that's coming up. A friend who's a professional photographer has signed on to help me with the photography. I'm getting really excited!

So stay tuned. There are going to be lots of new things coming out of the writing mill over here!