Monday, October 27, 2014

The King’s Scrolls Cover Reveal Signup

I am happy to report that The King’s Scrolls is nearing its final phase of editing before publication. I sent it off to my beta readers on October 1st and am getting ready to go through their feedback starting next week. That will begin my rigorous final edit to iron out all the wrinkles. I’m hoping and praying I can have it done, or close to, by the end of the year.

Now, while the publication of the book may still be a few months away, I feel it’s time to finally reveal the cover. :) I’m very excited to let everyone see it and get it up on Goodreads. I am setting up the cover reveal day for Friday, November 14th. If you have a blog and would like to participate, I would be thrilled to have you join in. I will also be hosting a fun giveaway of one of my handcrafted necklaces that matches the cover as well as a $5 Amazon gift card. If you would like to be part of the reveal, just fill out the form below! And if you have any blogging friends who might like to join in the fun, be sure to let them know! The more the merrier. :)

Signups are now closed.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Exciting News!

 

bronze-shiny-hr

Look!! Resistance has won a bronze medal in the Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards!!! I’m so excited right now I can barely sit still! I can hard believe it. This is the first time I’ve ever entered a book contest before, and I’m thrilled to have made it this far. I’ve been publishing my books for seven years now, but the last few months since first publishing Resistance have been the most exciting in all my years of being an author, and this is one of the biggest moments so far. Thank you so much to everyone who has followed along so closely and has encouraged my so much with your kind words. I can hardly wait to see what the future holds, especially with the publication of the next books in the series.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Book four has reached its end!

*throws confetti and does a happy dance* Yes I have finally, FINALLY finished writing book four of Ilyon Chronicles! Technically, I finished it last Thursday (August 7th), but since I was without internet all last week (torture!), I didn’t get to do a celebration post until today. I don’t think I can adequately describe just how insanely relieved I am to have this book finished. I began writing it on July 23, 2013. Over a year ago. I don’t think I’ve taken a whole year to write a book since Every Tear. And that was a long time ago. It seriously fought me every single step of the way. Every time I thought I had gotten past a difficult part and hoped things would go more smoothly, I’d hit another snag, and another, and another. I got to the point where I sort of hated the book and even contemplated what it would take to just scrap it. Of course, every time I did that, I was faced with the undeniable truth that the story was necessary for the progression of the series. So I pressed on. And now I can finally shove it away for a good long while and not have to look at it again until it comes time to edit it. I’m kind of scared for that time to come, but then, I’m sure in a few months I’ll feel much more charitable toward it.

Not only was this the hardest book of the series to write so far, it also turned out to be the longest. It was the book that never wanted to end. This first draft weighs in at a hefty 137,000 words. I was not expecting that. All this time I thought book three would be the longest. But nope, this book has turned into the longest book I’ve ever written. And considering this first draft is only the bare bones of the story, I’m expecting the word count to rise to at least 150,000 words by the time it’s ready for publication. I almost can’t imagine that. But like I’ve always said, I love long books, so the word count can rise all it wants in order for the story to be satisfactory.

What boggles my mind even more is that 88,000 of those words I wrote in the last eight weeks. Up until June 16th, I had only written a total of 49,000 words in the book! O_o  Yeah, that makes my eyes bug. But it actually wasn’t that hard. Mid-June was when I implemented my new strategy of writing at least 1,500 words a day, five days a week. Many of those days I wrote even more. I’ll definitely be using this writing strategy as I go on to write book five. I’m even hoping that maybe, possibly I could even finish the book or come close by the end of December.

I gave myself a much needed break from writing over the weekend and now hope to get a start on book five today. I’m quite excited about it. I’ve been looking forward to this book for a very long time. And it’s always fun to start a new book no matter what it is. I’ve added a word count meter to my side bar to track my progress. This will probably be the shortest book of the series. It doesn’t have this huge, epic plot, but it digs deep into a very weighty personal dilemma for one of the characters. I can’t wait to delve into it. HOPEFULLY this book will progress much more smoothly than book four. *winces and prays it will be so* If I can finish it by the end of the year, I could be looking at the potential to finish the entire series by the middle of next year. That would be so awesome.

However, as much as I’m looking forward to writing book five, my main focus for the next couple of months will have to shift to editing book two so I can send it to my beta readers. Instead of writing in the mornings as I have been the last several weeks, I’m going to be editing instead. I’m actually about a quarter of the way through editing. Praying that goes smoothly as well. I’m so looking forward to sharing more of this adventure!

