Call of Elespen Cover Reveal

The epic conclusion to the Keepers of the Wellsprings series is almost here, and you know what that means: It’s time for a cover reveal!

If you’re familiar with the series so far, you know that I have illustrated designed all of the covers myself. It has always been important to me to make sure each cover is unique enough to be attractive on its own, but consistent enough with the rest of the series that it looks like a series when all of the books are displayed together.

To do this, I  really thought about color, giving each book its own unique palette and tone. I knew Kythshire, for example, would be blue and gold, because those colors appear prominently in the book. They’re the colors of Azi’s guild, and the colors of the golden field she visits in Kythshire.

 

For Call of Sunteri, I chose red for the dye fields Tib escaped, and gold for the wings of a prominent fairy in the book. I won’t say who, just in case you haven’t read it yet!

 

For Call of Brindelier, it had to be purple for the mystery and majesty of the hidden kingdom of Brindelier, and gold, of course. This time, for Azi.

 

For Call of Hywilkin, I knew I wanted flame orange and yellow to represent the fiery mountain of Kerevorna, and the wings of its Keeper had to be very distinct. I also wanted it to feel quite ominous because of the dark, dramatic tone of this book.

Finally, here we are at Elespen! As the final book in the series, I hoped to make this cover really stand out. This book and its cover had to feel like a triumph. I wanted it to feel mysterious and creepy, but also bright and hopeful. I painted the wings to seem like they could be a butterfly in a rain forest jungle, and gave them eyes to make them curious and interesting. It was important that the green felt like a jungle, with all of the wonder and danger that the idea of a jungle invokes. I wanted it to feel ambiguously good and evil, beautiful, and unnerving. My favorite part about this cover is how the area beneath the wings feels like a portal into a strange blue sky or tropical water, which happened accidentally as I was painting it.

Without further delay, here it is, the cover reveal of Call of Elespen!

I’m still planning on releasing the book in the later part of November. I promise to keep you updated! In the meantime, you can download Call of Kythshire for free today, in celebration of my cover release! Enjoy!

Cover Reveal Tomorrow!

The epic conclusion of the Keepers of the Wellsprings is coming soon! To celebrate, tomorrow, I’ll be revealing the cover of Call of Elespen, Keepers of the Wellsprings, Book Five and offering Call of Kythshire, Book One, for free! Keep an eye here for details and news!

Call of Elespen is On the Way!

Quick update, and then I’m back to writing!

First, I’m excited to share the cover for my fellow indie author, Christina McMullen’s upcoming book, The Princess Rebellion, which she revealed this week! I had a lot of fun painting it, and I love the text treatment she used. To read more about the cover and her upcoming release on her blog, just click here.

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Release day might be the end of November, it might be the beginning of December, but I promise book five is coming. I could tell you all the reasons why it’s not quite ready yet, but I don’t want to bore you with the craziness that is my life, so instead I’ll offer you some fun little tidbits about my process as I get through this draft.

I use Scrivener to write my drafts. I love it because of its organizational capabilities and its high level of customization. I also love that I can easily switch between my PC and iPad to write.  Here’s a screenshot of the beginning of my manuscript. As you can see, I color code my chapters: sky blue for Azi, desert yellow for Tib, and Sorcerous red for Celli.

I listen to great music while I’m writing, too. Each of my main characters has an anthem, and there are certain artists who really speak to me when I’m trying to get into someone’s head.

For Azi, it’s Aurora:

For Tib, it’s usually Black Keys:

For Celli, it’s Sia:

Actually, that video is so Celli it gives me chills every time!

I have the cover for Call of Elespen ready to go, but I’m holding onto it so I can announce the release date and reveal the cover at the same time. I’m chomping at the bit, though, and as excited to share this conclusion with you as I hope you are to read it. It’s going to be epic! Check back for updates in the next week or so, or subscribe to my email list for all the latest news, and maybe a sneak peek! 

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