Anna Travis's Blog, page 2

June 2021

Finished the draft for Milana 5, Lost. So incredibly excited! It's ready for some first level editing, and then alpha reading... Huzzah!

March 2021

Well. I have had a time. I hit the halfway point in my draft and then promptly broke my finger. My littlest made a sudden dive, and I managed to avert the danger gravity was bringing him to, but at the cost of my finger. Then I learned that it was utterly impossible to type. I also learned that it's very easy to re-break your finger. It cost me three months of writing time, plus all of the inertia I had built up for writing!

​I'm finally building that back up though, and I'm writing almost every...

That's A Good Sign

28,000 words down. I've been letting my three oldest kids read each chapter as I finish, and it really keeps me working. I try to write six days a week, while my fifth takes his afternoon nap. I gave my kids Chapter Thirteen this morning. My oldest daughter just came in the room, waving the pages wildly and shouting about how dare I make things so difficult for certain characters, and whether I had quite lost my mind. She finally threw them at me and stomped out of the room in a way that would h...

Cover Art Quandary

painterly style Line art style I have been playing around with possibilities for cover art for The Milana Legends. There are so many different styles out there. Honestly, it's just a dream of mine to someday have them all with illustrated covers. I think that comes of growing up loving Narnia, and books that had a little illustration at the beginning of each chapter.  Maybe it's the kid in me, but I stil...

Cover Art Quandry

painterly style Line art style I have been playing around with possibilities for cover art for The Milana Legends. There are so many different styles out there. Honestly, it's just a dream of mine to someday have them all with illustrated covers. I think that comes of growing up loving Narnia, and books that had a little illustration at the beginning of each chapter.  Maybe it's the kid in me, but I stil...

Summer 2020

Working on Milana 5!
This season has been such a challenge, hasn't it? Seeking God's guidance, I am reminded more than ever that loving my babies and teaching them to love God and others is my tiny piece of the puzzle, my way of trying to do God's work and spread His goodness and peace.  Working on book five is another piece of my story in the Kingdom. ​I feel that our culture truly needs more stories where the heroes are fighting for right and protecting others. ​

Spring 2020

Wow. Can I just say I never thought I would live to watch the whole world come to a stop? That aside, I am currently working with Juliet (my Milana narrator); going through the audio files. I'm also trying to make sure our home is a refuge for our family; making scones and jam, riding our bikes, playing games, and coming up with creative assignments for the kids.

I took a break from my fiction to put together a prayer journal for my girls. My oldest enjoyed the simplicity of my Heavenly Spaces j...

Launching Butterflies & Books

I've decided that launching a book is like releasing butterflies (which is something we do around here). It's exciting, and those closest to you all gather around while the little bug dangles off your finger, stretching its new wings.

There are a few, precious moments where you pass the little fellow around, and then suddenly it flaps its wings and Whoosh! It's off and on its own.

And that's very much how it feels to launch a new book! It comes back proofread, and you gather around with the...

Feb 2020

So excited! I have book launching butterflies! And not only that, but Juliet has started work on the audio book, and I have book 5 outlined.

Reader Question : Where Did You Get the Idea for Milana?

Oooh. That's a good one. To be honest, I was pondering Israel, and how hard it is for an entire nation of people to hold up their end of a covenant. Then I started wondering what would happen in a fallen world if the covenant were made with a single family? And then I really started wondering, what would happen when God's Son came to that fallen world, to die for their sins? A family that was really walking closely with God would recognize the Messiah they had been waiting for, and if they...