Books

Cover Reveal for Wings Unfurled!

Last week, Meerkat Press revealed the cover art for Wings Unfurled, the sequel to my epic fantasy novel Wings Unseen!

There it is! I especially love how beautiful the silver stag is and the vivid color scheme. It’s quite a different style of fantasy cover from Wings Unseen, and that’s because we’re embracing the fact that my writing style is more adult epic fantasy than it is YA. As Wings Unfurled takes place six years after the events of Wings Unseen, Serra, Janto, and Vesperi are all firmly now into adulthood as well. Thus, the cover art has been redesigned with more of a mass market fantasy appeal.

Obviously, the silver stag is familiar iconography for fans of the first book, but there are other aspects of the cover, especially when you compare it with the new cover art for Wings Unfurled, that’ll gain more resonance as you read the story.

What’s that? New cover art for Wings Unseen, too? That’s right!

Branding is an important part of book sales, so to keep the brand recognition strong between Wings Unseen and Wings Unfurled, Meerkat Press has redesigned the cover for Book 1 as well. I do miss the little claren bugs dotting the font, but I think the two new designs go smashingly together.  And now, I have two editions of the same book—that’s honestly a really fun thing as a writer. But if you still want to pick up the first edition of Wings Unseen with the original cover, act fast!

wings unseen rebecca gomez farrell meerkat press cover fantasy

For the time being, you can still purchase Wings Unseen with this cover from Amazon, Meerkat Press, and Bookshop . The change will be made closer to Wings Unfurled release date of December 5, 2022, when the Wings Rising series takes to the sky!

This is publishing in the time of COVID, so there is always a chance that date may change, but I should have pre-order details available next month. 🤞And with its publication, I’ll officially be the proud creator of a published series! Will it become a trilogy? The faintest of ideas are jangling around in my head, but I do have some other manuscripts for other series that I’ve been meaning to shape up for a while…

I hope you like the cover art for both books! Want me to explain what the other significant differences are in the covers between the books? TOO BAD. You’ll have to read it to figure it out in full. 😉

Wings Unseen coming from Meerkat Press in August 2017!

Wow. I signed a contract to publish my first book, Wings Unseen, an epic fantasy. With a traditional press. And a print run. And an advance. Folks, I’m still amazed this is happening, and five months in, and I am so happy with my choice to entrust Meerkat Press with this book.

wings unseen rebecca gomez farrell meerkat press cover fantasy

And there it is. The cover reveal officially went down today at 7pm/4pm at the Meerkat Press website. And I LOVE it. I especially love the more modern style, which is one of the reasons I trust this publisher.

How could you not trust this logo? <3

How could you not trust this logo? <3

We looked at a traditional fantasy design, but it didn’t feel right at all. This design stands out to me — the artist rocked it! A three-headed bird stares straight at you, claiming you, perhaps inspiring you to flip the pages. And when you peer closer, something else comes into focus: other winged creatures fluttering around the title letters, blinking into your sight, and giving you an instinctual shiver.

And then there’s the color blue behind it all. I don’t know if Meerkat Press chose blue with intention, but no other color would fit quite as well for this book. Beneath much of Wing Unseen’s action is a force whose presence is signified by blue, so it’s beautifully appropriate that blue is the background for the cover as well. That it is there is enough, quietly holding together what can be more obviously seen.

It’ll be out in August! *leaps for joy*

I’ve talked with friends many times about how I’m one of those writers who achieve something on their goal list then immediately feel as though I’m not a real writer yet, that there is a higher hurdle to jump and only when that happens will I feel I can say it. Place in a contest – nope, not good enough. Have short stories published — nope, doesn’t count until I get paid for one. Have a novella published — well, it’s not a whole book, is it? Sell enough pro-level short stories to join SFWA – but an associate doesn’t count as much as a full member. Sign a traditional book contract – well, I certainly never expected to clear that hurdle before achieving the full SFWA membership goal! Yet here I am, and I’m pretty sure I can call myself a real writer now.

rebecca gomez farrell mazu writer

The cat obsession probably qualified me on its own years ago. 😉 I look forward to the next few months of the whirlwind that is publishing, and I’m going to share that experience here with you. For now, here’s the first paragraph of my Wings Unseen query that earned me two separate contract offers after three years of submitting the manuscript out:

The Meduan and Lanserim ways of life are as compatible as oil and water. But when an invisible threat consumes both countries, leaving husks of human skin in its wake, Lansera’s Prince Janto and his fiancé, Serra, must learn to work together with Vesperi, a Meduan who possesses the only weapon that can save them.

And I’m off to stare at my cover dreamily for the rest of the night….or actually, to share in a virtual wine tasting at Wine Antics, starting at 9 EST/6 PST! This real writer keeps herself busy juggling her spheres of writing influence! Fiction writer mode on SLEEP. Food blogger mode: ENGAGE!

Review of Homeward Bound

Emily Matchar, a journalist and writer based in Chapel Hill for at least part of the year, published a book, Homeward Bound, on the movement toward reclaiming the domestic arts for women among twenty- and thirtysomethings, which she coins as “the New Domesticity.”  When she sought reviewers (meaning my copy was free), I jumped at the chance because I’ve been fascinated by the do-it-yourself attitude of our generation: chicken raising, canning everything, and covering every body part in some form of cable knit. I often feel like I’m the only person I know who doesn’t want to sew her own dresses or make radish pickles. I admit to being amused at the misadventures my friends have trying to keep chickens alive. I get the appeal of gardening and the pride of wearing something you’ve made yourself, but it all takes so much work. And time. And I manage to fill up all my time with work as it is. Why would I want to add more?

Which is what Matcher’s books asks: Why are more and more people spending their time making their own vinegar or sewing their own cloth diapers? Is this a trend backward or forward? What are its roots? Matchar interviewed many women, and some men, who are partaking in the more extreme ends of this movement by taking themselves off the grid, committing to attachment parenting, and/or blogging all about the experience and making careers out of making homes. There’s no judgment in the book, and Matchar deftly handles the irony of a generation of people returning to what their feminist forbears fought to get away from. In fact, many of the women in the book frame reclaiming the domestic arts as an act of feminism, as having the right to choose whether to have a career or a life in the home and to relearn the skills that were taken from them due to being deemed oppressive.