The cover for The Trial of Bells and Blood was… shall we say… a trial.
I had already rendered it twice, but I still wasn’t quite happy with it.
Ignoring the section where the title goes, this is the first version I did:
I liked the gist of it, but the camera angle made Haven look like he was towering over Alia, Alia looked miffed that she had to be in the picture rather than skeptical about the whole situation, and the guy on trial seems more worried about Alia than Hahven.
And Hahven is looking… somewhere behind the giant rock?
Eh… I didn’t get my angles right.
Take two!
Okay… better…
Now everyone’s actually looking where they’re supposed to, and they’re the correct heights.
Alia has her sword and, while still looking a little posed for the camera, at least she now appears to be part of the scene. She has her head cocked skeptically and sword partially drawn. Hahven actually looks to be about his right height, and the guy on trial seems to be looking the right direction. Hahven is the real threat.
My concern was that they all still looked a little too stiff, and the previous covers have all had the figures much larger.
I debated switching to a new image entirely. But skip ahead about a month, and I made adjustments per newsletter reader feedback, re-rendered the image, then touched it up in Photoshop.
Drumroll please…
I gave Hahven a sword to threaten the man with, and Alia seems less skeptical and more judgy.
Without being a spoiler, Alia’s restraint is the only reason this guy hasn’t gotten shish-kebabbed by Hahven. I really enjoy the dynamic between Hahven and Alia, as well as how Hahven has to struggle with his chesnathé horn’s constant calls for judgement.
(The scene on the cover is one such moment).
What do you think? Did the final version do better?
* * *
Learn how Hahven got his horn and where Alia got her restraint…
I’ve highlighted the projects that had changes in blue.
* * *
Changing Tides: (Book 4 of the Distant Horizon series). On hold while working on The Dark Forest of Aneth. Next step is to merge the two revised drafts and start writing the missing scenes.
Deceived #3: On hold. Needs revisions. Tentatively titled Exposed.
Future steps: Input Isaac’s notes from Deceived #5 (formerly #4) into the manuscript, revise Deceived #5, and revise #6 (formerly #5) before handing it to Isaac for his feedback.
Dossiers (Deceived Spin-off): On hold. Next step is a revision round which involves incorporating notes into the manuscript.
Multiverse Chronicles (Distant Horizon Universe Spin-off): On hold. Next up is adding the missing scenes, doing a read-through for revision smudge, and then a read-aloud with Isaac. Then it’s off to beta-readers!
Little One (Distant Horizon Prequel): Last time I was up to chapter six with light revisions, and at this point I’m still at chapter six with the lighter revisions (I did do another pass of that chapter, however), but chapter three has been polished and sent to the newsletter, and chapter four has been through ProWritingAid edits and was scheduled to go out with the August 2nd newsletter.
TWB 4: (Book Four of The Wishing Blade series). On hold. Next step is to write the outline and reread the first three books.
The Dark Forest of Aneth (A Legends of Cirena short novel): Got my notes from the Kindle Paperwhite read input! Afterward, I had Claude Fable do an “ARC reader/developmental editor” pass to help me catch remaining issues. I’ve started the next step, which is to review those suggestions and input the ones I agree with. Then it’ll be time to give it a polish and send it out to beta-readers.
Other Goals: Revisit the book cover concept. Create a blurb. Polish the related poem/ballad so it can be included as back matter.
The Ruins of Amixthael (The Gryphon and the Mountain Bear Spin-Off): On hold. Next step is to revise the chapters of the secondary character, then merge the two drafts together.
Future goals: Polish cover. Create blurb.
Untitled LoC Short Story (Standalone – Merchant in Reveratch): On hold. Next step is revisions.
Goals: Figure out a title. Create book cover and blurb. Polish the related poem/ballad so it can be included as back matter.
Untitled LoC Novella (Standalone – Twins in Ferta): Continued the process of writing a chapter, using ProWritingAid for edits, and then using Claude for review and checking plot progress. Last time I was at chapter twenty-seven sent to the newsletter with the draft at 60,000 words. Now I’m at chapter twenty-nine sent to the newsletter and roughly 66,500 words. (Finally wrote a chapter that had been eluding me… yay!)
