Browsing Tag

Raine Sarmiento

Writing Now

Artist Interview: Raine Sarmiento

I fell in love with Raine Sarmiento‘s work the first time I saw them on a blog post listing local artists (thank YOU social media), and then again when I found out she did the art for Mina V. Esguerra’s Gifted Little Creatures. I knew then that she would be perfect for the book cover of my paranormal/urban fantasy tale Majesty. The end product above should be enough proof that. 

I asked Raine if she’d let me get into that sweet head of hers for a short interview and I’m so happy she obliged! She talks about being inspired by dreams, books, and audio books (!), and the importance of doing work that is a reflection of who you are (heart eyes). Continue Reading

Writing Now

Majesty: Cover Reveal and Print Book!

Majesty-Strangelit-Darkest-Dreams-Jay-E-Tria

 

Last August I joined StrangeLit, a paranormal/urban fantasy writing workshop sponsored by Buqo and Mina V. Esguerra’s Bronze Age Media. The product of that is Majesty, a novella about a beautiful ghost and friendships that endure.

What would you do if the ghost of someone you love appeared in front of you?

Majesty is a beautiful ghost, with her hair of fire and eyes gray like smoke. That is Andy Fey’s first thought when the ghost of her best friend Majesty Hall appeared in her bedroom, only two months since her death. Majesty doesn’t know why she’s there, why only Andy can see her.

Andy isn’t sure if she should tell Gale, that boy who claims that he and Majesty were in love. Funny, sarcastic, and a self-proclaimed serial heartbreaker, Gale is proving to be a good friend in grief, though his trail of broken hearts could soon include hers.

As Andy and Gale wade through their sorrow, Andy wonders if Majesty is here to help ease her into this new, complicated friendship, or if she has a mission all her own.

Majesty is happily bundled with 9 other stories in the Darkest Dreams eBook, available at the Buqo store. But soon the story will be released as a standalone, so it needed its very own book cover. Covers for my last two books were magicked from photos by the awesome Tania Arpa. But for Majesty, I wanted an illustration. So I commissioned watercolor artist Raine Sarmiento after seeing her beautiful work on Mina’s Gifted Little Creatures. I hardly knew what instructions to give and what to expect. But when Raine sent me her final work as you can see above, I teared up just a little. It’s exactly what I didn’t know I wanted.

I brought a few printed copies to FilReadercon last Saturday and all copies were promptly gobbled up (thank YOU, friends haha). The standalone eBook version will be available on Buqo and on Amazon early next year, but if you want to have your own print copy now, please fill out the order form here 🙂

Thank you so much again Raine! You make me want to write a Caleb story just so we can do this again 😀