Sneak Peek Monday

Thought you might all enjoy a sneak peek at the finished cover of King's Warrior. Excuse me if I sound a little hyper or excited, but I have come to the culmination of two years of very hard work. It has been fun, and it has been gratifying, and it has been satisfying work, but that does not mean it has not been hard, that there have not been tears, that there have not been set-backs.

Last night we had a major set-back, when we realized that the font we had picked for the title was one that was only available for private use, and that buying a commercial license was going to cost one hundred fifty dollars! Needless to say, I cried. (And I felt bad, because Angelina had worked so hard and we thought we were almost finished, only to find out we had to find a completely new font). 

However, Angelina is a miracle worker, and she spent the next two hours working on a new version, and I must say, I love this one as much as I loved the original. Derek says he likes it more, because the old font was (we did not do this intentionally) based on the logo for the Lord of the Rings movies!

Anyway, after all that, the cover was finally complete! I got it submitted last night, and within the next 36 hours I should get the go-ahead to order a proof copy, which means that sometime early next week, I will have physically in my hands the result of all this work we've been pouring out over the past year!

But, of course, the part of this post you're really interested in: what does the new cover look like? Here ya go! :)

Isn't it just beautiful? If you click on it, you can see it larger.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Nancy

I know she's going to be somewhat embarrassed (and not altogether unpleased) that I included her here, but considering that my mom is the one who taught me how to read and write in the first place, I thought it was important to feature her here in my Tuesday Team member posts. :) And, coincidentally enough... today's post falls on her birthday. (I really didn't realize until I finished writing and got to the scheduling part of this post that it would post on her birthday, but I think it's cool).

At a young age, she instilled a love of the written word in me, both by reading out loud to me and by teaching me how to read for myself, as well as by praying that her children would love reading. Unfortunately for her, she made the mistake of telling me that she had prayed for this, and I definitely used it against her when I was a teenager and she was frustrated that all I wanted to do was read, or that I was staying up too late reading... I distinctly remember saying on more than one occasion, "You prayed for this, remember?"

However, despite having to raise me through my more trying years, she has always believed in me and encouraged me to do my best. Nothing less than my best was good enough, and I'm so thankful she and my dad never let me settle for mediocrity.

I know that the genre I write is not her favorite to read, but she reads them anyway, and tells me she loves them. She gets excited about my books when they are "finished" and in "real book" (i.e. bound) format. Her enthusiasm for my writing, even when it's not the sort of thing she would voluntarily pick up and read if I hadn't written it, means the world to me, and speaks her love in volumes.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Brittany

Today's team member is also related to me... because you couldn't tell from the picture... :) Brittany is my sister, and perhaps the biggest fan I have. I know she has read all four of my books far more times than I have, and if she were to become a teacher and give a class on my books, I might possibly fail that class!

Besides being my number 1 reader Brittany is a super-talented artist in her own right as a musician. Together, we are teaming up to turn some of the poems that I have written within my books into actual songs. She has undertaken the task of putting the lyrics I have written to music, and I very much look forward to hearing what she comes up with!

One of the things that is so special about this team and family that God has blessed me with is that we all have particular talents, and it is really fun to see what happens when we weave all those talents together. My words; Angelina's art; Brittany's voice; Derek, Grant, and Evan's business skills... this book is incorporating all of them and I can't think of a project that I would rather work on, than one where not only my work is featured, but all of their talents are featured as well.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Grant

Today's team member is my other brother, Grant. I cannot even count the number of times this guy has sent me an encouraging letter or note at exactly the moment I needed it, or the number of times I was ready to just give up on writing altogether and he has said something encouraging or just reminded me by example of why it is important to never give up. Also among my first readers, and the inspiration behind one of my characters, Grant is often my source for new ideas. Once, when I had writer's block, I asked him to read what I had and give me some ideas for what should come next. He wrote me this paragraph:


