Aldrea Alien's Blog, page 42
February 10, 2017
Other Covers in the Spellster Series
I’m on some sort of inspirational roll here. Since Monday, I’ve been determined to finish up In Pain and Blood by the end of February. So far, I’m making an average of 1k a day, even taking into count the pitiful 100 words I did on my scheduled day off. Still, given that I’ve only managed to finish one chapter, and make great headway on another, since then… I’ve a feeling it’s going to take more than the remaining 19k I’ve laid out for its completion.
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On top of that, I’ve also been fluffing around with covers, as you might’ve noticed. Beyond the six plotted stories, there are also the short stories, Willow and Mapmaker, which are standalones tales set in the world of the Spellster Series, one in the distant past, another a little more recent.
And I also have the novella, And the World Crumbled, that will touch on certain events happening during In Pain and Blood. How soon I can write it depends on how fast I can get IPaB, DOB and Map done. But it will happen, I owe it to Henrie to tell his part of the story, which won’t be possible in IPaB.
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Willow, of course, already has its cover, being published and all. And, as of today, Mapmaker does, too. I rather knew the look I was after for this one, its title sort of demands a certain type of cover, but I also knew that not any map would do. It had to be my map.
Whilst there needs to be a few final touches on the map in the background, being that Heimat and Stamekia don’t yet have names for their capitals, this is pretty close to being the final product. I do lament having such a long, single-worded title, though. Must remember that in the future.
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Now, making the cover for And the World Crumbled was a different kettle of fish. I did have a wonderful premade all lined up for when I’d the money to nab it, done by the same person who is responsible for the images in 4/6 of my Spellster Series covers even. But someone else was quicker than I.
It’s sort of a blessing really, as it led me to hunt down an even better stock image that really fits the place the story is set in instead of being vaguely suitable.
The letters still need a bit of work, nothing that a little time applied to them won’t fix, but I love the background for this one.
All there is let to really tackle is Burning Beneath the Sun. Still mulling over that one.
February 8, 2017
Cover Makeover – TTtH
For some time, I’ve been wondering what to do with the font colour on To Target the Heart. I mean, just look at it…
[image error]Just… naff
So, with a little input from some groups, I came up with three alternatives…
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Whilst they look fine, I’m quite enamoured with the last one as an archery contest features heavily in the story (along with the necklace).
February 5, 2017
Cover Makeover – SotGV
I’ve never been all that happy with the cover for Spectre of the Golden Voice. Oh, the background image is sort of what I want, I picked it myself after all, but there’s always something niggling at me whenever I saw it.
[image error]I mean this
It’s just too busy. My tagline barely comes off the image. Just… no.
So, after a little tweaking and several takes for comparison, I came away with these two…
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As you can see, I got rid of the massive amount of music sheets in the back. But it’s poking through into the image, going on to become part of the words in the first one.
They’re both nice, but I found the first one too bright and, whilst I love how the second one looks, it doesn’t translate well once it gets smaller.
A middle ground must be found. Onwards!
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I like this one. The pages poke through just nicely, not too bright, with a touch of the foreground image coming through, too. There’s still a hint of the glow I love so much. And it blends into the rest of the series a little better, despite the lack of a hand.
Unless I can think of something better, this one stays.
February 4, 2017
Weekend Writing Warriors – #8sunday
[image error]This week, my Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday Folk, it’s another snippet from Spectre of the Golden Voice.
The plot’s still being worked on (and, yes, is influenced by PotO) but this is a rough blurb…
When Krissi’s singing whilst working in the bowels of the theatre draws the attention of the theatre’s infamous Ghost, she finds herself under his private tutelage and thrust into the spotlight as tragedy threatens to shut down the theatre. As would-be suitors flock to her side to share her newfound fame, Krissi finds herself torn between protecting her family and following her heart.
This snippet picks up where last week’s ended…
“What have you done?” Krissi demanded, leaping to her feet. She had stridden half the distance between them before catching herself. For all his lackadaisical attitude, Ghost could be dangerous if he thought himself cornered. “Nothing foolish, I hope.”
Ghost laughed in a soft, low timbre. “No, my muse. I did as you asked and kept my profile low for your royal performance. Everyone in the audience left the theatre alive and in one piece.”
She let herself breathe again. Whilst he didn’t always take a life, she nevertheless woke each morning after singing quietly dreading that the dawn would reveal another dead noble.
Don’t forget to check out the other excerpts at Rainbow Snippets, too.
