Ready for Proofing!

The final cover of Relic has arrived!

I think it is absolutely fantastic! So many thanks to talented graphic designer Aaron La Porta for capturing the setting and mood of my first middle grade novel.

You can’t see the back of the cover, but here is the text:

      For twelve-year-old Samantha Whitaker, her parents’ dream of running an inn in the country, which she calls “the Ick,” is pure torture.

     After purchasing a strange item in an antique shop just to annoy her mother, Samantha makes a desperate attempt to flee the small village by stealing her parents’ car—only to crash it when an odd village girl darts in front of her…then disappears.

     Despite Samantha’s resistance, a local girl named Twyla befriends her and aids her in looking for the missing girl. Her search leads Samantha to learn about a famous former occupant—village benefactor, patron of the arts, and suffragette Olivia Ainsley Wagner Roth—who, according to the previous owner, still haunts the inn.

     An unusual relic, a hidden diary, an unfinished letter. Will Samantha’s supernatural sleuthing bring answers to a village mystery that has strange parallels to her own life?

I’m hoping it all piques your interest in Samantha Whitaker and her experiences.

I’m learning it takes time and patience for all the pieces of a book to pull together. The next step is ordering proofs to be red-penned in a final read before publication.

Soon after, Relic will be available on Amazon. Several book signings are already in the planning stage, so stay tuned!

Out and About

While I wait for my final proof of the cover for Relic, and as summer wanes, my family decided to take a day-cation to Letchworth State Park in New York. Located along the Genesee River, there are beautiful vistas of the gorge and three waterfalls.

The hikes in the woods and along the gorge reminded me that there is a calmness of the soul that I experience when I am able to enjoy nature. Maybe it was that clear mind that just made my imagination leap. Everywhere I looked I saw settings for my writing. I was clicking away on my camera recording unusual trees, rocks, buildings and landscapes for future reference.

Nature is important for a writer to experience. Note the lighting at different times of day, the smells, the sounds. The better a writer can describe a setting, the more completely readers will be transported.

Sneak Peek

So much in life is worth waiting for.

I had an awesome surprise Monday morning when I opened my email and found the first draft of my cover for Relic! I am only giving you a sneak peek because it is just a draft, but I am so excited! What you see is only a teeny piece of the whole cover.

It really is more than I could have hoped for. The artwork of the mansion perfectly depicts the setting of the novel. I love the color scheme and the dramatic lighting – and, according to my cover designer, Aaron La Porta, there are possibly more dramatic effects to come if I approve them.

On my end, the map to supplement the text is done, and the floor plans of the mansion are about half done.

This baby may be out by the end of August, yet!