Lords of Lies and Prophecies release day!

 It will take an impossible alliance to save the remnants of their kind.

But will the shifters slaughter themselves even before the Devourer destroys the world?

Morag, the great vampire stronghold, has fallen. Odran Rhys has led his people across the brutal desert to join with their enemy in the name of survival. But when they arrive at the shifters’ territory, he finds instead the threat of genocide at every turn.

Aderyn Wyndchaser is home at last, but her already tenuous position as Omega Alpha is further undermined by her sharing a bed with the vampire king. Now, she must not only convince her people that the alliance is needed, but that she is capable of leading them.

As Odran attempts to strength Aderyn’s position, civil war erupts. Loyalties are divided. Truth and lies blur. And the rulers’ feelings for each other are tested like never before. But they must rise above it all before the Devourer arrives.

Because it will annihilate them all.

Buy the book here!

Buy Heirs of Blood and Feathers (Age of Remnants #1)!

Today is the day! I'm so excited for my co-author, Pixie Stormcrow and I to share this story with the world. It's not been an easy year for any of us, but this is one of the bright shining moments of 2020 for me.

My talented friend also designed the cover. She does such fabulous work. Check her covers out!

Lords of Lies and Prophecies Cover Reveal

 

It will take an impossible alliance to save the remnants of their kind.

But will the shifters slaughter themselves even before the Devourer destroys the world?

Morag, the great vampire stronghold, has fallen. Odran Rhys has led his people across the brutal desert to join with their enemy in the name of survival. But when they arrive at the shifters’ territory, he finds instead the threat of genocide at every turn.

Aderyn Wyndchaser is home at last, but her already tenuous position as Omega Alpha is further undermined by her sharing a bed with the vampire king. Now, she must not only convince her people that the alliance is needed, but that she is capable of leading them.

As Odran attempts to strength Aderyn’s position, civil war erupts. Loyalties are divided. Truth and lies blur. And the rulers’ feelings for each other are tested like never before. But they must rise above it all before the Devourer arrives.

Because it will annihilate them all.

Pre-order the book here!

Buy Heirs of Blood and Feathers (Age of Remnants #1)!

I'm so excited for the release of this book on December 19th. My co-author, Pixie Stormcrow and I had such fun writing this second book in the trilogy. There are so many layers. I love it! My talented friend also designed the cover. She does such fabulous work. Check her covers out!

Heirs of Blood and Feathers Release Day!

Two mortal enemies.
One shared prophecy.
They must unite to save the last remnants of their dying world.

Driven by a prophecy of the shifter shamans, Aderyn Wyndchaser journeys through the broken world to the heart of her enemies' territory, home of vampires and their Mad King. But the last thing she expects is the charismatic and gorgeous ruler who commands as much respect as fear.

Odran Rhys has no reason to believe the childish tales of the Devourer, the ancient evil responsible for the Withering, and is much more fascinated by his fierce and beautiful guest. Even when she shares with him the horrific vision and pleas for an alliance, he is convinced his kingdom will stand.

But then a rash of attacks and murders rocks the vampires' loyalties to their lord while his growing attraction to the shifter ambassador makes his subjects question his sanity. Now Aderyn must work to help Odran hold his kingdom even if she does not understand what is growing between them.

For if he falls, so will the world.

Buy the book here!

Add to Goodreads.

We're so excited to share this book with the world! The second book in the trilogy will be released mid-December. If anyone would like to read and review this book, please email me.

To add to this excitement, next week I'm going to reveal to you my spectacular cover for my LitRPG, Shudder of Specters. My newsletter subscribers already got a look at it!

Heirs of Blood and Feathers Cover Reveal

Two mortal enemies.
One shared prophecy.
They must unite to save the last remnants of their dying world.

Driven by a prophecy of the shifter shamans, Aderyn Wyndchaser journeys through the broken world to the heart of her enemies' territory, home of vampires and their Mad King. But the last thing she expects is the charismatic and gorgeous ruler who commands as much respect as fear.

Odran Rhys has no reason to believe the childish tales of the Devourer, the ancient evil responsible for the Withering, and is much more fascinated by his fierce and beautiful guest. Even when she shares with him the horrific vision and pleas for an alliance, he is convinced his kingdom will stand.

But then a rash of attacks and murders rocks the vampires' loyalties to their lord while his growing attraction to the shifter ambassador makes his subjects question his sanity. Now Aderyn must work to help Odran hold his kingdom even if she does not understand what is growing between them.

For if he falls, so will the world.

Pre-order here!

Add to Goodreads.

Anyone who pre-orders the book and sends us proof, we will give you a special gift!

I'm so excited about this book! I haven't released anything under my pen name in a while and it's about time. My talented co-author, Pixie Stormcrow is also the cover artist. She's set up her own website where you can have her design a cover for your too. Not only is she amazingly talented, she's fast too. Check her site out here!

Writing within the fog #writerslife

I hope you're all safe and well. 2020 has been a crazy ride so far, and it's not over yet. The image of the pier reaching toward the fog is how I feel. I don't know what lies ahead of us. Some days, I can't even tell where the water is and where the fog begins. It all blurs together. I'm just taking one day at a time.

