Uvi Poznansky's Blog, page 184

A Powerful and Beautiful Telling of an Epic Biblical Tale

James DiBenedetto is the author of Dream Student (and other books in this series.) I am honored that he posted this review for my novel, A Peek at Bathsheba:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful and Beautiful Telling of an Epic Biblical Tale, November 12, 2014By James D. "starkllr" (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviewsVerified Purchase(What's this?)This review is from: A Peek at Bathsheba (The David Chronicles Book 2) (Kindle Edition) Uvi Poznansky continues her look at the life and times of King David, and this second volume is every bit as good as the first one ("Rise to Power").

It's a story we all know, the tale of David and Bathsheba, but it's told through a modern lens, and using language more familiar to today's world than that of the Bible. It's powerful both because it makes it easier for us to view these characters as fresh and blood humans, rather than simply as historical figures; and also because it reminds us that the same passions and failings are with us now, as existed thousands of years ago (this is a theme the author explores in many of her books).

As with her previous books, the author's use of language is simply beautiful. Her training and career as a visual artist is evident both in her descriptions and in the care she takes with every word.

Highly, highly recommended!

Talking about art and writing, and everything in between

I am thrilled to come on for an interview on Seb Kirby's blog, to talk about the connections between my art and writing. Please check it out:

The Interview -- Uvi Poznansky

Dancing with all his might

I look around at the people rejoicing at the sight of the Ark, and applauding me along the way, which puts me in a heightened state of reflection. I promise myself that I will never let them down. I hope that through this momentous occasion—which will allow me to create a spiritual center in my city, the City of David—I can start molding them into one nation. One of the Levites glances at me, as if to remind me of something.“What?” I ask, snapping out of my thoughts. “Again?”“Oh yes. Again.”Perhaps it is the smell of blood, together with the sense of mystery, that bring to my mind the dangers lurking ahead—not just on this journey, and not just in my generation, but in generations to come. Somehow I foresee, right here and now, how our offspring will be lead, powerless, to the brink of extinction. I shudder to see the calf, held with a knife to its throat, fall to its knees before the sacrifice. Sharply has its last bleat died down. Then it is placed on the bronze altar, and carefully arranged into position between all the odd implements: the pails for removing ashes, and the shovels and basins and forks and fire pans and the utensils of bronze. In a flash, its body is completely consumed by fire. Nothing but ash remains. This burnt offering is a vision of our future. This calf is us. I feel an overwhelming sadness, and to escape its grip I begin to dance. I dance because this is our moment, because the future is faraway and the dangers it holds are still obscure. With enough joy, enough energy in all of us, perhaps we can change its course. Denial is bliss.I give it everything I have. I dance with abandon. I dance with all my might.As we come near the walls of the city I hear shouts, cheers, and the sound of trumpets, which spurs me to cry out, to sing. And as I am singing, the gates open before me.
Sing to the Lord, all the earth
   Proclaim His salvation day after day.Declare His glory among the nations
   His marvelous deeds among all peoples
David in A Peek at Bathsheba

Listen to The gifted Justin Harmer reading this passage:


David is leading the procession, bringing the lost ark back to Jerusalem, and a long the way sacrificing a calf every seven steps. His thoughts take him forward to the distant future, beyond his lifetime, envisioning his people led to the slaughter.

The inspiration for this passage came from a modern painting by Ivan Schwebel, David whirls with all his might before the Lord, which is set in Auschwitz arrivals platform. It is starkly different from other paintings on the subject. Some artists concentrate on the childlike excitement of 'dancing with all his might.' You can see this approach in the paintings Le Roi David by Joan Miro, and King David Dancing Naked Before the Ark of God,  by Robert Nankin. Other artists concentrate on the relationship between Michal, daughter of Saul, who despises David for exposing himself in public while dancing, at times they protect David's reputation by showing him as a holy man, a psalmist, with a long robe, while setting Michal in the shadow, with the one thing she presents to us is her bottom... And sometimes they go the other way, seeing things from Michal's point of view, where David has an exceedingly short tunic.

