Today’s the day! Do I get excited too easily? Maybe. But here’s why. Cleo Darkrose has been my friend for a very long time. I walk a line between being relieved to just introduce her to the world and let King of Spades go and start getting the next book ready…and also being very happy to release KOS. Last night I was having dinner with some friends and one was talking about how amazing it was to find out all of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books and stories were parts of a world he created. The elaborately thought out structures of culture, locations, the people/beings and interactions etc. were something she thought was incredible. I am not J.R.R Tolkien but I can tell you, that there is a massive Darkrose world too. I assume most authors, particularly those who write books in a series, have a giant world they have created and visit even when not writing. I think it is like the image of an iceberg that floats around Facebook with various commentary written on it. Like this;

All the research on a topic, the planning, the setting out of that world the author creates all exists. I know, regarding myself, I’d love to get it out so people could understand and love these characters and situations like I do but what actually gets said (or typed) is nowhere near reflective of the amount of research, thought and effort in creating what gets read. In addition, the preparation in getting a book ready and learning the ins and outs of arriving at this stage has been one of the steepest learning curves I’ve hiked. This instalment is just the beginning and I hope to show Cleo’s world in time. I am so excited and happy to see it finally be released.  

♠ King of Spades is now available at

Available at;

ITUNES

BOOK DEPOSITORY

KOBO

BOOKTOPIA

BOOKS A MILLION

BARNES AND NOBLE

EBOOKMALL

Today I was excited to see that Book Depository was selling the paperback version of King of Spades on preorder!  The two descriptions of the book were combined (short version and long version) so it doesn’t read as well as I’d like but it is super exciting. I hope the cover is also loaded up in a few hours. We are FIVE days out from release.

The second trailer was also released on Youtube. It contains scenes that happen in the book! Yes there are speedboats, yes there is a copter ride over a city, yes there is a mob of excited fans, an airfield and an amazing desert.

  I opened the package on camera, the way the cool kids do on Youtube… Then I dropped it, ripped the packaging wrong, the camera fell and then it stopped recording. (I am awesome.) Was it exciting getting it though? Yes, but not the way I thought. I thought I’d cry or pass out because it’s been such a long time coming but I didn’t. This was possibly because I have repeatedly seen the cover everywhere; my desktop background (since April 2017,) my phone wallpaper, printed out next to my computer, glued in my appointment diary and so on… I was allowed a lot of input into the colour scheme, fonts, elements in the background on the cover (and more) after being extremely fortunate and blessed to find a extraordinarily talented and accommodating designer. Seeing it in my hand in 3D was fun and my furry child, Dom, even reviewed the overall product in his unique and fancy feline way the first night I had it. Getting a Proof Copy to check over is exciting and also one of the last times your work is just yours before you put it out for everyone else to read. It is the last time you get to check for errors in formatting or other. I reeealllly recommend doing this if your publisher gives you an option because you can also see how the cover works and if the colours are to your liking or if they turned out the way your printer made it look online etc. It also lets you have a better chance to decide if you want the cover to be matte or glossy. King of Spades has a matte finish and literally feels like material or velvet. It’s awesome. I tried not to get carried away with the first (almost complete) tangible version of King of Spades. I had to write “PROOF COPY”  in pen on the inside cover to remind myself that it’s important…but no one else will see it or know that it fell off the desk while open and pages were creased or that I had it in the car and elbowed it while it was on the console and dog-eared the cover. Or that my cat tried eating it…  🙂 I cannot wait to finish and release the next Darkrose novels and see what else we can come up with.   *Reading this back to myself…I realise I am clumsy AF.     -Ever