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Resistance is a Readers’ Favorite Book Award Finalist!

finalist-seal-print small

I’m so excited I hardly know what to say right now. Resistance is one of six finalists in the Christian Fantasy/Sci-Fi category in the Readers’ Favorite Book Awards!! I’ve been anxiously awaiting this news since I entered it in May. The finalists were supposed to be announced on July 1st, but they had so many entries this year, that they needed an extra two weeks to make their final selections. You can imagine how anxious I was those two weeks, especially yesterday. I kept checking my email through the day, thinking I wouldn’t get it until today, but then, right before I was about to go to bed, the email came. Oh my goodness, my heart was beating so fast. I sat for a moment wondering if I should even look at it. After all, if I didn’t make it, I’d have to try to sleep while dealing with the disappointment. But I’d be up all night wondering anyway, so I opened the email, read it carefully, held my breath, and clicked on the finalists link. I was still holding my breath as I scrolled through what felt like an endless number of categories before I finally reached Christian Fantasy. And there, right at the top of the list, was my name. I think I let out a little squeak and looked over at my mom to exclaim something along the lines of, “I’m a finalist!” I was so excited I could barely contain myself.

finalists

I can still hardly believe it. I’ve never entered any of my work in a contest before, and to be a finalist in one so large is incredible. I mean, Jim Carrey is a finalist in one of the children’s book categories. How cool is that? I think I’m going to be in a bit of a daze for the next day or two. And, of course, now the anxious waiting begins for the announcement of the winners on September 1st. I can hardly wait for that. Thank you SO much to everyone who’s been such an encouragement to me while I’ve been writing and publishing Ilyon Chronicles. I’m so excited to see how God uses the entire series and where it takes me in the future.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Exclusive Sneak Peek for Amazon Reviewers

It’s kind of a big day. Exactly three years ago today, I wrote the very first words of Resistance. Kind of crazy to think back to that day and now see the published version of the book sitting on my desk. I had this grand idea of throwing a big blog party to celebrate, but I was so busy writing and trying to accomplish all my other goals this week that it just didn’t happen. Oh well, maybe next year. But I do have something to share today. If you’re a writer, you know how appreciated reviews are, especially on Amazon. And if you are a reader who knows writers, chances are, you’ve heard us say how much they appreciate reviews. As a special thank you to everyone who has and will leave me those awesome reviews on Amazon, I’m offering an exclusive sneak peek at The King’s Scrolls. And I’m not talking about a couple paragraphs, I’m talking a whole chapter. ;) That’s right, if you email me the link to your Resistance Amazon review (or the name it’s posted under), I’ll send you a PDF copy of one of the first chapters in TKS, which sets the whole plot of the book in motion, and happens to be one of my favorite chapters. This applies to anyone who has already reviewed the book. Just contact me for your sneak peek! It’s the least I can do to show my appreciation. :)

Friday, June 20, 2014

Character Spotlight - Kyrin

In my last character spotlight, I delved a bit deeper into my main character Jace. Today’s spotlight goes to my female main character, Kyrin Altair. (Warning! Resistance spoilers ahead!)

Kyrin
via Pinterest
Appearance: Long brown hair (later cut to shoulder/chin length), dusty blue eyes, slim, 5’7” tall.
Age: 17
Race: Human
History: Kyrin and her twin brother Kaden were placed in Tarvin Hall because of their advanced learning capabilities and observation skills when they were seven years old to be raised and trained to provide service to the emperor. Besides her other skills, Kyrin also has a perfect memory of every day since she was four years old.

Kyrin was an interesting character to develop. Actually, difficult might be a better word. I knew Jace from the inside out practically from the beginning. Kyrin I actually had to come to know over a period of time. I’m actually not even sure what inspired her character or storyline. This note is all I have on her from that first day after my initial inspiration for the story.
I think she will come from higher society. I think the government will take children who show special abilities and train them. So this girl is very smart and observant. I’m thinking Patrick Jane type of observant. As a child, she showed incredible learning skills, so they took her from her family to raise her with the other extraordinary children.
As you can see, part of my inspiration came from watching The Mentalist, but other than that, everything else must have just been bits of inspiration I’d already had floating around in my mind. After all, the idea of a corrupt government was something I’d been toying with long before I started writing Ilyon Chronicles.

