That’s right! My cover art for the upcoming novel, Blade of Dragons, is almost finished! Months in the making, it was a pleasure working with the cover artist. She had a keen sense for design, excellent communication, and patience with the numerous requirements I had for the project. I’ll certainly consider her again for future covers.

If interested, check out @ Cheriefox on Fiverr.

A High School Prologue

Looking back, I am reminded of this whole journey when it begun. Some daydreams I had in high school were the start. I had a fierce fascination with shows like DBZ, video games like Zelda, and movies like LoTR and Star Wars. Yes, I was quite the nerd in high school. I joined an online forum to do some fan fiction roleplaying. The roleplaying was inane and childish, but it planted the seeds in my mind for future works.

Roughing the Manuscript

It wasn’t until my twenties that I developed the finer details for the Ethereal Seals series. I had named the series Ethereal Sages since the roleplaying days, but that name didn’t sit with me.

As ideas for the worldbuilding piled up, I compiled them into online archives, which grew by the week. Once I realized the breadth of this project, I tried sewing the threads together into a short story.

I had several chapters by the end. Shocked, I reread them, pleased with the work. I had my friend read it, and there I realized something:

My worldbuilding ideas were good, but my writing skills? Horrid.

But this realm called Atlas was too vast, too beautiful to give up on. I rediscovered a passion for fictional map making, and bought a program called Wonderdraft, of which is still in use. I also began to hand sketch my characters. The creative spirit had consumed me, and I knew I had found what I wanted to do in life.

Healing and Spirituality

By the time the manuscript had been beta’d and polished, I had gotten into naturopathy and spiritual theory. The more I researched on healing and health, the more I found connections between it and my writing. It was obvious.

The healthier we are, the clearer we can think and create. Moreover, it’s known that each character in a story is a facet of the author. Like a reflection of ourselves. My writing had taken a much deeper role in my spiritual life. I began integrating messages and inspiratory scenes into my story. Gave Ethereal Seals a secondary purpose.

To empower readers with lessons that I had learned from my own life.

Then again, I now realize this is the crux of good storytelling.

Readers want to come away having enjoyed the story, having learned something. What readers crave is a story and a cast of characters they can relate to. The joy, the pain, and everything inbetween. Each good story is a retelling of our own lives; of the legacy humans live on this planet.

Life isn’t easy, and the quests of heroes should reflect that. The courage that heroes display during adversity is what every human—in their heart—desires. A hero is a role model, an archetype of the human being.

But I digress. To read more on the matter, see my articles on Good & Evil and the Hero’s Journey.

Campaigning Ahead

Things have worked out well for the novel, and with the cover art about done, I’ll need to hire a professional editor to work out some chinks in the story. With money tight as it is, I may need to push that back a bit until I can save up.

I also have a series of promotional campaigns planned for my Instagram author page, this blog, and my mailing list:

1. A buildup to my official cover reveal, which will run one to three months
2. A buildup to the story publication, an additional couple months
3. Publication, a burst of promotionals in the first month after release
4. Tapering off into a “maintenance” promotional to keep the book from fading into obscurity, as many new authors allow

To be honest, I am daunted by this aspect of writing, as social engagement has never been a strong suit. I may consider hiring an agent for freelance authors. This all depends on how kind the economy is to me in the next several months and years.

With hard work, commitment, and a little prayer, I’ll pull this off—and well. Blade of Dragons will be the first in the series of Ethereal Seals, of which the second manuscript is already drafted.

Thank you for reading. It’s through the viewership and support from readers like you that this dream is becoming reality.

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Aspectä rey’lief, fair reader, and thanks again for reading!
—Ed R. White