Special Feature: The Illuminator’s Gift

I have a special post today featuring my good friend Alina Sayre’s debut release, The Illuminator’s Gift. I love art, so when I found out Alina was having an illustrator hand-paint the entire book cover, I had to post it. And it’s gorgeous. Oh, the colors! But first, here are some work-in-progress teaser shots. All materials copyrighted Amalia Hillmann.

The cover was painted on cold press illustration board with watercolor and acrylic paints and detailed in pen and ink.

 

And finally…

Illustration by Amalia Hillmann
www.theeclecticillustrator.com

Ellie is a twelve-year-old orphan who desperately wants a family. She just doesn’t expect to find one when she joins the crew of the Legend, a flying ship in a secret rescue fleet. On board, she meets a boy with a pet tarantula, a bully with eyes like mirrors, and a librarian who can read eighteen languages. Unexpectedly, Ellie also discovers a powerful gift that only she can wield. But when the Legend is called to a dangerous rescue mission, Ellie risks losing everyone she loves. Will her mysterious gift be enough to save her and her friends from a deadly enemy bent on destroying their world?

The Illuminator’s Gift is a Middle Grade Fantasy for Ages 9-12 and is now available on Amazon.

Connect with Alina on her Website, Twitter, and Facebook.

~~~

I hope you enjoyed your visit and come back for more!  You can subscribe using RSS, Twitter, Google+, or Facebook.  And if you want to ensure you don’t miss any new releases, sign up for the newsletter!

Dreamwalker for #PonyFest13

Fall brings so many things to look forward to—warm sweaters, pumpkin spice coffee, rain. And one of my favorites: PonyFest! Rebecca Enzor hosts an annual contest where authors design a custom My Little Pony based on their novel. If you didn’t already know, I LOVE drawing My Little Pony, and I especially enjoy making up customs to go with books. This year I made a Dreamwalker pony.

Copyright 2013 Angela Wallace

This pony represents one of the main themes/settings in the Dreamwalker books: the dreamscape. It’s an otherworldly realm that continuously changes shape, blending reality and possibility. There is no sun or moon, just a canopy of blue mist. In the first book, the main character Lexa learns how to transcend the dream world and touch the stars, thus the symbol on this pony. This is the first one I’ve made combining hand-drawn technique with digital enhancement, but I think it turned out neat.

 Two dreamwalkers: one a devout soldier, the other a rogue assassin. Last one standing wins.

Be sure to check out Rebecca’s post and visit the other participating blogs! The creativity is so much fun to see. Voting will start October 5th and the winner will receive an actual custom based on their design.

~~~

I hope you enjoyed your visit and come back for more!  You can subscribe using RSS, Twitter, or Facebook.  And if you want to ensure you don’t miss any new releases, sign up for the newsletter!

Blackout Poetry

I came across this very interesting concept a couple weeks ago and discovered it’s an actual art form. So what is blackout poetry? Well, an artist takes a piece of printed material, whether a page out of a book, newspaper, article, etc. and draws swirls or images all over it, blacking out most of the words. BUT, the key is that select words are left untouched, creating a poem. Fascinating, huh?

So I thought I’d give it a try. I approached mine more like a doodle, which is why the scrawlings are kind of random. Perhaps that’s why the people who make these are considered artists, not writers. Anyway, I’ve seen some gorgeous pictures of blacked out drawings that relate to the topic of the poem. I won’t re-post them here because of copyright issues, but type “blackout poetry” into Google and be amazed at what pops up.

Copyright Angela Wallace 2013

Not the best “poem” lol, but it was a fun exercise to try. If any of you feel an itch to give it a go, I’d love to see what you come up with!

~~~

I hope you enjoyed your visit and come back for more!  You can subscribe using RSS, Twitter, or Facebook.  And if you want to ensure you don’t miss any new releases (one’s coming up in a couple months!), you can sign up for the newsletter!

PonyFest12 Entry—Cetus!

It’s time for PonyFest 2012! Last year Rebecca Enzor hosted a contest on her blog for writers and authors to submit custom pony designs based on their novels. Lots of creative characters were posted and then people voted for their favorite. The winner’s drawing was then made into a real custom! The contest was so much fun, Rebecca has decided to make it annual. Visit her post for the rules if you want to participate! And be sure to come back in October to visit other participating blogs and vote for your favorite!

Last year I submitted Phoenix Feather, which came in second. This year I’ve got a brand new pony—Cetus from Elemental Magic!

Cetus is a sea dragon from the Mediterranean, though in the book he’s been sleeping off the coast of Washington until a sinister alchemist awakens him to go on a rampage. He’s not all bad though; he befriends the main character, Aileen, and she works to save him from the evil alchemist’s influence. This pony’s got the serpentine cutie symbol, colors of the deep ocean, and some scales on his legs.

The silhouette against the backdrop of stars was tall and thin, at least compared to the width of a whale. That wasn’t to say it wasn’t incredibly large. It loomed at least seven feet over the top of the ship. Keenan swept the spotlight over it, and I caught a flash of teeth bared in a menacing sneer and bright, blue-green scales. Eyes glowered gold with the reflection of the light… Hot breath spewed from its nostrils into the chill air. I supposed it most closely resembled traditional renditions of Chinese dragons: its body was definitely serpentine and lined with spicules. Two tusks sprouted from the back of its head, and it seriously looked like it had two whiskers of a mustache, except they were more like the spines of a lionfish. Its eyes were hardened and possessed a chilling intelligence that even the smartest dolphin didn’t have.

Sunken treasure guarded by a sea dragon. Sure, no problem.

You can read about Cetus in Elemental Magic on Amazon!

