Monday Musings: Switching Gears

I am pleased to announce I have finally finished the rewrites for Wither. On Thursday evening I sent my revised manuscript back to the Five Enchanted Roses editing staff, with no small amount of joy and nervous jitters. I worked so hard on these revisions, I was ecstatic to send it off for review . . . and yet there was that part of me that still felt nervous. Today I received a very sweet little note from Anne Elisabeth Stengl informing me she had read the story and approved of my revisions. I was just about as excited to receive that  note as I was to discover my story had been included in this wonderful collection. Almost, but not quite. I don't think anything will be able to top that experience, at least for a little while. :)

Now that I am about to take a step away from Wither while the editing staff does their magic behind the scenes with their own tweaks and edits, I am going to take a break from my playlist posts. This will be my last song relating to Wither for a bit. It is time for me to switch gears and focus on some of my other projects for a while.

Yes, I do have a few other projects in the works. I am halfway through my first rewrite for After, the prequel to Wither. I will be publishing this story in eBook format to begin with, since it is a novella and not a full length novel. A couple of weeks ago, I received the finished cover from my wonderful designer, and let me tell you, the results were spectacular. This cover is so perfect for the story. I can't wait to share it with you all. Very soon I will be asking if anyone is interested in participating in my cover reveal. I will also be guest hosting my cover designer around the same time as the cover reveal, so if anyone is looking for a cover artist, you will want to be on the look out for that as well. 

For those of you who expressed an interest in my second Five Enchanted Roses submission, I have good news for you as well. I AM going to be publishing When Ravens Fall in the fall of this year. I am about to send it off to my editor the end of this month and will be starting the process for the cover design very shortly. I will be publishing this ebook before After, for two reasons. Number one, it is a birthday present for someone very dear to me, so I must get it done before the big day. Number two, this will give me an opportunity to get some practice and experience before I launch the first book in The Neverway Chronicles. I am so excited about this series, I want to make sure I do it right. So I am giving myself a little bit of extra time to pull After together. There will be more details to come on all of this as well, so keep popping in!

Now, to the playlist! Since this will be the last song I am sharing for a while, I was having such a hard time choosing. I have so many other wonderful songs on this playlist, but I think I am going to share this one. "That Was Then" by Casting Crowns is one of my favorite songs for Wither because it so strongly reflects the struggle of my Beast. I did not come across this song until mere weeks before I sent the story off to the judges in December, but the song has become my favorite. It is such a good reminder that we cannot live on our mountain top experiences, that a valley will come our way, and when it does, we do not need to lose hope. God has a plan to bring us out of those valleys and back into wide open spaces. I hope you enjoy it as well.