I apologize for the long radio silence. I have been busy working 2 jobs since mid-April, on top of finishing up my internship and working on studying for my RD exam, so life has been a bit crazy as of late. But things are finally slowing down, so I wanted to give everyone a quick update as to why Hope’s Shadow is still not published.
Hope’s Shadow is nearly ready for publication. My editor has done 2 rounds of edits, and I’ve done an additional round of edits in the middle of that, and I have finally figured out formatting, so the inside of the book now looks quite nice! I have also worked on revising the back of the book blurb. All I am waiting on now is my cover art. My cover artist is still working on it! It was just more of an undertaking than she had anticipated, and she’s having to learn digital art, and she’s as much a perfectionist as I am, so it’s taking longer than we both imagined it would. I have seen a little bit of her concept art, though, and I am excited! When she’s ready, she’s going to present me with a few cover concepts, and will finalize from there based on which one I like the best. Progress is slow, but I promise, it is happening, and you will be the first to see the cover art when it’s finalized! And once that happens, I can get the book ready for publication (and possibly ARC copies if enough people are interested and I can figure out how without breaking the bank!)
Meanwhile, I have good news! I have finished the third draft of book 2, and it is now in the hands of my editor and my beta readers. I have 1 chapter written for book 3, but I realized that, the way book 2 ends, would provide me a golden opportunity to place a prequel I’ve long wanted to write in between books 2 & 3. It’ll be a little novella in between the books, if things go according to plan. I’ve made good headway into the prequel. And, I’m hoping that the writing of this novella will help me get a firmer grasp on the content for book 3 (which will be the last book of this series)!
I will also be attending Dragoncon in Atlanta again this year over Labor Day weekend! I’m planning on cosplaying my FMC, Esme, one of the days, and I am making up bookmarks for Hope’s Shadow to hand out. This is the current mockup for the bookmark (may be the final, may get more edits). If you would be interested in a bookmark, please leave a comment!
I’m now also on TikTok, though I have, thus far, only uploaded 2 videos. Worth checking out if you’re on TikTok, and please feel free to follow me!
I’m afraid that’s all I have for now. Please keep your eyes peeled for more updates, and I’ll try to be better about updating now that I’m back to only working 1 job!
Happy reading!