As we approach the end to another year, I find myself doing so with mixed emotions.
It seems like yesterday when we were (happily) drawing closed the curtains to 2020. "Good riddance!" seemed to be the collective feeling at the time in dumping what had without argument been one of the worst years in recent memory into the dust bin of history as we looked with bated optimism to 2021. Much to our despair, the dark doldrums of 2020 followed us into the new year where we can still its breath on the back of our necks as we stand once again on the threshold of optimism, perhaps a bit more gingerly this time.
Yet, while I count myself amongst the masses eager to see 2021 fall deservingly to the wayside, I cannot leave it behind without acknowledging the good things that were able to find its way to the surface, at least for me.
In 2021, I officially became an author, and the beginning of the tale I had for so many years nurtured to life was finally released into the world in the form of my first book, "The Seventh Grace." It was without a doubt the most happiest and, yes, frightening times of my life; frightening because like most creative persons I had no idea what kind of reaction my story was going to receive; and like most creative persons I braced for the worst. I'm happy to say what found its way back to me was quite the opposite. And it is at this time that I would like to express a sincere thank you to everyone who took a chance that the start of the magical adventure found within the pages of "The Crossing Point" was one in which you were willing to embark upon. There are so many other books out there, and so little time to digest them. I am deeply humbled you have given my characters the opportunity to introduce themselves to you and, hopefully, bore their way into your imaginations not to mention hearts, and I thank you for the generous amount of kind and complimentary words you continue to send my way in regards to my book. As one of my characters states in "The Crossing Point": "Even in the grimmest of tragedies, Light, if you choose to see it, glimmers.” You have managed to make 2021 noticeably less dark, at least for me.
And so, as we head into the new year, I wish to do so by offering to you, my readers, a glimmer of light: a first look at the cover of my second book, "The Seventh Grace," which will be released in March. I have been bubbling with excitement at the prospect of finally getting Book 2 of the "Tales of the Nephilim Brotherhood" into your hands, but never so much as when I finally got a look at the cover. It was created by Diana Chituleska, a phenomenally talented artist who also did the cover for "The Crossing Point." She outdid herself with this, bringing to life a complicated image that lived inside my head in a way I never expected.
So enjoy this glimmer of light, and if any of you have any thoughts about it I would love to hear them. But most of, to all of you I wish to say Happy New Years!