At this point, I had no idea about Tarvin Hall’s promotion ceremony and that Kyrin was going to end at the palace. That very important piece of the plot didn’t come to me until a couple of days later. There was also another very important aspect missing from the story—Kaden. As hard as it is for even me to believe looking back, Kaden did not even exist until after I had already written the promotion ceremony scenes, which was at the beginning of December 2011 (I started writing in June). Crazy, right? All that trouble I initially had with Kyrin was due to the fact that, all along, she was missing her twin brother!

The problem in the beginning was that Kyrin was too tough. She had to be to survive alone at Tarvin Hall. But then Kaden finally came along and changed everything. With him there to protect her, she didn’t have to be so tough anymore. I could bring out her more vulnerable, feminine side that I think was really lacking in that very first draft of the story. It also made scenes like the goodbye at Tarvin Hall or when Kyrin is on the platform in the square so much more poignant. It’s incredible how God worked that all out.

Another thing missing from Kyrin in those early chapters was her perfect memory. That’s right, Kyrin initially didn’t remember everything about every day of her life. It wasn’t until I saw a commercial for the TV show Unforgettable, which was about a detective with a perfect memory. Seriously, isn’t God amazing? He had me in front of the TV right when that commercial came on and used it to give me inspiration for Kyrin that was critical to the story. Maybe it doesn’t seem so critical in Resistance, but wait until . . . oh, let’s just say book three. ;)

Though I say often how alike I am to Jace, I also share a lot in common with Kyrin. She’s the only girl among her siblings, something I know well. There are multiple scenes throughout the series between her and her brothers that were directly inspired by moments with my own brothers. Though I’m the oldest and don’t have a twin or older brother, I still rely heavily on my middle brother to take care of things when we’re out and about. Kyrin’s trouble with becoming claustrophobic in tight and crowded spaces came from my own experiences. I can get very claustrophobic when I’m closed in.

What I love about how Kyrin ended up is how strong she is when she needs to be, such as when she stands up for her faith and decides to befriend Jace even when no one else will, but she’s still human and relatable. One of my most favorite scenes with her is when she fails to share her faith with Daniel. The emotions of that moment are so real to me because I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to be too scared to take advantage of the perfect opportunity. It’s just such a real moment and makes me love Kyrin all the more.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Fan Art

FanArtBanner

Today is a fun post. :) I’ve received a couple pieces of fan art for Ilyon Chronicles, which is incredibly fun for me, and I’ve decided to make a page for displaying that art. Just click the banner or the fan art tab above to take a look at what I’ve received so far. And if you would like to have your art included, just send it to me in email. I would love to see it! There’s nothing quite like seeing readers do something creative with my stories, especially when I’m not very good at stuff like drawing.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Character Spotlight - Jace

I’ve been looking forward to doing this since well before Resistance came out. I always thought it would be fun to spotlight the characters from Ilyon Chronicles, and the first spotlight, of course, goes to Jace since he is the heart of Ilyon Chronicles for me. After all, if not him, the series wouldn’t even exist. If you haven’t read Resistance yet, you might not want to read further if you don’t want any spoilers.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Paperback News

Good news! The proof copy I was waiting for came yesterday instead of today! And it looks great! I still lacks a little of the weight of that very first proof, but I’m satisfied. I also tweaked the cover just a smidge and it turned out perfectly. You know what this means? It is now available on Amazon! Yay! I put in an official order for books, which means I can now start taking orders for autographed copies. I’ve included the link below to purchase a copy on the website. I thought it would be nice to offer a $2.00 off deal for autographed books. :) That makes them $12.99 + shipping. If you would like to order now, I should be able to send them within the next 7 to 10 days.

3D Cover

Resistance Autographed Paperback
$12.99 + Shipping
Buy Autographed Copy

or

Thursday, May 29, 2014

My plans moving forward...

Well, release week and the Resistance Blog Tour have come to an end, and what an exciting time it was! I've never had a blog tour for any of my books before, and I am so grateful to all the bloggers who participated and to Amber for setting it all up. It was a great way to introduce Resistance to the world. I can't to see what the future holds for it. If you have read and enjoyed it, remember that Amazon reviews are a HUGE blessing to an author. Those are the reviews that really help sell more books.
 
Now that Resistance has launched, it's time for me to get back into serious writing and editing. I've got a lot to do in The King's Scrolls before I can send it to beta readers. That will be one of my main focuses this summer. If you didn't see it yesterday, I have added a board to Pinterest for The King's Scrolls. I was going to wait until closer to release, but then I thought, why note share some pictures to give a sneak peek at the mood of the story? :)
 
And, of course, I have to keep writing so I don't fall behind. I'm currently about to finish chapter 14 in book four. I'm estimating 35-40 chapters. That's actually a bit longer than I originally thought. This is due in part to a last minute addition of a third storyline to the original two, which involves a certain prince. ;) I'm having a ton of fun with that.
 
