I’ve just looked back at the date of my last blog post and wow, how did two months go by? It’s been a crazy summer, what with editing one novel and writing another, working with a new artist for Chronicles of Alsea artwork, settling in with a new publisher, and trying not to completely abandon my family in the process. (Opinions vary as to my success in that last one.)
I left my previous publisher early this year and was delighted to join up with Heartsome Publishing, a boutique outfit that embraces the “boutique” part of the name. They do not want to acquire a large stable of authors, but are instead focused on fully developing a small number of hand-picked authors.
In keeping with that, they found a fabulous cover artist for me and I could not be more pleased with the cover of Book Six in the Chronicles of Alsea: OUTCASTE.
With my prior publisher, cover art design was frequently an exercise in disappointed hopes. What I saw in my head was so much richer than what ended up on the covers (though I really like the cover for Vellmar the Blade — and it’s probably not a coincidence that it was the easiest one to produce).
It is of course extremely bad form for an author to say, “This cover is not what I envisioned, but it’s what I have to run with.” And I’ve heard horror stories about authors having no say whatsoever in their cover designs, so I was grateful to even have a voice.
For Outcaste, I not only had a voice, I had a cover artist who apparently looked inside my head, saw what I envisioned, and then created an even better version. It is, in a word, gorgeous. It’s a cover designed for mainstream science fiction/fantasy, which is where this book belongs. And it is beautifully emblematic of the journey our main character takes through this epic story.
Head on over to my author page on the Heartsome Publishing site to read the blurb and get a teaser of what this book is about. If you’re an e-book reader, you can pre-order a copy right there. If you prefer the paperback, I’ll be posting the Amazon link once that goes live just before the actual release — which is roaring right up on October 27.
And now back to my art production…just wait ’til you see the new Shield of Alsea.
Wonderful news!
Looking forward to getting my paperback copy
WooHoo, great news. I had just been thinking that you mentioned another book was in the process of being written and was hoping it might be published before Christmas. Love the cover of the new book, glorious colours! I have to say though that I love the covers of all the Alsea chronicles.
I will be getting the kindle version as soon as it is available, but I love the Alsea books so much I am also buying the real book versions as well. I stIll need books 4 & 5 but they are on my wish list for Christmas and I will be adding this new book to the list too.
Thank you for sharing your imagination with us, I love immersing myself in the worlds you build 🙂
You’re welcome, and thank you for the lovely comment! …and there’s another book in progress, so you can look forward to more immersion…
You are amazing, just about to publish one book and already another is on the boil. I look forward to it 🙂
BTW there is no mention of book 6 on the Chronicles of Alsea blog.
Me too. 🙂 Re: the Chronicles of Alsea blog…I’ve had to walk away from that due to leaving my prior publisher and being unwilling to pay the price they were charging for the site and its art. I’m currently building a new site with redone (and very professional) art. So this is the only blog currently being updated, and when the new site goes live, I’ll probably fold this into it.
Seriously, this is as bad as waiting for a Game of Thrones season to start. I wish I could forget about it until Wednesday. And yeowza! 598 Kindle pages according to Amazon!?! Bloody hell, Ms. DeLancey! Talk about bang for your buck!
Actually, no, it’s more like waiting for Harry Potter 7 and standing in Borders at 01:00 in the morning to get it. And then reading bit by bit and putting the book down reluctantly at 04:00, because you’re afraid it’s going to be over too soon.
I cannot think of a higher compliment. 🙂 And I do strive to give bang for the buck!
I might be a little bit behind in my reading but I love this cover and will need to get back into it. Great work and I’m sure Outcaste is amazeballs
It’s possible I could be slightly biased, but…yes it is!
The new cover is great. I love it. Much better than the previous ones… if i’m honest.
Looking forward to it…
Oh, I like it better than the previous ones, too. It has a lot more depth and snap. No need to worry about being honest!
