Sunday Sketch - Elf Soldier Portrait

Since I have more time to myself away from writing projects on Sunday, I decided to sit down and do a digital sketch.

When I sit down to draw something completely new, sometimes I hit a block, and I'll sit there with tablet pen in hand staring at a blank canvas, brain churning.  I might start a few lines, then open a new canvas, dissatisfied with my previous attempt.

I don't know what it was today.  I told myself I wanted to draw something new, and while this particular subject isn't completely foreign to me (I've drawn many an elf before), the character was completely new.

I have no idea who this guy is.  He popped out of my head this evening.  He's from my fantasy world of Libera, for sure.  He's battle-scarred, missing his left eye.  The glowing runes on his head betray that he is a Re'sgalan, and probably new to the Loran magic, as he doesn't have runes elsewhere.  He also has facial hair, making him a half-breed (half elf half human).  He doesn't have a name, but it seemed he needed to be drawn.

Fun and easy to draw, and I'm glad I was able to do some digital art.  I've been working on the hoodie project with my husband, but it feels good to do some personal art too.  And it's good to do something simple; more often I want to do something much more complicated.

Twitterin'

Back in 2012 I got on Twitter, hoping to use it as a promotional platform, but I gave up on it for a long time.  Well, I'm planning on actively using Twitter from now on!  If you have Twitter, you can follow me @ThorupSa.  Most of my stuff will be book/writing related on there, as I don't often post personal stuff on the web except for my blog.

@ThorupSa!  Thorupsa...Thor Upsa...Upsa Thor...Thoru Spa...Sathor Up...

Inviting Critique

For the upcoming re-release of Sunstone, I've made a one-piece cover for the book.  In the process, I of course needed to do a back-cover synopsis, one of the things that hooks a reader.

I didn't realize how difficult it would be for me to write a synopsis for Sunstone.  I know the story and characters well.  I've gone through the manuscript enough to basically know it inside and out.  So why was it so difficult for me to summarize the highlights of the story?

I don't think it was because the flow and plot points of the story was out of wack.  On the contrary, I've actually smoothed out the story even more with its latest revision.  The story is pretty simple: a group of warriors and a goddess and a gang find out about the Sunstone.  The first two parties want to keep it safe and returned to the right hands, the last party wants to use it for their own power gain.  All go on a search to get it.

But I still had a hard time introducing the story via a worthy synopsis for the back cover.  So I turned to the folks over at the Mythic Scribes forums and invited them to critique it.  I wanted anything: the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I was lost, and needed some sort of direction, whether or not the readers liked the synopsis.

The key to receiving critique is an open heart and mind.  Everyone has their opinions.  In critique, those opinions and observations are there to assist the writer, not to send them crashing and burning.  Fortunately I received some really good critique, which both praised what I wrote and pointed out the flaws of my draft synopsis.  I could have taken their observations the wrong way, but humility came in instead, and  I am so grateful I asked for help.  The synopsis is way better than it used to be, and I will eventually post it here on Xenithar's Lair in the Legend of Draconite book section.

Just my thought for the day, and I thought I would share my feelings of gratitude with my readers :)

Book Review - Love Unexpected by Jody Hedlund

I am a part of the Bethany House Publishing Group blog reviewer program.  I can get on a list for an upcoming book where they will send me a free copy in exchange for a review on my blog and on a commercial site like Amazon or Barnes & Noble.  So if you see me post reviews on books outside of my normal genre of fantasy, you'll know why :)

Onward for the review!

A New Obsession

I was reading some articles on doing book launch parties, and I realized I hadn't done something very important: thank my readers.  I got onto Webs this morning (I still have the domain, but need to upgrade to Premium if I want anyone to look through the site; ergo, Blogger) and sent an email blast to people who have faithfully followed the original Xenithar's Lair, some of them for several years.

For anyone reading the new Xenithar's Lair, thank-you!  From the beginning, my books would have gotten nowhere were it not for fans and interested readers.  I am grateful for my readership, and I am grateful to all the people who have taught and mentored me through my years of writing.  Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!

Recently I took a closer look at Amazon Creatspace and decided based on their royalties and quality that I will be moving my books over there.  Eventually you won't find any of the Chronicles of Libera on Lulu.com.  I feel pretty confident moving my work over to Amazon; they have better printing prices and better royalties, and they have a much wider audience than Lulu.

Since rediscovering Createspace, I have been obsessing over a book project other than Incarnate Dream, which I also plan on publishing on Createspace.  I'm really excited, because with the reasonable printing costs, I can buy more copies of my book to sell in person, as well has earn decent royalties from online purchases.

The book?

The newly edited and revised Book 1 of The Legend of Draconite: Sunstone!

More information to come on this exciting re-release!

The Editing Author

One of my favorite parts of being an author is also being an editor.  Not only do I get to draft a story, I get to go back and polish it, refine its points and messages, and to make it a pleasurable and memorable read.

I consider myself fairly adept at editing grammar and revising structure in a manuscript.  I am able to grasp the points of a story and remember them (which I always find interesting, as I tend to have a bad memory in most other areas of my life).  I go through the manuscript over and over and get to know the story and characters presented inside and out.