I also have a lot of posts planned for this blog. Some character spotlights are at the top of my list as well as writing up a commentary on Resistance. I think it will be a really fun way to share some of my notes and the planning process that went into the book. Seriously, you should see my notes binder. I've never had so many notes for any story before.
 
So those are my plans for the next while. I'm looking forward to sharing more behind the scenes extras for Resistance, and hope to keep this blog updated regularly.

And don't forget, if you didn't win the blog tour giveaway, you can still enter to win one of three autographed copies of Resistance on Goodreads!
 


Goodreads Book Giveaway

Resistance by Jaye L. Knight

Resistance

by Jaye L. Knight

Giveaway ends June 20, 2014.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.
Enter to win

Monday, May 26, 2014

Announcing the Title of Book Two!

As part of the Resistance Blog Tour, Amber and I are each doing a special post today. We thought it would be fun to have the official announcement of the title of Ilyon Chronicles--Book Two. So, without further ado, that title is...
 
 
And, for a little sneak peek into the story, here is the logline for the book:
When a mysterious group of dragon-riding cretes arrive at camp, those in Landale must join their mission to rescue a teacher of Elôm and the last known copies of the King’s Scrolls before the emperor’s men can locate them.
 
Resistance has only just been released, but I'm already looking forward to sharing the continuation of the story. The King's Scrolls is what I call "Kyrin's book." Now don't worry. Jace is still very active in it. And he gets more than one book of his own that focuses predominately on his story later on in the series. The reason I call this Kyrin's book is because a lot of it deals with her family and their situation. If you've read Resistance, you'll know there are some very interesting dynamics going on between the different members, especially with her oldest brother, Marcus, and her grandfather, the General. With family members on opposite sides of a struggle, it makes for a very interesting story, and I really had fun exploring it. And, as you can tell from the logline, I finally bring cretes and dragons into the story. I just love writing about dragons. They're a bit different from other dragons I've written about, but I think these are my favorite because I spent more time developing them, and they have some fun little characteristics. Then, of course, there's the cretes. I LOVE cretes. They are some of my favorite characters in the series. That's about all the information I can give for now, except that it takes place in the late fall/early winter, which was interesting to write. Every other book I've written so far in my life has taken place in the spring, summer, or early fall. It was very different taking cold weather into account, but I think the whole feel of it really added to the mood of the story.
 
As I said, I can't wait to share it. Very soon--hopefully in the next couple of weeks--I'll get serious about editing it. I'm not sure when it will be ready for my beta readers this time. I'm expecting late fall or winter. I'm basically on the same sort of schedule as when I prepared Resistance for publishing, though I hope this goes  little quicker and easier. I had a couple of months last fall where health issues kept me from getting any real work done. I'm hoping nothing like that will slow down the preparation of The King's Scrolls. I'll definitely keep everyone posted on the progress.
 
Now, as an added bit of fun, Amber suggested I put together a character personality quiz. I've always wanted to do that for my books, but this is the first time I actually set out to do it. It was quite fun, especially when I tested it on my brothers, who got Trask and Kaden as their answers, which I thought was fitting. :) I got Jace, big surprise. Lol! ;) So go ahead and take it yourself and see which Resistance character you would be. You can leave your answer in the comments if you'd like. I'd love to see what everyone gets. :)


Friday, May 23, 2014

Another Paperback Update

Wow, so after working all morning almost non-stop, I finished my third round of formatting Resistance and just submitted the files to CreateSpace! I didn’t actually think I’d finish before the weekend, but I’m glad I did since the weather is supposed to be gorgeous. Now I can completely relax! I’m just praying these will be the final files. The happy news is that I went from the thinner 484 pages back up to 525 pages! :D It’s not quite the 550 pages of the first proof, but hey, I’ll take it, lol! So I’ll probably get the next proof copy in the middle of next week, and then HOPEFULLY approve it for sale and put in an order to use for autographed copies. I am SO ready to be done with this.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Resistance Paperback Update