My writing does not choose one approach over the other--it reflects all of them, depending on the point of view of the character. But above all I am inspired by the suggestion of David's vision of the holocaust in this passage.

                        Le Roi David                     King David Dancing Naked Before the Ark of God
                        by Joan Miro                                             by Robert Nankin


David whirls with all his might before the Lord 
Auschwitz arrivals platform, 111x151cm, 1992
Ivan Schwebel

Volume I of the trilogy: Rise to Power★ Audio ★ Ebook On sale now! ★ Print ★

Volume II of the trilogy:A Peek at Bathsheba★ Audio coming soon! ★ Ebook ★ Print ★

Volume III of the trilogy:
The Edge of Revolt★ On the drawing board ★
"I am so enamored with the sensual style and delicious delivery
 that this review is a purely emotional response as I have just put it down. 
I feel like a devotee."

David bringing the Lost ark, dancing with all his might

I look around at the people rejoicing at the sight of the Ark, and applauding me along the way, which puts me in a heightened state of reflection. I promise myself that I will never let them down. I hope that through this momentous occasion—which will allow me to create a spiritual center in my city, the City of David—I can start molding them into one nation. One of the Levites glances at me, as if to remind me of something.“What?” I ask, snapping out of my thoughts. “Again?”“Oh yes. Again.”Perhaps it is the smell of blood, together with the sense of mystery, that bring to my mind the dangers lurking ahead—not just on this journey, and not just in my generation, but in generations to come. Somehow I foresee, right here and now, how our offspring will be lead, powerless, to the brink of extinction. I shudder to see the calf, held with a knife to its throat, fall to its knees before the sacrifice. Sharply has its last bleat died down. Then it is placed on the bronze altar, and carefully arranged into position between all the odd implements: the pails for removing ashes, and the shovels and basins and forks and fire pans and the utensils of bronze. In a flash, its body is completely consumed by fire. Nothing but ash remains. This burnt offering is a vision of our future. This calf is us. I feel an overwhelming sadness, and to escape its grip I begin to dance. I dance because this is our moment, because the future is faraway and the dangers it holds are still obscure. With enough joy, enough energy in all of us, perhaps we can change its course. Denial is bliss.I give it everything I have. I dance with abandon. I dance with all my might.As we come near the walls of the city I hear shouts, cheers, and the sound of trumpets, which spurs me to cry out, to sing. And as I am singing, the gates open before me.
Sing to the Lord, all the earth
   Proclaim His salvation day after day.Declare His glory among the nations
   His marvelous deeds among all peoples
David in A Peek at Bathsheba

Listen to The gifted Justin Harmer reading this passage:


David is leading the procession, bringing the lost ark back to Jerusalem, and a long the way sacrificing a calf every seven steps. His thoughts take him forward to the distant future, beyond his lifetime, envisioning his people led to the slaughter.

The inspiration for this passage came from a modern painting by Ivan Schwebel, David whirls with all his might before the Lord, which is set in Auschwitz arrivals platform. It is starkly different from other paintings on the subject. Some artists concentrate on the childlike excitement of 'dancing with all his might.' You can see this approach in the paintings Le Roi David by Joan Miro, and King David Dancing Naked Before the Ark of God,  by Robert Nankin. Other artists concentrate on the relationship between Michal, daughter of Saul, who despises David for exposing himself in public while dancing, at times they protect David's reputation by showing him as a holy man, a psalmist, with a long robe, while setting Michal in the shadow, with the one thing she presents to us is her bottom... And sometimes they go the other way, seeing things from Michal's point of view, where David has an exceedingly short tunic.

My writing does not choose one approach over the other--it reflects all of them, depending on the point of view of the character. But above all I am inspired by the suggestion of David's vision of the holocaust in this passage.

