Holy cremoly. Today’s work on Beyond Honor took a twist. A big twist that at first left me muttering because I was sure that led to a major continuity error in Pledges of Honor–and then I remembered that this was something Katerin would not have been exposed to or possibly even be aware of as a healer.
But yeah. Much more magic in this story than in Pledges. LOTS more.
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Blogging about Christmas and all later on….for now, it’s Pledges of Honor Chapter 4. Just got a lovely review on Goodreads by someone who couldn’t put the book down. Oops, now I need to get cracking on Beyond Honor.
So here it is, Chapter Four, in which Katerin finally gets the remembrance spell lifted and she realizes the significance of Wickmasa….
And as always, if you want to read the whole thing, the books can be found at Amazon, Nook, iBooks, Kobo, and etc. Or if you’re not already signed up for my newsletter, do so today and you’ll get a chance at getting a free copy? I’m giving away two copies of Pledges of Honor and Netwalk’s Children as a part of my New Year’s newsletter. What a way to start out 2016! Message me or send an email to jrw at aracnet dot com.
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So here’s Chapter Three of Pledges of Honor. Katerin gets to the Healing House, to find out that it is indeed as Imnari says…”Wickmasa has need” is all she has to say.
Interestingly, these chapters tend to run short while Netwalk’s Children runs long. I’ve never really paid attention to the different lengths of chapter before. Funny how that works.
And as always, if you want to read the whole thing, the books can be found at Amazon, Nook, iBooks, Kobo, and etc. Or if you’re not already signed up for my newsletter, do so today and you’ll get a chance at getting a free copy? I’m giving away two copies of Pledges of Honor and Netwalk’s Children by New Year’s. What a way to start it out!
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I’m not nanoing this year, but nonetheless I’m getting my pre-Radcon release put together; a novella in the Goddess’s Honor series–Beyond Honor. As far as timing goes, it’s a prequel to Pledges of Honor.
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She shook her head. “Grandfather had been thoroughly enchanted by Zauril’s sweet words and bright toys from Daran, enough to speak of pursuing those who have fled Medvara’s grasp on this land. By the time Zauril acted, he had secured the support of the army and the Guards by speaking of invasion, conquest, and gold. None dared openly help me.” She gave her uncle a bitter smile. “Let us see how well he can run Medvara without its magic. That I was able to do once I crossed the borders. Even with a babe quickened in my womb, my curse held.”
“So the Empire-over-Sea now chooses to remember its exiles and harvest this colony.” Alame’s long fingers flickered in a quick ward at the mention of the great Empire that had once belonged to the house of Miteal. “Not that the Empire’s favor will do him much good if you withdrew the land’s magic.”
“I did the best I could considering everything that has happened. It is a long story, uncle, and Zauril may not have the support he claims. There are—things I learned about his connections to Daran while his prisoner.”
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When I got the rights back to Pledges of Honor, one issue I ran into was the total lack of a budget to do cover work. Editing had happened long before I sent the MS to the publisher that I got it back from, so at least I had that factor handled. But. Cover.
Pledges is high fantasy that is, as I described on Facebook, set in an 18th century-esque alternative Pacific Northwest locale. Very alternative, though it’s still a colonial frontier, albeit one where the colonialists are fleeing active persecution and have to collaborate with local populations to survive (backstory). There are elements who want to do the traditional colonialist thing, and they’ve gained power in one nation. But. There’s also a pack of squabbling Gods and Goddesses, and the high politics of the divine pantheon affect magic and political power at the human level. Lots and lots of backstory that is only mildly referenced in Pledges, and to be honest I’m not certain how well I’ve pulled that off.
There will be more of the strife between colonialists and collaborationists in the next books, because, well, the original imperial power is now remembering their colony and That Does Not Bode Well. But when they show up, they’re going to find that Things Aren’t What They Thought. And, well, that would be telling more about the story, wouldn’t it?
Meanwhile. Cover. I posted several pictures yesterday and got some good feedback. Besides cover pix yesterday, I also browsed the fonts to find the look I wanted. However, when it came to the lighting and background color, the initial font I chose didn’t work. Didn’t matter what color the text was, what the color the drop shadow was…the font didn’t work. I wish I’d saved some interim pix for comparisons, but oh well.
So I chose a backup font, and it turned out better than I thought. Then it became an issue of alignment. At first I wanted the title across the top, but…well, that didn’t work with the picture. Played a bit more with colors and alignment, and came up with this:
I may have to play with it a bit more once I start submitting the ebook and I know the CreateSpace cover is going to be a challenge…but the cover is DONE.
Yeah, I know I could go to Deviant Art or Fiverr to get an artist, but I’ve yet to find someone who resonates with what I like. Plus at some point in the future I probably will update the covers and then change things out. For now, though…I like what I see, and thanks to all who helped me figure it out!
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So several folks on LiveJournal wanted to see more impact and there was at least one suggestion for a dark green background. But…lighting sucks.
I do have one promising candidate.
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Oh, Internet hive mind. I’m playing with the cover pix for Pledges of Honor, but I’m having problems deciding which one. Any suggestions? Each piece has a meaning within the book–the rutile is Katerin’s Eye of Dovré, the charoite is Metkyi’s gift to Katerin, the stone is Metkyi’s heartstone, and the sword could be either Katerin’s or Rekaré’s. Spacing for titles needs to be a consideration as well.
(Note: there will be a more substantive post later. Just need to get the cover rolling.
ETA: More pix taken with a green background as recommended. Meh, mainly due to lighting. But there’s one promising addition. WordPress is being a pain so I’ll put it in a separate post/.
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Speculations from the Wide Open Spaces