Follow Friday: Favorite Thanksgiving Food! (Yea!)

Gain new followers and make new friends with the Book Blogger Feature & Follow! If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers -- but you have to know -- the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me.

The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee's View and Alison of Alison Can Read. Each host will have their own Feature Blog and this way it'll allow us to show off more new blogs!

How does this work? First you leave your name here on this post, (using the linky tools -- keep scrolling!) then you create a post on your own blog that links back to this post (easiest way is to just grab the code under the #FF picture and put it in your post) and then you visit as many blogs as you can and tell them "hi" in their comments (on the post that has the #FF image). You follow them, they follow you. Win. Win. Just make sure to follow back if someone follows you!

What's your favorite Thanksgiving Day food?

I think I gotta go with the pies! I usually contribute side dishes and desserts to the family dinner. (Our family dinners include 30+ people). I did the classic banana and chocolate cream, plus my famous pumpkin desert. I've never been big on pumpkin pie. (Yes, throw tomatoes if you must) Having a sweet tooth, I just need sweeter things in order to consider them a real desert, so I made up my own pumpkin desert recipe, and the entire fam loves it! It's a layer of graham cracker crust, a cream cheese layer over that, and then the pumpkin/pudding layer. Basically it's vanilla pudding, flavored with pumpkin puree, and heavy on the spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. So, it's a sweet and spicy pumpkin desert, cooled by the cream cheese, and it's a huge hit! That's what's in the square pan. And then there's the peanut butter cream pie. That's actually different this year. I usually contribute a peanut-butter pie, but I used a different recipe this year.

So, what's your favorite Thanksgiving food?

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Thoughts for Thursday: Thanksgiving Edition

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Thoughts for Thursday is a feature hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.  In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!

Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired!

Welcome to the Thanksgiving edition of this feature! Here are some great thoughts on the holiday. Feel free to chime in with your own! I'd love to hear'em! :D (For even more quotes, visit my other blog.)

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Hump Day Humor + NaNo Updates

Hello Everyone! I hope you're all having a great week! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving (A-whoo-hoo!) and I'm baking up a storm, but looking forward to this great holiday with the family!

So, three orders of business today:

1) NaNo Updates. I'm at 46,453 words in November, which puts me at 60,147 words for my novel overall. I've written 15 out of 23 chapters, and have three days to write 3,547 words. Will the book be done at 50, 000 words? Um...no. Even I can't get through eight chapters in 3,500 words. I'm thinking will be more in the 70,000-90,000 range, but by the time November is over, I'll have most of it. (Yippee!)

2) Here's some Hump Day Humor to get you through to Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

I bet he only eats 'Dark' meat!

3) Looking for some great Thanksgiving stories? A couple of years ago now, one of my stories (a true one, as it were) was accepted for a Thanksgiving anthology called Thanksgiving Tales, edited by Brian Jaffe. You can find both the print and kindle versions HERE on Amazon, and Amazon prime members can read it for free. I make no money on the sale, but have read most of the stories in it myself, and they range from funny to touching. My story, if anyone is interested, is called Hill vs. Hill vs. Hill. It chronicles our yearly family football game. Let's just say, hilarity generally ensues.

Anyway, I'll be doing a Thanksgiving edition of Thoughts for Thursday tomorrow, but I know plenty of people will be off the net, so if you won't be online tomorrow, let me wish you the Happiest of Thanksgiving holidays!

Cheers!

Will you be online on Thanksgiving Day?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Things I'm Thankful For

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list  that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Top 10 Things I'm Thankful For (Bookish or Not) 

Mine will only partially be bookish. In no particular order:

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Creepy Elevator Video: The Elisa Lam Case

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So I came across a seriously crime tidbit this past week and thought I'd share it today. But first, NaNoWriMo updates!

As of yesterday, I've written 39,460 words for NaNo, which equals 53,154 words for my book, Desolate Mantle. I'm going to press through and try to hit the 50,000 word count this week, which means I have 10,000 words to write in the next five days. Participating writers can start uploading their manuscripts for validation today. I'm not done yet, but I hope to finish by the 30th. Wish me luck!

(P.S. If anyone's looking for some great Thanksgiving stories, check out this anthology. I don't make any money on the sale of it, but I do have a story in there entitled Hill vs. Hill vs. Hill about our annual family football game. All the stories in it are pretty great.)

Did you know...

About a girl named Elisa Lam who was killed in L.A. in February of this year? It seems I'm a bit late to this story, but I stumbled across the security cam footage which has gone viral on internet since it was first released. And it's seriously creepy!