                        Le Roi David                     King David Dancing Naked Before the Ark of God
                        by Joan Miro                                             by Robert Nankin


David whirls with all his might before the Lord 
Auschwitz arrivals platform, 111x151cm, 1992
Ivan Schwebel

Volume I of the trilogy: Rise to Power★ Audio ★ Ebook ★ Print ★

Volume II of the trilogy:
A Peek at Bathsheba★ Audio coming soon! ★ Ebook ★ Print ★

Volume III of the trilogy:
The Edge of Revolt★ On the drawing board ★
"I am so enamored with the sensual style and delicious delivery
 that this review is a purely emotional response as I have just put it down. 
I feel like a devotee."

#kindle #countdown #deal: RISE TO POWER

This is the time, this is the hourTime is ticking: RISE TO POWER!

★ Love reading? Get this book ★
RISE TO POWER  
Kindle Countdown deal November 8-November 15

Also download HOME free November 8-9


Book Description:Here is the story of David as you have never heard it before: from the king himself, telling the unofficial version, the one he never allowed his court scribes to recount. In his mind, history is written to praise the victorious—but at the last stretch of his illustrious life, he feels an irresistible urge to tell the truth. In the first volume, Rise to Power, David gives you a fascinating account of his early years, culminating with a tribal coronation. Rooted in ancient lore, his is a surprisingly modern memoir. 

In an era of cruelty, when destroying the enemy is deemed a sacred directive, the slayer of Goliath finds a way to become larger than life. His search for a path to power leads him in ways that are, at times, scandalous. Notorious for his contradictions, David is seen by others as a gifted court entertainer, a successful captain in Saul’s army, a cunning fugitive, a traitor leading a gang of felons, and a ruthless raider of neighboring towns who leaves no witnesses behind. 

How does he see himself, during this first phase of his life? With his hands stained with blood, can he find an inner balance between conflicting drives: his ambition for the crown, his determination to survive the conflict with Saul, and his longing for purity, for a touch of the divine, as expressed so lyrically in his psalms and music?

#Free #Download: HOME

Come right here! No need to roam My book is free, so take it home

★ Love reading? Get this book now ★ Home Free November 8-9(also check out the Kindle Countdown deal for Rise to Power)
Home. A simple word; a loaded one. You can say it in a whisper; you can say it in a cry. Expressed in the voices of father and daughter, you can hear a visceral longing, in poems and prose, for an ideal place. A place never to be found again. 
Imagine the shock, imagine the sadness when a daughter discovers her father’s work, the poetry he had never shared with anyone during the last two decades of his life. Six years after that moment of discovery, which happened in her childhood home while mourning for his passing, Uvi Poznansky presents a tender tribute: a collection of poems and prose, half of which is written by her, and half—by her father, the author, poet and artist Zeev Kachel. She has been translating his poems for nearly a year, with careful attention to rhyme and rhythm, in an effort to remain faithful to the spirit of his words. 

Zeev’s writing is always autobiographical in nature; you can view it as an ongoing diary of his life. Uvi’s writing is rarely so, especially when it comes to her prose. She is a storyteller who delights in conjuring up various figments of her imagination, and fleshing them out on paper. She sees herself chasing her characters with a pen, in an attempt to see the world from their point of view, and to capture their voices. But in some of her poems, she offers you a rare glimpse into her most guarded, intensely private moments, yearning for Home.