🙂 I agree. Thanks!
guess i’m in the minority, but i liked the other covers. and i’m not sure i like this one at all. as soon as i saw it, i knew it was by a different artist. i’m not saying it’s bad, but i did like the consistency from book to book. in cover design for a series, that’s important.
as for the Chronicles site, lesson to all authors: do not let your publisher control those sort of things! change publishers, and boom, it becomes problematic for you.
anyway, i look forward to reading book six.
p.s. on the new site, don’t let the header be so big.
I agree about consistency, and am looking forward to eventually redoing all of the covers as the rights revert back to me.
As for the website — perhaps the more relevant lesson is, do not believe it when your publisher gives you a verbal agreement that the site is yours, and puts you in charge of updates to it. Verbal agreements can dissolve into demands that the author purchase the site upon leaving. I chose to rebrand instead. All of the art going up on the new site is mine, as are the domains. (And no, the header won’t take up half the page.)
by the way, i LOVE your author photo!
Thank you!
Yippee! A new story. I already pre-ordered on my kindle. I agree the Vellmar the Blade was my favorite cover of your old ones.
Any chance your fans could talk you into attending the World Science Fiction Convention in 2018? I would love to see more variety in the attending authors. I love the universe you have created and think it stacks up with any other Scifi book out there. I for one enjoy a little romance in my scifi, or a lot scifi with my romance. 🙂
Hmm, San Jose…but in 2019 it’s in Dublin! That one is tempting.
00:07 and Outcaste has arrived! I would do a happy dance but I’ve two cats on my knee and can’t move.
7 minutes after midnight is pretty good timing! Also, I commend your understanding of your personal importance relative to your cats.
WooHoo, my Kindle version of Outcast has already arrived too. The hard copy is on my Christmas list. I have recently finished re-reading the entire series in preparation and will be diving straight in. I love Alsea and wish I could be like Lhyn and move there, it is such a wonderful world.
There are days when I want to move there, too. They’re coming more often now… Enjoy the read!
emailed your gmail account.
I left Gmail a few years ago; that account is long since defunct. Please use my contact page here.
I Finished outcast last night – now lost already. Brilliant storyline – totally enjoyed it and would like more please.
Thank you for telling me! — and the “more” is already drafted…because I’m lost, too, when I finish a book.
Love your books and have spent many many enjoyable hours reading and immersing myself in the world you have created. I have to say this latest book made me go through a whole range of emotions. I was very uncomfortable with certain choices the main character made to survive at the start, but glad I persevered through that. If I have one criticism though, it’s how ‘dumb’ the main character became when she made certain choices. You portrayed her as being really smart in terms of learning, but then she just got really dumb. Like lost any ability to think critically, dumb. Still not sure if I buy the reasoning behind that.
I’m glad you persevered, too. As for Rahel’s poor decisions…it’s possible to be very smart and still make stupid or impulsive decisions, for any number of reasons. I see that around me in the real world every day. Would that it were otherwise!
Can’t believe I missed the release of Outcast! Probably because of the new publisher, my absence on tweeter and lots of other things going on in real life. Heading over to get the ebook right now. Hardcopy will follow later. One of you greatest fans! Linda aka jaguarlogdrum
Thank you! And sorry you missed it, but now you get the joy of not having to wait. By the way, there’s a revised Caphenon out, too…
revised Caphenon? i bought it before on Kindle, so how do i get the new version? thanks!
By buying it on Kindle, if that’s still what you’re using. It is a completely new book — new publisher and entirely revised text along with the new cover art (and a new opening battle scene). Therefore it was not simply a matter of changing a few sentences and uploading the updated version. This is The Caphenon as I would have written it had I possessed the skills then that I do now. It’s worth it! 🙂
to be honest, i’m not all that thrilled to have to buy it again (budget), BUT since i do enjoy you’re writing, i’ll add it to my list. will you be re-writing the whole series?
Oh, you never *have* to buy it again — the original edition is always yours to keep. (But I recommend putting it on your device or better yet, keeping a backup copy on your computer, just to guard against Amazon shenanigans. Never have your only book copies solely on the Amazon cloud.)
