This is an excellent post by a kindred spirit who explains mediumship from a clear and simple perspective. As you might know, I’ve been studying mediumship and exploring my skills the past couple of years.
I’m sending a virtual hug to Green Magick for all her wisdom and offerings. If you explore and follow her blog, you’ll find out what I mean.
Do you buy a book based on its cover? If I don’t know the author, I often do . . . if it ticks a few other boxes. A book cover is the writer’s extended hand and must be more than a marketing pitch. I want my cover to represent the story, excite my readers visually and viscerally, fit with the genre, and offer a taste of what’s waiting inside. The cover itself has to be finely detailed for the print edition, but also look striking as a thumbnail image because that’s how digital readers will see it first.
When I wrote To Charm a Killer, I had no idea it would evolve into a series. That’s not how I work. Mine is an organic process. One book flows into another as the witches live their lives. At the end of each book, I sit down and journal. What did we learn in this story? What questions are still unanswered? Which characters can be developed further? What happens now?
For example, To Sleep with Stones arose because I’d grown fond of Dylan McBride and wanted to tell his story. I knew he’d lived for a while with his granddad in Tarbert, Scotland and that he had some amazing gifts like the ability to communicate with stones. Then I went to the Inner Hebrides and fell in love with the landscape. Getting Dylan arrested for murder seemed a good way to entice Estrada across the sea. But what would happen to our brooding Byronic hero, Michael Stryker, without Estrada’s grounding presence? What mayhem would this sexy faux vampire inspire when left alone back home?
When Michael meets the vampire Diego, he thinks he’s about to be murdered, and blurts out a confession. That mistake inspired a whole third book—To Render a Raven.
The vampire’s hand slid up his arm and bit into his shoulder and Michael swayed with the pain.
“Ah, but what do you know of love? You’ve never loved anyone but yourself.”
“That’s not true,” Michael said. “I love Estrada.” If he was to die here alone on this beach, he would tell the truth.
“Estrada?” The cackle was deafening. “A Spaniard? You love a Spaniard?”
“Yes, and there’s nothing you can do to change that!” He was ready to die, hoped to die before this filthy monster turned him into something vile and monstrous.
Diego stroked his beard. “Ah, but there is, brainless boy.”
A cuff to the side of the head sent Michael reeling. It was only the creature’s grip that kept him standing upright.
“This Spaniard will become my progeny and then he will drain you dry.” Each of his final three words was punctuated by a stronger squeeze.
After to Render a Raven I had three books—a Wiccan trifecta. But, I couldn’t leave the hero I love so distraught. Plus, I’d mentioned a character from the second book who seemed to be in a precarious situation herself. So I wrote a fourth book—To Kill a King—where Estrada and Dylan time travel to Iron Age Ireland to rescue Dylan’s ex-lover, Sorcha, from a druid king destined to be ritually murdered and buried in a bog.
That left me with trilogy covers and a fourth book. I had two options. Add a fourth cover to match the other three or do something completely different. Anyone who knows me, knows I can’t pass up a good adventure.
In 2019, I studied mediumship and psychic development with Joy. That’s where I met Yasaman Mohandesi. We did several classes together and got to know each other in a very unique way—by reading for each other. I knew Yasaman was a graphic artist and was impressed by her drawings on Instagram. So I messaged her and asked if she designed book covers. She hadn’t yet, but was excited by the prospect.
We met on zoom and shared our thoughts. I talked about the books themselves, the characters, and my vision for something simple, clear, and symbolic. We looked at several images of current urban fantasy series to see what other publishers were doing and what we were drawn to. Quickly, we decided that black on white with a splash of colour would work well.
On our blank white canvas we wanted a symbol—a meaningful symbol. I mentioned Estrada standing, arms upraised in his long black hooded trench coat, and that got me talking about the man which, as you might know, is something I love to do. I mentioned his tattoo and described the tattoos of other characters in the story, and we both got chills. Now, if you do any psychic work at all, you know that chills are a positive sign. Then, I pulled quotes from the text that described the tattoos and sent them to Yasaman.
I’m used to working with cover designers who photoshop images but Yasaman brought something unique to the table. She’s a gifted illustrator who works in several mediums including ink. People have asked if they can use her hand-drawn designs for tats. I’d love to see someone get a tattoo of one of my book covers!
I asked Yasaman about her experiences creating the tattoos.
