A New Book Trailer!

Howdie from beautiful Oregon!

Just kidding. But since I've been immersed in rewriting and editing now for several months, it almost feels like I'm there.
Not really. Notice I said almost. 
It totally feels like I'm in Wisconsin.

I wish this was my view!

Oregon Coast 

Believe it or not, I'm nearly ready to publish my 6th novel...which is actually the first book I ever wrote! And to answer the question I know you're dying to ask:
Yes! I really DID have it under my bed all these years! 

If you've ever seen my 
Author Central Profile  <---- clicky thing
on Amazon, you'll get it.

Actually, I had a copy of said novel on my computer too...saved and uploaded from my last computer to my current one. If you recall, I wrote this book WAY back when I was still homeschooling our youngest son...
who is now twenty-eight. Which means I must have written it circa 1999.
  
So, it's been  
A.  L.O.N.G.  T.I.M.E.  C.O.M.I.N.G.

Come on, you remember the story...
I pulled the book out of it's dusty domain for the much needed rewrite and edits -way back in 2007. But then I had that awesome dream and I HAD to start writing the Ravenswynd Series: T.R.I.H.
If you want to know what that acronym is, you'll have to ask!  

And just like in the previous rambling paragraph, I got side-tracked. But last winter/spring I told myself: Rewrite the dang book already. Get it published before the dang year is over already. Clean the crap out from under your bed already.
I actually listened to myself! 

It. Is. Done.

I'm waiting to hear from two of my beta-readers yet. (You know who you are) 
Once I get the go-ahead, I'll be uploading the document. In the meantime I thought you might like a bit of a teaser.


As in a book trailer.


So here it is.
  

What do you think?

If you have trouble viewing the video,
let me know and I'll send you the direct link to You-tube. 
Seriously.  
I WANT you to SEE the video.  I stayed up till 4 a.m. last night re-doing it over and over and over.
And then again today. 
Seriously. 
I deserve would greatly appreciate some dang feedback!
Please.



Thanks!

Have a great week!

Exciting News - And a Bit of Love

I have some super-awesome-great news!  I finally found the name of the artist who has inspired me for years!  Apparently, way back when I had first found the "picture" of my main male character, someone else had posted/used it with no connection whatsoever to the actual artist. (tisk-tisk) I had no clue how to go about finding the artist back then, and to be honest, didn't give it much thought...until...

I started researching all the ins and outs of self-publishing - and while reading about creating a book cover, I realized there would be absolutely NO other cover art I could ever imagine using, other than (my) cherished picture. I knew I couldn't use the artwork without permission, so I decided I had start looking for the artist.  All I can say is: 

I love Google!

Lo and behold!  I found my artist yesterday, and not only is she amazing, the picture I have Loved for a few years now was still available for my book cover!  Here is her original artwork:  

The original art only needed a bit of fixing...come on, everyone knows that vampires don't wear crosses, so she changed it to a black medallion (which is in my book), and since the "man" looked a little too young, she added a bit of scruffiness to his face.  My artist, Amela had it done within a very short time and sent me this sample last night:  

Pretty awesome, right?  Don't you Love it too?

If you follow me on Face-Book, Google+ or Twitter, you may have already seen the picture.  Can you tell how excited I am?  YAY!  Now I can get to business and get my book ready for print!

Thanks again, Amela!  I Love your art, and definitely plan to use your artwork for my next project!!  I've already got my eye on several pictures!

Here is the link to my wonderful artist! (Notice how I keep saying she is MY artist? Hope she doesn't mind, but I Love her!)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Madhoshi-Art-by-Amela-B/179124268637?ref=stream


And here is the link to her deviant-Art website: http://iimadhoshiii.deviantart.com/

Trust me, you will not be disappointed!



Thanks for reading!

Cutting and Pasting

Yes, I'm still here...did ya

My last post was way back in March, around the 15th I think.  And the one prior to that was the one about cutting my book down.  Thanks for your comments, by the way.  I've taken everyone's feedback into consideration, (including loads of writing blogs with advice on this subject), and I found that more people advised that less is more for a first novel.  And...wait for it....wait for it...
I have finally finished "cutting...and pasting"!!  No easy task, I might add...

I just hope I've done the right thing here.  After moving chapters around, tons of editing and re-editing, I've taken what was over 215,000 words and I now have three much shorter books.  (Yes, I am still working on what used to be the sequel, and I guess it is now the 4th and last book)  In this 4th book, I already have over 43,000 words...

I'm still hoping this isn't going to be the final outcome:

I know, I've used this picture before, but every time I see it I die laughing... :)

So, after all this intensive labor, Book One now stands at 84,069 words,
Book Two is 64,823, and Book Three is 66,221.

Another thing I'm working on:  The Title (s).  I'm thinking, perhaps Ravenswynd plus another word or two.  I just don't want it to sound too corny or cliché.

I would  ♥ love ♥ some input here...(pretty please)

1. Ravenswynd - Legends Realized
2. Ravenswynd - Dreams Remembered
3. Ravenswynd - Prophesies Rendered
4. Ravenswynd - Secrets Revealed



One of these days I must write my dreaded

And my query letters!!

Am I the only writer who shivers at that thought?  Wish me luck...

Have a great week!