It’s been a while since I last posted anything. To be honest, I haven’t had any brain waves on writing, videos or anything; so I’ve nothing to share.
Still busy editing my book. Still trying to write the best query ever (which is getting a tad like water from the moon. Does it exist at all?) And this project has become a neverending saga. It’s eating up my life and my time (some enjoyable, others hair-pulling) I sure hope I’ll get to finish it. ONE day.
Still loving the characters though, I suppose that’s the main thing.
I bought an Ipad recently because Glenn almost killed me for always stealing his, ha. Since then, my life has changed. I’ve been busy… drawing! Well, I only do the easy part of copying, colouring, and shading; Glenn does the shadows (and corrections) for me. I’m still learning but wow! I must say Procreate makes it so easy. It actually feels like I could draw (which I can’t. I’m okay at photo manipulations or simple matte painting but drawing? nope).
Yet… check out my attempts here. I love how they turned out! You see, the artist friend I asked to draw for the book website kinda bailed on me, although he did two AWESOME pieces on Faziel and Jebeyan, but well, I want the others as well so the website won’t end up too text-heavy and boring. Anyway, so I decided to jump in and do it myself (I’m no Selina 🙂 but well, if anything, this is fun for me. More fun than editing and certainly a million times more fun than writing queries, ha!)
These are still work in progress but decent enough to share I think. I’ve included snippets from the book to match the artwork. What do you think?
Floating Cave
The setting sun cast an orange glow upon the huge floating mass of rock and shrubs. Faziel flew towards the moss-daubed escarpment then propelled upwards with his wings. The stunning view opened up before Haisma like a cheerful greeting: vast rolling fields peppered with pine trees and mountains. She held her breath.
“The Floating Cave, Logikan,” Faziel said. “Beautiful, aye?”
It was beautiful, but she was more amazed by the impossibility of it all. Such a perplexity it was: an island, defying gravity as if to prove it could conquer the sky. “How does it float at all?”
“Engines and enchantment alike,” he replied. “But who cares? It’s gorgeous!”
Foshmea
Haisma had always known the desert would be one hell of a journey, but she had not expected this. The sun burnt her like hot shears, sizzling through her clothes. Bright sand reflected the light and smouldered her eyes; her veil made a meagre shield against the constant sand-ridden wind.
Faziel turned moody. His steel-tinted skin could not burn, but it gave him worse: heat fever. His flesh scorched like hot iron. Nothing they could do when it hit him, but wait till he cooled down.
At night, the temperature dropped significantly, each stroke of wind like piercing ice. They would stop occasionally, for the camels and Faziel’s fever, but the howling sand never did. The wind rendered it impossible to light a fire, though Faziel’s wings made a good shelter they could not build. They spoke little and slept even less.
Jebeyan Iksmadorn
The portrait of my antagonist. I’m really pleased with how he turned out 🙂 Mind you, Glenn did all the work with the shadows, although I DID the hair and the eyes (under his instructions)
Glimpse from the book:
Jebeyan sipped his wine, studying her with that dangerous gaze. He was a… pretty man with a smile both lethal and charming. His skin was flawless, difficult to discern considering the rough lifestyle. His long dark hair twisted in finer braids than Faziel’s, spilling romantically about his face. Logikan media had once covered snippets on General Iksmadorn post his Argalon victory. Sitting here across him, Haisma realised none had done him justice. Jebeyan Iksmadorn was a bundle of captivating presence no words could ever describe.
Barion Hilimus
He’s one of my favourite characters in the book and I call him the sidekick (though he won’t be very pleased if he knows, ha) He’s a dangerous man, ruthless and graceful at the same time… although often, I meant for him to be funny, ha. I get mixed feedback on him from readers, they either get him or they don’t. Barion didn’t exist in my earlier draft, he was created after one of my faithful beta readers was ready to throw the book across the room for its horrid plot twist, lol. Anyway, Barion managed to replace four secondary characters I had, and survived the many culls that followed.
Glimpse from the book:
Something tapped her right cheek. Blurs swam in her vision until they came into focus: a face. He was just that, a face. The rest of him was black. A leather thong coiled about his wrist. She groaned when she saw the pendant hanging on it: Red Roses.
Haisma studied him: high cheek bones, tight lips, penetrating blue eyes. Those eyes. She had seen them somewhere. Was he one of Jebeyan’s men? His features suggested a Logikan descent, though in the dim light and with this terrible headache distorting her wits, it was difficult to tell.
“Haisma Perell.” Her name rolled off his tongue like a curse.
She narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”
“Nobody of consequence.” He tilted his head and asked, as though they were in the middle of a conversation, “Why did you join Iksmadorn’s band?”
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