A: For each design I created “dream boards”, researched, took notes on the details and went for walks in nature to gather my thoughts. Every time I spotted a crow or a raven I observed the shape of their wings when they flew.
Art is a source of meditation; I also like to listen to solo piano music as it helps me to focus when I’m working on an art project. With each stroke my mind and thought was completely in the art. I feel I put a part of my energy into it.
Once all the designs were finalized and inked, I scanned each image in high resolution to be used as digital images for each book cover.
A: The most challenging aspect was putting what I was visualizing on paper. Of course as a perfectionist, in my standard it has to be perfect.
A: I did! At one point I was stuck with the inking part of the raven’s head. I sat on it for couple of days. Even though I had a tight deadline I didn’t want to rush it. One morning I woke up with the raven’s “caw” outside my window. Later in the day while I was working in my home office/studio I looked outside and saw a raven sitting on our garden shed. I thought to myself that ravens are actually beautiful birds with their coal black feathers. That’s when I knew how I wanted to finish the drawing.
Also when I was working on the Celtic war horse for To Charm a Killer, I had the horse sketched on paper but I was struggling with the ribbon Celtic knots for the mane and tail. I don’t know how many times I sketched and erased the knots. I was having creator’s block. Finally, I got frustrated and literally asked for Irish Fairies to help me. My sister who was sitting next to me (we share home office space) looked at her phone and said “11:11 make a wish.” An hour later, I had the sketch done and ready for the final draft to be inked.
A: It has. It never crossed my mind to ever design book covers, or for my original art to be used on book covers. As a booklover this truly has been an amazing experience for me.
Authors can connect with me through my Instagram account which profiles my art @ym_blackrose_art or on Behance which profiles my graphic design work.
A: As a freelance graphic designer I have designed: business logos, a logo for a boat, brochures, invitations, a restaurant menu and design work for a law firm.
I wanted to be a Graphic Designer for a very long time, but life lead me to a different path. Somehow through this turn of events, I fell back on that path again. It has been a bumpy road, but I know it will lead me to a great destination.
I confess, I threw Yasaman a couple of curveballs. One was time constraints. I needed all three covers completed by the end of June. Creating one cover is difficult enough, but creating synchronized trilogy covers is triple hard—I know because I was editing and formatting the content for all three myself. Because of the time pressure, I worked on choosing fonts and colours so she could focus on the art. I spent hours staring at urban fantasy, gothic, and thriller fonts, but ended up going back to Copperplate Gothic for the headings and Sabon Next LT for the text. I was able to match the inside print with the cover print—a design detail I really like in a print book.
Another challenge arose when I went for a walk with our psychic development teacher who casually mentioned that there was a rose in one of the drawings. She does that sometimes. But a rose wasn’t in our plans. We had decided on the horse, the angel wings, and the raven. Then I realized how crucial roses were to To Render a Raven. There are roses at each of the crime scenes because the vampire’s insignia is a rose encircled with a calligraphic D for Diego. “Maybe it’s in the raven’s mouth,” Joy said slyly. I texted Yasaman: “I was just out walking with Joy and she says the raven has a rose in its mouth.” Yasaman just ran with it. You’ll see it there now.
On the back of each print cover, I added a quote from the story along with the blurb, to explain the tattoo.
“Maggie lifted her long black sleeve and stared at the stinging tattoo on her left inner forearm. It hurt like hell, but she hadn’t flinched. An exquisite Celtic war horse, it reared up on its hind legs and kicked out with its front. The body was solid black, the mane and tail, a rippling white and black ribbon of Celtic knots. It had amber eyes and nostrils that flared like an angry dragon.”
(It’s an extraordinary feeling to see your words become art.)
“Estrada scrutinized the tats, wondering how far the ink extended beneath the worn leather kilt, and just how painful it would be to have your genitals tattooed. He knew about ink—wore the black lacy wings of an angel on his back. Her feathers extended across his shoulders and down his glutes. That ink had broken more than his skin.
It was strange how memories were triggered by the oddest things. He’d seen plenty of tats and not thought of Alessandra. She was seventeen and extraordinary. He was thirteen and insatiable. They’d fallen in love, however crazy that seemed, and she’d refused to accept payment for her work. It was an act of adoration. She wanted to immortalize him by painting his body in pictures, words and love knots. Only she hadn’t had the chance.
