James Cardona's Blog, page 2
April 28, 2015
More Book Cover Pics For You
A few posts back I had said that my book cover for The Dragon's Castle: Apprentice 2 was done, but the more I looked at it the more I didn't like it. So I went back and hired the same artist who did the cover for the first in the series so that there would be some unity of form for the series.
Here is his latest submission to me and I am pretty happy with it overall. There are a few final tweaks I requested, but I really like his work.
He is also doing the covers for books 3 and 4 of the series so they should all have a common feel.
Here is his latest submission to me and I am pretty happy with it overall. There are a few final tweaks I requested, but I really like his work.
He is also doing the covers for books 3 and 4 of the series so they should all have a common feel.
April 17, 2015
Another award!
I won a brag medallion for my book Santa Claus vs The Aliens.
BRAG stands for Book Readers Appreciation Group and they evaluate independent authors works with a pass-fail criteria.
You can check out the list of books they've awarded here.
BRAG stands for Book Readers Appreciation Group and they evaluate independent authors works with a pass-fail criteria.
You can check out the list of books they've awarded here.
April 7, 2015
Artwork Ideas for Apprentice 3
A picture is worth a thousand words, so they say, so one my favorite tools when developing a character is to find a picture that matches my mind's eye of the person. One of the books in development is part 3 of the Apprentice series, called The Worthy Apprentice.
I used to spend a lot of time on google, flickr and picassa searching for the right photo, but recently I started creating them myself using 3D rendering tools. It's been a lot of fun. Of course they don't have to come out perfect, since they are only for my own purposes.
I figured, some of you might like to see a few.
The girl with the raven is Leonna, she is a master of magic that allows her to communicate and control birds.
The tigress is Felicia, she is a master of magic that allows her to communicate and control cats.
The Worthy Apprentice is exciting, in the ticking time bomb, murder-mystery sort and I am excited about it. I think you are really going to like it. It is currently nearing the beta stage so look for it soon.
I used to spend a lot of time on google, flickr and picassa searching for the right photo, but recently I started creating them myself using 3D rendering tools. It's been a lot of fun. Of course they don't have to come out perfect, since they are only for my own purposes.
I figured, some of you might like to see a few.
The girl with the raven is Leonna, she is a master of magic that allows her to communicate and control birds.
The tigress is Felicia, she is a master of magic that allows her to communicate and control cats.
The Worthy Apprentice is exciting, in the ticking time bomb, murder-mystery sort and I am excited about it. I think you are really going to like it. It is currently nearing the beta stage so look for it soon.
March 30, 2015
Random Musings From The Cave
I can't believe 3 months of 2015 have already slipped away. Here, in Northeast US, we've been fairly shut in with the tremendous amount of snow and bad weather so I've been spending a lot of time in the writing cave.
My tendency in the past has been to publish one book a year, but with all the writing I've been doing it's starting to look like a break-out year. No promises yet, but you may see two or three from me in 2015.
As to progress, I'm cleaning up the final draft of the 2nd in the Apprentice series, The Dragon's Castle. It has tons of romance, adventure, swords and sorcery and is a real page turner. Looks to be falling in the 500 page range.
I've also finished the first draft of the 3rd in the Apprentice series, The Worthy Apprentice. I took this one somewhat in the murder-mystery style, which was a lot of fun for me. Also in this book we see several of the creature-kind characters that can control leopards, cheetahs, cougars, hawks, eagles and the like. I was fairly surprised at how much fun these characters were to pen. I think you're going to fall in love with Felix and Leonna. This book is clocking in at around 350 pages.
I worked on the final chapter in the Apprentice series for most of March, then sat it down because I was getting a little burnt out on it. Still the first 6 chapters are fleshed out. Working title is Into Darkness. If you like epic battles then that book will be fantastic for you becuase this is where it all comes together.
So, like I said, I sat part 4 down to clear my head. I think I was starting to get a little writer's block, so to avoid that, I usually switch to something else for a bit. Hence Community 17.
I had this crazy little idea for a dystopian novella, working title: Community 17. I'd recently read 1984 (for the third or fourth time, I think) and one of the most powerful things about the story for me is not so much Big Brother and how he controls society, but that the protagonist completely changes into what he hates. Very powerful.
I wanted to do something with that whole idea of being psychological manipulated to become the opposite of what you are. So I'm just finishing up this novella today. It's looking like 180 pages and about 40,000 words so it's sitting on the high-end length of a novella and short end of a novel, so I guess you can call it what you will. I think if you liked 1984, Brave New World or any of the great dystopian classics then it will appeal to you.
