Helloooo whimsical bookish internet people I’m back!!!
The past couple months have been wild, between developing my fantasy trilogy, finding people to Beta read my fourth draft of book 1, making illustrations to go along with my story, and trying to document it all; I feel myself going a bit book crazy (in a good way, I think.)
Let’s recap & update!
Beta Readers
If you exist in the online writing / book space, you have probably heard of “Beta Readers.”
If you have never heard the term, a beta reader is someone who reads your manuscript, acting as a pair of second eyes for you to help critique and expand upon your book.
After finishing draft 4 and feeling confident in my plot, narrative, world, and characters, I decided it was time for fresh eyes to read over my story and give me more pointed feedback so I can really polish it up.
Finding the right beta readers has been interesting to say the least. I put out a google form via Instagram and TikTok, and to my surprise, it was filled out by 80+ people.
WHAT????!!! 80+ people want to read my book???!!! What world am I living in???!!!
Suffice to say, I was over the moon to see the support and interest that people have been showing.
I sorted through applications, and picked about 20 people from all across the world to read my manuscript. I am still in the process of sharing my manuscript, and art, with beta readers, but as I am writing this about eight people have my book in their hands, and the rest will have it within the week. I am so, SO grateful that anyone at all has shown interest. It has humbled me beyond belief knowing that even one person has paid attention to the dreams that I am chasing. And though I have personally thanked many of the people who are supporting me, I wanted to say another thank you here, so thank you; if you have liked any of my posts, read my blog, looked at my artwork, or shown interest in my in progress fantasy novel, your support means the world.
As I share my work with beta readers, I have focused on making art for book 1, and beginning to develop book 2….
Book 2: Project Prophecy
I have briefly mentioned Book 2: Project Prophecy, on this blog before, but there are certainly updates.
Book 2 follows up where Book 1 leaves off, and continues to follow the same characters, The Pirate King Julian Blackwell, and his partner in crime, the magical siren Caspia of the reef.
So far, I have written all of Part 1, and just begun writing Part 2. Of course since this is a first draft, I’ll surely re-write it a bunch of times, but as all writers know, draft 1 is just to make the story exist, so I am. In this process, I have also drafted the entire plot of Book 3, which will be the final instalment in the series. I am really happy with my plans for the overall story arc, and I can’t wait to further my progress on Book 2 so that I can keep moving forth.
So far, I am about 150 pages into Book 2, and the adventure is proving to be even better than the one I wrote in Book 1. I have been working on a long form Vlog for YouTube, depicting the process of making Project Prophecy, and the general experience I have had in-between manuscripts.
More Project Prophecy and trilogy updates to come soon!!!
New Art
Of course amidst the chaos of writing, drafting, and finding beta readers, I have made more art! I hope to illustrate many of the scenes and setting of my novels, ideally for every book I will write in my life.
This is a watercolour illustration of the coral grotto from Chapter 3 of Book 1, the home of Caspia and Mira, the nereid sisters of the reef.
This is a digital concept cover I made with my digital drawing of Julian and Caspia. The rest of the graphic design elements were done with Canva. This is not what the final cover will be, but I find it really fun to play around with concepts.
This is a concept character collage I made for my main female character, Caspia. Caspia is visually inspired by bright coral, sunlight, and one of my strongest facial visual references for Caspia is Phoebe Tonkin as Cleo Setori in H20: Just Add Water.
The drawing in the far left bottom corner was made by me, with the rest of the collage material found on Pinterest. Making these collages has helped me visualize my characters.
This is a concept character collage of Mira, who is Caspia’s sister and another Nereid of the reef. Mira is visually based on bright turquoise waters, the golden sand of the shallows, and one of my strongest facial references for Mira is Halle Bailey as Ariel in the live action Little Mermaid.
Like the last one, I made the art in the bottom right corner.
Signing Off ⋆‧°𓏲ּ𝄢⋆˚꩜｡
Now that I’ve shared info about the Beta reader process, my Book 2 + trilogy progress, and some new art, I will be signing off for now!
I’ll have more updates soon, like new YouTube videos, a discord server, and more wonderful bookish & writing info!!!
Happy reading, writing, and magic,
From, Your Favourite Sea Witch,
Evi ⋆˚꩜｡⋆‧°𓏲ּ𝄢⋆˚꩜｡
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