Prince Nácil Cover Reveal!!!

Yes indeedy, Gentle Readers, we have yet another Cover Reveal here on The Rambling Rose. But this time, it isn’t me spreading the word about someone else’s fabulous new indie novel and sharing the amazing cover-art.

This time...I’m hosting a Reveal for a novel of my own.
At long last, I’m preparing to send out my first proper novel into the world, for people to read and (hopefully) enjoy...besides my family or close acquaintances, LOL.

Mega shout-out and a truckload of thanks to my friend and fellow “scribbler,”* Kendra E. Ardnek. Without her help, I’d probably still be printing my own books at home and giving half my profits to Staples. :-P

* Scribbler = An author; a writer. Used as a term of endearment. Origin: The image of a writer frantically writing down new inspiration before it evaporates from the brain.

~Tom’s Dictionary of Whacked-out Terms and Old Family Sayings

Above is the original cover-art I designed in PaintShop, which is meant to represent the title character’s personal emblem. I’m actually pretty proud of it, although it turned out a lot wider than I intended. However, it wasn’t really what I wanted. I was thinking something more along these lines:

...only I knew it’d be a copyright nightmare to Frankenstein bits of my inspiration pictures onto a book I’d be selling. That’s where Kendra came in—but more on that in a moment; y’all came here to see my actual-factual, official-professional cover:

From the moment Victor Greenwood sets foot in the old farmhouse of Willowmere, Mrs. Whitaker and her family take the friendless drifter under their wings as one of their own. Deeply touched by their kindness, Victor delights them with his stories about the Elven-king Othniel and Jael his queen, forming a special bond with Mrs. Whitaker’s nine-year-old granddaughter, Jane.

But several odd occurrences indicate that Victor is more than he admits to. When the secret of his heritage threatens Jane’s safety, he sets out for the homeland he has long been banished from, to find Jane and return her home.

Unbeknownst to his friends, Victor is doomed to die thirty days after setting foot on his native soil, with only one hope of breaking the curse. But surely thirty days is far too short a time to find True Love....

R.R. Goodwill began writing at the age of eight, eventually finding her niche in the fascinating realm of fantasy. Taking inspiration from J.R.R Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Faerie-tales, and folklore, Goodwill uses her God-given talents and active imagination to weave a bit of Truth among her works of fiction.

Find her online at: || Amazon || Blogger || Goodreads || Instagram || Pinterest

ISN’T IT BEAUTIFUL?!

Full credit for its creation goes to Kendra, who gave me a link to a website full of royalty-free/public domain images, and turned the one I chose into this amazing cover-art.

I love it. Every time I look at it, something inside me just sighs with satisfaction. The trees, the green-and-silver color-scheme—it’s pretty much spot-on with the imagery I associate with the title character, Nácil Vítuódhrán, AKA Victor Greenwood.

And I’m so in love with that font! Usually I use Monotype Corsiva, Edwardian Script, French Script, or Calligrapher when I want a fancy font; however, my current laptop doesn’t have any of them installed at the moment. The one Kendra used is called Lover’s Quarrel, and frankly, it’s a new fave. Fancy yet readable, with a touch of nobility—perfect for the chronicles of the Elvish Royal Family, I deem.

Prince Nácil is available for preorder on Amazon, so get your copy reserved today! Release date is scheduled for June 30th of this year—just in time for the Summer holidays.

I’ll be hosting a Blog Tour the week of the release, during which time anyone who wishes can interview some of the main cast or myself, post reviews on their blogs—the usual fun stuff associated with Blog Tours. I’ll also go into more detail about how this story came to be, my vision for the series it’s part of, and stuff of that ilk.

~*~

I know it’s not the usual procedure for a Cover Reveal, but I’d just like to take this moment to thank Kendra for all her help and hard work over the past couple months.

It all started with me leaving a message on her Google Hangout/chatboard/thing, asking her and her author friends if they’d be willing to help me host a Blog Party to celebrate Prince Nácil being finished and available for sale, and....

KENDRA: When’s the release?

ME: Actually, I’m printing it out myself and having Staples spiral-bind and laminate it.

KENDRA: …

She then proceeded to take the reigns and walk me through the (for me) daunting and often overwhelming process of self-publishing via Amazon Kindle Direct. I think I always knew I’d end up taking this route, but I didn’t know exactly how to go about it, and I don’t seem to know intuitively what to click or what certain terms mean (I declare, one has to be a computer wizard to do just about anything these days, LOL). Kendra has patiently guided me through the maze of behind-the-scenes what-nots I never knew were involved in this process, and cleared up what I saw as a mystery on more than one occasion...and overall been incredibly patient with my technological ignorance.

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I liken it to myself walking down the road, wanting to travel to the great city I’ve heard so much about (and where several of my acquaintances and their friends have gone), but not knowing exactly how to get there. I ask a passing wagon-driver for directions, intending to walk to the city myself...and she grabs me by the wrist, hoists me up in her wagon, and drives us there. While the pace at which we travel is faster than I’m used to—and therefore a bit frightening—I know in the end, this will be a good thing.

The first step in any journey is always the hardest. The first brick laid always looks insignificant. But they’re only the foundation on which one builds something great.

By taking advice from Kendra, I’m learning new skills and setting things in place that will help me (hopefully) have a smoother experience with my next book. And that’s a good thing.

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~ℛ~