Rose City Comic Con!

What's going on this weekend? Well, Rose City Comic Con in Portland is going on of course. So here I am with my spocky eyebrows and crazy hair to tell you what we're up to at the Convention Center.
 

It's the UNIPIPER! I couldn't think of it in spite of saying Unicycle guy with Flaming Bagpipes! Gargh! Want to see the cover for the newest addition to the Red Slipper Series? Here it is. :D

Come by to chat Werewolves, and get yourself a tin of the Wizardly Summer Pudding Tea!

Rose City Comic Con -- be there or be square like a minecraft character.

What's new and wonderful?

First and foremost, Tinna's Reign; Book Three of the Trilogy of Tinna is available for download in eBook format.  The hard-copy will follow soon.  Along with the release of this book is a full redesign of the covers for the trilogy and I think all three are mighty bold and fun.  Do you not agree?

Book 1, Tinna's Promise
Available at Barnes & Noble for DL.

  

Book 2; Tinna's Might
Available at Barnes & Noble for DL

Book 3: Tinna's Reign
Available for DL at Barnes & Noble.

Or just click here to view the series.

So that's one project that's finally done. ::Oy:: It hasn't been easy to get my stuff together, I won't lie, but I've gotten a bit of a boot in the pants from this year's Wizard World Convention. I had such a great time, and met a couple of fans, and there's nothing better than that for validation, is there?

So I have other projects underway. Something post-apocalyptic, some of the ones I mentioned prior, and another alternate timeline, which will take time, because it requires some research.  But I am working on stuff, this I promise you. :)

So download book three and enjoy the conclusion to this trilogy. Will there be another set of books in Oromoii? Who is to know? ::smile::

What's new?

Hello all. I've been a bit preoccupied by the Portland Wizard World Comic Con, and then life itself, which also tends to take over. Especially for new(ish) moms.  The Wizard King has had its release and it is being received very well. I hope it continues! I have a few projects on the fire including book 3 of the Trilogy of Tinna; Tinna's Reign, which is being padded out and revised before I send it to be edited.

The third and final cover by Abigail Larson. :)

The second project i'm working on, but is at present only about a 1/4 written is the House of Black. It is a story of a little witch by the name of Kimber and her battle to save her sisters and her house from attack by an ancient enemy.

Long before the days of old,

When ic-ed skies bore naught but cold,

When crops did wither and war did rage,

Were born the saviours of this age.

Tamed the land, the beasts, the dead

Did light and dark and vibrant red.

Holders of the mother’s gift

From despair they did us lift.

But virtue ruled with golden mane

And enemies the three were named.

Driven into secrecy,

Were the mother’s gifted three.

Hunted by their very own,

The Gifted now must live unknown.

Gilded swords were raised to fight,

To end the Black, the Red, the White.

And finally, it's so new I haven't even begun to work on the cover, I am working on 'Wolven' -- which is not about werewolves, and also dabbling into the idea of another book for the Wizard King world.

Introducing The Wizard King!

A quiet, sheltered, passive girl, Ynith never suspected that the awkward young man she encountered in the library was none other than the Crown Prince Arnsword. Nor would she expect that this baleful character would set his sights upon her as the singular object of his undying affection. But what Ynith could never prepare herself for would be the cost of being loved by a man who is by all rights, evil. 

A powerful budding Wizard, Ynith’s beau is about to wreak havoc upon the world, and force Ynith to discover facets of herself that she finds terrifying, including dabbling in the magic she has deliberately avoided since childhood. 

 Must Ynith love this man or must she escape him to save herself, and ultimately, her world?

For sale on Smashwords.com (and all other channels upon approval) Hard copy available on The Book Patch and other channels soon.

The Wizard King - Sneak Peeks

Hello Internet world. As you may have noticed, Mirandamayer.com and the blog got a bit of an overhaul today. They were combined into one. It needed it. It's funny how something looks suitable and good for a bit, and then all you want is to change it.  I wanted something a bit lighter and brighter, especially for the launch of my newest book, 'The Wizard King', which will be launched in January at the Wizard World Portland Comic Con.

This month, we had a killer photo shoot up at the Timberline Lodge. This cool vintage building was a 'New Deal' project in the thirties, organized to create jobs during the great depression. They employed a great number of brilliant artisans and skilled craftsmen to assemble this impressive building, and today it stands as a testament to craftsmanship and forward-thinking.

The exterior of the lodge was portrayed in the movie 'The Shining' -- depicting what was called The Overlook Hotel in the movie.  It does not have a hedge maze, nor is the interior even remotely like what was shown in the film.  The interior is extremely rustic.  The lighting has the quality of that of an great old manor, with bright, white light pouring into darkened interiors, bouncing off the rugged textures of wood and stone, giving, at least in my view, an old-world castle type of light quality, something like the old oil portraits. It was what I was looking for.

