Sanctuary of Fire is in production! (Book three in The Deceiver Saga)


I’ve been amazed at how fast things are going with these books of mine. From a dream (literally), to scraps of scribbled notes, to the laptop, to the publisher, the printed page, out to the public, and soon, recorded into audiobooks! If you haven’t read my earlier blogs about how all this wonderful madness got started, I invite you to please take a scroll through my previous posts that take you along with me through the wonderful journey I’ve been on. Nothing has been handed to me. It’s taken a lot of hard work, dedication, and ignoring the naysayers—but I will say this, God’s hand has been in it and his blessings undeniable. And I wouldn’t be where I am today without the love, encouragement and support of my family and friends.

Back in February I sent the manuscript in to my publisher for the third book in The Deceiver Saga, called Sanctuary of Fire. There will be more books in the Saga than just three, so don’t panic. You wouldn’t be without a good book to read when you get done with this one. I’m guessing there will probably be about six or seven in The Deceiver Saga, but since there seems to be more and more evolving every day in my beady little mind, I’d can’t say there won’t be more than that! You’ll just have to wait and see! Well, read, wait and see.  ;O]

We started production on Sanctuary of Fire in April. We’ve been through the major copyediting and are finishing up the cover design and inside layout right now. In the next week or so I expect to have the cover art revision back and the digital file of the layout to review. The fun part of this phase is that they will also send me a printed proof copy to rub my anxious little hands over and feast my dry eyesies upon. Of course the purpose is to read it off the printed page so that whatever I don’t catch in the way of lingering errors or typos in the digital file will pop off the page and present itself from the 3D book. That, and they want to make sure I’m happy with how the actual physical book looks as a whole. I can’t wait!

It’s always fun to work with the cover designer/artist and try to get what I have in my head presented in the physical world. On each of the books so far, I have been asked to fill out a questionnaire that my project manager sends me. I have to tell them things like: What mood I want the cover to project and what feelings I want it to invoke, how I want my pen name listed, what my final decision is for the book title (if I wasn’t sure already), what symbolism I feel represents the theme in the books(s) and of course, what I see in my mind when I think of this book’s cover.

Sanctuary of Fire has proven to be a difficult book cover to nail down. Not for me, I’ve known what I want on it since before I was finished writing it. I know what I see in my mind, and I’ve tried to express that as articulately as I can to them. But everyone’s interpretation of what they read and what they see in their head is different. So even though I may try to explain in detail exactly what I want on this cover, what they see in their mind as they read my questionnaire, may not be exactly what I myself was envisioning. So far, they’ve sent me a few different cover designs and revisions. They’ve done awesome work, there’s no doubt about it! But, it wasn’t quite right. It wasn’t fully expressing what I was imagining or wanted expressed. So I sent them more notes and they’re working on it again. Each time they revise it, they get closer. Just a few more little tweaks and we’ll be there! I can’t want to post it once it’s done!

The thing to remember is that if you don’t speak up about what’s important to you, people won’t know they’ve let you down or disappointed you. You have communicate openly and honestly to those you are relying on to make your dreams come true. Especially for something as important to you as these books are to me. I guess my message to you today is, don’t settle, be honest, and don’t be afraid to communicate. Don’t have to be intimidated to communicate your needs. Just don’t do so in a manner that’s rude or condescending. That isn’t “honesty”, that’s just called being a jerk. And no one wants to help a jerk and no one wants to work with on either.

Keep on, keeping on! And be blessed!

R. J. Machado De Quevedo

(Author of ‘The Deceiver Saga’, Speaker, Blogger, Dreamer)

 

 


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