So here’s the deal on the Resistance paperback. I received my latest proof copy yesterday, as expected. My first reaction upon seeing it was, Oh, it’s a lot thinner than my first proof. :( And yes, add the sad face into the reaction. That’s not exactly the reaction you hope for when you’re potentially holding the final version of your book. The thing is, if you know me well, you know I love thick books (even if it means less royalties). My first proof copy made me so happy. It was just so substantial and heavy. I loved it. The second proof copy is closer to a standard thick book, which is perfectly fine unless you’re like me and want it to be more of an epic, monstrous-sized book. Now to what I plan to do about it. I’ve approved the thinner copy, because, aside from my personal beef with the size, it turned out very nicely. It is now showing up for sale on my CreateSpace eStore (purchase button below). In order to make myself feel better, in the next week, I am going to be formatting it AGAIN (yes, this the the third time I will be formatting a 140,00 word book in less than a month, ugh) with a slightly larger size of the new font I used. It’s only half a size bigger, but it should make it closer to the original thickness. And you now what? I had a feeling I should have done this from the beginning. I really should have listened to my gut. I would have saved myself a whole LOT of trouble. I could just try to get over it, but when it comes to Ilyon Chronicles, I can’t settle for less. However, I did want to have the book available in the meantime. Nothing else is going to change about it, and the price will stay the same. So, if you can’t bear to wait and don’t mind if the book isn’t 800 pages long (okay, I exaggerate, it was 550 pages), then you can order the current paperback (484 pages) from CreateSpace. As soon as I have the final version finished, I’ll set it to be listed on Amazon as well.
Buy From CreateSpace
 

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

The Resistance Release Day Has Arrived!

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000040_00026]It's here, it's here, it's here! I feel like a little kid on Christmas. :D After almost three years from the start of writing it through all the rewrites and editing, Resistance is now available for Kindle! I’ve been publishing for quite a few years now, and though I’ve released several books previous to this, this seems so much more “real” thanks to all the awesome people who have been and are a part of it. One of the things that makes it so exciting and special is the awesome blog tour my publicist has put together. You can see the schedule here on her blog: http://seasonsofhumility.blogspot.com/p/resistance-blog-tour.html Make sure you check out all the awesome stops through the week.
 
And now, of course, here is the button to the Resistance Kindle book on Amazon ($3.99).
 
Buy Resistance
 
As far as the paperback, I am expecting my final proof copy on Wednesday. Well, I hope it will be the last. Since the first proof was almost perfect, I have high hopes. If I can approve it on Wednesday, it should be available by the end of the week. I’ll also put in an order for my own copies and start accepting orders for autographed books.
 
As part of the festivities for the blog tour, I’m also excited to share a fun, Resistance inspired giveaway! This was especially fun to put together. It includes an autographed paperback copy of Resistance, a wolf necklace handcrafted by me and inspired by my main character Jace, a Better Homes and Gardens “Warm Rustic Woods” candle, which I have dubbed the official candle of Ilyon Chronicles, and a leather wolf paw bookmark from Lodgepole Leathercraft. So make sure to enter using the form below! (U.S. residents only.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Saturday, May 10, 2014

The First Resistance Proof Arrived!

10294426_10203880364718906_8139293772221574586_nAfter what felt like a very long few days of impatient waiting, the first proof copy of Resistance arrived yesterday! Considering the magnitude of this project and that this is the very first time I’ve seen the story officially in print, it was quite momentous. I’m happy to say, I’m very pleased with how the cover turned out. It’s hard to tell in the photo, but it’s a bit took dark, however, the colors really look good. I’ve had trouble with greens before, so I’m happy about that. Hopefully all it will take is to lighten it a bit for it to be perfect. Since I haven’t published anything in a while, this was also my first look at CreateSpace’s matte cover option. I think I really like it. Much better than glossy, for me anyway.

The interior of the book, however, is not quite as satisfactory. Something just isn’t hitting me right. I’m not completely happy with my font/size choice, and the outside margins feel a bit too big. Unfortunately, to change this means to reformat the entire book—all 550 pages worth. But I don’t want to settle for “good enough.” After all, the choices I make now will carry through all six books, so I’ve got to get it right . So, over the next couple days, I will be formatting again to change the font to something a bit lighter and smaller and trim down the margins just a little. I’m actually not too disappointed about it. It’s tiring, yes, but if it goes as smoothly as last time, it will be better in the end.

Monday, May 5, 2014

Ordered the First Resistance Proof!