~~~

I hope you enjoyed your visit and come back for more!  You can subscribe using RSS, Twitter, or Facebook.  And if you want to ensure you don’t miss any new releases, you can sign up for the newsletter!

It’s Pumpkin Time!

Welcome to Imagine That on Wednesdays!

With the holiday season fast approaching, people are breaking out the crafts.  First up are Halloween decorations.  We used to carve pumpkins when I was growing up.  Simple at first, but then I fell in love with the various patterns you could buy at Michaels.  Carving cats was much more fun than triangle noses and mouths.  My least favorite part, however, was scooping out the pumpkin innards.  Blegh.

My solution now is not to carve at all.  But my mom still wanted some pumpkins for decorations, so last year she bought them anyway–and gave me the job of decorating them.  Not to worry.  If I didn’t want to use a knife, I could use a Sharpie.

You can do this at home too if you don’t like the mess of carving the pumpkins (and the even worse mess of throwing them out after they’ve molded).  And you can still use the patterns from the carving book.  Simply use the Sharpie to color in the areas you would normally cut out.

Last year's pumpkins

For some other Halloween crafting tips, see Debra Kristi’s post on making a budget friendly “Wicked Wreath of Delight” and Tameri Etherton’s “Getting Crafty With It!“

Sand Animation–“Sometimes Dreams Do Come True”

It’s Friday Fancies!

Have you ever seen Sand Animation?  These artists use a lightbox and sand to form pictures.  It’s a live performance art, which means the images only last for a moment.  As a writer, it’s hard for me to imagine creating something and then erasing it, but at least it can be captured on video.  Take a look!

Have a great weekend!

Also, today is the last day to leave a comment and be entered into a drawing to win a free e-book copy of Elemental Magic when it releases in October.  Five winners will be selected.

Aileen Donovan wants nothing more than recognition as an elemental scientist by her supernatural community.  What better way to do that than to solve a mystery involving a power-hungry alchemist, hallucinogenic coral, and a homicidal sea dragon?  The hardest part will be working with Coast Guard officer Colin Benson—until the tides turn, and Aileen realizes that love and duty may not have to be mutually exclusive.

Custom Pony Contest!

Welcome to Imagine That on Wednesdays!  Rebecca Enzor is hosting a contest where writers design their own custom My Little Pony based on their completed novels.  Being a lover of My Little Pony and drawing them, I couldn’t resist.  So here are my ponies based on Phoenix Feather and Elemental Magic!

Phoenix Feather is my official entry for the contest.  This pony represents the character, Aidan Quinn, in both her human and phoenix form.  As a human, she has deep, vibrant red hair, which is one of the features that fits the serial killer’s type in the story.  As a phoenix, she has wings of fire, and the feather plays a key role in the novel, though I can’t explain without giving too much away.

Phoenix Feather–Can a phoenix find happily ever after with a mortal before a serial killer finds her?

And, because I couldn’t help myself, I also designed a custom pony for Elemental Magic, even though it’s not officially part of the contest.  This pony represents the element of water.  The main character, Aileen Donovan, is a water elemental.  The upside down triangle is the symbol for this element, and in the novel it is used as an identifying tattoo for elementals.  Inside the triangle are two dots representing Aileen’s status in her elemental society–Apprentice.  She needs to pass credentialing exams to become a full-fledged Steward and receive her third dot to complete the tattoo.

I hope you guys enjoyed these My Little Ponies.  Check out Rebecca’s post on the contest and read the comments to find others who are participating.  Voting will commence Oct. 5th-15th.

For the rest of September, everyone who leaves a comment will be entered into a drawing to win a free e-book copy of Elemental Magic when it releases in October.  Five winners will be selected.

Aileen Donovan wants nothing more than recognition as an elemental scientist by her supernatural community.  What better way to do that than to solve a mystery involving a power-hungry alchemist, hallucinogenic coral, and a homicidal sea dragon?  The hardest part will be working with Coast Guard officer Colin Benson—until the tides turn, and Aileen realizes that love and duty may not have to be mutually exclusive.