The facts: 

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5 Tips for Staying the Course for NaNoWriMo

http://nanowrimo.org/dashboard

We're more than half way through the month and, if many of you are like me, your behind on your word count and overwhelmed at thoughts of catching up and/or trying to finish your novel in the next 10 days. I feel ya. I can't seem to get caught up to what my word count needs to be, but I'm trying hard! So, here are some tips for pushing through and hitting your goals.

1. Re-structure your goals. Especially if you're behind, look at what you have left to do and what the rest of your month looks like. Maybe adjust the daily word count or try to squeeze in some extra sessions. 

2. Re-think your schedule. You might consider going without a couple of hours sleep here or there, or just cancelling something else you have planned. If so far, something or some time you've planned to write didn't work out, there's a good chance it won't work out again over the next couple of weeks. 

3. Review your outline. Sometimes, no matter how much passion you have for your project, after days of wallowing in it and forcing words to come, you can get a little sick of your story. I find that going over my outline (even if it's just in my head) and picturing the story can get me hyped up about it again. Which translates into more words.

4. Remind yourself of your end-game. Maybe the next 10 Days will be difficult, but you will be 50,000...lets emphasize that: 50,000 words closer to finishing your book. Keep your eye on the prize!

5. Ask for family and friend support. Tell your spouse or kids not to let you get distracted until your words for today are written. Have them help keep you accountable. You could always bribe the kiddos with something like, "we can't go to the park until mommy/daddy finishes their work." Maybe that will get you some quiet time. You never know!

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6. Don't be afraid to reward yourself. I'm certainly not above bribing myself to hit my word count. If I find my motivation lacking, I tell myself I can eat some chocolate, but not until I hit my daily goal. It really does work. Find out what works for you. Food? A walk? A favorite TV show? Do what it takes to hit your word count.

7. Give yourself a break. I don't know how everyone else is structuring their NaNo, but I don't write every single day. But if you DO, and one morning you just feel like you can't, and no motivation helps, don't be afraid to take a day off. Granted, you may have to write more later to make up your missed words, but taking a day off may re-charge your batteries enough to make it happen. Besides, burning yourself out completely won't get your novel written any sooner.

8. Watch this video. It's geared toward athletics, but will make you feel like you can do anything and everything on earth. (courtesy of youtube.com)

9. And this one from the LDS Storymakers Conference! It will make you want to write. A lot. FOREVER!!! (courtesy of youtube.com)

10.  Just do it! Yeah, it's the Nike logo. And lots of athletes use it. But in truth, it goes for any goal and any profession. No matter how hard it is or how much you need a break, just stop complaining and do it. 

Do YOU have any tips for pushing through NaNoWriMo?

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Quick NaNo Update and Link!

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Just a quick NaNo update today. I do have a Top Ten Tuesday post HERE if you want to read it or join our blog hop. This week's topic is top ten book recommendations. (What are yours?)

As of yesterday, I've written 27,605 words this month for NaNoWriMo, which puts me at 41, 299 for the novel all together. I broke 40,000 yesterday! A-whoo-hoo! 

How's everyone else's NaNo going?

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Historical Fiction Lovers Read This!

Happy Monday, Everyone! 

I have two orders of business today 1) NaNoWriMo Updates and 2) an invitation for historical fiction lovers!

1) NaNoWriMo is going great! I was going to give a numbers update, but I didn't get as much writing done on Desolate Mantles over the weekend as I would have liked, so I think I'll wait until tomorrow. Hehe. I've had both troubles and good things, so I suppose I'll get a post or two out of my first NaNoWriMo experience. Stay tuned!

2) As many of you know, I recently got the cover art for my forthcoming historical fiction set in Russia in the middle ages (see cover below). Citadels of Fire is set to hit shelves in May, but I should be getting ARCs for it in the next couple of months, and I'll be sending out requests for reviews.

If anyone wants to beat the hype and would like the chance to review Citadels of Fire, send me an email at lkhillbooks@gmail.com and I'll be sure to include you when the ARCs arrive. Below is a blurb so you can decide if it's for you. I look forward to hearing from anyone interested!

Well, have a great Monday, and a great week, everyone! Happy NaNoWriMo!

In a world where power is paid for in blood, no one ever aspires to more than what they were born to, and danger hides in plain sight, Inga, a maid in the imperial Russian palace, must find the courage to break the oppressive chains she’s been bound with since birth.

