Selena I.R. Drake's Blog, page 3

Writing: An Escape

How many people do you know can honestly say that they attended a two-room school house?

Most would probably answer that their grandparent did. Maybe even a parent. Thirty-year-olds like me probably don’t even come to mind. But that little, red schoolhouse in the picture really was my elementary school. That was Eureka Elementary.

It had two classrooms for two teachers and six grades, a hallway that doubled as a library, and a basement that served as our lunchroom/gym when the weather got ba...

2017: A Year of Projects and Broken Rules

Welcome to 2017!

A new year has dawned. It’s time for a fresh start, and (hopefully) some new luck. It’s also time to start looking at what to get done this year. I’ve spent the last few days coming up with a list of projects that I aim to complete.

My 7 Things To Do:

1. Get book deal.
This hasn’t changed from the previous years, but I’m really hoping that I have better luck this year.

2. Write TTS (Sin’s history).
The title will be revealed in my January 30th post, so stay tuned for that. BO...

The Cusp of 17

This week marks the twilight of 2016. And this, the final post of the year.

At least, it’s the end of the most recognized, Western calendar.

See, I actually observe or celebrate three new years every 365 days. First is obviously January 1st, when the calendar resets. The best new year of all is October 31st, the so-called Witches’ New Year. But there’s another one nestled in between, and that is the Lunar New Year. Commonly known as the Chinese New Year, the Lunar New Year falls on January 28...

The Longest Night

I apologize for being a few days late with this post. It’s no surprise, really, when you consider what time of the year this is. And I’ve been busy trying to fill some last minute commissions. But what better day to share than this? For it is the Winter Solstice; the longest night of the year. Not only does today mark the official start of winter, it is also the Pagan and Wiccan holiday of Yule.

Regrettably, I’ve been so busy filling last minute, holiday commissions that I haven’t had any cha...

The Bone Prophet – Revealed!

Oops! I went and changed my mind again.

I decided that the original cover was too bland despite all the pretty colors. So I changed it over to black and white. This seems more dramatic to me because of the good vs evil theme throughout the book. And, instead of being just a narrow slit of an image framed in black, I expanded the image to take up most of the cover. And then I changed the font.
In other words, it went from this:

To this:

As an added bonus, this cover comes with its own colori...

A Taste of Things to Come

You may have noticed a little drying up of snippets and updates of my writing over the last week. I apologize for that, but, after winning my fourth NaNoWriMo event, I took some time off to catch up on a project for charity. Now that that’s complete, it’s right back to work on The Bone Prophet.

Speaking of the fourth book, you may have also caught a glimpse of the cover when I released the teaser on my YouTube Chanel.
I have a weird way of creating my covers. It combines traditional art and...

NaNoWriMo and The Otherworld

Another November NaNoWriMo down, and the 2nd victory for me in 2016. Interesting fact: each of the four cases of The AEON Files has been written during a NaNo event. And all four have been winners.

The next one, Camp NaNo, is in April, so I might get the fifth case going. It depends on what I’m working on when April comes around.

So what’s next?

Same ol’ same ol’: Keep writing. Edit. Write some more. Drink tea. Forget to eat lunch. And keep sending out query letters in hopes of getting a publ...

72 Days…

Lots to talk about today, but let me start off with a few special announcements.

You might have noticed a few changes to the site recently. Obviously the layout is different, but that’s not all. There’s a new Home page with a few exclusive goodies, and even more to come. The navigation menu has changed so that my novels are now under their series names (The AEON Files and Dragon Diaries) instead of a Books section.Probably the most exciting announcement is that The Bone Prophet‘s release date...

The Bone Prophet: A Few Spoilers

I feel the need to warn you that this post includes spoilers from the upcoming 4th novel of The AEON Files. You will be warned before any spoilers occur so that you can avoid them if desired.

I’ve certainly been keeping busy lately. Not just with my NaNoWriMo project, The Bone Prophet. I’ve also been working on a few artistic commissions, arguing with puppies, looking into more ways to get word out about this series, and still trying to land a publishing deal with one of the houses.

I’m real...

NaNoWriMo – Week 1

Whoo! What a week it’s been!

I always seem to surprise myself whenever a NaNo event rolls around. How doI manage to write so much in 30 days’time, but write at a snail’s pace every other day of the year? Maybe it’s the heightened intake of caffeine. Or the fact that I stay up much later because, for some unknown reason, I’m more creative and energetic after the sun goes down. It could also be chocked up to fact that I get almost no interruptions after midnight (with the exception of my fur ba...