January 28, 2017
Weekend Writing Warriors – #8sunday
[image error]This week, my Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday Folk, it’s another snippet from Spectre of the Golden Voice.
The plot’s still being worked on (and, yes, is influenced by PotO) but this is a rough blurb…
When Krissi’s singing whilst working in the bowels of the theatre draws the attention of the theatre’s infamous Ghost, she finds herself under his private tutelage and thrust into the spotlight as tragedy threatens to shut down the theatre. As would-be suitors flock to her side to share her newfound fame, Krissi finds herself torn between protecting her family and following her heart.
This snippet picks up where last week’s ended…
Ghost collapsed on the chaise lounge, draping a leg over the edge. “I’m not sure how much of it he would’ve heard from his vantage point.”
She peered at him. Was her dear Ghost actually envious for once? With the burnt side of his face turned to her, it was hard to discern his expression from the little sticking out beneath that ridiculous mask he insisted on wearing to hide the damage, but it made sense for him to be put out by such a thing. “It’s the best seat in the entire theatre.” And, for once, he didn’t have it all to himself.
“It is,” Ghost agreed. “But not when you’ve other things to occupy yourself with.” He shook his head and muttered, “Far better for it to be left vacant than in the presence of those who do not respect the theatre.”
Don’t forget to check out the other excerpts at Rainbow Snippets, too.
January 25, 2017
*Pterodactyl Screech*
[image error]In Pain and Blood has crept its way to 218k. Should be good. Should mean I have around 12k left.
Heh. I really should know better by now. Shouldn’t I?
I’m closer to 22,000 words than 12k. Maybe 33,000 words, if I’m really unlucky and the story continues with its streak of 4500 per chapter. (That’ll give me a 250k book. *Shudder*)
There’s still 21 chapters to finish. Well, 22 now that the sucker has gained another chapter. Not that I’m surprised. It isn’t a case of originally trying to cram too much in one chapter as has happened with some of the others.
This is one of the final chapters and it’s one I’ve been wondering for some time whether I should or not. The closer I get to the end, the more fleshed out the plotline becomes, the more it seems to be needed to wind down the story with something that’ll be sappy (hopefully short) and tie up a few other threads that’ll leave me with an epilogue that doesn’t feel so rushed.
218217 / 240000 (90.92%)
Hey, at least I’m on target for my books read in 2017. Granted one a month is a modest target, but considering I finished so little last year… Baby steps.
January 23, 2017
Ardent by Heloise West
[image error]Title: Ardent
Author: Heloise West
Release Date: 1st February 2017
Genre: Historical M/M Romantic Suspense (Renaissance Florence)
BLURB
In the village of Torrenta, master painter Morello has created a color that mimics the most expensive pigment of all, the crimson red. Master Zeno, from strife-ridden Medici Florence, tells him the color gives him a competitive advantage – but Morello must be careful. Fraud is ever-present in the dye and pigment markets.
As they work together in Torrenta, Morello falls hard for Zeno’s assistant, Benedetto Tagliaferro, a young man of uncommon beauty and intelligence. Benedetto is still fixed on his old lover, the master painter Leo Guisculo, and cannot return Morello’s affections.
But when Leo dies in a terrible accident, it’s to Morello that Zeno and Benedetto turn for help. And Morello soon finds that in Florence, every surface hides layers of intrigue.
Preorder Links: Manifold Press | Kobo | Barnes & Noble
Find Ardent on Goodreads
EXCERPT
The village of Torrenta, Tuscany, June 1475
Morello
The sun thrust warm fingers into the ancient Tuscan earth. The gray-green leaves of the olive trees shimmered, and the woods beyond beckoned Morello to abandon the painters’ workshop for their cool refuge.
In the growing heat the apprentices inside settled into an afternoon nap, curled on benches in dark corners behind him. The harsh fumes of linseed oil and varnish had irritated Morello all morning, and he was unable to sleep in the miasma. Perhaps before their visitors from Florence arrived, he might escape the heat. A long tramp in the woods pulled at his bones.
He reached for the walking stick behind the door, but a horse’s whinny stopped him, and a man’s voice called out. When no one stirred within to answer, he cursed the sleepers and stomped back through the shop, thwarted. In the lane in front of the workshop, two men removed packs from their horses.
“Good day, Master Zeno!” From the doorway, Morello called to the older of the two. “You made good time!”
At the sound of Morello’s voice, the apprentices roused themselves from sleep and peered around him.
