Today, due to a miscommunication with the publisher, it seems Ranger’s Odyssey may be available for purchase sooner than expected. The official release date is 10/10/2020 (next Saturday), but it may be available between now and then instead.

Since we’re nearing the final release, you may find the final covers below!

Paperback, hardback, and ebook will be available direct from AuthorHouse, from Amazon, and online from Barnes & Noble.

Before I comment on that more, I want to tell a little story. When I was 10 years old, in my 6th grade Careers class, my first choice for the rest of my life was to be an author. Why? I was the kid who found solace in books. I delved so deeply into every story, I blocked out everything around me. I could read while people were throwing wads of paper over my head. I could read over the din of the obnoxious trumpets in middle school band. There was nothing but me and the book.

The only time I ever got dragged out to the hallway in school was when I decided to lie to my math teacher about having finished my homework, just so I had the chance to finish my book. Growing up, the stories were everything to me. That’s why, when the teacher asked us what we wanted to be, that’s all I wanted. I wanted to write stories that would transport the reader to a new and wonderful land. I wanted the reader to be affected by the characters in my stories—to see some of themselves in the characters, and to learn wholesome life lessons by accident, just by living the story.

Now, after 15 years and many diversions, I’m realizing one of my oldest dreams. My one goal in being a published author is to have at least one reader who falls into my stories and is excited when the next one comes out. To love the world and the characters so much they never want to leave. I want my books to be read.

The disappointing thing about this entire process is that the author doesn’t really get a say in the retail price. The publisher tells the author what the price will be, and retailers have the option to hike the price up if they want to. Please know, when you see my book(s) available for purchase, that I’m not trying to gouge money out of you. I’m not writing for the money; I’m writing for the love of it, and for the enrichment I want to give my readers.

The royalties are pretty much even across the board, so I earn the same amount no matter which version you choose to purchase. If you are wanting to support my endeavor, thank you so very much. Please don’t think you have to spend a bunch of money to do so. Although, as an avid reader, I’ve always felt that hardcovers are better (for various reasons), I understand that not all readers are collectors, and I understand that not all readers can afford to pay much for a single book.

If you are interested in the story, but you cannot afford the cost of the physical book, all you need to read the ebook is a screen. It’s not the best experience, but you can read it on your phone. I’m also hoping to get copies in libraries—because I found my favorite authors in libraries—but I don’t expect libraries to just stock a random book by an author they don’t know.

So, down to the prices. AuthorHouse has a suggested retail price, which they will use for the listing on their website. Due to the likelihood of retailers hiking up the prices, it will likely be the most cost-effective to purchase direct from the publisher’s website/at the suggested retail price at these prices: (ebook) $3.99; (paperback) $13.99; (hardback) $26.99. Though, again, it will also be available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. At this time, I don’t know what their prices will be.

I hope you aren’t deterred by the prices, and, if you are, I hope you will get the ebook, find the book in a library, or borrow from a friend. I hope you decide to delve into the world of Ambergrove, and I hope you’re sad when you’ve finished the final page. I hope you love it like I do.

Until next time, adventurers. Maybe you’ll have met Mara by then!

Ranger’s Odyssey has a release date! There is still the possibility for delays in the LCCN/Copyright registration processes, but we do have a release date!

A week ago today, I began the publishing process for Ranger’s Odyssey! Everything has moved much faster than expected. Because I was ridiculously over- over- over- (did I say over?) prepared, it significantly cut down my potential timeline. I became “active” last Friday, I uploaded my main files to the author center on Saturday, and I met my coordinator on Monday afternoon.

Tuesday morning, I submitted my final files, and I have passed content evaluation by Tuesday afternoon. It only took 93 minutes. Why? Well, let’s think back to my orientation day at my first real job in high school. After a bit of paperwork, they had a drug test. I started freaking out and, at one point, burst into tears (so professional). Why? I had a headache the night before and had taken a Tylenol PM before bed … and I thought I would fail the drug test because of it.

Fast forward eight years (oh, jeez). I mention DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and Polaroid by name, and a few movies/shows by description in Ranger’s Odyssey. To be exact, I mention DUNGEONS & DRAGONS four times, D&D eight times, and Polaroid one time—just in reference to D&D being played and a Polariod instant camera being used. I refer to “pirate movies and an underrated cartoon” as lessons in nautical terms, “trudging” in a funny speech in a movie as a way to rouse tired travelers, and a brief reference is made to someone called “Badger” from a T.V. series. I remember all these because I gave the content evaluators a list to make sure they knew every single reference to outside material, even if no one has as of yet figured out what some of them are, because I didn’t want to fail content evaluation.

