Revamped and republished: Sept.1 milestone

I decided to make the most of this holiday weekend. I self-pubbed my first book in Feb. 2012. It was a novella titled I of the Storm. I was so proud of it because it took me 6 years to complete. It was well received after release, and I decided to write a book-2 this year. To refresh my memory of all the details I'd added to the story, I reread my book. Looking at it solely with reader's eyes and not as the author, I saw that it had lots of potential to become a full-length novel. I noticed lots of places that could use elaboration and spicing up. The story line seemed to move too fast in some parts. So I dedicated one whole weekend to fattening up my novella. She gained a lot of weight---from 37,000 words to a chunky 51,000! I added 5 more chapters and lots of new scenes, creating more depth. I also made it more spooky and added a subhead so people would have a clue what the story was about. Now the title is I of the Storm: Death is Watching. 

A fellow author told me my title was confusing when saying it out loud and not seeing it. This means, some people probably thought it was a book about weather! As the cover, I used a photo of Earth I took from a plane as I was flying home from a vacation in Trinidad. The photo looked outer space-like, and I used it for its cool factor. I hadn't thought of it beyond that the first time around, so I was grateful for the feedback about how it was confusing.

My husband of 2 years is a graphic designer. And after a photographer gave me permission to use his lightning photo, I knew my book needed a facelift. Considering the whole story is driven by the main character being struck by lightning, it was the perfect image for my cover! The hubby went to work on the new cover design, and in a couple days, my book had a new look. I'm quite pleased with the refinished product, and I'm so glad I decided to go forth with the upgrade. That's one of the perks of self-publishing.

So, with a new face and body, my book is a pending upload as we speak on Amazon/Kindle! Check out the cover below. If you're an author looking for a designer, my husband, Anthony, is for hire. (Ha! That sounded funny.)