I also discussed possibilities of future plots points regarding the Litkanston War era with Isaac, since those are directly tied in to this story arc, and began developing detailed ideas of Lord Nomca’s backstory.
Next step is to continue writing the rough draft.
The Wind Mage and the WolfSpin-Off (Joran’s Story – A Legends of Cirena short story) : On hold.Needs the rest of the fight scene cross-referenced.
Goals: Edit in ProWritingAid, read-aloud, proofread. Book cover and blurb.
After seven years of waiting, the ebook of book three is now available!
Got the final chapter written that Isaac suggested, plus made a few other adjustments based on the read-aloud. Did the ebook formatting and printed out the story for one final proofreading pass. Updated Huntress and Changeling backmatter and got that uploaded, plus set Huntress at 99 cents for Fae’s launch and will keep it that price through August.
I used Claude Fable to help me rework the blurb I was having issues with (mostly by me explaining the section I was having a problem with, then having Fable suggest what might be the problem… which is how I finally landed on a version I liked much better).
I added in the special effects I was wanting on the cover, then used Claude to pinpoint the remaining issue I was having with the Fae cover and make suggestions for improvement. The change I chose to make was to adjust the flute’s color to make it stand out better, and I’m much happier with the result. (All image work done in Photoshop CS6).
I also got the pre-order links up early and updated the Infinitas Publishing website with the information for Fae, and set up a couple paid newsletter promos for Huntress. (Tried for a BookBub, but didn’t set up the discount right, so I didn’t get it. Oh well. Maybe next time). I also redid the promo sheet to make it easier for me to start keeping track of paid promotions again.
Next step is to format the print edition.
Horse Shifter Romantasy 🐎: On hold. Next step is to start drafting from the outline.
Dark Romantasy Idea: On hold. I need to finish writing the synopsis (currently 4,000 words).
Writers of Warrensburg Anthology – All four of the other anthology short stories were edited and returned on time! Next step is to complete the edit based on the feedback for my story.
Other Stories: The YA Alien Invasion/Dystopian short story is on hold.
Poetry (?!): Nothing new this month
Game Design:
Phalanx: I got the blog post up about the digital edition of Phalanx! It’s also linked on the Phalanx and Extras page of the Infinitas Publishing website.
I still need to get a photo showing all of the pieces for the mousepad edition.
Elemental Card Game: On hold. Needs a lot of playtesting because the rules weren’t finalized before I started tinkering with a digital edition.
Legends of Cirena Tabletop Game: I had Claude Fable implement a lot of mechanics for the digital version of this game, mostly in implementing the base rules and then intended expansions, to the point where the game is mostly playable but still missing a few key mechanics. There’s one more expansion to add, and then playtesting. (And I need to see if those expansions had art already or if that still needs to be drawn).
Battle Decks: I had Claude Fable make some tweaks that made the digital game considerably more playable, which meant more playtesting got done, though it’s not quite ready to move forward. Once the base mechanics are working I’ll look into trying to get a mobile version functioning properly.
Anchor: I need to get a landing page for it set up on the Infinitas Publishing website.
Fantasy RPG Productivity App: On hold.
Cozy Fantasy Pet Sim: On hold. Adult creature lineart needs cleaned up and added to game, and juvenile creature art needs adjustments. I still need to add my own flavor text as well.
KROWN Assessment: This is a personality quiz for the Huntress universe. A while back I had Claude code a basic version of the in-person quiz Isaac and I did at last year’s GeekUP convention. This month I had Claude Fable revise the code and add details that the previous model was having trouble with. I had Isaac look at the result, which functions nicely now. I want to do a bit more testing before I release it, but it should be about ready.
AI Usage and Policy: No new updates. Detailed usage is in this report.
Marketing and Admin:
Had Claude develop an author/series analysis of my published books to help me recognize patterns I wasn’t familiar with and predict future patterns I might want to keep an eye out for. One pattern that stuck out was a tendency for books in a series to get longer and more complicated the deeper they got into a series, which is where series often stalled for new releases.
