First, I have to show off the awesome new concept cover I've received from my graphic designer. I am so pleased with it on a number of levels. It looks infinitely better than the one I created. I'm excited to see what this designer will do with the other covers!

On a nother note, I had a long drive last night, which gives me time to think. Some changes will be coming to the Circeae Tales - the beauty of unpublished work!

The first, most noticeable change is the title of Novel #3. It will now be titled, "Ransom." "Crepusculum" was a word I was stuck on, due to my scene design days. My teacher taught me the phrase "crepuscular rays," and I always thought that was the neatest thing to say! It rolls off the tongue, and impresses others who don't know what it means. If you don't know, look it up. Pretty cool!

In the context of the books, the Crepusculum was a lesser enemy of the Crown. By changing the title, I shift focus from the enemy to the real hero of the story - the Ruler Prince. Just as Jesus is our Ransom, the Ruler Prince is the ransom for the Circeae system. I liked that.

And with that in mind, I think I may eliminate the Crepusculum and just use one enemy. Two is an awful lot to keep up with. I think getting rid of them will tighten up the stories and make the overall series stronger. Again, that's the best thing about being unpublished (with the excpetion of Asylum, of course). My work is a living, breathing entity that can evolve.

Thanks for sticking with me and walking with me through this journey. I can't wait for you to know the stories that float around in my head!

Do you remember that game? Forget the movie. I never saw it, but I heard it was terrible. I'm talking about the fun board game with the little pegs and the cool little ships. "Hit!" Or even better, "Miss!" And finally, as the kid on the 190s commercials would say, "You sunk my battleship!"

Over the last few weeks, I've experienced some hits on my writing. Two contests I entered anounced their winners. I had hope because Asylum placed in two contests last year. I strayed from my series in order to test the waters in a slightly different genre. Needless to say, I was pretty bummed out. But I can't lose the drive just because of a few speed bumps, right?

Today, I received an email from someone who had read my book. It was so encouraging! I have an event coming up with our local library district celebrating authors. And I get to volunteer at and attend a major writers' conference. With this experience comes the opportunity to work with, chat with, and pitch to agents or editors. I find that exciting!

So now, I'm polishing up my one-sheet. "What's that?" you may ask. It's a single sheet of paper that tells all about my book in a most intriguing way. Well, I'm trying to make it intriguing, anyway. And here's the funny thing - because I've written six novels, I'm not sure which to pitch! So I'm creating one sheets for all my completed books, and I'll choose my favorite. The one in which I feel most confident. And yes, the one that looks the nicest.

There's been a meme going around Facebook about the care and feeding of authors. They suggest buying the book the author's written, sharing with your friends about that book, writing reviews on major retail sites about the book... Those are awesome suggestions. I would like to throw in one more. Prayer. Someone recently mentioned to me that storytelling is an amazing thing because we spend the precious moments of our life pulling these stories together to share with our readers. Beyond that, some of us are also trying to convey God's truth in such a way that we might reach those who wouldn't normally pick up a Bible. So praying for any authors you know would definitely be appreciated, even though we (they) may never know you're doing so.

Blessings to you all, my friends!