Welcome to Elakand

Welcome to Elakand. There is my life where I pay bills, check e-mail, visit with friends, read, watch movies, and snuggle my cat. Then there is the life of my life where I have adventures in the medieval kingdom of Elakand with my troubadour, Sir Loriano of Vayne, and his whitewood kitarra.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

My story is out

The Sword & Saga supplement to American Athenaeum's Front Porch issue is out. It contains my story, "The Whitewood Kitarra." This prequel to The Dark Lady's Stone, which I am in the process of self-publishing, tells of how Loriano came to the Karaskan court and was named troubadour to Countess Elisse. Many thanks to editor Hunter Liguore for asking about this story and for her detailed edits to my manuscript.

Progress to publishing

Lots of happenings. I found a musician for the cover of The Dark Lady's Stone and the artist found a Hi Res version, as well as a big black Standing Stone. I checked out 2 versions of the cover with friends, wrote a blurb (That is HARD!), and I should have the final this weekend. The editor's had a few delays, but she'll try to get my manuscript done by the end of next week. Oooo! It's all so exciting!

Monday, April 8, 2013

New Adventure!

I'm deep in the throes of self-publishing The Dark Lady's Stone! I found a free-lance editor to go over my final manuscript for the little things I've undoubtedly missed--grammar, spelling, typos, missing words--and as a bonus she's a poet, who can help with Loriano's troubadour poems. I am also working with a cover artist to come up with a way to depict my story. She and I have spent many hours looking for suitable images on the web. It's a joyful and frustrating process. Standing stones are easy, but I hadn't realized how hard it is to find usable pictures of a guy in his early 20s with shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes who doesn't look too modern or too wimpy. I wish I were a skilled enough artist to paint my own hero.