I tried developing a “publisher advisory team” with Claude that would analyze the previously mentioned analysis from the point of view of an editor, a reader, a publicist, etc, but I don’t think I’ve really got that working very smoothly. Mostly it found the same things as the original analysis… and said to finish the series that are already open. (I mean, it wasn’t wrong, but I was hoping to learn something new).
I continued using Claude to conduct Amazon price checks for my permafree books and automatically draft an email to send to KDP support whenever one showed up as no longer free. I switched this to weekly to catch the frequent changes. So far, it seems this has been helping me keep up with the permafree books (The Wind Mage of Maijev and Whispers in the Code).
Got BookFunnel subscribers downloaded and added to their respective newsletters.
Continued doing a weekly/bi-weekly review of my Infinitas Publishing-related progress using Claude. This has been super helpful keeping me on task, or very close to it.
I’m up-to-date with accounting! (This one makes me so happy…)
Newsletters all went out as planned! (Well, there was a technical glitch which resulted in one email going out a day late, but mostly this proceeded as intended).
I had Claude Fable review Dossiers, Exposed… and the rest of the Deceived series drafts, Merto’s prequel story from the Wishing Blade universe, as well as the horse shifter romantasy outline.
I had Claude Sonnet 5 pull my BookFunnel promo stats and review them for patterns. The clicks have been lower than what I would like. So I did a test round of sending out a second email of the monthly promo highlights to the newsletter I hadn’t yet sent them to (but with anyone who had already seen the other email removed from the second send). So far, the results are positive, so I plan to try the same technique this month. Previously I had been sending the monthly promo highlights out every other month to each list. I’m also keeping an eye on which banners subscribers seem most interested in.
CliftonStrengths Test! I’ve been wanting to do the CliftonStrengths 34 test ever since getting my top 5 results a few years ago. I finally bribed myself that if I completed work on Fae by a particular day, I could go ahead and purchase the test. (The bribe worked. Yay!) Anyway, I input my list into Claude to compare my writing/publishing processes, and now I’ll see if I can use the new insights to improve what I’m working on.
Finally reviewed Google Search Console analytics using Claude in order to see if the weekly blog posts repurposed from the newsletter are drawing in new reader traffic. Doesn’t appear to be the case (and actually, older posts specifically on writing processes seemed to be bringing in more search traffic). For now I’ll continue doing the newsletter blog posts because I enjoy them, and because I don’t have any measurements to test for whether or not readers who are already here (Hi, reader!) are sticking around for them.
I finally figured out how to add alt text to images in ebooks. I think I successfully updated the Huntress series. However, other ebooks will need alt text added as I go through and update their backmatter.
I ran the Claude CoWork task to review September BookFunnel promos. Those have now been chosen and scheduled as a newsletter send and blog post.
Next up: Review and update book prices; watch Book Blurb Magic course on books with multiple POVs, review a social media and newsletter email PDF I bought. Continue updating the design of individual Infinitas Publishing book pages and adding metadata. Continue adding books to the Stripe store for direct sales (alternately, review new BookFunnel feature offering Square sales?). Overhaul book categories, keywords, and blurbs.
Crafting Your Fictional World: On hold during July, but we’re now in the works of determining the date and time for the August presentation.
Repurposing Old Newsletter Content:
I think the July posts were mostly scheduled close to their post days rather than ahead of time, but they all went live as intended. I did pull more content for the Distant Horizon Universe blogs, though, and got the first August one scheduled.
Events: No events in July. A Crafting Your Fictional World presentation is planned for August.
SBibb’s Photographic Illustration: Finished the formatting project for the indie press! It’s uploaded for them, and now all that remains is to upload a minor revision that includes the ASIN, as well as the age categories that KDP is asking for. Otherwise, it’s complete!
Additionally, I did a printing job for a friend, which was fun because I got to pull out the specialty paper. (11×17 luster metallic! 5×7 polar matte cardstock! Whee!)
Future Goals: Update the SBibbPhoto website to incorporate Daz work and fix the SEO information. Finish designing cute mascot for a local store. Finish editing photos for a local Aikido group.
SIFlint Art: The stickers came in! I restocked merch at Black Ice Comics.