Alessandra was not just his first lover—she was his first love. And, when he’d heard she’d been killed in a revenge shooting for something her younger brother had done, Estrada discovered he truly was a black angel.”
“Estrada flexed his bicep and stared at his latest tattoo. Corvus Corax. The raven’s back broke into a flurry of feathers and deranged birds to remind him how he’d split the terror asunder with the sheer force of his right arm. He could still feel the damp steel, the hot blood, the hollow pit of his pulsing gut as he struck. The creature held a bloody rose in its beak so he’d never forget how close he’d come . . .”
(Estrada gets this tattoo after To Render a Raven and this quote appears in Book 4: To Kill a King)
The book cover for Book 4, which will, of course, be some kind of Irish tattoo since we’ll be in Iron Age Ireland (200 BCE). If you have any ideas please leave a comment.
And, since To Kill a King ends with a steep cliffhanger, I expect there’s a Book 5 lurking in the not-so-distant future.
I’d rather be writing books, but if I don’t wade into the promo stream, how will I ever send my babies out into the world? Like any new endeavour, the path is uncertain and fraught with hazards. There is enough information—good and bad—to make your mind spin. So, sometimes we make mistakes.
Recently, I wrote that people who don’t buy my book from Amazon can’t leave a review. I was so convinced of this statement; I offered my first book free for five days so readers who’d previously purchased a print copy at a reading or local bookstore could purchase it for $0.00 and it would show as a verified purchase.
Now I’m reading that’s NOT TRUE! You don’t have to buy my book from Amazon to leave a review. As I’m sorting this out (in my own confused mind) I thought I’d share my discoveries with you. As much as I hate being wrong (don’t we all?) I think it’s important to correct misinformation. I mean, it was misinformation that got me here in the first place.
Bottom Line: Anyone who’s made any $50 purchase from Amazon can leave a review. Amazon is a huge distributor, so they make their own rules and sometimes tweak them. I tested this theory just to be sure.
I bought Wren Handman’s urban fantasy novel, In Restless Dreams, from her at an author reading in February. When I tried to submit to Amazon.com (US) I didn’t make the cut—I haven’t purchased anything from the US—but I was able to leave a review on Amazon.ca (Canada) because of those supplements I ordered back in March.
If you picked up a print or digital copy of any of my books sometime, anytime, in the last few years, (even at the library) and read it, you can leave a review (as long as you bought something else from Amazon.) Now that I know this, I’m going to cut/paste some of my Goodreads reviews to Amazon. It only takes a minute and every review helps an author.
Simply that the customer who wrote the review actually purchased the item at Amazon. Some customers like to see this badge before they buy so it gives more credibility to a product or book review. People used to rig reviews by creating thousands of fake names and accounts, so now Amazon is more careful, which I like. Ethical and honest is good.
As of July 2020, I’ll still be on Amazon, but I’m taking all my books wide. So, you’ll be able to find them on Kobo, Apple IBooks, and other distributors. You can post reviews in any of several places. I’ll outline some below.
Reviews aren’t just important to an author, they’re important to a reader. Do you read reviews? I do. A good reviewer doesn’t just say I liked it or I didn’t. They reveal enough about the story to allow you to make an informed decision. For example, although I write urban fantasy, I usually read and watch murder mysteries, psychological thrillers, and action adventures—which is why there’s a “twist of murder” in my books. I like eccentric complicated characters who live big in the here and now . . . unless I’m delving into history. So that’s what I look for in a review.
How do reviews help an author? First, they help potential customers decide if they want to read this book from the millions available. Many books I compete with have hundreds and thousands of reviews. Seriously. I’m still trying to figure out how to make that happen. I think I should create a coven and get a magic wand!
Most of the book promoters I want to approach have strict eligibility requirements. For example, Adrenaline sends out thousands of weekly newsletters highlighting free and discounted mystery & crime e-books, but to be considered you need a minimum of 10 reviews and ratings (stars). I recommend you sign up for Adrenaline if you like mystery and crime. I’ve discovered and downloaded a few e-books lately that look fantastic.
Today, I should have just enough reviews—THANK YOU EVERYONE!—to submit to Adrenaline for a July promotion.
Another e-book promoter is The Fussy Librarian. Join for free, and choose your genres and email frequency. I’m running a promo for To Charm a Killer with them on July 7.
Goodreads is fairly well known. I track books I’ve read and want to read there. I also post reviews. Goodreads keeps Listopia—lists of books where readers vote for their favourite books.