So anyway … that sped by. Then I had to sort out some lingering paperwork for hardcover printing, and I found out I wouldn’t be able to use my illustrations in the published book. Apparently, commercial images need to be at least 300 DPI, and they were all 90-something. No matter what I did, I couldn’t fix the problem, so I updated my manuscript and interior notes for the designers and sent my final materials to book design. My illustrations may be found in the Tales tab (obviously, beware potential spoilers).

This morning, I received the initial designs for the cover. There were a few small changes to make, and those should be made on Monday. The interior proof should be ready for my review by Monday, and the manuscript should be finalized by Wednesday. After that, there’s registration, author copies, various marketing materials (I need all the help I can get in that area), and a few miscellaneous remaining tasks, and the book is good to go.

I told my coordinator it would be cool to have the book released 10.10.2020, just because it’s a cool date, and he said we can make it happen, no problem. Well, maybe little problem. Registration usually doesn’t take too long, but there’s always a chance it will. In the rare event there’s a delay there, it might be slightly delayed. Very, very unlikely, but not impossible. Fingers crossed!

My next blog will likely be after Ranger’s Odyssey is available for purchase! Until next time, adventurers!

“It’s the final countdooown! *nana nah nuh … nananuh nuh nuh* (or something)”

TWO WEEKS from today is the submission date for Ranger’s Odyssey! I finished my final-final-for-real-final draft of my manuscript yesterday, 142 days after I finished my first draft. I changed the formatting so it was ready for submission, cropped the illustrations to the proper size, finalized my cover text, and came up with detailed notes for content evaluation and book design … and I gathered everything into a zipped folder so it can taunt me for fourteen whole days.

We’ll get there. Eventually. Maybe. Ugh, it’s so far away. How is it that the closer I get, the further away it seems? I do have one more thing left for Ranger’s Odyssey—my author photo. I took my author photos over the long weekend, with the help of my wonderful husband. Now my dilemma is which photo to include in my book. I would prefer not to have my face in my author photo for various reasons. Reason one shows how lame I am: I like the idea that if you can’t see what I look like then it could be your story too. Yeah, yeah, I know. But really.

My idea was with the Scottish dirk and the ominous peek around the tree—a centuries-old tree in our back yard. I loved the idea of looking like an adventurer for my author photo. We decided to take a few crouching pictures and ended up with a gem there as well. I cannot decide which is better, and I even polled the idea and ended up even on both sides. I’ll probably deliberate on it for two weeks and then flip a coin. Unless there’s some sort of rule about having a weapon in my picture. We’ll see.

That should be it for Ranger’s Odyssey. I’ll just be waiting for content evaluation, waiting for design, possibly tweaking some illustrations if they look funny after design, waiting for a release date, and waiting for my author copies to arrive. So during all this waiting and waiting and waiting, there’s a few things on the docket. I’m powering ahead on Realm of Chaos, and I had a sudden burst of inspiration this week. I planned out every series within the main storyline of the Tales of Ambergrove. Ten series and five standalones so far. I’m so excited to get it all put together. I have so many ideas for the story, and I think you’ll love them! I do, anyway!

I had more things to say, but honestly I’m just so excited I’d just be incoherently blabbering, so I’ll end it here. My next blog will be after submission to the publisher! Until next time, adventurers!

Thirty days has September, April, June, and November. All the rest have thirty-one, except for the time before I publish book one, which has thirty-eight days clear, but it seems like it’s taking an eternity to get here. That’s how the rhyme goes, right?

The past three weeks have been pretty interesting, to say the least. I’ve been spending some time working on Realm of Chaos. I’m way behind where I’d planned to be at this time, but I have gotten further with other things, so I expect it to even out—I hope so, anyway. I have come up with plenty of ideas for Realm of Chaos, and I’ve written a few thousand words. I’m ready, though, and I plan to finish the current chapter tomorrow.

I have plenty of tools now to aid in my writing. Two weeks ago, my husband made me a removable table surface for my exercise bike so I can exercise while I’m writing. A week ago, I got my additional materials for my alcove—a super comfortable recliner, which has already seen significant use, and the final original cover art for Ranger’s Odyssey!