Inga’s life in sixteenth century Russia is bleak until a man she crossed paths with as a child returns to the Kremlin.  Taras is convinced his mother’s death when he was a boy was no mere accident and has returned to try and discover what really happened, all during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the most brutal and notorious ruler ever to sit on the throne of Russia.

While Taras only finds lies and silence where he seeks truth, Inga struggles with the feelings of oppression that have plagued her for most of her life.  Taras gives her the chance to leave her loneliness behind forever, but the cost and future of such a liaison is uncertain and Inga is afraid.

Up against the social confines of the time, the shadowy conspiracies that cloak their history, and the sexual politics of the Russian imperial court, Inga and Taras must discover their past, plan for their future, and survive the brutality that permeates life within the four walls that tower over them, or they may end up like so many citizens of ancient Russia: nothing but flesh and bone mortar for the stones of the Kremlin wall.

How's everyone's Monday going?

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Hoory! It's Friday! + Nano Updates

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Happy Friday Everyone! We made it through the week! Who-hoo! 

My Follow Friday post is HERE at Musings on Fantasia if you want to see it, or join our blog hop. 

As for NaNo, as of today I've written 17, 537 words for NaNoWriMo, which puts me at 31, 231 for the novel. I've written 9 chapters out of 24. As you can see, though I'm still running a bit behind on my NaNo word count, I'm chugging right along.

How has everyone else done with NaNo this week? Got any fun weekend plans?

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Movie Review: Thor: Dark World

So my NaNoWriMo is progressing nicely. I wrote 3759 words yesterday, which puts me at 16062 words for NaNo and 29756 for Desolate Mantle. It's coming along beautifully and as I speed toward the climax, I get more and more excited about it.

Meanwhile, I actually managed to see not one but two movies this weekend. One, Thor: Dark World, is reviewed below. The other, Ender's Game, is reviewed HERE, on my other blog, if you want to check it out.

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So. Thor: Dark World is the second installment for this Marvel (not including the ensemble effort of The Avengers).

I gotta say, I loved it! I've heard some bad reviews of this one, but don't listen to them. Maybe this isn't the next Oscar contender, but it was just all kinds of fun.

This picks up two years after the fist installment (fitting) and Thor's been away from earth that long, except for the pit stop he made in New York to help his fellow Avengers. He has Heimdall, the yellow-eyed gate man, keep tabs on Jane, though, and when she mysteriously disappears from his sight, he goes to find her.

Jane has stumbled onto the dark aether (pronounced ether) and suddenly Thor has no choice but to take her to Asgard. You know, to meet the folks.

What ensues is adventure, romance, and hilarity. In short, everything expected from super hero films these days. Chris Hemsworth encapsulates the princely god wonderfully, as usual. (Who's his personal trainer, btw?). And yes, ladies, there is a shirtless moment. Tom Hiddleston returns to play Loki with that psychotic hyena smile of his, though we love him anyway. In fact, much of the comedy is due to him. Other favorites, including Jane's intern Darcy, who also has her own, unpaid intern now, return with lots of comedy. (Darcy's intern is a guy who can totally scream like a girl. Not saying more than that, though.) I think the only character I was somewhat disappointed in was Jane's. I'm not a huge Natalie Portman fan, despite liking several of her films. But I really loved her in the first Thor film. She did such a great job. Every time anything awkward happened, like hitting the hot god with her car (you'll remember it happened several times) her expressions were just priceless. There was so much endearing comedy in that, and it was almost completely done away with in this installment. She's still spunky. In fact, she gets to full-on slap both Thor and Loki across the face. It was funny, but not as effective, in my opinion as her previous, utterly mortified facial contortions. Just sayin'.

I thought the plot was great. There was plenty of angst and tragedy. We got to see more of Asgard, which was fun. Kind of like the second novel of a dystopia where you get to see more world-building? Yeah, kind of like that.

And I gotta say, I totally loved the entire Reno Russo exchange. Remember, Asgard is a place where the women are warriors, too. Even if they aren't in the army or anything, they all know how to fight. Let's just say we get to see Rene kick some serious butt, and I totally loved it!

The bad guys were pretty one-dimensional, but evil enough to be effective. I really loved the way it all played out. So, I'd definitely recommend this one to everyone. Just a fun romp with lots of eye candy, but still packs enough emotional punch to tug at you. Just remember to stay until after the credits again! There are some credits, and then an extra scene. Then you have to wait all the way until the end. After the final studio emblems and after the theater lights come on! Trust me, it's worth it. 