My books were just listed and you can vote for them! You’ll find the lists on each book page. Please vote and follow me on Goodreads!
Bookbub is another site that can really drive author and book ratings, and you can sign up to receive emails from them that feature free and discounted books. You need heaps of reviews to become one of their featured authors—it’s like winning a lottery—but I know someone who did it this year, so it’s possible.
You can leave reviews for books you’ve read on Bookbub without making any purchase whatsoever! Here’s my Bookbub page.
This is just a smattering of the marketing know-how I’m learning as I roll along as an Indie Author and Publisher. You can see why I’d rather be writing or walking my dog in the woods!
Thank you SO much if you’ve already posted reviews for my books! You have no idea how much I appreciate your support.
As I was working on my writing course this afternoon, I came across this letter I wrote to my mom on Valentine’s Day 2003. She wasn’t well. Dementia and strokes had taken their toll and I hoped to trigger good memories for her. In doing so, I triggered my own.
Though I end the letter by promising to come and see her that summer, it didn’t happen. She passed over on May 1, 2003, Beltaine, and so this ended up being a kind of farewell.
I do hope someone read it to her. We loved the same things, her and I. I hope she closed her eyes and traveled with me among the trees and flowers and bygone seasons. I hope for a moment she relived the beauteous times of her life on our farm in Pickering.
My Dearest Mom:
It is St. Valentine’s Day. My daughter is almost twenty, and you are in your ninetieth year. I float somewhere in between, still feeling like a young woman, but when I look into the department store mirror I see someone unrecognizable. I wonder if I will ever feel my age. This is a kind of limbo. I am beyond childbearing, yet I often feel like a child. And, of course, I am. I am your child and will always be. I find you in a country garden, in a warm jar of preserved peaches, in a well-worn novel, in a nonsense rhyme, and a giggle.
Do you know that I remember all the trees and flowers from our farm? On the roadside, a tangle of tiger lilies swelled each spring, and beside them hovered a chokecherry bush. Dixie Road was hidden by a hedge of cedars that grew into an impenetrable wooden wall over the years. At the front door snug against the blue cement steps was your rockery—a murmuring mass of blooms: purply blue delphiniums, giant hot pink peonies swarming with ants, crimson gladiolas, and fuzzy, buttery irises towered over the blossoming ground creepers.
In the backyard, a weeping willow tickled my rosy cheeks, the arm of an old apple tree held my makeshift steel trapeze, and Manitoba maples multiplied each year when the wind unleashed their keys. It was a topsy-turvy world, as I swung on my trapeze hanging by my knees, and sometimes by my ankles. Beside my playhouse and the old outhouse, the lilac garden marked the border into the vegetable fields. The north side was a hubbub of rhubarb, and the south side a soft plethora of yellow primroses, and deep blue Sweet William. I remember them all. Do you?
The orchard was a place to lie and drift in the misty veils of clouds that shifted shapes and whispered words. I wrote poems there, beneath the old apricot tree where a Baltimore oriole had been seduced by the coral blossoms and built a silken nest that swayed like a stocking from its branches. A tiny cherry tree clung to life amidst several pear trees and my favourite apples, a half snow-half something that I’ve never been able to find again.
Was spring your favourite season as it was mine? The first shoots burst through the mud and snow, creeks swelled their banks and called to me and my rubber boots. Bees raced to pollinate the blossoms like eager young boys darting this way and that throughout the gardens. Purple violets and lily of the valley burst through the emerald grass and all the earth awoke.
Summer was sewn up by rows of potatoes, peas, beans, corn, tomatoes, and carrots all demanding attention. A long row of raspberries enticed Bootsie who loved to nibble them off the branches. And what you did with that harvest.
One wall in the damp stony cellar was lined with shelves of preserves: jars of pinky red tomatoes, bright orange peaches, green chunky relishes, bread and butter pickles. How did you ever manage? And then it was pear-picking time and ladders were set up in the orchard so baskets of succulent green pears could be sent off to Richardson’s IGA in Pickering Village. It was a miraculous place to grow up, akin to the earth, listening to the winds, the insects, the birds, the trees and flowers. It lives in my memory. Can you remember it too?