Here’s the new bag hoarding dragon sticker:
Daz PA: Pretty good back catalogue sales, though not specifically due to the Quick Grab and Outlet Store slots. I still intend to continue submitting to those sales promotions.
* * *
Happy writing and reading (Or 3D rendering if you’re into Daz)! 🙂
(Note: The giveaways above are hosted through BookFunnel. Authors will usually ask for your email address, and in many cases, the author will collect these addresses for their newsletters.)
Alternatively… “Everyone’s the hero of their own story”
(Which appears to have multiple attributions… so know that I did not come up with that quote, but it is very useful for designing antagonists)
When writing the Glitch saga, one of the parts I enjoyed working with was showing the Distant Horizon universe from a different point of view (in this case, from the point of view of “the bad guys”). Though the Camaraderie of Evil lives up to their name, an aspect Isaac and I wanted to work with was the idea that “everyone is the hero of their own story.”
Most of the villains aren’t doing evil things for evil’s sake. (Most. There are exceptions).
Instead, they’re driven by a desire for security, a utilitarian view of “the greatest good for the greatest number of people,” or a sense that the end justifies the means.
Even the antagonist with the most logical reason to be pure evil has his own motives and reasons for doing what he does. (Though really, he’s been through so much by the time we see him that… uh… it doesn’t really take much to push him into the “he knows what he’s doing is wrong and yet his desire for revenge is a bit too strong to counterbalance that knowledge.)
Sure, there are a couple characters who are outright power hungry, but for the most part, the people we see all want a better life. They just have… not the greatest ideas… about how to achieve that life. (As in, their ideas work, for them, but definitely aren’t “good guy” plans).
There’s a specific scene from Whispers in the Code (book one of the Glitch saga) that usually comes to mind when considering the Camaraderie’s mentality regarding the world:
Commander Rick motions me to the command room and sits in the chair, resting his chin against the bone of his knuckles. I stand before him, feet together, back straight. I wish I felt more confident.
“You will be challenged by much of what we do,” he continues. “In the Community, your tasks were simple: program basic systems, keep everything running smoothly… This job is not so simple. We call ourselves the Camaraderie of Evil because we are willing to take steps others wouldn’t dare consider. That’s the only way we can accomplish security and efficiency. I don’t personally believe we are evil, but the name stuck around from our earlier days, and they were… an interesting bunch.” A thoughtful smile quirks on his lips and he clasps his hands on his knee. Despite the relaxed position, he still carries an imposing presence.
“Yes, sir,” I say.
“The Community is everything we promise. It is safe, secure, and efficient. Everyone has a secure job, with no fear of being mugged on the street or killed because of needless terrorism. They have food, shelter, and companionship. We rule the Community carefully, and the system works.” He pauses as he gathers his thoughts. “However, there is a price. When the Camaraderie was first formed, Lord Black determined that superpowers posed a threat to his utopian ideals. Those with powers must be controlled or eliminated. Those who do not contribute cannot be allowed to siphon off others.” Commander Rick sets his jaw and my chest clenches tight. I know this already, but to hear it directly from the eldest council member is another thing entirely.
“Thus, through Sanjorez’s and Benjamin’s work with the pendants, the Camaraderie learned how to make beasts. Beasts can be controlled. They can fight. They are more efficient than eliminating each individual person that opposes us. No one would contest using elementals and power users in Special Forces. But our enemies would argue that our actions are morally wrong.”
Like Jenna.
The commander smirks. “Like Miss Nickleson, yes. But I have seen her mind. She seeks truth in answers. In her eyes, to have been lied to about the state of the world was a crime. It is not the action of transformation she sees as wrong, so much as it is that we withheld that information from her.” He presses a knuckle to his chin and gazes out at the dark sky. “I believe it is similar to how you are unaccustomed to making decisions which impact the wellbeing of others, and why you have a hard time understanding the art of war.”
I shift uncomfortably as the commander stands.
“You will do well, m’boy. You will adjust.”
I nod, but I still have a sinking feeling in the back of my throat. To be efficient, truly efficient, I’m going to have to make choices I’d rather not make.
Indeed, Tim does end up having to make choices and decisions that the rebellion would never consider.
