Cover Reveal: THE LOST PRINCESS

This. There were some days I wondered if I'd ever get to this point. I can't even tell you the struggle finishing my Peasant Queen series has been. I've had this cover for nearly a year, and FINALLY I get to share it with you.

To recap, or if you're new, in The Peasant Queen we met Krystal, who found herself thrust into a world of kings and magic and had to grapple with the fallout. The sequel, The Tyrant King, continues Krystal's story with a new villain and a whole new set of problems. The companion novel, The Wild Queen, is similar to these books in that all of them contain action, drama, fighting, wars, and plenty to keep the plot dancing along the page.

The Lost Princess is different. War is over, but conflict isn't. There's still plenty of trouble for the characters to get in to. But instead of exclusively following Krystal, we meet a newbie--Jessenia. The book is all about Jessenia's struggles to accept and come to terms with her place in the world. And it's not easy.

This story challenged me in ways I didn't think possible. It's all about internal struggle and self-worth, and let me tell you that's hard to convey to the page. Action is easy. These characters hate each other, so they fight. But Jessenia doesn't get into a single physical fight in the whole book. Yet in some ways she's the strongest character I've ever written.

The other issue I had with this story is bringing all my threads from previous books to a satisfactory conclusion. That's not to say that I tied everything up in neat little bows (please, that is so not me) but there's resolution, hope for the future, etc. We meet all our favorites from the previous books, and see how time and trouble have changed them. So, happily, the story is far from dull. It's just been an incredible challenge to complete.

So here you go, the blurb/summary and cover. Are you ready? I think Deirdra did an amazing job drawing my vision out. She's the best.

Unwanted. Torn between two families, Lady Jessenia Elsden curses her birth and wishes only for a place where she belongs. But is that place with her father’s people or in the royal courts of Fayterra and Demarde with her mother, the long absent Queen Roweena?
Jessenia will traverse miles, even going to the royal courts of Peldon, to find her heart’s desire—somewhere, someone, that she can call home.

Stay close, readers. Soon I'll upload links for preordering THE LOST PRINCESS and give you an updated release date.

My GIFTS to You

In the spirit of the season, I'm giving back to my wonderful readers.

TWELVE DAYS, which includes special bonus material, is FREE for Kindle today through Saturday, December 27th. So if you have a Kindle, or are gifting a Kindle this year, you can pick up a copy today!

Workaholic Joe thought that he'd provided a good life for his wife and young daughter, until the night of his daughter's Christmas Concert when his wife whispered that she wants a divorce. Joe revives an old holiday tradition with the hope of changing her mind, but it's his heart that changes most.

THE WILD QUEEN, the companion novel to my PEASANT QUEEN SERIES, is only 99 cents for Kindle through the holiday season. Again, if you are gifting a Kindle this is a great addition to the ebook collection.


Lucien, the young king of neighboring Demarde, comes to Roweena’s father seeking an alliance, but comes away with a marriage contract for young Roweena’s hand. Furious and stubborn, this untamed beauty vows he will never conquer her. But the contract purposely gives her time to come to terms with her fate.

Before Lucien can return, Roweena’s home is attacked and her parents are murdered. The Healer’s Grove is also attacked—burned to the ground. With nothing more than her horse and the clothes on her back, Roweena goes to the only person she knows can help her. Lucien.

 THE TYRANT KING, the exciting sequel to THE PEASANT QUEEN, is also only 99 cents for Kindle!



 Krystal’s peaceful life as queen of Fayterra is shattered when a stranger arrives with a connection to Jareth that threatens to change everything. Soon her loved ones are threatened, her people are under attack, and Krystal must face a devastating loss.

As the future becomes bleaker and the mystery continues to unravel, Krystal’s enemies will learn just how far she will go to defend the people she loves.

And I'm not done yet!

A HAUNTING LOVE, my ghost story novella, is now available in PAPERBACK! To celebrate I'm offering the Kindle version FREE December 26th through 28th. So if you get a Kindle for Christmas, be sure to grab your copy when you're filling your ebook library!

When her fiancé, Drew, suggests having their wedding at his family home in the Highlands of Scotland, Alita only thinks about the beauty and romance awaiting her. She’s unprepared for the frosty greeting she and her sister receive from each member of his family, particularly his domineering mother.

But nothing shocks Alita more than the odd, menacing dreams she begins to have her first night at MacColum House. Over and over again she dreams of a grisly murder—with herself as the victim!

And don't forget that GHOST BRIDE, my flash fiction ghost story, is always FREE. This one won't be around forever (hint, hint) so don't miss out!


My absolute favorite review of GHOST BRIDE is the one where the reader says she doesn't like it because it's so short and she wanted it to be longer. :)


Arianne died on her wedding night, but her ghost can't rest in peace.

Merry Christmas, my friends, and happy reading!
Cheri 

Christmas is COMING

In the spirit of the season, I'm releasing a new Christmas story on Friday (December 5th). But you get a sneak peek at the cover right here, just for taking a look at my blog.

Here you go!