Now there must be snow on the ground in Pickering, crusting the earth, and ice-encased branches tapping against the windows begging for release. I hated winter. I hated the cold, the trudging, the attempts at tobogganing in the back fields and skating at William’s pond by myself. I tried to like it. But I hated it. My frozen toes, numb in damp snow boots, would itch like crazy when I finally warmed them. The upper tips of my ears threatened to break off, and they too would itch when they finally thawed. The only things I really loved were the gigantic icicles that clung from roof corners, and the feathery paintings by Jack Frost on our living room windows. I hibernated, like the rest of the earth’s creatures, and came alive again in spring.
Winter was the reason I moved to B.C. Here, there is only a long, long autumn followed by a long, long spring. Here I am awake all year long, hiking in the rainforest and along the ocean. Here I do not freeze and itch for months at a time.
I don’t miss Ontario, but I do miss you, Mom. And I wish that I could be with you, especially now that you’re not well. You must remember to eat and drink as much as you can. Please. Water is our life force. So you must drink even when you don’t feel like it.
And in the summer I will come. I promise.
I love you … now and forever. Wendy
I’m reading this Tuesday, February 11 at Port Moody Library with six other authors. All contributed to the Port Moody Library’s White Pines Program which features local writers.
This free event is being held from 7pm – 8:30pm in the comfy Fireside room. Come and join us for a lovely, lively, literary evening.
WRITERS IN OUR MIDST#14 — Writer’s Biographies
Leesa Hanna is a writer and artist living in Port Moody, British Columbia. She has had poetry published by the online magazine, ‘the Story Quilt’. She has recently completed writing and illustrating her first children’s chapter book, The BIG Adventures of Little O – A Song for the Salmon. This book was longlisted for the CANSCAIP (Canadian Society of Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers.) Writing for Children Competition 2019. It is also included in the White Pines Collection at the Port Moody Library. Visit her website at www.leesahanna.com
Writing from the burbs of Vancouver, Lesley Evans Ogden, specializes in stories about ecology, conservation, animal behaviour, and freelancing. She also explores the intersection of science, human rights, and policy. She crossed a bridge from scientist to writer after a PhD (SFU) and postdoctoral research (UBC) on shorebird and songbird ecology. Her work appears internationally at places like Natural History, National Geographic, BioScience, BBC Future, New Scientist, and on CBC’s The Nature of Things. Find her at lesleyevansogden.com and on Twitter @ljevanso.
Jim Peacock, author of Remember the Good Times, published in 2019, resided for more than 50 years in Port Moody. He had a 15-year journalism career and more years than that in the practice of public and media relations and communications consulting. An active volunteer, he is a past president of the Port Moody Foundation, The Glenayre Community Association and the Variety Club of British Columbia, He has been a long-time supporter of the Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation. His book is a memoir.
Shannon Matter is a singer/songwriter, writer and aromatherapist. She lives in Coquitlam and performs her original music around the lower mainland often. She has four music compilations to her credit, a DVD, a documentary of her music, five books and more albums and books to come! Visit her website at www.shannonmatter.com
Gerry Bradley was born and raised on Prince Edward Island. He spent thirty-four years working in community mental health in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and is now recently retired. He lives in Port Moody with his wife, Sasha, and their dog, Roxy. When not cutting the grass or washing the car or trying to write, he plays the fiddle with an Irish band called Port na Gael–see @portnagael on Facebook.
In 1989, Gregory J. Robb began his odyssey to publish half a million words in online and traditional periodicals before fearlessly engaging the longer book form. His inaugural book, Transience: From Failure to Future in a Scarred Family, was published in 2015; his second book is currently in the final stages of production. Greg continues to pursue the greatest story of all from his beloved home of Vancouver, Canada.
W. L. Hawkin writes “edgy urban fantasy with a twist of murder.” Described as “intoxicating, lush, magically-edgy, page-turners,” her Hollystone Mysteries follow a coven of witches who solve murders. An Indie publisher with Blue Haven Press, Wendy is also a poet and reviewer with a background in literature and Indigenous Studies. She’s thrilled to have her books available locally in metaphysical stores and in the White Pines Collection at the Port Moody Library. Visit Wendy at http://bluehavenpress.com
Read moreTherapists often recommend journaling to people dealing with mental illness and trauma. I’ve never liked journaling. Maybe it’s because I get too self-conscious or because even my old wounds often feel too raw to record in some blunt, dry fashion. Instead, I write fiction. I’ve dealt with my trauma through fiction from a young age. […]