Devilish Details

I had really hoped to be able to share the final cover art for EOLYN with you this week, but we just aren't quite there yet.  As they say, the devil is in the details, and the details right now are being particularly devilish.  Well, maybe next week.  In the mean time, I'm posting this little image of Ghemena's cottage in the South Woods, where Eolyn and Akmael first met. This is from one of Jesse's early sketches back in December.  We had thought perhaps to use something like this for the back cover, but eventually abandoned the idea in favor of. . . Well, you'll just have to stay tuned to find out. 

Speaking of devilish details, I've finished proofing the ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) of EOLYN and today I've been reviewing my proposed edits (that is, proofing my proofs) before sending them off to Hadley Rille editor Eric Reynolds.  I found about a hundred edits, most of them very nitpicky -- a word here, a phrase there.  (What can I say?  A manuscript is never truly 'done' for any author!)  But overall the novel is in great shape.  I am so looking forward to having the final print version in my own hands!

This past week, the blog for EOLYN topped 4000 page views. Hooray!  I've seen countries all over the world show up on the audience list -- basically, every continent except Antarctica has been represented, and several island nations have appeared as well. The top three visitors, country-wise, are the United States, the United Kingdom and Costa Rica. I'm really happy to see my adopted country right up there at the top. Way to go, Ticos!  Pura vida.


For those of you who are curious, the top three posts in terms of number of visits are

The Nutcracker Prince and the Mouse King, which talks about how this classic by E.T.A. Hoffman has influenced me as a story teller.

Epic Love -- one of my favorites, too!  The title is self-explanatory; if you haven't read it yet please do.

Full Circle with DHS, which is a reflective piece about my interaction with one of my writers groups, the Dead Horse Society, during the crafting of this novel.

In looking at other people's favorites, I've been thinking about my favorite posts as well.  Nutcracker Prince and Epic Love are definitely near the top, along with pretty much anything I've written about Magic.  But I think my personal favorite is The Boy by the River, an audio recording I posted of the first time Eolyn and Akmael met in the South Woods.

Speaking of magic, I have a new page for you this week:  Magic in Moisehen, which provides a directory of all the posts that I've written about magic so far. 

Well, as you can judge by my meandering, I don't really have a specific topic this week.  (Guess I was counting a little too much on the cover art idea. . .)  But while we're talking about favorites, I'm curious to ask:  Those of you who have followed this blog more-or-less regularly, which posts have been your favorites?  And why? 

Please leave your comments below.  I'm looking forward to hearing from you.