Yes, I can write.  I can even take pretty decent photographs. But... my 'art' skills are lacking.



Some of the fault is mine. I'm impatient. I always want to rush and I'm pretty sure when it comes to things like wet paint? That's a bad idea.

Words are better. Words don't drip and run together.

But I need a sign. I'm going to have a booth at a local Ren faire... for those in the general Louisville, Ky area, I'm going to be at the Louisville Ren Faire... and it's on the grounds of a castle.  I've already got my garb. I've got books ordered. I've got the tent. Decorations for the tent are en route. But I need a sign. So I'm trying to make it. Hopefully it doesn't suck.

One thing I am good at?

Finding good artists.

Rinfuling is done with the first piece of art. This is Zee (short for Zinnia), from book 1.



I think I'm going to go with simple paintings like this for each of the characters individually and then have a more detailed one of each couple, although I'm not entirely sure yet.

But I'm excited! Do you like Ren Faires? If so, which ones have you been to?

I recently (as in yesterday) found out my mother seriously digs werewolf romance.

My mom. Who once put down one of the earlier erotic romances I'd written because ....

Not only had she been reading werewolf romance, she's been reading it enough to to be telling my aunt about some of the ins-and-outs of the sub-genre.

The I got the shock of my life when she mentioned she'd read a couple of billionaire romances and one of them was even a menage & more.

My mom has never been much of a reader, but she retired a few years ago and isn't able to get around much. At some point, a book caught her interest and...she's gotten hooked on werewolves!

I ended up telling her and my aunt about my first Backerkit campaign. Then I told her about this one...and I mentioned a fun little plot twist that comes up in the third book of the omnibus.


Let me tell you... I had fun with this particular idea, but I can't tell you what it is because I don't want to ruin the surprise. It's not so much a plot twist, even, as it is something unique I do with the FMC's identity/magic.

But it was fun...and you can discover it for yourself if you back the project!

Have you pledged yet?  Some of the tiers offered are limited, like The Hero Book Box, where you can have a place in the book named in your honor, or the Choose Your Fate Book Box. Both include awesome, handmade rewards, unique to the campaign.


Pay Over Time
If your order is over $125, you can use Backerkit's Pay Over Time feature to make monthly payments on your pledge! There are no extra fees or interest, either.

Other Cool Projects



 

She kidnaps him. Fake engagement, high-conflict, fantasy romance set in a modern magical world with political intrigue & family secrets 

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An epic story of dragons, phoenixes, sword lesbians, and a found family in danger, for fans of sapphic and cultivation fantasy.
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In book 1, A Prime's Passion, the FMC, Zinnia Day, or Zee, has been living on her own since her lover and assumed mate, Niko, future Prime, put her aside. He believed some rumors he'd overheard.

She was young, confused and unsure of how to handle his rejection, but one thing she knew--she wasn't going back to an abusive father.

So, she found her own way and ended up in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and somehow, she became friend to the local Regnar (Regent), the powerful Meridia, a mermaid who would one day rule all of the Atlantic.

Zee is powerful, and she knows it, but she doesn't know just how strong she is.

She's beautiful.

And my artist, Rinfuling, does her justice.

Just an update...

So, the site I usually use for finding artists has been affected by hackers.

I had to find a new artist site and whoa, did I ever.

Artistree.io is full of brilliant artists and best of all, they are proactive when it comes to AI and check for the usage of it.

I found the artist who will do most of the work for this book.

Rinfuling has some utterly gorgeous works.

Some examples




Brilliant, right?

So, naturally, I asked this genius to do some art & they said yes!

Here's the sketch of the first piece, Zee, the FMC of A Prime's Passion.



This is just the preliminary sketch but I'm delighted!

My trivia question/poll about mermaid mythology is over, so it's time to share the results!

If you guessed that mermaid myths are old, like in 3000 years old, you're right!



One of the earliest known 'mermaid' like creatures was Atargatis, (note the similarity to Atargarians, the name I gave my water-based shifters). Atargatis was a goddess in North Assyria. Now, if you are a fan of mythology, you know that people stole, swapped, traded and adopted gods from other pantheons.

Atargatis was also known to the Greeks as Derceto. 

Wikipedia

The legends vary, as legends do, but the gist is that Atargatis fell in love with a mortal and mortals being mortal...well, he died. She was heartbroken and through herself into the sea. Atargatis wasn't entirely human, though, and was so beautiful (ugly people never get the breaks, I guess) that the gods chose to save her, changing her so that she was part human and part fish.

Fun fact for UF lovers in the crowd: If you read Ilona Andrews, this next bit might be familiar to you... according the myths, Atargatis had a child. And that child's name...

Semiramis

I didn't pick up on that fact until I dug deeper into into mermaid lore, though, long after I'd written the first and was researching book 2.