Last Thursday, I received the proofread copy of Resistance back from my editor, Amber Stokes. I spent the day going over that and then began working on formatting the paperback. It took pretty much all of Friday and Saturday, and then some tweaking yesterday. Thankfully, it was the easiest formatting I’ve ever done. In all my previous books, Word always acted up on me and left me wanting to pull my hair out, but it decided to play nicely this time. Very nicely. Everything went perfectly. So I upload the files to CreateSpace yesterday and they were approved overnight without any issues—another first for me. Needless to say, I’m thrilled and was able to order the first proof this morning! Now, I still have a couple little things to tweak and add to the interior, but I wanted to get a proof ordered as soon as possible so I could see how the cover will turn out and how much adjusting it might need. I just can’t wait to get my hands on a copy. It should arrive sometime later this week. This is the first time I’m going to be trying a matte cover since I haven’t done a book since they added that option. I’m curious how that will look. I think I’ll really like it for this series. The books will be like Bryan Davis’s Dragons in Our Midst and its sequel series. I always loved those covers.

And now that formatting is completed, I have the final page count—507 pages for the story itself, while the whole book with all the extras has a grand total of 551 pages. :D Yes, thick books make me happy. That’s about 50 pages thicker than Courage was.

I’m really hoping the cover will turn out as well as everything else has so far so it has a greater chance of being available in paperback the same day as the Kindle. I’m certainly doing all I can to make that happen.

Now, for a little surprise to celebrate my first proof order, how about a little sneak peek of the formatted first page? ;) (Click to see it larger.)

Resistance-FirstPage

Today or tomorrow I’ll probably begin formatting the Kindle version, which should only take an hour or two. I’m kind of anxious to do some writing as well since I my stomach kept up for a while last night and I made use of the time by figuring out how to including a whole new storyline into book four that involves a character who I think is going to be a reader favorite if some of my early indications are correct. :) I’m looking forward to figuring out the details of that and how to fit it in with the current two storylines.

Hope you enjoyed a small taste of the beginning of Resistance! I can’t wait until the whole story is released to the world! I can’t believe it is this close! Oh, and don’t forget to add Resistance on Goodreads and enter the giveaway there!

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Resistance Goodreads Giveaway

I wanted to post a quick update to let everyone know that I have a giveaway for 3 autographed copies of Resistance going right now! It runs until June 20th. Make sure to enter and add it to your read list! :)


Goodreads Book Giveaway

Resistance by Jaye L. Knight

Resistance

by Jaye L. Knight

Giveaway ends June 20, 2014.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Resisters, Not Rebels

“You may not like it, but unless they lead you to do something you know is wrong, He even desires for you to serve and follow the authority of the instructors here at Tarvin Hall as well as the emperor.” – Sam (Resistance, Chapter 6)

It may not be immediately clear in the series, but the difference between resisting and rebelling is something I began to consider about halfway through writing Resistance. Actually, the original title for the book was Rebellion. (I was sort of disappointed and stubborn about changing it because I thought ‘Rebellion’ looked cooler on the cover, but I’ve since gotten over it.) It hit me one day that, from a biblical standpoint, ‘Rebellion’ didn’t sit right with me. Now, I believe there’s a place for revolutions. After all, we wouldn’t be the USA if we hadn’t rebelled against the rule of England, however, that place wasn’t in Ilyon Chronicles. Instead, I felt God calling me to take into consideration Romans 13:1, Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. (NASB)

It has been a key point in the overall storyline of the series. Aside from a few who have a more rebellious streak (they are human, after all), it is never the goal of any of my good characters to overthrow the rightfully ruling authorities. Though the antagonists may see them as rebels, my characters are not out to start a rebellion, but rather resist that which would involve denying their faith, as well as fighting to protect each other when their resistance threatens their lives. In fact, some of my characters work very hard to show the proper respect to their authorities, even when their beliefs are entirely different. It may not be in our nature to want to respect and obey our authorities when we don’t agree with them, but it is clearly something God intends for us to take seriously, and I think it’s pretty cool that it was one of the many difficult areas of life that He called me to explore in this series. It has been incredible to see how He has worked the story around it.

So for anyone used to a stories of rebellion and oppressed people rising up to overthrow their oppressors, Ilyon Chronicles is a bit different. It’s about resisting evil, but still honoring the authority God has established and trusting it to be part of His overall plan. And when you eventually come to the end of the series, looking back, you’ll see there was definitely a plan in place. That is one of the most thrilling parts of writing for God. Though fiction, it can open your eyes to the fact that He works in our lives and in our world exactly the same way.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Evolution of a Cover

Friday was the official reveal of the cover for Resistance. It was something I’d been looking forward to for about the last two years. I’m the kind of person who starts putting a cover together very shortly after starting a book. It’s kind of motivation for me to see how it will look when it’s finished. Resistance was no different. I thought it would be fun to go through the transformation from original idea to finished cover.

