Dear Daniel

Dear Daniel,

Today’s blog is simple. I am showing off my new and shiny official cover of Bella Morte: Beginnings. Check it out to your right. The tagline: A young woman bent on revenge. A destiny that keeps getting in her way.

To say the least I am over the moon about this cover. It has received a huge response on FB and I will inevitably place it on pinterest and tumblr and perhaps even on Bubblews. But here it is for my hero to see me taking another huge step forward. Swordsmanship, elemental powers, light versus dark.

Justice Xavier’s journey starts out hard and only gets harder. In book 1 she has been brutally violated and enslaved for most of her life. She must cope with the overwhelming power within her and learn to master it lest it consume her and everything around her. Fueled initially by her rage, her long lost father and legendary gladiator father Duncan must mentor her. With the steady guidance and patience of her conduit warrior, Matthew they travel across what remains of the former United States, now know as Ke’lan in a desperate search for her mother.

I’m including my cousin Rebekah’s mock-up cover for the book she is currently writing, Gears of Golgotha. 

A tale of Mages and Chemists and Gears that run and protect the earth. With a girl whose power blossoms into the world’s last hope. A tale of prejudice and acceptance an allegory of our time. Rebekah is all of 19 and the pitch she wrote and the excerpts she’s read to me are impressive.

I think wow, it took me years to develop those skills and maturity as a novelist and author. I’m proud of her and the steps she’s taking. She’s hoping to have a finished novel by April to pitch Hekate. She’s already bowled over by Delilah and her artwork.

I have to admit, as we lunched at Panera she bowled me over with how good her writing on a FIRST DRAFT was. She has her own issues and the fact she can do math in her head (I can’t), already has a successful blog, her learning curve is off the charts.

Right now she’s scared to go back to school. I know where she is. But I don’t want her to take the long way around like I did. She’s worried about things that aren’t in her control. If I have a message to her it is this:

You are bright and beautiful. Having a bipolar diagnosis doesn’t have to define you. You are not your diagnosis. You are talented. You are lovable. You are enough. I want her to her understand that more than anything. Having an education is important, but remember write with passion. Write with abandon. Color outside the lines. And remember, when things are hard take a deep breath, count to ten, and reach out for help. Seven Counties of Kentucky saved my life. To Rebekah and all those like us out there find your Seven Counties and write your own happy ending.

Sincerely,

Amy McCorkle