Good news! I finished the re-write of Born a Queen, and it’s currently sitting at a little over 93,000 words. The bad news is that, depending on the opinions of my first-line readers, some of that may get axed. Currently half of them have gotten back to me, and they are recommending it get left mostly as it is. Still waiting on the other half, including my wife. Consider this a teasing reminder, Jessica.
Once I have feedback, I’m going to go through the book on another editing pass to fix any issues that crop up, and to read it aloud since that seemed to eliminate an immense number of errors in Halls of Power. The sooner I get it done, the sooner it can go out to the editor. I’m still not sure what the release date will end up being, but hitting the date listed on Amazon shouldn’t be a problem.
I know I’m not addressing the audiobook of Halls of Power, but that’s because I’m waiting on the producer to get back to me with the audio. He isn’t scheduled to for more than a week, so I’ll update once I have something on that front to talk about.
The extended ending of Halls of Power… shouldn’t take long after Born a Queen is finished. The longest part will be waiting for the editor to have an opening, because I know I want it polished when you see it. And since I’m on the subject, I thought I’d share some art I commissioned for Sistina, which will be used when I eventually put together an Ancient Dreams Omnibus. The artist, Hoang Lap, was given the same description as I gave Jackie Wei, and he created a beautiful piece with a degree of artistic license. Amusingly, he chose to upload a slightly different version on his art pages.
That’s it for today! As always, feel free to ask any questions you’d like to.
Ancient Dreams 
Very nice art, although I think I prefer her “skin” to be more like wood with growth rings instead of this tattoo-like, err, marks. It just makes her feel more … like a plant-based creature instead of an exotic humanoid.
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Oh, I agree! However, the closest I could find to proper example art for the artist was closer to what I got, so I couldn’t blame him. One day I’ll find the perfect picture for Sistina… or I’ll die of old age, one or the other.
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All the luck with the finding of a perfect picture. As is, I have a pretty decent mental image of Sistina by cross referencing your description and this picture.
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Glad to hear it! And more honestly, while I’d love to have a perfect picture for her, it isn’t something I’m going to stress over. I know what she looks like in my head, after all.
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