 

Here's the blurb:

 Workaholic Joe thought that he'd provided a good life for his wife and young daughter--until the night of his daughter's Christmas Concert when his wife whispered that she wants a divorce. Joe revives an old holiday tradition with the hope of changing her heart, but it's his heart that changes most.

Excited? I know I am.

And I'm sure you'll be happy to know that my Black Friday sale of A Haunting Love went really well. (That's the Kindle link, btw) The print version should be available next week. If you missed it, here's the blurb and cover for HL:

When her fiancé, Drew, suggests having their wedding at his family home in the Highlands of Scotland, Alita only thinks about the beauty and romance awaiting her. She’s unprepared for the frosty greeting she and her sister receive from each member of his family, particularly his domineering mother.

But nothing shocks Alita more than the odd, menacing dreams she begins to have her first night at MacColum House.  Over and over again she dreams of a grisly murder—with herself as the victim!

Things are happening! Stay tuned for more exciting news.

NaNoWriMo is Here!

Hey, look at that! October is over, Halloween is done, and Lizzie Lilac is nestled among the published books of 2014.

Now it's time to write something new.

If you're here at my blog you've probably at least heard of NaNoWriMo--short for National Novel Writing Month. It happens every November, and participants must start the work in November and write at least 50,000 words.

Last year I didn't technically win, but last year I wrote over 60,000 words in 2 SEPARATE WORKS in November. So I'm calling that a personal victory.

This year I have a lot on my plate, writing wise. That's in addition to the barely controlled chaos that is my life. But I don't have the time to devote 30 days to one book. So here's what I'm doing for NaNo this year:

I've decided on 7 carefully selected days to devote to my NaNo project. 7. SEVEN. That's 50,000 words in seven days, or roughly 7143 words a day. Yes, it's ambitious. Yes it's crazy.

But that's all the time I have to devote to a new story this November.

Thing is, I've done it before. And I can do it again. I'm choosing days that I don't have dr's or orthodontist appts for my kids or my husband. I'm choosing days where everyone else is either at school or at work, which gives me at least 6 hours of uninterrupted writing time. And all of these days are within the first 18 days of the month, so we'll know rather quickly whether or not I'm making it work.

And today, November 1st, is not a designated NaNo day. It's a Saturday, for crying out loud, and my whole family is home and I have priorities.

Lizzie Lilac and the Left Socks Launch

Yes, it's true. I've launched a new book into the world. If you missed the amazing launch party we had online Monday night, I'm sorry. I wish everyone could have been there. It was a blast and the comments and feedback about the book were outstanding. Silverbow Promotions put together the launch and we had prizes like 2 limited edition Lizzie Lilac dolls and one very cute troll statue. I made the dolls myself but I can't take credit for the statue. The incredible Deirdra Eden found a sculptor willing to donate him for our cause.

Launching this particular children's book in October is not coincidental. You may be asking yourself what it has to do with Halloween. Well, nothing. But October is also Breast Cancer Awareness month and this book has deep roots in the cause. In fact it was inspired in part by a friend's struggle with the disease.

Some of you may remember my friend Becky. She was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2011, just after my first novel was published and just before I received my first royalty check for said novel. Becky's particular cancer was aggressive, so the doctors acted quickly. Just two days after her diagnosis she was in surgery. Two days. She didn't even have time to come to terms with any of it, to process it. Then she's under the knife. I felt for her, our daughters are friends, I wanted to do something.

So I donated all my book royalties to the family to help them with the practical expenses related to fighting cancer. As a friend I helped in any way I could. But still I wanted to do more. While talking about that desire with my daughter, we came up with the concept of the Lizzie Lilac book. Originally it was going to be Lizzie Blue (because Becky's daughter's favorite color was blue), but we found the alliteration to be more fun with Lizzie Lilac.

I've had so much help with this book. No kidding. Breast cancer is one of those things that motivates us. It moves us emotionally. If you haven't been personally affected by the disease you have a family member, close friend, or even colleague who has. Lizzie Lilac and the Left Socks has a mission.

The back text reads, in part:

Author’s note: A few years ago, K.C. Rose and I got some devastating news: a sweet friend and mother had an extremely aggressive form of breast cancer. Since I had just launched my first novel into the world, I decided to donate all my royalties for a period of months to the family to help them fight this horrible invader. But it wasn’t enough—we knew we could do more. That’s where the concept of the Lizzie Lilac book was born. This book is not only dedicated to our friend (who is now cancer free!!) and her family, but also to all the families who struggle with this disease. K.C. and I make no profit from sharing this story—everything we raise will go to the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah to help them help others.

Thank you for being part of our fight. ~Cheri Chesley

Huntsman's took great care of Becky during her treatments, so that's where the donations are going. I don't make any money off this book. I never will. If Huntsman's turns away our donations after a while I'll donate the royalties to another cancer fighting organization. Or to families directly. I have friends who have donated editing services, promotion services, and even prizes to see this book make a successful launch out into the world. And hopefully change lives. 

Right now we're in the blog tour phase of the launch. The tour starts with  Cupcakes and Books and runs through October 25th. There's a free signed copy of Lizzie Lilac and a $50 Amazon gift card up for grabs, so please check it out.