Then the two lovers will unfurl my scroll together

I close my eyes and new psalms come to me, which I commit to memory so that I may write them in my scroll, later that night. Thinking of Tamar I hum softly, I sing, “In embroidered garments she is led to the king. Her virgin companions follow her, those brought to be with her. Led in with joy and gladness, they enter the palace of the king. Your sons will take the place of your fathers. You will make them princes throughout the land.”I draw long, slanted letters in my mind, and ask myself, Who will run their eye through my writing? Who will be swept by this ache I feel, this longing for my long lost girl? In reply, my mind takes a new spin. It invents my readers out of thin air. Seeking a secluded place, two lovers will come here one day in the distant future, sometime in the years, decades, and centuries after my body has long crumbled into dust. Here they will spread a blanket upon the earth, and reclining upon it they will take in the smell of of fallen leaves, and listen to the dry crinkle, and to the chirping of birds returning here, to their wintering grounds, as even the stork in the heavens knows its seasons.Then the two lovers will unfurl my scroll together. They will take turns reading it to each other, filling in some of the words where the ink has faded. When that autumn comes I will be here, present but obscure, like dust, blanketed. I will hear their voices, breathing life into my poetry, endowing it with their own spirit, their love. 
David in my upcoming novel, The Edge of Revolt

In many ways, this part of David's life is reminiscent of King Lear, as he suffers the betrayal of his children, with a single exception: unlike King Lear, David manages to come back to power. This novel explores his the mystery of his lack of response following the rape of his daughter and the murder of his son--but then, when his son Absalom (and later,  his son Adoniah) tries to topple him from the throne, David rises to the challenge and devises way to survive.

If you enjoy King Lear, you will enjoy this novel.

★ Love reading? Get The David Chronicles ★
Volume I of the trilogy: Rise to Power★ Audio ★ Ebook ★ Print ★
Volume II of the trilogy:
A Peek at Bathsheba
★ Audio coming soon ★ Ebook ★ Print ★

Volume III of the trilogy:The Edge of Revolt★ On the drawing board ★
"The miracle of Uvi Poznansky's writing is her uncanny ability to return to old stories and make them brilliantly fresh"

As to the bedroom scene with Bathsheba... Lord, forgive me the sins of my youth!