The cover looks magnificent up close, and I immediately asked my husband to pick up a nice frame for it (there was a sale, so I already have the frame waiting for Realm of Chaos). The cover art is hung, and I spent a few hours talking with the artist about Realm of Chaos, so she can get a head start on the next cover. We picked out colors to be sure to get the characters right, and we looked through various references to make sure she had everything she needed to get started. She got her last supplies this weekend, so she’ll be starting on the cover soon.

Another thing started last weekend was my very own Viking shield. My dad cut the center hole for the boss, because we don’t have a jigsaw. Throughout the week this past week, I stained the wood—it was supposed to be a reddish wood, but it turned out a pretty brown instead. This weekend, I put the rest of the shield together (while sitting in my comfy chair in my alcove). I painted the Tales of Ambergrove logo on it, cut leather strips for the edge and nailed them on with decorative tack nails, attached my handle—complete with a strap to sling it on my back—sheared nails down to size, and, finally, hammered the center boss on. I’m so excited to have been able to do something so amazing mostly by myself. I was a little concerned that the boss covering the cross of the A would make the letter indiscernible, but I love it the way it is.

Moving forward, I’m spending a lot of time in my room, sitting in my comfortable chair and looking across the room to the cover art for Ranger’s Odyssey while I work on Realm of Chaos. Very soon, I’ll be beginning the publishing process. Just a little more than five weeks left. I can’t wait! Until next time, adventurers!

It has been a fortnight since last I … hang on. That’s not what we’re doing here.

Welcome to my second blog! So much has happened since I created the website. I’ve spent a large portion of the last two weeks working on my review of Ranger’s Odyssey. At this point, I am down to one final, final, final-for-real-this-time review. The publishing process begins in SIXTY DAYS, so I’m planning one more read-through in mid-September. This will be a semi-formatted version for the entire review, so it will be more like reading the final book.

Speaking of more like the final book … today, I made a “baby book.” I received a near-complete update of the cover art for Ranger’s Odyssey, so I decided to make my own little mock-up of the cover. Upon printing it (and freaking out), I discovered that the cover I’d printed was exactly the size of an unopened package of index cards. A few folds and some tape later, and I have the most adorable baby book. I’m so excited about it, and it’s just made me so much less patient for NEXT MONTH when my book begins the publishing process. See a sneak peek of my mock-up* below. I’m hoping I can keep similar style conventions for the titles on all my book covers.

Two more weeks until I’m supposed to receive the completed cover. I’m hoping nothing prevents the talented cover artist from making the trip. She is also bringing some other things from my hometown, including a very comfortable recliner for while I’m working on Realm of Chaos in my alcove, a large frame to hang the original cover artwork in my alcove, and plans for a convertible picnic bench—so I can sit on my porch with the wild bunnies on nice days.

I spent the past couple days organizing my artisan alcove. I hung some fairy lights in a spiral on the ceiling and made room for my new recliner, among other things. It definitely adds to the experience. I have a forest tapestry, earthy tones, and a Celtic knot border. It will be magical to write up there once I have a comfy chair. I may add some pictures in a later blog—once I have my new chair.

Tomorrow, I will be resuming work on Realm of Chaos. I’ll be chugging along with Realm of Chaos until I receive the final cover art for Ranger’s Odyssey (when I will temporarily lose my mind), and then resume again until mid-September (when I break for my anniversary and my final-for-real-this-time review of Ranger’s Odyssey).

Until next time, adventurers!

Few things are scarier at face value than the thought of trying something new.

Hello, future readers! This is my first ever blog post. In just a few short months, I’ll be able to share my first Ambergrove tale with you. This book was ten years in the making, and I cannot be more excited to finally see it on its way to publication.

There’s a lot of news at this time. I intend to blog here at least once a month with an update of the publishing process for book one and my progress on book two. If you’re interested in my “Today in Ambergrove” updates, please be sure to like my Facebook page.

Today in Ambergrove, I put the basic website together. There are still things I want to change, but I have to do a little WordPress research before I can add more bells and whistles (or just change the color scheme). I also cleaned up the worldmap a little and came up with options for towns. I didn’t want to just label the locations the characters go to; I want you to have an adventure while you read. I’m hoping to finalize my worldmap tomorrow.

After the map is finalized, all that’s left for Ranger’s Odyssey is one final edit. One edit and a lot of waiting. I should be able to finish my editing this weekend, so I’ll be back to working on Realm of Chaos next week. I’ll probably also take some time then to work on tweaking the website and providing updates that are more than “I did this thing and I’m so excited!” Until then … I did this thing and I’m so excited!