With a great team of people, from photographer to hair and makeup stylist, we tramped up there with our lovely models and took a series of beautiful shots.  I will post some examples of them (ones we are not using for the book cover).

Model Robyn Wodiuk takes a rest on some of the many heavy-timbered
structures about the lodge.  The setting is modern compared to the
look of the cover. But none of that will show in the cover.

Model Robyn portrays the sweet, graceful Ynith.
All elegance in a white regency-style round gown,
and a seemingly endless swag and rumple of shawl.

The outdoors are cast in the white light of
snow.

Robyn in all her elegance.

Model Breck Warren portrays
the somewhat sinister character of Arnsword.

A lovely photo, in spite of the modern trappings.

All men should aspire to wearing cravats.

The lovely Ynith/Robyn.

This image was one of my favorites of the shoot, but it was unsuitable for
the cover, there are no winter themes in The Wizard King. I just
wanted the lodge's lovely lighting. But I love this photo, regardless.

The Wizard King is a Fantasy Romance novel, a sort of alternate world with Regency themes.  The costumes were made by Stephanie Johanesen of Mount Hood Creations (Robyn's beautiful gown and accessories), and Breck's costume was created by Morgan Shanafelt, who also styled the hair and makeup for this photo shoot.

Photographer was Julie Savage Lee Photography.

The final cover will be revealed when the book is released.

Fresh off the press... again. :)

Softcover and hardcover of book 2, Tinna's Might. Cover by Abigail Larson.

They're finally here... the 'printing proofs' I've been waiting for. The soft-cover and the hardback. These are already available through Barnes & Noble and Amazon; however at B & N, the hardcover comes at a significant discount ($27 normally, $20 on B&N).

The prints look good, I'm busy skimming through them for issues, but they seem to be in order so far.  The covers are so beautiful.  They came from separate printers so there is a small variation in the tones between the two, but it looks nice regardless.

The book has also just been approved for Smashwords' premium catalog, which means that it will be available as an eBook on a variety of channels including iBooks/Apple, Sony, B&N Nook, and more. I also set it up as a Kindle book on Amazon. The eBook is $3.99. At present it's only posted on Amazon as a Kindle book and on Smashwords.com, but it will begin to appear on the other sites at length.

Pre-release on Smashwords - Hard-copy in progress

The front cover by Abigail Larson

Tinna's Might has been uploaded to Smashwords ahead of the release on Amazon and Barnes & Noble (and other booksellers).  So if you want an early preview, you can go to the book's Smashwords Page and download your copy today.

Book Two of the Trilogy of Tinna will be available in hard-cover, soft-cover and eBook. Links will be provided as soon as they become available.   Check them out today! :)

First copy, fresh off the press....

It's done. The new cover for Tinna's Promise is in place at last. There are a few details that need mopping up around the interwebs, of which a few I can take care of myself. A few of the digital e-book sites still have the old cover on them; I'm not sure how to go about changing that information on each site, but at least the big guys are switched over; Amazon, Barns & Noble, etc. My Search-Inside option on Amazon is in the process of change as well... I'm hoping in the next few months, this lovely cover will be the one presented on all available sales sites.

Miss Abigail Larson, artiste extraordinaire, did a lovely job. She put up with quibbling from TWO people about this and about that... change this detail here, change this detail there.... Poor thing! She bore it with grace and produced a beautiful cover that we are all proud of.

Abigail's style is has a soft, subtle edge of the dreary and dark in it. Her other artwork is beautifully gloomy; but in creating the less gloomy subject matter on my covers, she does not lose her sense of stark beauty and whimsy. It takes skill to create something for someone's vision, and to still have it be uniquely yours. She accomplished that incredibly well. She really managed to maintain her unique style, but also respect what we were asking for. She's has off-the-charts talent, and I foresee great things for this artist. Here are her two primary websites:

Abigail Larson's DeviantArt page.
Abigail Larson's Main Website

She has completed the cover for Tinna's Might (which is STUNNING) and she is currently working on the cover for yes... Book THREE. I am on the edge of my seat to see what she does with the concept we put together, we asked her to just run with it this time, there are no constraints of existing story to keep her reined in--so this cover will be beautiful, I know. I haven't written a jot of book three yet, but I'll be starting fairly soon, after the editing process is finished for book two.

Editors, like everyone else in this economy are hurting; and one ad brought me over 80 responses from editors. Yipes. Anyway... I'll keep you apprised of the progress of book two, but in the meantime, click through to Amazon or B&N and grab yourself a copy of Tinna's Promise with this beautiful artwork on the cover!

Thank you Abigail!