    “Rambo will take you there.”
    “Oh good I feel much better with Rambo taking me there.  You imbecile why would I let some homicidal ex marine touting a 60 cal take me anywhere?”
    “Well, he’s gotten better.”
    “Oh goood, he’s gotten better.  Now I’m all relieved and like ‘cheerio’ let’s go adventuring.  You’re all da da da da let’s go find Bambi and tell him that flower’s caught the SNIFFLES!  It’s all over the mountain and through the woods from here.  All mai tais and yahtzee eh?  All lead pipe cinch, eh?  All biscuits and gravy? All add the cream and hold the sugar?  Well let me tell you I didn’t graduate out of pull-ups to be bibbed around by some maniacal man suffering from.. from a lot of angst!  All this pubecent rage!  All this teenage mad at my father syndrome. SHAME ON THEM!!!... no... I’m leaving.... and I’m taking the monkey with me!


It wasn't very helpful or applicable to the story I was writing... which had nothing to do with Rambo, machine guns, or Bambi... but it did make me laugh, and took my mind off my writer's block and onto figuring out exactly how many movies he had quoted and strung together in this unique way. After I read it, he did help me brainstorm a little, and what with the laughter, a very different perspective on the world, and a few ideas, I managed to get past the writer's block and on with my story.

Grant is the "ideas guy" - he is my marketing strategist. He is the one who will be planning out my book-signings and book tours, writing letters to schools, libraries, and book stores asking if I can come hold a signing in their building. He is the guy I go to when I need ideas. And sometimes he sends them to me unsolicited, like the fragment of the story I shared on here a while back about the Mirror.

Also one of my very best friends, Grant is definitely one of the people in my life without whom, King's Warrior would never have been written.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Evan

Today's team member is my brother, Evan. He has had many roles throughout the process of my novel's life. He was among my first audience as I wrote the book and our dad would read it out loud to the entire family each night. He and Grant, my other brother, gave me helpful advice throughout that creative process such as, "Can't you give someone a normal name... like Bob?" Or, "I think it would be great if an alien spaceship landed right now and blew up the entire planet." (Very helpful, as my books are fantasy, and not sci-fi... and there are no aliens in my world... but maybe I'll write a sci-fi someday and use their ideas).

He has since graduated from "snarky-adviser" to being my interior-layout-designer, and is putting together what the inside of my book will look like: Fonts, margins, headers, page numbers, all that detail-oriented stuff that I don't have an eye for, or the tools to create here at home.

He is also the logo-designer for our company, and a lot of the driving force behind getting our new company up and running. The company will start out by primarily promoting my books, but eventually we hope to represent my sister's music, Evan's movies, and perhaps even Evan's making of my books into movies. Someday.

But beyond all that, this guy is my brother, and one of my very best friends.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Shannon

This wonderful lady is not only one of my best friends, but she is also my second editor, my self-proclaimed publicist, and one of my biggest fans.

I cannot edit my own writing. I just can't. I miss too many things, because my brain fills in what is supposed to be there, and that makes it hard to catch things like punctuation errors, spelling mistakes, inconsistencies, and words that have been accidentally left out.

I could not be as proud of my finished product as I am, without knowing that Shannon has gone over it with a fine tooth comb (and a red pen). She not only catches all my mistakes, but she also leaves me amusing comments in the margins such as "I'm hungry," whenever I mention food, "you're a jerk" whenever I kill a character, and super random remarks such as "I like cheese." These are not only entertaining, but they make going through and fixing the actual errors she caught fun, and more like a treasure hunt than actual work.

Besides all this: she has recommended my book to countless people, included information about my book in her Christmas letters, and just generally encourages me through comments and emails. Thank you, Shannon!

Meet the Team Tuesday: Derek

 

There would definitely be no writing done in this house if I did not have my husband on my team. Not only does he encourage me to keep writing, challenge me to write new things, and generally support all my dreams of someday being a well-known author... he also helps me with certain technical details in my stories that aren't always my strong suit.