For those of you who beta-read for me, drop me a line if any of these are of interest. I should definitely have something press ready soon.
My tendency in the past has been to publish one book a year, but with all the writing I've been doing it's starting to look like a break-out year. No promises yet, but you may see two or three from me in 2015.
As to progress, I'm cleaning up the final draft of the 2nd in the Apprentice series, The Dragon's Castle. It has tons of romance, adventure, swords and sorcery and is a real page turner. Looks to be falling in the 500 page range.
I've also finished the first draft of the 3rd in the Apprentice series, The Worthy Apprentice. I took this one somewhat in the murder-mystery style, which was a lot of fun for me. Also in this book we see several of the creature-kind characters that can control leopards, cheetahs, cougars, hawks, eagles and the like. I was fairly surprised at how much fun these characters were to pen. I think you're going to fall in love with Felix and Leonna. This book is clocking in at around 350 pages.
I worked on the final chapter in the Apprentice series for most of March, then sat it down because I was getting a little burnt out on it. Still the first 6 chapters are fleshed out. Working title is Into Darkness. If you like epic battles then that book will be fantastic for you becuase this is where it all comes together.
So, like I said, I sat part 4 down to clear my head. I think I was starting to get a little writer's block, so to avoid that, I usually switch to something else for a bit. Hence Community 17.
I had this crazy little idea for a dystopian novella, working title: Community 17. I'd recently read 1984 (for the third or fourth time, I think) and one of the most powerful things about the story for me is not so much Big Brother and how he controls society, but that the protagonist completely changes into what he hates. Very powerful.
I wanted to do something with that whole idea of being psychological manipulated to become the opposite of what you are. So I'm just finishing up this novella today. It's looking like 180 pages and about 40,000 words so it's sitting on the high-end length of a novella and short end of a novel, so I guess you can call it what you will. I think if you liked 1984, Brave New World or any of the great dystopian classics then it will appeal to you.
For those of you who beta-read for me, drop me a line if any of these are of interest. I should definitely have something press ready soon.
March 13, 2015
I'm a two time Book Award Finalist!
Great news everyone!
Two of my books have made it to the FINALIST stage of the Wishing Shelf Book Awards for the 2014 year.
The winners will be announced in a few weeks. I'm really excited as I am the only author who had two books chosen by the judges.
The books were Santa Claus vs The Aliens in the 9 to 12 year old category and Under The Shadow Of Darkness in the Teenager category.
Two of my books have made it to the FINALIST stage of the Wishing Shelf Book Awards for the 2014 year.
The winners will be announced in a few weeks. I'm really excited as I am the only author who had two books chosen by the judges.
The books were Santa Claus vs The Aliens in the 9 to 12 year old category and Under The Shadow Of Darkness in the Teenager category.
March 3, 2015
The Dragon's Castle Update
So the second in the apprentice series is officially out of the alpha stage (hey, I'm a programmer so I carry over the lingo).
Many thanks to Marc and Sam, my alpha readers!
I am going to make a handful of changes before sending a request out to all my beta readers.
I am thinking the official release date will be around sometime in May.
Meanwhile, I've been feverishly writing the third book in the series: The Worthy Apprentice. I've got about 400 pages done on the rough draft and it should be done in about a week.
I hope two publish both this year, so for the fans of Under The Shadow of Darkness, it should be a good year.
Many thanks to Marc and Sam, my alpha readers!
I am going to make a handful of changes before sending a request out to all my beta readers.
I am thinking the official release date will be around sometime in May.
Meanwhile, I've been feverishly writing the third book in the series: The Worthy Apprentice. I've got about 400 pages done on the rough draft and it should be done in about a week.
I hope two publish both this year, so for the fans of Under The Shadow of Darkness, it should be a good year.
February 25, 2015
final version of the new cover
Thanks for all of your input!!
Here is what will probably be the final version of the new cover.
I removed the other animals as it was too busy, as was pointed out. Also the dragon was moved to the back cover.
Let me know what you think!
Here is what will probably be the final version of the new cover.
I removed the other animals as it was too busy, as was pointed out. Also the dragon was moved to the back cover.
Let me know what you think!
February 20, 2015
Another new cover- Whatcha think?
Here is a different version of the cover I just made. Thinking it will emphasize the romantic element more. Let me know what you think!
February 18, 2015
Opinions, please: The Dragon's Castle book cover
Looking for your opinion on the book cover for the 2nd in the soon to be released Apprentice series.
