You know you enjoy your job when the best parts of your work feel like vagancias. Here are two vagancias I indulged in this week:
Cover Design for HIGH MAGA
For me, the biggest act of self-indulgence on the way to publication is cover design.
Friends and followers of Eolyn, we are sooooo very close to having the cover art finished! I wish I could share with you every delightful piece that Thomas Vandenberg has sent my way over the past several days, but we're just going to have to wait a little longer. Because no matter how fantastic the images so far, Tom still wants to do more.
On Heroines of Fantasy this week, Terri-Lynne DeFino posted a wonderful reflection about the face of women in fantasy. Quite coincidentally, just before this post went live, Tom sent me his rendition of Eolyn. The cover for High Maga will allow us to see her face, and folks she is beautiful. Fierce. Strong. Determined. Most of all, real. Everything you want in a heroine and a maga. (And with no need for any bikini armor.)
I'd love to show you a cover preview with Eolyn's face, but my mother always told me to leave the dessert for last. So here's another appetizer:
In case you're wondering, that's the clawed forelimb of a Naether Demon, creatures summoned from the Underworld to assist the Syrnte army in their invasion of Moisehén.
I confess, all my attempts at secrecy may soon come to naught, as High Maga might get some special and unanticipated exposure in the coming weeks. If that happens, you'll be sure to hear about it. If not, stay tuned for more previews, and several weeks down the road, a full and proper cover reveal.
Promo Video for Ecology Through the Writer's Lens
My second vagancia was for my day job at Avila University. As some of you may remember, we are planning a travel course next spring that will integrate literary and scientific modes of understanding the forest. We have everything set to go; now we just need the students. Yesterday, I sat down with Windows Movie Maker and put together this simple video as a way of spreading the word about the course. It gets me excited about going back to Costa Rica; I hope it gets my students excited, too!
Those were my vagancias this week. What were yours?