Describe the extra scenes in four words, you say? Okay! "Awesome kiss" ...and... "frolicking creature." Not necessarily at the same time, though.

Come on, now you have to go see it just to find out what I'm talking about, right? Well, go for it, and have fun when you do. I might just have to go see it again myself. :D

Has anyone else seen Thor? What did you think of it?

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NaNoWriMo Updates + Updates on Book 2!

I didn't mention it yet, I don't think, but I'm trying to finish the second book in my Street Games series for NaNo. I'd started writing it before November, but I only had about 5,000 words. I think it will be longer than 55,000--more in the 70-90,000 range, but I think I can finish it, or if not that, come very close.

I'm tentatively calling book 2 Desolate Mantle.

Yesterday, I wrote 4898 words, which puts me at 12303 for NaNo and 25,997 for the novel. 

Here's the info on book 1, Dark Remnants. It's currently priced at $0.99, though that will probably change when I finish book 2.  You can get it on Amazon, B&N, or Smashwords.

      In the most dangerous city in the country, one controlled by a sadistic gang called the Sons of Ares, Kyra Roberts is searching the deep places for someone…
      Kyra has come to Abstreuse city to find someone she’s lost, but walking the underbelly—a dark alley system residents call the Slip Mire—even in disguise, is rife with dangers. Kyra must stay on her toes if she intends to live. After crossing paths several times with the same detective, she wonders if his work and hers might be connected.
      Gabe Nichols has worked homicide in Abstreuse for three years. Dead prostitutes and gang violence are part of the night shift. When a woman who looks like a street junkie but acts like an intellectual saves his life, he’s intrigued. Another woman shows up at his crime scene, and Gabe’s instincts kick into high gear when she clams up. Two cases involving strange women who won’t tell what they know are too coincidental.
     If Gabe and Kyra can’t find a way to collaborate, they may not live to see the sunrise. Doomed, like so many others, to become gray, unmarked graves in a forgotten fracture of the Slip Mire.

How's everyone else doing with their NaNoWriMo projects?

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It's Monday! What does YOUR week look like? (And NaNo Updates)

Good Monday Morning, All! I hope everyone had a safe, wonderful weekend. I was quite busy, though happily, I managed to accomplish plenty of work and also play a little. My sister and I did some early Christmas shopping and tons of holiday planning, but we also saw not one, but two films Yea! I don't think I've been to the movies since the summer. The last thing I remember seeing in the theaters was The Great Gatsby, and that was quite some time ago!

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Anyway, this post is just to say good morning, wish everyone a great week, and also say that my posts for the rest of the month will probably more sparse than usual. I don't think I mentioned it at all last week, but I"m participating in NaNoWriMo. I had a fairly normal posting schedule last week, but that's only because I wrote up most of last week's posts days before NaNo started. Now, I'm in the thick of it, already behind on my word count, and the holidays are coming at us faster than I can believe.

So...if I'm a bit absent over the next few weeks--less commenting, less interaction, and the like--that's why. I may do simple, paragraph-long posts each day to give updates on NaNo and other small things, but that's all. For right now, I have 7,405 words written. A bit behind, as you can see (I should have roughly double that by now) but I hope to get caught up this week. Wish me luck! So, everyone have a great week, good luck to everyone participating in NaNo, and wish me luck as well!

Cheers! :D

Anyone else doing NaNo? How's it going?

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Thoughts for Thursday: Gratitude

Thoughts for Thursday is a new feature hosted by Musings on Fantasia and LKHill.  In this meme, we share thoughts or quotes that we know or have recently come across. Each week there is a specific subject or theme. These can be quotes from books, quotes by famous people, (quotes by YOU, perhaps ;D). Anything from anywhere is game, though we do ask that you keep your quote to a few sentences at most. Don't quote, for example, entire passages of a book or essay. These can be funny quips, cool sayings, hair-raising antidotes, movie lines, any kind of quote you can think of!

Just have fun, collect awesome sayings by awesome people, and try to be inspired!

I can't believe the holiday are upon us! Where has the year gone? I'll probably do a special Thanksgiving T4T, but today I thought I might just focus on Gratitude in general, since we all ought to practice it all through the holidays.  (For even more quotes, visit my other blog.)

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Citadels of Fire Cover Reveal!!!

A whaw-hoo! It's finally arrived! The cover art for Citadels of Fire, Book 1 of the Kremlins trilogy. Citadels of Fire is slated for release on May 27, 2014. This has been SO long in coming. For details on why I've been waiting for four years to see this cover, read THIS POST.

