Book Release Info – Page 2

Soccer and a Giveaway

It has been a while since I blogged. I feel as though I am finding my feet again to be able to step in the right direction. While my chest still feels tight, straining against the weight I imagine on my shoulders, there are moments and days I can take for myself now.

Soccer Week

Last Sunday, I had a booth at the Wizard’s School put on by Wizards of Washington. The charity organization does a wonderful job supporting local authors, so I was one of around eight authors offering my books. I went straight from the event to the OL Reign game that evening, so I did not have time to change. While only one person commented on my Renaissance attire, I’m sure other soccer fans wondered what drove my strange garb.

I mixed up a couple of boxes, and my partner had to make a trip home and back to bring copies of Hidden Promise. Oops!

Friday was another Reign game and a special event for many soccer fans. Megan Rapinoe announced her retirement earlier this year, and Friday’s game was her final home match of her final NWSL season. I envy her confidence and self-assurance in the face of controversy and opposition. A record-breaking crowd turned out to see her off and thank her for her contributions to US women’s soccer and other social issues.

Finally, Saturday was fan appreciation night for the Sounders. After over a decade, I have still yet to win any of the big screen giveaways, but my sister and I got a lunch box they were offering out front and some championship trinkets. Both weekend games were exciting, despite ending up as draws.

Upcoming Giveaway!

I teased this on Facebook yesterday, and there will be more posts about it in the coming days. In celebration of reaching the fifty-review mark for Hidden Memory on Amazon (thank you all!), I’m giving away another paperback copy of one of my books!

The entry process will be similar to last time, where I will receive entries via replies to the October newsletter. If you signed up for my newsletter at the faire this summer, I will add all those emails this week. If you don’t see a welcome email by Friday, I recommend signing up on the website.

This event will be open to all, but I’m capping shipping at $25. If you are outside the USA and win, I would ask that you cover the difference in shipping or it would go to another person randomly selected.

If you win, you will be able to pick the Hidden Series book you want to receive. So, if you have the first three already, I’ll hold your win until Hidden Strength comes out and send you that one if it is your selection. Your reviews mean the world to me, and I am so excited to send another signed copy of my book to another recipient.

Hidden Promise in KU!

Earlier this week, I pushed the button that shifted Hidden Promise, the third installment in the Hidden series, over to Kindle Unlimited. After a dip in April, I saw an uptick in page reads for the first two books in the series over the last couple of months, so if you have been waiting for the KU release, it has officially arrived!

The first three books are all available on Amazon in ebook, paperback, and now on KU. When you finish each one, please take a moment to leave a rating/review to help others find the series.

Happy reading before the World Cup starts!

Hidden Promise Available Now!

Hidden Promise is officially out in both ebook and paperback formats! This past Tuesday marked the release of my third book on Amazon. I spent time on Monday finalizing the paperback so it would go live around the same time, and the timing came out near perfect in the end.

Thank You!

A huge shout out to my alpha and beta readers. Reading early versions and providing valuable feedback is exciting, but it’s also daunting at times, especially for an extended series of full-length novels. I did have one beta reader drop off this time due to conflicting obligations, so if you are interested in joining the beta team, please let me know!

I also think that Miguel Lobo did an amazing job taking over the cover artist role for this book. The feedback on the third cover has been overwhelmingly positive. I love that the series feels visually cohesive while bringing a new life to my world.

Thank you so much for helping get the word out!

Finally, a specific thank you to Beba for her ongoing support and stellar street team efforts. Beba has been a beta reader from the first book. She rereads the final versions and always follows through by posting honest reviews on various platforms. Her engagement with me on social media is up there with my sister (and biggest fan). This time, she even posted a recommendation for my series in various groups. I could not be more humbled and appreciative of this level of support.

And Now!

The ebook is now up to the same price as Hidden Sanctuary. If you were hoping to get preorder pricing, you’ll have to be satisfied with snagging Hidden Strength at a discount instead. The fourth and final installment is available for ebook preorder, and I’m doing similar preorder pricing as I did for Hidden Promise.

For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, I’m continuing the tradition for this series of giving the book buyers about a four-week headstart. Hidden Promise will shift over to KU sometime around July 10th, so keep an eye out around then for it to become available to your library.

Happy reading, and don’t forget to leave a rating/review!

Hidden Promise Cover Reveal!

If you signed up for my newsletter, you got a peek at this last month. For everyone else, the much-anticipated cover art for Hidden Promise is below!