The revised edition is the result of hundreds of hours of loving labor on my part, plus commissioning an artist for the new cover art. I can’t give it away for free. But I can tell you it’s a much better book!
Regarding the others, I don’t plan to rewrite them, but I do have to republish with new covers because the old ones belong to my previous publisher.
and i see great new cover art!!
of course, i meant YOUR, and not you’re!
Just read your new battle chapters which are fantastic. I was really holding my breath there. From reading the previous version of the books I knew it was too soon for the ground pounders to land and that Ekatya would win, nevertheless I was on tenterhooks. I loved the tatic of rotating the ship to fire from the other side sooner and it was great reading all Ekatya’s battle decisions. I have yet to read any further into the story as it is not long since I read the old version, but will definitely be returning to it before too long. I too would be interested in knowing if you are going to be revising any others in the series as I am in the process of buying real copies of the books. I have the all the kindle books and Books 1 & 2 in real book copies but I will hold off buying any more if they might be changed soon. I love the new cover for Book 1, but have to say I have a great fondness for the covers of Bks 2, 3, & 4 in particular.
Thank you for the lovely words! I thoroughly enjoyed writing that battle scene, both for the sheer action and for the chance to show Ekatya in her element.
As I mentioned to trinityta, I do have to create new covers for books 1-5. Like you, I loved the concept of the two WAF covers — my wife and I created that together — but the implementation never quite matched what we were “seeing” in our minds. Hopefully my new artist can come up with something brilliant to stay with the same theme while incorporating the new shield concept.
Thank you for your reply. That is good to know, now I can plan accordingly. Since I have the original covers on Kindle, I shall probably wait for the new hard copy covers and that way I shall have both. If it is the same artist as this 1st new one I am sure she will come up with something good.
You must be working very hard at the moment between revising your series, sorting new covers, writing new books and sorting your new website so although I am only one of your readers I do thank you for all your work and for creating such a wonderful world in which I can immerse myself.
i second this message!
🙂 Thank you, trinityta!
Riversong, thank you so much for these kind words. They were a welcome boost on a day where I was having a hard time getting myself moving!
Finished Outcaste and thoroughly enjoyed it. Re-reading the Catalyst now. Love the new Caphenon cover! Will definitely chack out the revised version. Book 7 in the making? Thank you for creating these wonderful worlds!
Book 7 is done, actually! And off to the beta readers. So glad you enjoyed Outcaste, because Book 7 is all about Rahel learning to fit in on the Phoenix, and the adventure everyone gets pulled into…
what is is called, and how come i’m not on your beta reader list?!
“Resilience.” And I’ll keep you in mind should any of my current readers ask to be replaced!
Oh how exciting, an Alsean in space. I would love to read about the Lancer and Bondlancer in space, but of course their positions are too important to allow that and it would unravel the whole story, so this is going to be the next best thing. Hopefully we will get to see Ekatya and Lhyn again too. I can’t wait for the book to be published, which I guess will probably be late this year or next year, but I will survive by reading Outcaste again.
You absolutely get to see Lhyn and Ekatya in Resilience! Plenty of them, in fact. And the book will be out this fall, so you don’t have too long to wait.
Quick question about book 7 – will there be a way to pre-order the book closer to the publishing date and, if there is, is there a way to be notified when that happens? If there’s no way to pre-order, is there a way to be notified instead of when it’s released?
In saying all this, I love your writing and not having another book in the series to read is giving me withdrawal. I finally got around to reading book 6 (I was holding off because I knew it was the last one out to date), and I read the whole thing in one day. I ignored a lot of obligations that day.
Anyway you’re great, and please let me pre-order.
Apologies for the late answer; I’m on vacation and only sporadically in wifi range.
I commend your will power in holding out on Outcaste to prolong the anticipation! (But then it kind of fell by the wayside, which I take as a great compliment.) As for pre-ordering the next one, I’m not sure I’ll be able to manage it due to shifts in the publication process, but I can promise that I’ll alert folks through this blog both to the upcoming release and then again on the actual publication date. It’s a corker, this book… 😉
Uhm check….