For example, in the midst of all this publishing craziness (recovering, rewriting, and republishing King's Warrior), he has been creating a new world for me to write about. About 6 years ago, Derek started creating a map and a history for a new fantasy world called Aelon Ere. After much persuading on his part, I finally agreed to write a story for this world. I had hesitated to jump in and write the story, because I didn't want to write it "wrong"... you know, since the world/history was his creation to begin with. But he finally convinced me that he had no interest in writing a story, he just enjoyed working on the technical details (the map, the history, and brainstorming with me about what the story should be about, etc).

Derek is my "idea guy" - on a vacation we took into the mountains of Tennessee, we spent most of the drive discussing/brainstorming about what story I should write in the world of Aelon Ere. During that conversation, the history of the world underwent some drastic changes, and the story I could write began to unfold. I have learned from him the importance of getting a fresh set of eyes (or a fresh brain) to work on a problem. He also helps me out with things like battle strategy, and sketching out vehicles/technology (if any exist in a particular world).

I know that I couldn't write without my husband's support. I am so thankful for his encouragement and his enthusiasm for what I do, and for how he challenges me to grow and become better at my craft.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Angelina

Apparently I need to do a better job taking pictures of people by themselves, most of my pictures have multiple people in them.

Anyway, today's meet the team post is about my cover artist! This gal is just so talented! I can't wait to post pictures of the finished cover (coming soon!!!) I asked her if she would be willing to design a new cover for my books back around Christmas of 2010, and was so delighted when she said she'd be interested in that.

Over Christmas, I mentioned liking Alan Lee's stuff he did for The Lord of the Rings, so she taught herself how to watercolor and painted me a superb cover for my book. (I really didn't mean she had to use watercolor, as I have no understanding of/preference for art mediums, but that's the sort of attention to detail she puts into her work). The time-consuming part lately has been adding the text and getting the colors/fonts to go well with the colors of the painting. Also, she sometimes forgets to put her name on the back (e.g. "cover art by...") and I have to tell her that it's important to me that she gets credit. :) Especially since I. Cannot. Draw. Really, just ask any of my former students, they'll tell you something about how Mrs. Schmidt can't even draw convincing stick figures. So the cover is DEFINITELY not something I could ever create for myself!

I really just cannot wait to show you the new cover. The original cover was awesome, but there's something about knowing that this cover was hand-painted specifically for my book that is just priceless. And the best part of all this is, Angelina is my sister-in-law! :) So not only do I love her because she's talented and willing to design my cover-art, but I also love her because she's my sister! Having a supportive family is by far one of the most important aspects of my writing process.

Meet the Team Tuesday: Jim

Today is my first "meet the team" post. To kick it off, I can think of nobody more important to my writing process than this man: my Daddy. Yes, I still call him "daddy." Really, what girl doesn't? Anyway, without his inspiring me and challenging me to write an entire novel, none of my books would ever have been written. I still find it difficult to motivate myself to write anything he isn't reading.

Much of my love for the written word comes from the memories of my dad reading to us kids every night before bed all through growing up. From "A Wrinkle in Time" to "The Lord of the Rings" to "Lad of Sunnybank" to "The Chronicles of Narnia" to "Choose Your Own Adventure" to "Swiss Family Robinson" we read so many books together as a family. When we were younger, we would beg him to make up his own stories every now and then, and I assure you, a lot of my creativity came straight from him! When I began writing my book, he told me he needed 10 pages a night, and would read them out loud to the family each evening. Those are some of my most treasured memories.

In addition to inspiring me, challenging me to write, giving me ideas along the way, sending me numerous encouraging emails and letters, and being one of my first readers for just about everything I write... he is also my Editor in Chief. He helps me with the content-editing part of the revising process. I send him the finished product and he reads through the entire book, notes any place where I've over-described anything, used the same word too often, or just need to change some of the words, and makes comments throughout. Sometimes he just highlights a portion and says, "I love this," which is always nice to hear/read, too. :)