tiffanyshearn

Hidden Strength Release

I’m a bit late in posting the announcement here, but Hidden Strength is out and available in ebook and paperback formats! This is the fourth and final book in the Hidden Series of Elaria. The moment is a culmination of a four-year labor of love and puts the cap on an emotional journey. I love all of my characters and their unique personalities. I know many readers have enjoyed getting to know them through the series as well.

Initial feedback has been positive, and I hope the reviews start coming in soon. My sister said I should sell the final book with a pack of tissues. There are heartwrenching moments throughout, and everyone mentions different ones pulling at their heartstrings. It is interesting to see what events hit for different people.

Audiobooks

I’ve started looking into audiobooks. The format is frequently asked about when I go to events like the Renaissance Faire. I’m hoping to save up some of the money I make at the faire this year to pay for a good voice actor, but I’m not certain about the approach I want to take with the producer.

A couple of years ago, I asked if people preferred male or female voice actors for their audiobooks and the feedback was evenly split between the options. I’m leaning toward a faint British accent because that feels “old-school fantasy” to me. I think either gender could work since I tell the story through multiple points of view. While Annalla is the main character, Larron follows close behind for “screen” time, especially in the first book.

I would love to hear some of your favorite fantasy readers if you are a big consumer of audiobooks. Let me know in the comments, and keep an eye out for more audiobook information to come!

Hidden Strength Cover Reveal

For those who signed up for my newsletter, this will be repetitive. With this final cover reveal of the series, I wanted to share a little more about the covers and their design inspiration.

Once again, Miguel Lobo has brought a wonderful eye and talent to create the cover for one of my books. For each of the covers in the Hidden series, I wanted to represent a scene that felt like a turning point for the story or characters in my mind.

With Hidden Memory, it was at the beginning when she was alone and afraid in a strange forest. As it is not a spicy book, I took some liberties and gave her some semblance of clothing in the image, but the scene for me is one of desperation and isolation. She is a combination of terrified and numb, determined and wounded. Annalla has become a blank slate needing to rediscover herself.

For Hidden Sanctuary, I wanted the river scene. If you’ve read the book, you know what is coming soon after they arrive at the river. This is a moment of transformation and realization that she is much more than she or anyone thought. It also demonstrates some of her youth and inexperience, and how the interplay of those aspects can be a threat to her and those around her.

Miguel came on for Hidden Promise, and I wanted that scene to be one of wonder and discovery. Not all discovery is welcome, though. Entering the sanctuary for the first time accompanied the weight of so many additional burdens and expectations. A mission had been accomplished, but everyone realized it was only a new beginning.

Now, for Hidden Strength, we come to the end. Everyone and everything is rolling toward a final confrontation. Both sides struggle for the most advantageous actions and positions. It’s war, and families, hearts, and lives will be torn apart. The scene is one of bated breath on the precipice of the moment they cannot return from. For better or worse, their next steps are as inevitable as the result is unknown.

Those are the feelings that went through my mind when I wrote the scenes and what they conveyed to me. I would love to hear what you feel from them, as art is as emotional as it is visual.

Hidden Strength Update

The manuscript is with my beta readers!

Hidden Strength is the fourth and final book in the Hidden Series and will be released in early June. I’m excited to share this finale with you and hope you are too. My sister said I should recommend a box of tissues to be sold with this book. She became emotionally invested in the characters over their journey as much as I did. It is bittersweet to see this story coming to an end.

Along with the manuscript sent to its next round of reviewers, I have also sent the sketch and description to my cover artist. Miguel Lobo, who did the cover for Hidden Promise, will be working again on this cover art. His initial insights and drafts have already turned out so beautifully, and I can’t wait for everyone to see the final product.

Newsletter subscribers will get the first look at the cover. I’ll probably do a special newsletter so we don’t have to wait until the second quarter distribution in April. That is also the month I should send the book to my editor for the final, professional, editing. Formatting will happen in May, and then it is out! I should have just enough time to order paperback copies and have them arrive in time for the Renaissance Faire that starts in July this year.

As a reminder, prices will be going up after the release of this final book. Hidden Strength is on a discount for digital preorders, so if you want the ebook, I recommend buying it during the preorder period. Then, all the paperback books will be going up a dollar on Amazon after the final book is released. Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to June!

Happy weekend reading!

Cat’s Eye

The last few weeks were filled with multiple vet appointments. Big Cat turned nineteen years old at the beginning of the month, and he has developed an eye ulcer. His right eye started to develop an odd spot on it. He wasn’t rubbing at it or squinting, but, as it got bigger, I sent in a picture to the vet.

She was worried it was hurting him, and we did some eye drops for a couple of weeks. The spots shrunk a bit, but the vet wanted me to take him to an ophthalmologist. We are now trying a couple of different eye drops, and I’ve been able to reduce his pain meds. The eye doctor doesn’t think it is hurting him. Unless he starts squinting, I’m lessening the pain meds to what I have found to be optimal for his arthritis.

Everyone who sees him still says he looks good for his age. Considering that a cat half his age would still be considered almost geriatric, that is not saying much. He promised me at least twenty years – we had a heartfelt cat-person conversation. I would be happy if he at least makes it through this next summer. Since he can’t run away as much now, I’ve been taking him outside in good weather, and he has loved lounging in the sun.

Big Cat has been my companion for nearly half my life. He moved out of my parents’ house with me. He cried and laughed with me through my relationships. He accepted my husband when we all moved in together, winning him over despite his reluctance to become a pet owner. I want to make sure he is as comfortable as possible for however long he has remaining.

Lots of cat love to all!

Holiday Cheer

Schedules were more congested than usual this year, so we ended up packing a lot into the Christmas weekend. Every year, sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, our group of friends has what we call Thanksmas. It’s a formal holiday dinner for us and our families that we do potluck style. While it is usually more centralized between the two holidays, this year, it needed to be all the way out on the 23rd.

My husband and I hosted both Thanksmas and Christmas with my family on the 25th. For both events, we prepped and cooked a turkey, meaning two events were hosted and two turkeys were cooked in three days. We dry brine our turkeys, so they don’t take up as much space as a liquid brining. This was essential with all the stuff we had to pack into the refrigerator.

I think these were some of our best turkeys to date, coming out very moist and flavorful with the nice crispy skin. The gravy also turned out very tasty. Some of my other favorites were the stuffing, sweet potatoes, and – of course – my family’s traditional noodles.

With the two carcasses, we made a bunch of turkey stock. Some stock from the first turkey was used for the noodles on Christmas day, but we also ended up canning some of it. A couple of the cans did not seal in the pressure canner, so we put those in the refrigerator instead to use for soups over the next week. We’ll store the sealed ones for use later.

One of the coolest gifts I received for Christmas was from my sister. She is big into crafts (knitting, sewing, etc.) and started doing some basic quilting this year. She made some small quilted items, a handful of potholders, and a small table runner. They have some heat stuff in the middle, so we can use them all to hold hot items, and most of them have a summer theme with watermelons and other such images.

To friends and family reading this, thank you for all the gifts, food, and companionship this holiday season. And, to everyone, happy holidays and get ready for the new year!