It all started with this background image. I can’t remember exactly when I stumbled across it. It was before I ever had the idea for Ilyon Chronicles. I spend a lot of time on stock photo websites, so when I saw this image, immediately my mind said book cover, and I tucked it away for future use. That future use ended up being Resistance. As you can see from this blog and on the main website (as well as my author website and blog), I’ve utilized it for more than just the cover. It’s kind of become the main image of the whole series. It fits the story perfectly because much of it takes place in the forest. 



Then came my next idea, to add a sword to the cover. And, as you can see, Resistance wasn’t always the title. It started out as Rebellion. It’s kind of a long story, but a few months into writing, I realized that title didn’t fit. (I have a blog post started on how that happened that I’ll post on Wednesday.) I was a little stubborn about it at first because I thought Rebellion looked cooler than Resistance, but it had to be changed. You can also see this was before my new pen name came into being. One of the things I wanted for the covers of this series was for them to be simple, but bold. This was the first time I didn’t purchase a decorative font to use. I just loved this simple, all caps look from the beginning and it never changed.



As much as I liked the dark simplicity of the previous cover with just the black, green, and white with the sword, as I worked on the other covers in the series, I knew I needed something to tie them all together. So I added the torn paper. It seemed appropriate for a fantasy series and really did give them that one aspect that connects them all.








For the next transformation, the cover gained a different sword image because I was never quite satisfied with the previous one. I particularly liked this one because of it’s black and gold colors, which play a major part in the series. I also started playing around with the font effects, adding a bevel to it. I was more or less satisfied with this design for a long time, but I like to fiddle which led to…








The final design. As you can see, I did something completely different than the white I had used for the title all along, and I love it so much better. I also added the frame in the background, which is another piece that will show up on all six covers and tie the series together. Now I’m far more than satisfied, I’m thrilled. It’s definitely my favorite of all my covers so far, and was so much fun to put together. The colors and everything about it just came together so well and fit the story of this book perfectly. And the cover creation of a book is much more than just the front. Below you can see the full paperback cover layout.



One of my favorite aspects of the full layout is the shield for the book number on the spine. Again, there’s the black and gold that is so prevalent in the series. And I behind the text is the forest image from the front. All six books will have the same background on the back cover with the color tweaked to match whichever image is on the front. I like it as sort of a reminder of where it all started. It’s pretty cool as a cover designer to go from a single image to a full cover design like this.


Friday, April 11, 2014

Resistance Cover Reveal + Giveaway

Today is a moment I’ve been anxiously awaiting for probably the last two years or so—the reveal of the cover for Resistance! Seriously, it really has been that long. I started putting the cover together very shortly after I started writing the book almost three years ago. I was always very excited about it, and now I can finally show everyone!

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000040_00026]

This is personally my favorite cover I’ve ever put together so far. Between the forest background and the gold and black sword, it fits the story so perfectly. I certainly had fun tweaking it over the last couple of years. I have a post coming up in a couple of days showing the transformation from the first test cover to the finished version. And I’m quite excited about how it looks with the rest of the series. Yes, I do have all six covers put together, at least in temporary form, and I desperately wish I could share them all! Sadly, that will have to wait. But I can tell you that all six books will have the same torn paper at the top as well as the swirly border in the background to tie each of the six books together.

My main vision for the covers of this series was to have them be simple, but bold. That seems to be a trend with a lot of popular mainstream fantasy novels these days, and I thought it would work well with Ilyon Chronicles.

Below, as an added bonus, I’m sharing a short excerpt from the book. Also, be sure to enter the giveaway for one of two of my handmade sword bookmarks inspired by the cover! And check out what others are saying on the blogs listed here.

The Kindle version of Resistance will release on May 20th. I will do my best to have the paperback ready at the same time, though it may get delayed depending on how the first proof copy turns out. (Cover colors can be tough to get to print just right.) To celebrate the release, there will be a week long blog tour May 20-27. It will include reviews, interviews, a giveaway, and more! Mark your calendars, and check the blog tour page in May for more information. Hope to see you there!