And I’ll throw this out there: the Glitch saga doesn’t have a happy ending.
I hope you find it a satisfying one, especially when read in conjunction with the rest of the Distant Horizon series, but things have gone horribly wrong, in large part due to the actions of the Camaraderie.
And things continue to go wrong in the Distant Horizon series, because the things the Camaraderie has done (and even the rebellious Coalition of Freedom) don’t have a simple solution. Like real life, politics and war are messy.
Tim recognizes that much of what the Camaraderie does is questionable, or should be stopped. (And he does try to stop some of those things, or at least mitigate the problems).
But with their actions already snowballing into a terrifying boulder down a slope made slippery by too many people before him, it’s not something he can stop on his own.
Will the things he does help others make things better, even if his story ends tragically? Will his actions matter, allowing for a bittersweet ending? Will his actions have made an impact on those around him… even those who have been working with the Camaraderie for most of their lives?
It may not be immediately evident at the end of the Glitch saga, but once we get to book three of the Distant Horizon series (Starless Night)), I’m hoping a lot more of that becomes apparent. And it should become even more apparent by the time we get to book four, Changing Tides.
Do you have any favorite books where the story had a tragic ending, and yet the character’s actions still made a difference?
* * *
Delve into the Camaraderie’s dark and tragic secrets…
To celebrate, I hopped over to my favorite toy/coffee shop and grabbed my usual banana bread latte…
Which I might have alluded to in the story (even though the location is technically different).
Here’s a tiny snippet from one of the later chapters, where Verdi is working through one of the Fae judges’ impossible trials:
(I redacted the name of one of the characters since that might be a bit of a spoiler).
Gray morning light filters through the bedroom window, tinted red by the bricks of the building next door. There’s not room for more than a narrow alley, but it’s better than nothing.
I pace beside the bed, my hands wrapped around the paper sleeve of the banana bread latte Mr. Jacob bought for me from a local toymaker’s coffee shop. The latte is sweet, but not overly so, with a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg… and with extra espresso since my augments filter out part of the caffeine before it can provide any focus.
((REDACTED))’s map overlays my vision as I commit it to memory, but there’s something… off… about it I can’t place. I twist my lips. Normally I’d check in with one of the other huntresses to get their opinions, but I’m not sure if they’re being watched. ((REDACTED)) didn’t say anything about me needing to keep this deal discreet, but I’d still prefer not to tell anyone I don’t trust completely.
Interested in knowing who she’s working with?
Wondering what happens once she follows that questionable map?
(Note: If your library has Libby, you can request for them to get a copy for you to read that way!)
✨ Fae ✨
(Huntress #3)
When former huntress, Verdi, finds herself standing trial before two Fae judges instead of the corporate trial she expected, a broken bargain could be the opportunity Verdi needs to save herself and Maria…
A sapphic, YA dystopian retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and Pied Piper
Stripped of her toxins and on trial for a crime she regrets, Verdi is no longer a huntress.
Maria, the woman she loves, bears the scar Verdi gave her. She has forgiven Verdi, but Verdi hasn’t forgiven herself. Determined to set things right, Verdi now stands before two capricious, nanite-enhanced Fae judges who deal in impossible tasks. Their first task? Spin a corrupt company’s data into marketing gold.
Something a huntress was never trained to do.
But the judges have enemies, and a broken bargain provides Verdi with unlikely allies: a silver-tongued dealmaker seeking a name the Fae erased, and a rogue hacker with a grudge, whose augmented theatrics lure his victims exactly where he wants them.
If Verdi fails the trials, the judges won’t just rob Maria of justice. They’ll reprogram Verdi’s mind and make her their perfect, beautiful weapon, incapable of being anything but a huntress.
Can Verdi assert her own voice before the Fae make her dance to their song?
✨
Continue Verdi’s tale in this Rumpelstiltskin/Pied Piper retelling…
While working on The Wind Mage and the Wolf, I was still thinking onward to the next book of the Legends of Cirena series.
Problem is, I hadn’t decided on a title.
I mean, I kind of had an idea of what I was leaning toward, but I wasn’t sure it was really right.
