Waiting for Godot

The goddess of winter stands watch over all of us, her light lifting the darkness so that we can see again.

The catchword of 2020 is patience. And patience is hard to come by, at least for me! As December roles slowly by I wonder what 2021 will be like...Christmas is strange with no family and the entire season cloaked in the pandemic. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel--the vaccine is coming! Will the astro predictions I've been hearing about bring the changes we so need? Will our eyes open? Will we embrace the new and let the old fall away? I hope so.

In the meantime, as the countdown stretches closer to the new year, what have you planned? Will you have socially distanced parties or will you forego in the name of safety? We will travel to Santa Cruz after the New Year, but will also be careful with masks and socially distancing. I fear that even outdoor dining will be curtailed in Ca. as well as in many other places.

If you like to read and you enjoy fantasy, mystery, and romantic tales sometimes involving satyrs and dragons, please take a moment to peruse my offerings. What I would love is to have those who have read my books to gift them to others! Or even just pass along my website url to those who might like to subscribe and receive a FREE book! I want to reach my peeps, but in order to do that I have to reach out to those who have already subscribed here! I appreciate you all so much and wish you the best in this time of grief and heartache.

Reading heals.

For a quick look into my newest book:

Guest Post!

"Desiree Villena is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects self-publishing authors with the world's best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Desiree enjoys reading contemporary fiction and writing short stories."

5 Cool Design Elements to Try on Your Cover

Being a self-published author comes with plenty of perks — one of which is the freedom to get as involved as you want in creating your book cover design! Not only is the cover an incredibly important part of your marketing plan, it’s also an expression of the message you want to deliver through your writing, and therefore an integral part of your book. As such, it’s natural to want to create a work of art; today, I’ll be sharing some interesting design elements that might inspire you in your own endeavors.

1. Mixed media designs

One way to jazz up your book cover is to incorporate different media into the design. If you can’t decide between a photograph and an illustration for your cover, why not use both? When done right, mixing different forms of art makes the cover dynamic and attractive to the eye. A good example is designer Rafael Andres’s work on techno-thriller title Tokyo Firewall, which emphasizes the book’s theme of urban anonymity by combining a photo of the bustling city with a shadowed and indifferent face.

2. Text-only cover

If your book calls for a simple cover (most often applies to romance, literary fiction, or nonfiction), here’s a quick solution: skip the images and focus on the text. Let the title call out the reader’s name. You can experiment with unconventional typefaces, as is the case with short story collection The Dog by Jack Livings. Otherwise, try highlighting the text by playing with the colors — the cover of Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race is a great example.

3. Vibrant primary colors

And speaking of colors, why not spice things up by relying on the vibrancy of red, yellow, and blue? Basic colors are not easy to navigate, so I wouldn’t recommend going it on your own if you’re not as blessed in the artistic department as you are in the writing one. In the hands of professionals, primary colors can make your book pop (without being too over the top). Check out Flesh and Bone and Water’s patchwork design to see this color scheme in action.

Pro-tip: Feel free to combine these design elements if you think it’s appropriate! Will Harris’s poetry collection Rendang does a beautiful job of blending the simplicities of title-oriented cover and primary colors on its cover.

4. Black-and-white color scheme

Now, if you’re publishing an ebook through Kindle Direct Publishing, and you’re expecting to sell mostly through programs like Kindle Unlimited, then maybe lively colors are not too important to you (on the standard Kindle, books are displayed in black and white). So why not settle for that minimalist color scheme and see how to make it work best? Black and white covers, such as that of classic thriller We Have Always Lived in a Castle, can do a marvelous job setting the mood for the story behind them.

5. Layered components

Another style you can adopt is to layer the components of your book cover. Think of pop-up birthday or Christmas cards and the way they add dimension by layering different papers onto each other — imagine that art style on your book cover. While you might be inclined to think of it as something more suitable for children’s books, the cover of The Way Through Doors proves that this technique can apply to titles of all genres and for all demographics.

Anger Versus Grief

Our world is suffering. As a country we are losing our rights. The planet is crying out for healing. I have been so angry I could barely contain it...

My newest book is riddled with these themes, every day bringing more fodder to bear. But within these dystopian pages I'm being ground down by the crucible of truth. I've been shattered like my protagonist, realizing that my anger has covered over what is really important. It is sadness, and grief that underlie the fury and the screaming and the shouting. Anger is like an all consuming fire, burning us up until we are ash. But if we allow ourselves to feel the grief, our hearts open. Tears are the way to the truth, not anger.

Anger is easy. It pulls at us--righteous indignation. And righteous it is. But in the end it does nothing but fan the flames and make it burn hotter. There is no end to it. Flames consume everything in their path. But tears...tears water the earth, they make things grow, they release the pent-up pressure we carry during these chaotic and disturbing times. When we cry we feel cleansed, purged. We can see again.

Here is an idea for a possible cover for my newest book. Dystopian with, of course, a love story woven through it:

Themes are: racism, rich versus poor, survival, love and what it means, rage and grief...a future world riddled with troubles...just like the one we live in.

Thanks for reading. I will let you know once this book is released--should be coming out in the fall! Working title: Lucifer and the Dark Goddess