Feathered

It’s finished. Phew.

For those that have been waiting on the last Feathered book, A Feathered Child is now live at Amazon. I haven’t done the print version yet, but that will be coming soon too.

The first thing you might noticed however is that the cover doesn’t look like the original two books. Oh wait. It does now – because all of the trilogy have had a facelift.

NEW COVERS

Here they are:

I gave my designer the mockups I’d done and he recreated them with the purchased images and added the colour. At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted colour, but then looking at them altogether, I can see they really draw the eye, which I hope helps more people find them.

Anyway, you’re probably wondering what is A Feathered Child about?

Well, as you can guess from the cover and title, Ruby’s about to give birth (which she does so about 1/3 into the book).

It explores her and Zan’s fears about having a child. Not only what it means for their relationship, but how the world will react. Understandably, Ruby is scared that someone might want to take it from her, given what’s she’s already been through. Zan thinks she’s overreacting, and this creates a wedge between them.

I really wanted to grow Ruby and Zan’s relationship and bring them closer together (after all, they’ve been through a lot together), so this book is much more about their internal struggles (although there are plenty of external problems happening too).

I think it was inevitable they reach this point.

The first book was about external forces keeping them apart (Governor), the second about them learning to deal with each other and adapt to each other’s worlds, but this third really needed for both of them to come together as a whole. It was always clear that they loved and cared for each other (as well as have sizzling chemistry together), but up until now, they still acted like seperate units. This book is about them learning to become a team.

I hope you like it.

Tabitha 🙂

We’ve got a title! We’ve got a cover! We’ve got a release date!

First let’s start with the title.

Two weeks ago, I was still unsure about what I wanted to call Feathered #2. I was playing around with the idea of marriage or joining. But nothing really seemed to feel right.

After a quick brainstorming session I’ve finally found the title I love.

FEATHERED BLISS

(It’s a play on ‘wedded bliss’.) What do you think? Do you love it as much as I do? I hope so.

Now for the cover

We used the same feather detail & design from the first book. It’ll be the same for all three books (Feathered is going to be a trilogy – so one more after this).

Here is what they look like together:

Nice, right?

Release Date

The tentative Release Date for Feathered Bliss (Feathered #2) is next week. 27th June 2013.

I’m fairly sure I can hit that. Currently the book is with the editor who is 70% the way through. She should have it back to me by the end of the week. I may need to re-write a chapter or two (character inconsistency issues – bleugh), but I’ll push to get that done quickly over the weekend. Then it’s one last proofread, formatting and LIVE.

I’m really excited for this book. I think it’s my best so far!

Keep an eye out, and remember – for the first week it’ll be 0.99 cents and after that I’m putting it up to it’s regular price of $3.99.

Talk (write) soon,

Tabs 🙂

I’ve just finished the second draft and the book is with my beta reader. They should get it back to me within a week, which means it’s getting closer! After that I’ll incorporate any changes they suggest (if I agree), copy-edit, proof and format it. I’m estimating around two more weeks.

So now it’s time to finalize the title so I can give it to my cover designer. We’ve already settled on the overall image (it will use feathers like the first book, but this time in a heart shape) but we need that title nailed.

Here are my options (I won’t tell you which one I’m leaning towards):

1. A Feathered Marriage
2. A Feathered Joining
3. A Feathered Union

What do you think? Do you have a favorite?

Tabitha

P.S. 125 words from Chapter 5

Wret flew a few feet from the ground. “It’s been fascinating to watch your developments, even from afar. I suspected her dead already, truth be told. History has not been kind to women who love Volante’s.” He looked away and sighed as he closed his eyes, as if remembering something from his past.

Zan bowed his head. He knew the story. It was the reason their races had not lived in harmony. Yet. “This could change things for us, Wret. This could be the healing between the races.”

Wret shook his head. “You are willing to sacrifice your right to be with anyone you want, to be with this one?”

“I love her. I want her, always. I have wanted no other since we met.”

I finished the first draft of Feathered #2 (yet to be named) late last week. I had planned on getting the second draft done over the next two weeks before I send it to my beta readers (okay beta ‘reader’ since I only have one ;)) and then make any changes and push to final editing.

But this week went haywire!

Firstly I’ve been having total computer nightmares with my hunk a junk not switching on properly (probably due to it being over five years old – which is ancient in computer years), and that everyone in the family uses the same computer and does goodness knows what to the files (they can’t touch my files thankfully).

Yesterday I couldn’t get on the computer at all – it just wouldn’t switch on, which led to an extreme Tasmanian devil style meltdown as I called and texted my husband with all manner of cuss words.

Secondly, the inlaws are down to install a new carport. For FIVE DAYS. I cannot get any writing done when father-in-law potters around our house mumbling something about screws and pivots when I’m trying to edit a sex scene. Trust me – creepy. And mother-in-law, bless her, likes to chat – a lot. *rolls eyes*

So I’ve hung in the towel and decided there is no way I’m getting anything done for the rest of the week.

I still think I’ll be ready before the end of next month. Fingers crossed.

On a good note, I’ve been doing some online creative workshops to improve my writing skills. They’ve been excellent and are really helping me fast track my writing chops. Who knows, I might even be ‘good’ at this writing thing soon 😉

Anyway, just wanted to give you a heads up on where things are at, for the two people that read this blog 😉

All the best,

Tabs xx

P.S. 149 words from Chapter 4:

“Watch where you are going,” said a woman’s voice. “You nearly hit me.”

A strong warm hand reached out for her, pulling her back to her feet.

She looked between the two people that stood before her. Bradley Simpson, looking taller than she remembered him, with newly cut hair, and by his side was Betsy Young, no, Simpson. Her hair was pulled back, with blond curls framing her face.

Ruby’s gaze lowered to where Betsy laid her hand, over her protruding round belly.

“Ruby?” asked Brad. “Well, if it isn’t. How are you?”

She looked between them, or rather, between both their faces and Betsy’s stomach.

Opening her mouth to speak, her tongue seemed to tangle in her mouth, blocking any words from forming. It was only a split second, but it felt like hours were passing as they stood in front of her, expecting her to say something.