Excerpt

    Just when he lowered his guard enough to relax, a grating voice sent tension knotting across his shoulders.
    “Look what the excitement dragged into town.”
    Jace ground his teeth together and turned. He should never have stopped watching his back. Wrong move on his part.
    Flanked by two of his smug-faced friends, a red-haired young man smirked at him, his eyes harboring all sorts of ill will. Jace barely bit back a sharp retort, but the other man’s smirk only grew at his silence. He peered around Jace.
    “Rebekah, what are you doing with this . . .” He glanced back to Jace and turned up his wide nose. “. . . half-blood?”
    Jace balled his fists. Warmth seeped down his arms and into his muscles, pulsing with the preparation for a fight, but he fought to still it.
    Rebekah came to his side, her face set in a frown that looked entirely out of place. “Stop it, Morden.”
    He gave her a condescending little grin. “Why don’t you run along? We’ve got business here.” The grin stretched wider. “I’ll gladly come find you later.”
    Rebekah put her hands on her hips, glaring at him, and opened her mouth to speak, but Jace beat her to it.
    “A gentleman would treat a lady with more consideration.”
    Morden snorted. “And what would you know about that?”
    A blaze erupted inside that Jace struggled to contain. He breathed in hard, cursing the impulses he had to battle so often. He couldn’t let it take control of him. Not again.
    “Come on, Jace, we still have to find something for Kalli.” Rebekah’s soft voice quieted his growing agitation, and she tugged lightly on his stiff arm.
    His blood still burned hot in his veins, calling him to action, and was almost too strong to resist. He thought of Rayad who told him time and again to go to Elôm when he struggled like this. He forced himself to turn away from Morden and whispered silently, “Elôm, I need help.”
    But Morden, who must have caught the movement of his lips just before he turned completely, let out an incredulous laugh. “Are you praying?”
    Jace froze. His heart thundered.
    “Who could you be praying to? Don’t you know? Animals like you have no soul.”
    An evil pang of doubt knifed through Jace’s heart, colder and more painful than the steel of any dagger, and robbed the breath from his lungs. His eyes settled on Rebekah’s face, but it was her pitying expression that caused the weak grip on his emotions to fail. Heat flared in his muscles. He spun around and smashed his fist into the side of Morden’s jaw, sending the man reeling. Regret followed, but it was too late. Morden’s friends caught him by the arms and steadied him as he shook his head to clear his vision.
    Jace dragged deep breaths into his tightened lungs and waited for Morden’s next move. Just walk away. The silent plea went out in desperation. If only it would just end here. But satisfaction lit Morden’s eyes, and his lip curled in a malicious sneer.

Copyright © 2014 by Jaye L. Knight

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Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Finished Editing Resistance!

And no, this is not an April Fool’s Day joke. ;) Sunday afternoon I finished my final read-through of Resistance, and yesterday I send it to my editor, Amber Stokes, for the final proofread. This means the intense editing stage I’ve been going through for close to a year is finally over. It has been crazy. The last week was insane. I felt like I’d been through a war by the end of it. My mom too. We were both reading through it simultaneously with my deadline looming. We managed, but it was brutal. Now, however, I can barely stop smiling. For one thing, I’ve never put this much work into a book . . . ever. I didn’t even know this much work could go into a book. But I’ve also never been so satisfied with a book. I am just thrilled with how it came together. Both my mom and my beta readers deserve a lot of credit for helping me get it to this point.

So now that I’ve survived this, perhaps I can relax a little bit until I get the corrections back from Amber and need to start formatting the book. I have to say I’m looking forward to the formatting. I do love to see the pages come together, though I’m sure about ten chapters in I’ll be ripping my hair out. That’s usually how it goes. But, between then and now, I have the excitement of the cover reveal which will be on April 11th. I can hardly wait to share the cover. It’s my favorite I’ve done so far, so stay tuned for that. And if you have a blog and would like to participate, go here and email Amber.

Also, now that I made my editing deadline, I can finally announce Resistance’s release date: May 20th! That will be the Kindle release day, anyway. I’m hoping the paperback too, but it may take a few extra days depending on how the proof copy turns out. Sometimes the cover colors are hard to get printed just right. That day can’t come soon enough for me. Holding this book in my hands will be more meaningful to me than any I’ve done previously. Plus Amber is putting together a blog tour for the week of the release, my first ever, so this should be all kinds of fun. I look forward to sharing more!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Welcome

Welcome to my "behind the scenes" blog for Ilyon Chronicles. Writing this series has been such an incredible journey, and it's not even close to being over yet since I still have almost three whole books left to write. There's so much to the writing process that I'd love to share, hence this blog. Resistance, book one of Ilyon Chronicles, is still a couple months away from publication, so there isn't much here yet, but you can expect a lot of fun goodies to show up as the series becomes available. To learn more about it, make sure to check out my main Ilyon Chronicles website in the links section to the right.