I invite you to read this fascinating article, written by Justin Harmer, the gifted narrator of my novel A Peek at Bathsheba. Like my legendary character David, Justin is a prolific poet and musician (playing the harp, among other instruments.) If, like me, you are curious about the process of blowing life into story, by delving into your soul, deep inside, to find the truth at the heart of the characters, then check this out:
As to the bedroom scene with Bathsheba... Lord, forgive me the sins of my youth!
Uvi asked me to talk about some of the aspects of recording her wonderful book. Its been a huge amount of fun and a dream to read - by turns funny, lustful, angry, repentant, divine and human. Alternating between the characters was relatively easy - thanks to her writing and characterization. In my head I found a friend - or enemy - who I could connect up to the character concerned, and took an aspect of them to inform their accent. For Joav, the highly aggressive military leader, I modelled his sharp, penetrating way of speaking on a combination of a worryingly over-intelligent friend and his close relative who was in the British special forces. Once I could hear the voices - and find a way of getting it across - it was quite easy to character switch.
For Nathan, Uvi gave a great character tip that he should have a sheepish element to his voice. The exasperated voice of a housemaster from my schooldays emerged to me as I read this role - much imitated by us pupils 30 years ago behind closed, teenagers bedroom doors. The character was different admittedly but the sheepish drone idea gave me a way in.
For David's 8 wives, again Uvi's tips were invaluable, and their characters seemed to echo the physical clues. Abigail: warm and sweet as a raisin cake and cloying as honey with her 'My Lords': I could just see her trading herself up in David's direction, with a sticky bun in the other hand. Michal was harder to find - I imagined her as quite upper-class and English, somewhat brittle, and cold, cold, cold - despite her former love for David. Her despising him for dancing before the Lord "in a linen Ephod" is so chilling - the penalty is so appropriate: she sounds so mean-spirited and practical. Uvi bringing out her snobbery was the key.
David was the character that I felt much the closest to in terms of disposition - the voice I use for him is my own, and it made reading the part very accessible and personal. I tried to access as much of my own experience when describing his as I could: when he was sobbing, I thought of my own two lost children. As he repented, I found that part of me that sees my sin and shudders. In his joy, I thought on my own. As to the bedroom scene with Bathsheba... Lord, forgive me the sins of my youth!
The technical side of producing an audiobook is quite challenging - this was my second go at it, with a third lined up for publication in January. My first book, Julian Chitta's history, Emperor Constantine: Peace Be With You, another life of a historical character, didn't fully prepare me for the task of reading A Peek at Bathsheba. Uvi's book was 10000 words shorter but the recording is double the length: it's all those meaningful silences! My studio is inside the middle cupboard of my music room on the second floor - thank goodness for the noise removal function on the sound recording programme I used: we're underneath the London Heathrow flightpath... working early in the morning minimised the aircraft disruption. Not very 10th century BC! 
Singing the music and playing the piano for the credits, although only a small part of the overall end 7 hours, presented a great challenge and made a pleasant change from the grinding process of editing sound files - finally I could move my microphone out of the cupboard! The harpsichord playing was a good way to get to know the little tenor aria from Handel's oratorio, Saul.
The words from the aria begin 'SIn not, O King' - at one level, if only David had remembered the warning given to his Father-in-Law; but then again, as Joseph says in Genesis about his mis-treatment at the hands of his jealous 11 brothers: 'You meant it for evil, but God used it for good.' As far as the story of David's lustful peek and adultery with Bathsheba goes, and the murder that follows, Uvi has too!
Here is a little background about Justin:
Justin Harmer first trod the boards as a tap dancer a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away... His very short-lived dance career was briefly revisited at Sadlers Wells in the late 80's with the National Youth Music Theatre. From this dizzy, square-dancing height he went on to be the lead (and a deluded, chicken chasing Knight Errant) in one of their 3 production's at the Edinburgh International Festival, alongside Jude Law who was the lead that year in their production of Joseph's Technicolour Dreamcoat... A long time ago in a galaxy of stars, far, far away...
He was the first white artist to appear at the MOBO awards (no it wasn't Jamie Cullum: it was me!) as keyboard player for the band Streetwise. A brief 8 year spell at University saw him play a jester in full jesting gear, a comedy king, the season Winter, the concept of Sleep, a diabolists sidekick and an onanist disturbing policeman (as well as weddings and funerals). There was the odd sighting of an Old Testament prophet or two and various Christs and Pontius Pilates.
Otherwise he has appeared as Death in a codpiece and an elderly owl in Marbella. He has performed his own composition at the Wigmore Hall, and also played one of the three kings in Westminster Abbey (Melchior), sung at Barbican Hall, St John's Smith Square, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Albert Hall (Canteen and Elgar Room), Snape Maltings Aldeburgh, Edinburgh Fringe (as a gangster), York Minster, Chelsea Festival (as another Old Testament character) and sightread his way round more choirs than is advisable.
As an ivory tickler he worked for the Royal Ballet School for 10 years and the Royal Academy of Dancing for 2. He fairly recently performed Beethoven's Emperor Concerto (which was almost fun for the other pianist!) He has sung as soloist in a blitzkrieg of European countries as well as playing various other biblical characters in Jerusalem.He has played on screen a very convincing mad Organist and several vicars... Oh and a Bond villain in a towel (it wasn't yellow though.) He made his professional debut as a ship's cook. 
Justin has sung alongside Alfie Boe and James Rutherford, Sarah Fox, Leigh Melrose, and perfomed for Liz and Phil and various cousins of theirs, John (Major), Maggie and Denis, Edward (Windsor), Andrew (L-W), various Archbishops (including the rainbow one), Uncle Tom Cobbley and various papered and hallowed halls.
His optimism that he would eventually be recording with Basstone music an album of his compositions has paid off: the court case didn't go belly up in the end...
He is a published and performing poet. Between him and his wife Charlotte they have 17 godchildren. A miracle in which his knee was involved was reported on the back page of the Catholic Herald, but that was on the top deck of a bus in Peckham which is, as they say, a galaxy far, far away...
Links:About Justin HarmerPeace be With You: Constantine the Great (narrated by Justin)
A Peek at Bathsheba (narrated by Justin) soon to appear!