(Choosing a title, like blurb rewriting, is usually one of my writing banes).
I tried brainstorming potential titles by jotting down the first ones that came to mind and then branching off from those.
Some of them seemed promising.
Some of them really didn’t fit the story.
Some seemed like… maybe?
After a bit, I whittled the choices down to three and asked the Wishing Blade Universe newsletter readers for feedback.
I gave them some details about the book I was trying to title: Legends of Cirena #8, which brings in the characters of Hahven (The Cursed Halls of Kalecen, Legends of Cirena #4) and Alia (The Scars of Her Past, Legends of Cirena #5).
Synopsis
Hahven is a duelist who would rather train his students to protect themselves than spend his time serving a vengeful god of justice, but due to an event from The Cursed Halls of Kalecen, he’s now stuck as the vengeful god’s champion. He’s forced to serve the god, or risk going back on a deal.
Thanks to those same events, he also has a rather annoying chesnathé horn growing from his forehead that intrudes on his thoughts with the guilt or honor of nearby people. Unfortunately, the horn also comes with a desire to stab and kill those he deems guilty, or to stab and grant immortality to those he finds worthy.
(Either way, the horn tends to be on the stabby side).
So when his god calls on him for a mission, he dreads learning what he might be asked to do.
Meanwhile, Alia is a merchant with a past she has tried to atone for and forget (as detailed in The Scars of Her Past). She’s almost ready to start a caravan of her own when one of the criminals she crossed during her time as a guard makes a plea to the vengeful god Hahven serves, determined to get revenge on Alia.
Problem is, that vengeful god takes a liking to Alia instead, and wants Hahven to convince her to serve him, too.
Alia isn’t having it.
Neither is Hahven.
Determined to keep her from facing the same fate he did, Hahven calls upon the high god for help circumventing his current master, and he’s surprised when he actually gets an answer.
The high god sends Alia and Hahven to the southern desert of Neel via a caravan that belongs to the gods. But when they get there, they discover an atrocious murder that tests Hahven’s increasingly irritable horn, and forces Alia to reconsider whether or not she’s really done protecting people from those who mean harm.
So that’s the overview.
These were the titles I presented that I thought might work, and there was one in particular I was leaning toward, though I hadn’t settled on anything and was open to ideas if readers were willing to share.
The Trial of Bells and Blood
There are multiple trials throughout the story, the bells are a symbol of the vengeful god, and the horn wants blood… constantly nagging at Hahven to kill those it finds guilty. Also, it was the vengeful god’s blood that gave Hahven the judgmental horn.
However, the downside of this one was that it was very close to the title of our work-in-progress Multiverse Chronicles story and its Battle Decks edition: Trials of Blood and Steel.
The Bells of Truth and Blood
The bells are a symbol of the vengeful god, the horn sees the “truth” of people, though its judgement is skewed, and the horn wants blood.
The Caravan of the Gods
Alia is given a caravan to take to Neel where she and Hahven investigate the murder. As the caravan was organized by the gods, it’s a “caravan of the gods.”
In the end, I chose the one I was originally leaning toward: The Trial of Bells and Blood.
But what do you think?
Does The Trial of Bells and Blood have a ring to it (pun intended)?
I hope you enjoyed this look into my title-choosing process. 🙂
* * *
Delve into three tales of vengeance and forgiveness…
With the upcoming release of Fae, book three in the Huntress series, (July 28th! less than a week away!) I’ve decided to temporarily drop the ebook price of Huntress from $3.99 to 99 cents! 😄
Which means if you haven’t read Huntress yet, now is the perfect time to grab a copy!
Verdi is a huntress for Koenigin Corp. She’s augmented. Perfect.
Determined to earn her dear president’s favor and finally have her voice heard, Verdi agrees to target Maria Snow, the favored candidate of the Society for Natural Progression, in an acid attack.
After all, once Maria is no longer so lovely, surely she’ll accept the nanite-based technology that can remove her scar—thus branding her as a traitor to her cause.
But when Maria Snow refuses treatment and Verdi catches her secretly meeting with an enhanced, sapient bird, she realizes Snow might be the one woman who can forge an alliance between the technology-loving corporations and the nature-oriented Progressionists.