But First

The artist for the first two books was Jonathan Lebel. Unfortunately, he was unavailable to continue the series this year. At some point, I will likely redesign all four covers to make them more fantasy-action images to highlight a battle scene or something dramatic. These initial covers are the grand images in my mind encompassing key moments just before or after. I imagine them as epic scenes like the one in The Fellowship of the Ring where the fellowship is cresting the hill just after they begin their journey. These covers are for me. They are emotional moments for my characters that I shared with them as I wrote.

With Jonathan’s departure, I wanted to find an artist who could continue to capture these scenes with the same feelings while bringing their personality to the final product. I searched online and had many talented artists reach out to me via Twitter. From them all, Miguel Lobo’s work stood out to me as embodying similar fantasy worlds with light and character.

Those are trees with mountains in the background. I’m getting better at drawing. If you don’t believe me, go look at the reveal post for Hidden Memory.

I again shared my stick figure drawing with examples and a scene description. This image is a look into the fairy sanctuary. The trees are enormously tall, so I envisioned them like sequoia trees. The time is early morning while the sun remains hidden below the horizon as the group is arriving within the habited areas after the final events of Hidden Sanctuary. Annalla has entered a home she never knew, a home she has heard about only in stories.

Introducing Miguel Lobo

Miguel took it all and came back with an amazing first draft. He called it a sketch, but it was well beyond that to my eye. You will see the final product in just a short scroll further.

Miguel Lobo is an artist in Portugal. From his ArtStation account here, you can see some of the images that drew me to his work for this project. You can also find him on Instagram @miguellobo_art if that is your preferred application.

Without further delay, here is the cover for Hidden Promise!

As a reminder, Hidden Promise will increase in price after its release, so preorder your ebook today to get the discount!

Upcoming Updates!

There are three parts of my life, and I’m not talking physical, spiritual, and essential this time (if you get that reference, thank you for reading my books and leaving a review!). I have writing, my personal life, and the job paying the bills. In that order, I write progressively fewer specifics about what is happening.

On the job front, this week was rough. I feel overwhelmed, wrung out, and a bit dejected. Feeling this way in one area tends to bleed over and make me feel behind in others, so I will keep this week’s post shorter to help me “catch up.”

For your reading pleasure, here are a few highlights and upcoming events:

Cover Reveal!

The book cover is complete! It will be shared here and on social media in two to four weeks, but it is going out in the newsletter today! You might have another hour or two, as of this writing, to sign up and see it first.

My new artist did a wonderful job of aligning with the feel of the other series covers while bringing his own artistic touch. The art is beautiful, and the scene gives you the tiniest glimpse into the fairy sanctuaries.

Events & Book Signings!

I have three events lined up to sell signed copies of my books already this year:

Dragon Egg Hunt – Tacoma, WA – 4/30/23
- Put on by the charity org Wizards of Washington, and it’s free to the public. They have a variety of vendors and will be hosting an egg hunt!
- I will have a booth where you can buy signed copies or bring your own copy for me to sign!
Spring Fairy Market – Tacoma, WA – 5/20/23
- This is an annual event hosted by Crescent Moon Gifts. They are “Washington’s largest metaphysical gift shop and healing arts center,” and this event brings in vendors both metaphysical and fantastical.
Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire – Monroe, WA – Aug 2023
- The faire is moving to Monroe this year after outgrowing the previous location in Bonney Lake. I hope most of the regular faire goers can still attend at this new location as well as many additional people with the expanding capacity.

Hidden Promise Release!

I have eight chapters to polish this weekend and most beta adjustments are complete. My editor is prepared to receive the manuscript on Monday, and I only hope I don’t have to stay up too late Sunday to get it to her. I’m on schedule with some buffer time to give the editor corrections a good review as well, so we are on track for the June release.

The release date listed is for the ebook. The paperback will take another week or two, depending on how many fixes I need to do to the formatting based on my test copies (once they are shipped and received). You can preorder the ebook at a discounted price now. It will go up after release. For the paperback, I can’t do preorders, and pricing and such all depend on printing costs. More to come.

Thank you!

This post ended a bit longer than I expected, but there is a lot going on! I also wanted to say “thank you” to everyone who has left a review on my books. On Amazon, I am currently at 38 reviews for Hidden Memory and 21 for Hidden Sanctuary. My goal is to hit the magical number of 50 this year, and I can’t do that without your help and support.

Have a great weekend!