Note: 
The music for the opening and closing credits, played by Justin Harmer himself, is from Handel's Saul - it's a tenor aria: 'Sin not O King.'
Sin not O King, against the youth
Who ne'er offended you
Think to his loyalty and truth
What great rewards are due
Think, and with ruin if you can
Such services repay
Think, and with ruin if you can
Such services repay
Take a listen here:
If your browser wouldn't play it, try this

I worry about mom, about the little things

The character of Natasha, the renowned pianist suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's in my book Apart From Love is not an easy one to develop. The primary problem is that she has no voice. She is utterly silent, which makes her son hope—at first—that she can be reached, that he can 'save' her. 

Here is a short excerp from Chapter 12, A Place Called Sunrise. We see Ben during his first visit with her after 10 years of absence:

There is no way to tell if she has heard me. Her gaze is fixed, as steadily as before, on the same small pane of glass, through which the sun is blazing; which makes it hard to figure out what she sees out there. I push forward, aiming to view it, somehow, from her angle, which at first, is too hard to imagine: In my mind I try, I see a map, the entire map of her travels around the world. A whole history. It has been folded over and again, collapsed like a thin tissue, into a square; which is suspended there—right in front of her—a tiny, obscure dot on that window. And inside that dot, the path of her journey crisscrosses itself in intricate patterns, stacked in so many papery layers. And the names of the places, in which she performed back then, in the past—London, Paris, Jerusalem, San Petersburg, New York, Tokyo—have become scrambled, illegible even, because by now, she can no longer look past that thing, that dot. She cannot see out of herself. She is, I suppose, confined.
Here is another excerpt from Chapter 13, She Is Looking Out the Window:

I worry about mom, about the little things, which to someone else—someone who does not know her as I do—may seem trivial, insignificant. I worry she is missing her pearl earrings. I must find them for her. The little hole in her earlobe has shrunk away, turning somehow to flesh. In a whisper I say, “Mommy?” and wonder how the air vibrates over the tender membrane of her eardrum, how it changes into noise, how she gets it when pitch rises, when it falls. Can she sense the change? At what point does it translate, somehow, into meaning? By what path does it penetrate, going deeper? Does it excite the nerves, fire signals up there, between regions of her brain? Does it make some sense, at least at times? Is there any point in talking to her? Is she listening? Can she detect the thin sound—scratched like an old, overused vinyl record—which is coming faintly from behind, from the far end of this space? Can she understand the words? Is there sorrow in her? Is there hope?
Throughout the book, we keep coming back to visit her with Ben, and from one visit to another, we can realize a change in her. Here is an excerpt from Chapter 28, Bei Mir Bistu Shein:

Stirring out of the chair, my mother opens her eyes. At first I want to cheer her on, to cry, Come on, bring them to their knees, now! Show them who you are, what you are made of! Play, mom, play for me!And it is then that she drops her chin, as if she were a broken marionette, into an unbearably silly, openmouthed grin. It is babyish at best, and lacks any hint of comprehension. Then she lifts a tremulous hand—on which a steel triangle is hooked—and jerking a little metal wand, strikes it once. The thing gives a high pitched, flat tone. It is a dead sound, meaningless, perhaps because it occurs entirely out of context, chiming noisily when no one even expects it, when no one but me is left there to listen—let alone imagine how she could play. I dream, as I must, of her fingers darting, soaring in a dazzling blur, long after the cover has been pulled over the keys of her white piano.


★ Love reading? Get this book ★  
Apart from Love
★ Audio ★ Ebook ★ Print ★ "A feast for the armchair psychologist. Reveals insights that can touch and frighten each of us"

Cover reveal for A Peek at Bathsheba (audiobook edition)

About the image: My book, A Peek at Bathsheba (narrated by Justin Harmer) includes a sighting of Bathsheba at mouth of a cave, located just above the Kidron valley, near Jerusalem. I was inspired to paint the scene. My watercolor is homage to A Woman Bathing in a Stream, painted in 1655 by Rembrandt, immediately after he painted Bathsheba at Her Bath. 