To pick up your own copy of Lizzie Lilac and the Left Socks, click HERE. You can also read it's reviews, which if I may say are pretty favorable.

And now I'm going to share my favorite illustration from the book. Enjoy!

2015

You know how some numbers just appeal to you? Like, you may not realize it but you have a favorite number. I like 5. I like 15.

2015 has a good ring to it.

Because we're already more than halfway done with 2014 and summer is never a good time for my creative work I'm choosing to be kind to myself. And to my family, because they are most important.

"You are a mother, first and foremost. Second comes your writing."

Truth.

So while I am working on stories off and on I'm not killing myself to meet an arbitrary deadline. When the kids come up with an activity or something they want to do/watch/say I'm not getting all bent out of shape about what I'm not doing with my stories.

Like I said, I'm being kind to myself.

Of course once school starts again and I have hours to myself every day that's going to change. It will be like going back to work. I'm going to focus on finishing the edits and formatting of my Christmas story for this year. And then on releasing a book in January. 2015. Then my sweet romance short story in Feb for Valentines, like I've been trying to do for going on 3 years now.

And then, who knows? Maybe I'll be ready to release another book in March or April. So, yes, I'm going to be intensely busy this fall and winter. And I accept that.

An author I greatly admire has said recently, while dealing with her own setbacks, trials, and frustrations, that what she's good at and has always been good at is working hard. I'm not that good at working hard. I can do okay in spurts but invariably my crushing sense of "I'm not good enough" always returns to slow and often halt my progress. And while I haven't released a book in 2 years now I have been trying, working, at improving my SELF so that I can be the hard worker I long to be.

Everyone has their trials and difficulties. For some it's mostly an internal struggle. For others, they've beaten the internal struggle and then may develop physical limitations. I'm no exception. But I haven't given up.

And I'm not going to give up. My progress may be slow, it may even appear nonexistent at times, but I am working toward my goals.

What I've Learned

This is my family, circa 1979. As far as I know it's the last group shot of all of us together--mom, dad, 5 kids.

This is the remnant of wholeness I tried to cling to my entire childhood.

And into adulthood. Let's not mince words.

My parents divorced just before I turned 5. My father died 2 and a half years later, the spring before I turned 8.

Poof. Just like that.

With Fathers Day being just yesterday, I wanted to post a few things about what my dad taught me. Because for years, if anyone had asked, I would have told them that I never learned anything from my father. How could I? He wasn't around most of my life, and the part he was around for I don't remember. Really. I have precious few memories of anything before 3rd grade.

This is the family I grew up with. Us kids and Mom. This is what I remember. We weren't always so dressed up, or pleasant, or goofy (looking at me down there) but it was the 6 of us.

I missed my dad like you wouldn't believe. I missed what I didn't know--which doesn't make a lot of sense but I missed what I thought I should have. Even dysfunctional, even apart from us, I wanted a dad.

If you were raising a family around me during my childhood and happened to be a dad, I apologize. I was very hard on the dads around me. I held them to an almost impossible standard, and was unforgiving of their faults. If they screwed up, it took months or years to get back into my theoretical good graces.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I was forming a list of the qualities I wanted my kids to have in their dad. And I was a tough, tough taskmaster.

I don't want to sit here and idealize my father. He made mistakes, and some of those mistakes cost him dearly. But he wasn't the villain in the story. Everyone makes mistakes, and we don't get to choose the consequences. Sometimes it's a far heavier price than we'd like to bear.

It took me years, almost into my 30's, before I finally stopped looking at my dad's death as something that happened to me and saw it as something that happened to him. In the months and years before he died he was in constant pain. Yet he worked anyway because he had family to provide for. So when he got home he was tired, hurting like I can't even comprehend, and it made him grumpy. For a long time I looked at my father's legacy as that one time I can remember him yelling at me. My single memory of him. And it wasn't enough.

Now, though, I can look back and understand that in some ways his death was a release for him. It's not something he would have chosen, even as miserable as he was, but I imagine his pain only getting worse with age and how miserable his existence would have been had he lived to my adulthood. I can see the mercy there.

And I can see what he taught me. First, my father taught me to make the most of every moment, and to make the little moments precious. You never know when you're going to go (42 is NOT that old, after all) so you need to make the most of the moments you have. Your last day on earth could come in 70 years, or it could come tomorrow. We just don't know. Your time is precious--don't waste it.

He also taught me that the world goes on. The day we got the news that he'd died was the worst day of my life. I remember watching my mom cry all over the phone receiver and knowing it was bad, feeling that deep, sinking feeling inside me. Bawling all over my brother in the recliner. Wishing that it was a lie, that someone was wrong, that he wasn't dead.

But the sun set on that day and rose the next morning. We got up, dusted ourselves off, and after a while started living again. We grew up, married, started families, took vacations, and lived our lives. And we're still doing it.

The hard truth is part of the person I am today came about because my father died when I was seven years old. The underlying strength, the determination, the appreciation of seemingly unimportant moments. I look at life differently than a lot of people, especially those who have not had this experience (not that I recommend it!). And if I'm going to be okay with the person I am, then I have to be okay with the path that brought me here.

 

Because the view from here is spectacular.