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. 

Tiffany’s epic concept stick drawing.

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. 

Elaria – Origin of the Fairy

This post contains minor spoilers for Hidden Promise, and I recommend holding off reading further until you are caught up with the series so far. It is also my first foray into creative writing in about a month, so please bear with the rusty attempt.

Origin

Between the balance of vampires and fairy in Elaria, the vampires emerged first. In the east and south, an airborne menace swarmed far and wide each night, devastating the surrounding landscape. Storms raged through the air and over the denuded ground. Animals fled, rivers ran dry, and fires raged after lightning strikes.

Ripples ran through the realm, and it shifted, and adapted. Points of calm appeared around the chaos, gentling the atmospheric turbulence. The fairy had evolved.

The weather disturbances were merely the first stage of the conflict. As the storms calmed, the people clashed. Vampires and fairy filled the skies, vying for control, establishing strongholds, and spreading through the realm.

Upon their emergence, the fairy had greater numbers. It had worked for the gilar to counter the elves. Unfortunately, the greatest weapons of the vampires overmatched the fairy, and the fairy numbers slowly dwindled away. They did not possess the brutal-minded aggression of the gilar and were not inclined to attack the vampires unprovoked.

Infighting among the vampires initially saved the fairy. While the fairy built strong communities, the vampires fought for control of their colonies. The insect and bat wings clashed, both subjugating their prisoners until the two types integrated so much that they became one.

Both the gilar and elves stood firm against vampire incursions and held their territory. Skirmishes with the gilar set the vampires back further. The gilar proved highly resistant to the vampire’s venom and highly motivated toward revenge. Sometimes the fairy came out victorious in a confrontation with the gilar, but those occasions were, more often than not, followed by significant retribution. The hubris of the vampires and aggression of the gilar bought the fairy time.

Migration

Through the centuries, the fairy migrated and spread across the realm. They sought places to call their own, flying far and wide. The vampires followed, always.

The fairy trained to defend themselves. They created weapons to combat the threats of fighting their balance. None of it saved them, not enough. Vampire venom had a devastating impact on any fairy struck by it. Within hours of being clawed, a fairy would fall ill, becoming weak, shakey, and sweating. In a day, after suffering even a minor injury, half the fairy would be dead, and only half survived. Even with the precautions they took and the defenses they developed, the fairy faced destruction. They could not continue to defy the odds, nor escape into the far reaches of the continent. There was nowhere the vampires could not follow.

Disappearance

In the mountain ranges to the north and east, battles raged. Over the ocean to the south, vampires and fairy fought and fell. The fairy became desperate and withdrew into defensive positions around their disparate settlements. While the elves wondered at the extended silence from the friendly race, the fairy leaders sought radical solutions. One woman found a solution.

She went away, disappearing for a time before returning with a promise: her life, and all to follow in her line, in exchange for the protection of her people. She would sacrifice and live a life of solitude, and the fairy could disappear into their newly established sanctuaries.

Seven islands of safety, the sanctuaries connected on an essential level while remaining physically remote. No one could leave, but no threats could enter either. The protector of the sanctuaries went into hiding, and the world thought the fairy were lost. All that remained of them were stories and legends.

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!