During the history of art, most artists portrayed Bathsheba as a fleshy, mature woman. They often placed her in a lush outdoor scenery, such as a royal garden, with flowing water or with a fountain. Spotting a forbidden woman in a setting reminiscent of the Garden of Eden is a tempting fantasy, and quite a departure from the biblical account, that states she was bathing on her roof. Artists go after their own heart—and so, indeed, do writers—to suggest the emotional essence of the story.

Rembrandt places his figure not in a garden, but in a cave with a pool of water, which is at once an outdoor and indoor scene (and in Bathsheba at Her Bath he presented her in an indoor scene, in her bedroom.) 

Unlike paintings done by other artists—depicting Susanna and the Elders, Bathsheba, or the goddess Diana, who were all spied upon while bathing—this painting does not show the peeping man. Instead, Rembrandt supplants him by you, the viewer. Also, the woman in his painting is in control of the situation, rather than a victim of it. 

Rembrandt worked mostly with a grays, browns, and blacks, setting objects back by plunging them into this dark tone, and bringing them forward by shining a bright light directly upon them, creating stark contrasts. The resulting image is sculptural in nature, and strikingly dramatic.

My watercolor painting is inspired by his art. It shares a similar spirit of intimacy, and maintains a loving respect for the model. It also illuminates my vision for the story. 

I strive to maintain a sculptural feel for Bathsheba, but take the freedom to play with a splash of colors, so as to draw contrasts between cool and warm hues. I create a variety of textures, using a loose, spontaneous brushstroke. This I achieve by applying puddles of pigments over Yupo paper, which (unlike traditional watercolor paper) is non-absorbent. I let these puddles drip in some places, and in other places, I lift and shape them into careful designs, using various tools. 

About the text:A cover is more than the background art. My challenge is to balance the following pieces of information, one that will do it without clutter, even though each one of them has quite a number of letters:
Author name: yours truly. Narrator's Name: most audiobook covers do not even mention the narrator, but I like to give credit where credit is due, as I loved Justin Harmer's voice and interpretation.Series name: The David Chronicles. Since this is a trilogy, I would love to display its name for all three volumes, uniting them under the same theme.Book title: A Peek at Bathsheba.I used different colors for different text fields, from cool to hot, which separates them from the background, and makes them appear at different distances from the viewer. This way, the text itself appears to form a space, which is deeper than the plane of the cover. It appears to float in the cave, behind Bathsheba and in front of her.

The font selected for the title—A Peek at Bathsheba—depicts a regal, dynamically slanted, and rather grandiose handwriting style, just the way I imagine David’s penmanship in his private diary. At the top, the letters are bathed in golden light, which fades gradually towards the bottom. Down there, they are soaked in a blood red color, as befits this dramatic affair of love and war. The title is in the foreground of the cover, forming a fence that bars you from approaching Bathsheba. Oh, if only David would have respected that fence, and not succumbed to temptation! But then again, we would not have such a profoundly moving story of romance and betrayal...

By contrast to the title, the font style selected for the name of the trilogy—The David Chronicles—is a more formal one, and it is presented all in capitals. This adheres to the font scheme for the cover of the first volume, Rise to Power.

 Volume I of the trilogy: Rise to Power★ Audio ★ Ebook ★ Print ★

Volume II of the trilogy:
A Peek at Bathsheba★ Audio coming soon! ★ Ebook ★ Print ★

Volume III of the trilogy:
The Edge of Revolt★ On the drawing board ★
"I am so enamored with the sensual style and delicious delivery
 that this review is a purely emotional response as I have just put it down. 
I feel like a devotee."