Forced to choose between loyalty to the corporation who raised her, and falling in love with the woman who could finally unite the two factions, Verdi’s decision will change the face of the city.
Today I thought I’d go into a little more detail about the mysterious time stones.
These are the artifacts both the Camaraderie and the Coalition of Freedom are trying to obtain throughout Distant Horizon, Fractured Skies, and the Glitch saga.
The Camaraderie wants the stones because they know how much the rebellious Coalition wants them… and thus the ancient artifacts make good bait.
The Coalition wants the stones because of their theoretical ability to travel time… which means a chance to upend the Camaraderie before they get their start, but also to keep them out of the Camaraderie’s hands.
Though no one is entirely sure if they can travel time (except Spectator, and he’s going to make everyone figure it out for themselves), the stones do have a few properties that have been clearly demonstrated:
Primarily that they have a very powerful spirit guardian… (possibly a constructed spirit, per Jenna’s research in Fractured Skies). There are five different stones with artwork reminiscent of five different cultures (Maya, Inca, India, Japan, and Egypt), and a matching guardian. Not much is known about the origin of the stones, save for them being “Catonian,” at least according to the Camaraderie’s alchemist.
Each guardian, however, has the usual spirit powers (life-spirit, telepathy, telekinesis, and teleportation), in addition to their own unique power set. (Such as the spirit dragon in Distant Horizon being a water elemental). Some of the spirit stuff gets covered in Fractured Skies, but it gets covered a whole lot more in the next book… for reasons. Trying not to spoil the ending of Fractured Skies or the beginning of Starless Night.
Anyway, while these guardians protect the stones, they’re limited to a certain region. Once defeated… if the stone has been moved far enough… they don’t manifest again. (Otherwise, keeping even one of the stones on an airship would be a terrible idea).
The next question becomes… how exactly is anyone supposed to use the stones?
They know there’s something about a “circle of stone,” but which circle of stone? And can the stones really travel time? Or might it do something else entirely?
And if they can use the stones to travel time, should they?
* * *
Collect the mysterious time stones while trying to thwart an evil, superpowered regime…
Today I thought I’d give you a look into the messy sketches and scribbles of my cover design process for the The Wind Mage and the Wolf, the seventh story in the Legends of Cirena series.
I don’t always make sketches like these, but in this case, I had a few ideas I wanted to jot down so I wouldn’t forget.
Note: the scribbles are barely readable in person. Unforunately, that means they’re even less readable here.
As you can see, these are really rough sketches, meant to give me a general idea of where I might place key elements.
I’ve tried to make a note of possible titles, variant backgrounds, and things I’d need to take into consideration when I went to create the proof.
All of this was on one sheet of paper, and covered multiple stories, but I cut the page in Photoshop to make it easier to view in an email, where I originally sent out this preview in 2019.
Fast forward to the finished version of the cover, which I designed in Daz 3D Studio:
Here we have Livena and Nuaka (currently in an altered wolf form) as they head down the streets of Ashan. Though Livena’s magic wouldn’t normally be visible to the naked eye (she can’t see it, either), I was aiming to convey the magic/fantasy genre.
This was the first of the covers for the crossover portion of the Legends of Cirena series, each of which are novellas (or a novel, in the case of the upcoming The Dark Forest of Aneth) instead of short stories.
Eventually I decided on the title: The Wind Mage and the Wolf
(Notice in the sketch it’s “The Wolves of Maijev” which… didn’t really work for me)
My logic was that “The Wind Mage and the Wolf” crosses the title conventions of the two previous stories (“The Wind Mage of Maijev” and “The Gryphon and the Mountain Bear”), where Livena was the wind mage, and the cover art focuses on the style of her cover, whereas the title style is closer to Nuaka’s story (previously she was the mountain bear, and now she’s the wolf).
I was concerned it might sound too silly (or be too close to the first title), but ultimately, it stuck. 😄
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A wind mage and a shapeshifting thief start with their own adventures… and then end up working together:
A sapphic, YA dystopian retelling of Rumpelstiltskin and Pied Piper 
Stephanie Flint - Author and Artist 