Meanwhile, without further ado, here is the Citadels of Fire cover and description. Below is the original press release from Jolly Fish Press, Inc. I'd appreciate all the help I can get in sharing, tweeting, and posting this cover! Hope everyone loves it as much as I do! 

In a world where power is paid for in blood, no one ever aspires to more than what they were born to, and danger hides in plain sight, Inga, a maid in the imperial Russian palace, must find the courage to break the oppressive chains she’s been bound with since birth.

Inga’s life in sixteenth century Russia is bleak until a man she crossed paths with as a child returns to the Kremlin.  Taras is convinced his mother’s death when he was a boy was no mere accident and has returned to try and discover what really happened, all during the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the most brutal and notorious ruler ever to sit on the throne of Russia.

While Taras only finds lies and silence where he seeks truth, Inga struggles with the feelings of oppression that have plagued her for most of her life.  Taras gives her the chance to leave her loneliness behind forever, but the cost and future of such a liaison is uncertain and Inga is afraid.

Up against the social confines of the time, the shadowy conspiracies that cloak their history, and the sexual politics of the Russian imperial court, Inga and Taras must discover their past, plan for their future, and survive the brutality that permeates life within the four walls that tower over them, or they may end up like so many citizens of ancient Russia: nothing but flesh and bone mortar for the stones of the Kremlin wall.

JFP Press Release:

PROVO, UT—Jolly Fish Press (JFP) is proud to announce the successful acquisition of L. K. Hill's stunning historical novel, Citadels of Fire, the first installment in Kremlins, a three-book series depicting the rise and fall of fifteenth-century Russia under the violent rule of Ivan the Terrible. 

Following the literary traditions of Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth and Tracy Chevalier's Girl with a Pearl Earring, Citadels of Fire chronicles the unexpected turn of events that transpire within the walls of the Kremlin through the eyes of a palace maid as she is unwillingly pulled into the dangerous web of political espionage, royal scandals, rebellion, and savage wars, in her pursuit of love and a better life outside of the palace walls. 

In Citadels of Fire, Hill captures the grandeur of Russia in her meticulous description of a country that is both breathtaking and desolate, leaving the reader with the appetite for more, yet the fear of what comes next.Hill has a degree from Weber State University, and has won numerous writing awards, including garnering first place in the 2011 League of Utah Writer Writing Contest. Citadels of Fire is slated for a Fall 2013 release. (Source)

What do you think of the cover art for Citadels of Fire?

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Citadels of Fire--A Four-Year Wait for Cover Art: My Road to Publication

I finally got the cover art for the first installment of my historical fiction trilogy! (YEAH!) I'm doing a cover reveal on Wednesday on this blog and several others, so be sure to drop by and see it. It's kind of surreal, given how long it's all taken.

Let me explain. No. Is too much. Let me sum up.

Kremlins was the first full-length book I ever wrote. I remember that I graduated collect in December of 2009 and had finished the manuscript by then. I wanted to have a finished, full-length manuscript read to peddle as soon as I had my diploma. 

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At the time, it was entirely too long and terribly written, as all first manuscripts are. But it was a passion project for me, and one I dearly wanted to see published. Most writers complete a handful of books before they gain enough skill to actually be considered for publication by a traditional publishing house. It's common to hear a writer talk about their first book, and how terrible it was, and how eventually they realize how un-publishable it is and move on to other things.

That's probably what I should have done, just based on how terrible I know the writing was, but I loved the story. I very much wanted to share it to the world. Because of that, every time I learned something new, or found a way to fix a weakness in my writing, I re-edited the manuscript. I must have done it fifteen times. I also, somewhere in this time, I divided the manuscript into three parts. A trilogy, to make it more publishable.

Eventually, I had a fairly well-polished first book. It was picked up by Jolly Fish Press last year. Originally, it was supposed to be published in September, 2013. As the date got nearer, it got pushed back to October. Then, it got pushed back again. The first push was just a logistically thing. The second was because of the partnership of Jolly Fish and the international distributor IPG. (See my full post on the ramifications of that partnership HERE.)

So now, Citadels of Fire is set to be released in May of 2014, which a much more far-reaching distribution than originally planned. (Again, YEA!) And, finally, after all this time. I have cover art. Not that I'm entirely objective, or anything, but let me assure you: It's AMAZING!

Come back on Wednesday to get the first look at it!

What do you think of my publishing journey? Has anyone else waited so long for cover art?

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