The gray-haired master raised his hand and smiled. “Good day, Master Morello.”
Master Zeno’s companion, a tall young man with flowing golden hair, took the older man’s pack for him and shouldered the straps of both.
“Take their horses to the stable and fetch Master Franco,” Morello ordered the apprentices, and they hurried to obey.
Master Zeno’s journeyman brushed dust from the sleeve of his sweat-stained linen shirt, slapped more dust from his long thighs, and ran a forearm across his brow. His smile was uncertain as his glance met Morello’s.
Donato stood at the window yawning and scratching his stomach. He shaded his eyes for a better look into the misty glare of the afternoon. “Who’s the beauty with the master?”
Donato’s fellow journeyman Primo jumped to his feet and crowded against Morello in the doorway. “Can it be? He’s brought Tagliaferro?”
Donato groaned. “The man you’ve been mooning about since you last went to Florence, Primo? You’ve only just finally shut up about him.”
Morello ignored them. His irritation over his interrupted walk had vanished. Primo’s garlic- and onion-laden breath on his neck registered only remotely. He gazed out at the man from Florence, who, in Morello’s memory, had once been a long-legged boy with a head of yellow fluff too big for his skinny body. Morello stepped out into the sunlight that appeared to pour itself over the grown man, and stretched out his hand in greeting. Maintaining frank eye contact, Benedetto Tagliaferro adjusted the packs and took his hand.
When flesh met flesh, Morello stumbled – at least, his heart did. As if the wind from the beating wings of the love-inspiring putti he had painted just that morning pushed them toward each other.
“Do you remember me?” Benedetto asked with the shadow of that boy’s grin.
About the Author
Heloise West, when not hunched over the keyboard plotting love and mayhem, dreams about moving to a villa in Tuscany. She loves history, mysteries, and romance of all flavors. She travels and gardens with her partner of thirteen years, and their home overflows with books, cats, art, and red wine.
Links: Blog | Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter | Email | Tumblr | GoodReads
January 20, 2017
Weekend Writing Warriors – #8sunday
[image error]This isn’t the usual schedule, but for this week, my Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday Folk, I’d like to give another snippet of Spectre of the Golden Voice.
The plot’s still being worked on, but this is a rough blurb…
When Krissi’s singing whilst working in the bowels of the theatre draws the attention of the theatre’s infamous Ghost, she finds herself under his private tutelage and thrust into the spotlight when tragedy threatens to shut down the theatre. As would-be suitors flock to her side to share her newfound fame, Krissi finds herself torn between protecting her family and following her heart.
This snippet picks up where last week’s ended…
Krissi turned on her stool. “Ruffians?” she echoed, barely managing to stifle her amusement. Trust her self-proclaimed protector to look upon the vris Mhanek and see a petty thug. Other nobles were worse in his eyes, so why not the emperor’s son? “When it’s the royal box? We’d the vris Mhanek in residence.” She gave the ring one last admiring glance. “And he liked my performance.”
Don’t forget to check out the other excerpts at Rainbow Snippets, too.
January 18, 2017
Fantasy Competition
This year, I’m all about throwing myself and my books out there. And, if you’re following my newsletter, you’ve probably seen a few of the giveaways and promos happening. But this one is a little different.
This giveaway is to have 12 signed fantasy paperbacks delivered to your door.
And, as you can see, one of them will be a signed paperback of Dark One’s Mistress. One of the first five that journeyed its way down to New Zealand. I’ve one left. All lonesome in its box. The other four all have homes in libraries. When I finally put my mark on it, it’ll become the first signed copy of the book in existence.
January 13, 2017
#RainbowSnippets – Spectre of the Golden Voice
[image error]Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook Group where people post six sentence pieces of their LGBTQ+ novels.
This snippet is from Spectre of the Golden Voice. This piece is a little after Krissi, a young half-elven singer, has just sung before the emperor’s son and retired to her chambers to await Ghost’s criticism…
There was a subtle change in the air that spoke of an entrance being opened and an absence of creaking that meant it wasn’t the door. “Ghost,” she said, acknowledging his presence without lifting her eyes from the ruby ring.
“And how did my muse’s regal performance go?”
“Were you not there to hear? Most unlike you to miss the main event.”
On the edge of her vision, she spied the man waving his gloved hand in the air. “My usual box was occupied.”
Do follow the link above, or check out the Snippet Sunday Folk, to see other snippets.