Now that my homeschooling days are done for the summer, I had hoped to watch and read a lot more. I've not been doing either. My island is getting a lot of attention on Animal Crossing, though. Barovia will rise again!

My presence online has also stumbled and gotten lost in the mist. I need to find my way back and establish a regular schedule again. Slowly but surely I'll get there.

One thing that has picked up is my writing groove. I'm actually working on two projects, and they're coming along marvelously.

Project #1 - Heirs of Blood and Feathers. First book of a post-apocalyptic paranormal romance trilogy co-written with a good friend of mine, Pixie Stormcrow. I'll be publishing it under my pen name, Morena Silver. We're moving along so well, we might go with an August 1st release date! More news next month on it.

Project #2 - Ravage of Revenants (Book #1 in the Khthonia trilogy). I might keep that name for the second book in the series and name the first book <Something> of Specters. A Shudder of Specters? I'll figure it out. This is my LitRPG novel, and I'm nearing 65,000 words. I'm so excited I'm nearly at the end! This book has been so much fun to write. It appeals to both the gamer geek and the fantasy lover in me. It's a little grim dark and has a light touch of romance.

Please leave me a little message and let me know how you're doing. And be kind not only to others, but to yourself as well.

Samhain treat: Bound by a Ban-sidhe

On Samhain, the veil between the realms of the living and the dead is at its thinnest.

No feast, treats, or costumes for Dusana. She’s stuck watching over the village’s flock alone again, like she’s done a thousand times before. Her quiet night is shattered when she must defend the herd from three huge wolves who turn out to be something much more frightening: three gorgeous shifters. The shifters are under the spell of a fearsome ban-sidhe, and Dusana is eager to help them. But what can a simple shepherdess do against a ban-sidhe on a night that her foul magic will be at its strongest?

ONLY 99c!

This treat of a read is now available from my pen name. It's fantasy with a few marvelous twists and a layer of romance.

I had such fun writing it as I played with the ancient legends of the ban-sidhe and Samhain. I'm also curious to see who can figure out the twists before they're sprung!

A great contest for writers and a free book!

The 2018 Annual IWSG Anthology Contest is now open for submissions! This is a fantastic opportunity for writers, and I think their theme for this year is so much fun. Good luck to everyone who submits a story.

Guidelines and rules: 

Word count: 3500-6000

Genre: Young Adult Romance

Theme: 
Masquerade 
A Masquerade can be a false show or pretense, someone pretending to be someone they aren't. It can be a ball, a fancy dress party, it can be a mask. Open to interpretation. 

Submissions accepted: September 5 - November 4, 2018

How to enter: Send your polished, formatted (Double spaced, no page numbers), previously unpublished story to admin @ insecurewriterssupportgroup.com before the deadline passes. Please include your contact details, your social links, and if you are part of the Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter IWSG group.

* * * * *

Free for five days only!

Get your copy here!

The Making of a Cover - Harnessing the Winds

It's tough making your book stand out. There are millions of books out there, and one of the best ways to grab a reader's attention is to have to a fabulous cover. (One day my house will likely have an interior like that!)

I'm not a graphic designer nor do I have any aspirations to be one. Everything I've learned about making covers I've researched on my own and experimented in Photoshop. It's a long and tedious process, but I thoroughly enjoy playing around with images. And since you all seem to really like it I share my process of making a cover, I'm here with one I created for an author friend.

I will always recommend writers hire a cover artist to create their covers or buy a premade one. Yet these things aren't cheap. There are plenty of free images sites, and one I really like to use is Pixabay. Images on there are free to use for commercial ventures. Always be certain you have permission to use an image.

My friend, Morena Silver, is a fantasy romance author. Her debut novel is about pirates. Arrrr! A whole ship of women pirates at that. The book features the captain who can harness the power of storms.

Morena chose the model.

She's wearing a bikini... I'm assuming. And sitting on a rock like that can't be comfortable. Her poor bottom! Anyway, good choice for a model. The background is clear. Easy for me to cut the model out of that image (and off the craggy rock) and insert her into the new background.

Beautiful, isn't it? I love the drama and the color. Both these images are from Pixabay. While I do like the whole image, I cropped it to feature the ships. I didn't think it looked stormy enough, though. So I added in more billowing clouds and played on the oranges.

The actual cutting and pasting of the model onto the background was easy. Who wouldn't want to be there by the sea? The toughest part came when Morena said she wanted lightning. On the woman's arms. Okay, okay. It was time to learn a new skill, and you know what? It was surprisingly simple. I read a short tutorial about how to create lightning in Photoshop and BAM! Or should I say ZAP!

I'm so pleased with the way it turned out and so was Morena. The cover screams romance. It screams fantasy. It screams don't mess with this woman!

I mentioned tons and tons of layers in the post about making the cover for Of Gods and Sorrow. There aren't many layers to this one. The little bolts of lightning I connected to make that effect took the most layering. Simple and elegant.

What do you think? If you're an author, where do you get your covers?