Cover Reveal--A Dream Not Imagined by Shantelle Mary Hannu

One of the dear young ladies of our bloggerdom, Shantelle Mary, is publishing a Cinderela story! And it sounds most interesting!

A MAID, a PRINCE, and a DUKE. A GARDENER, a STEPMOTHER, and a secret...

     Ellie Abbington, a beautiful yet unassuming young woman, quietly longs for her life to change. Too privileged to associate with the servants—too underprivileged to associate with her own family; she dreams a dream of a prince and a happily ever after.

     But it could be that her own stepsisters, conniving Dezmarie and easily-influenced Adelaide, are dreaming the same dream...of the same prince.

     In the end, are dreams even all they're made out to be? Especially with deep and long-hidden secrets about to be unearthed?

A Dream Not Imagined is a non-magical fairytale novella based loosely on the classic tale of Cinderella.

Tentative Release Date: June 2015

ADD TO GOODREADS!

About the Author

     Shantelle Mary Hannu was born in the mountainous west, spending her golden childhood years there. Since then, she has relocated time and again with her parents and seven siblings, making cherished memories in both the South and Central United States.

     A Christian homeschool graduate, Shantelle has a passion for writing and all things books. From a young age she’s been penning tales with a hope of sharing with the world adventurous and soul-stirring stories that bring glory to God.

     A Dream Not Imagined, a fairytale novella, will be her first published book. She’s currently preparing a full-length fantasy novel for publication as well, and working on its sequel.

     Shantelle blogs at A Writer’s Heart: http://shantellemaryh.blogspot.com/ about her stories, favorite books and movies (with reviews), healthy wheat-free recipes, and hosts fellow authors, among other things. One of her joys is connecting with fellow writers and readers! You can also find her on:

Facebook: Shantelle Mary Hannu, Author (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shantelle-Mary-Hannu/1622068488014168?ref=aymt_homepage_panel),

Twitter: @shantellemary (https://twitter.com/shantellemary),

Goodreads: Shantelle Mary Hannu (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13804303.Shantelle_Mary_Hannu),

Google+: Shantelle H. (https://plus.google.com/101772131563789927466/posts), and

Pinterest: Shantelle H. (https://www.pinterest.com/h0160/).

About the Illustrator

     Natasha H. is an aspiring photographer and also loves drawing and painting. A Dream Not Imagined is the first book she has drawn the cover picture for.

     Learn more about her work at her blog: http://tashahphotography.blogspot.com/

The Most Excellent Bard Eanrin Hat

Good morning, folks! Hope you all are having a great Friday! As some of you requested, here are some pictures of me in my most excellent Bard Eanrin Hat, as made by Mrs. Macha!

It certainly adds a level of confidence worthy of the Bard!

Along with cat-like satisfaction.

All in all, it's a barrel of fun!

For those of you don't know, this was a prize for Anne Elisabeth Stengl's Tales of Goldstone Wood Fan Art Contest! Thanks to everyone who enjoyed and voted for my piece (which is below, in case you missed it)!!!

"Sunan Challenges Risafeth" by Hannah Williams

Writing Quality

In my second draft of Moonscript, I've been working on story cohesion: making sure characters are true to themselves, ensuring actions and turns of events make sense, and so on. Sometimes it is incredibly difficult to come up with a better way to write a scene. My brother has been reading the story as of late and pointing out several problems with inaccuracy of action or plot, which I've been striving to fix.

Just recently, I've discovered the wonder of Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld. I hadn't read them before, because they are adult books complete with language, dark issues, and innuendos, but I am reading them now, and they are also inspiring works of brilliance. When you are reading them, almost anything else you are reading (except Sanderson and Stengl) pale in comparison.

So Moonscript was looking rather pale to me. While I have no hope of it being anywhere as genius as Pratchett, I am inspired to write my books better. And then it struck me--reading good books isn't enough. Yes, it is good and it will rub off on you. But study them. Not to copy their style or voice or story, but their quality.

In studying Pratchett I discovered that I write a lot about what people's expressions are and how they are saying things all the time. He usually let you imagine for yourself simply by writing the scene and conversation so clearly. But then I discovered that Anne Elisabeth Stengl did often use facial and voice description, and it also read wonderfully. So once again it was a difference of style. I think their quality lies in this--knowing when to use descriptions, metaphors, and on. Timing and placement are tools to be mastered.

I plan on going through some of my favorite authors, (Stengl, Sanderson, Pratchett, Turner) and taking down notes on how they write scenes, conversations, and more. This technique probably occurred to you some time ago, but I look forward to seeing how it helps me shape my writing.

"For I know that my Redeemer lives and that at the last he will stand upon the earth." Job 19:25. May you all have a blessed Easter!

Moonscript Update

May you all have a blessed Good Friday as we remember Who guides our lives and redeemed our souls!

Now, my dear readers, I'm pleased to tell you the second draft of Moonscript is progressing in fine form. There is much I have changed, more to change, and a great deal to perfect. As a matter of fact, I shall soon be writing an article on my search for writing quality.

But I realized my old cover and blurb for Moonscript is rather outdated. So I've set up a new blog page and banner! Enjoy!