prince vladimir

Throne of Blood: Chapters Six and Seven

/ Elena May / Leave a comment

Throne of Blood comes out tomorrow! Those of you who have preordered will receive it directly to your ebook reader. In case you want to start reading a day early, I’ve already uploaded the first five chapters, and here are two more.

I will do the raffle draw for the Throne of Book sighed paperback on Thursday, July 24th to give everyone preordering last minute a chance to enter. I will start mailing your character cards and the book to the winner the following Friday, July 25th. There will be more fun gifts and surprises for those of you who have preordered; you’ll see them soon 🌻

Important: I have responded to everyone who has forwarded me their preorder confirmation and requested postcards. If you have done so but haven’t received a response from me, it means I haven’t received and registered your details. If that’s the case, please contact me, so that I can add you to the raffle and the list for character cards. Good luck to everyone participating!

Okay, time to stop talking and start posting chapters…

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Throne of Blood: Chapters Four and Five

/ Elena May / Leave a comment

Throne of Blood comes out on June 21st! Why am I releasing such a wintry book at the peak of summer? Let’s not forget that about 12% of all people live in the Southern Hemisphere where June 21st is the winter solstice ❄ ❄ ❄ I myself spent a semester in New Zealand and have nice wintry memories from June.

Okay, I initially wanted to release the book on Dec 21st last year but got delayed, and now I’m trying to come up with a deep and profound explanation. 😳

The book is almost here, but while we wait, here are the next two chapters:

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Throne of Blood: Chapter One

/ Elena May / 2 Comments

Just two months left until Throne of Blood‘s release! And since I don’t want to make you wait that long, I thought I could already start sharing the first chapters. Here is Chapter One, and Chapter Two will follow soon.

Please note:

  • This is the third book in the Nightfall series. If you’ve missed the previous books, it makes more sense to start with the Kingdom of Ashes free sample
  • The chapter hasn’t gone through final proofreading. Please forgive any typos
  • Photos are mine. They are not a part of the book, just a little bonus for people reading here 😊

Happy reading!

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Men and Monsters (Nightfall, Book 2) Cover Reveal coming in 3 days!

/ Elena May / 6 Comments

Just 3 days left until the Men and Monsters cover reveal at Betwixt the Pages!

coverreveal

I’m really really happy with how the cover turned out, and I can’t wait to hear what you think!

To celebrate the reveal, I’m running a giveaway with fun prizes. Like all my giveaways, it’s open worldwide:

One lucky winner will receive:
– a signed paperback copy of Kingdom of Ashes
– two signed character cards (Armida and Prince Vladimir)
– a surprise selection of fun bookish gifts

Three more winners will receive:
– a signed character card of your choice
– an ebook copy of Kingdom of Ashes in your preferred format

Check out Betwixt the Pages on Feb. 2nd for more details!

In the meantime, I’ve been working on the flashback chapters in Men and Monsters (the rest is mostly done). I hope you liked Tristan’s backstory in Kingdom of Ashes because a lot of similar stuff is coming up.

Oh, and remember that part in Kingdom of Ashes when Vlad says, “I saw the Vikings sow fear throughout Europe and joined their nightly raids“?

We get to see it. I was planning just a short scene but then got super inspired. I hope you like Vikings — unless I do some major cutting during editing, we are stuck with lots of vikingy stuff!


vikingcat

 

 

Men and Monsters (Nightfall, Book 2) cover reveal coming in one month!

/ Elena May / 4 Comments

Exciting news! I have the Men and Monsters cover, and I’ll be ready to share it with you very soon! The cover reveal is coming on February 2nd and is hosted by Betwixt the Pages. If you’re unfamiliar with the heap of penguiny goodness which is this book blog, you’re missing on so much.

To celebrate the reveal, I’ll be running a giveaway for a signed Kingdom of Ashes paperback, signed character cards, and other bookish gifts. Stay tuned for more!

Also, in case you missed it, Men and Monsters now has a draft blurb:

The stakes have changed. For fifty years, Prince Vladimir has tolerated the Resistance, but now they threaten what he holds dear. The vicious vampire will no longer hold back. A plan he has been working on for decades will finally reveal itself and entangle everyone standing on the way.

For the first time after the Nightfall, the Resistance holds a true bargaining chip. For the first time, they have a chance to tip the scales of the war and ensure humanity’s survival. But Myra has made a promise, and breaking it will destroy all that is human in her. She is loyal to the Resistance, but nothing is black and white. Long-buried secrets emerge, teaching her that vampires can be more honorable than humans, and humans can be more monstrous than the beasts.

A desperate nobleman, fighting to save a doomed culture. A reclusive poet, choosing art over immortality. A vampire, rejecting her raw nature. Past and present weave together in an action-packed tale of power games, hopeless fight for survival, and the indestructible human need to create art.

Happy reading! ❤

Add Men and Monsters on Goodreads!

Kingdom of Ashes Goodreads Giveaway

/ Elena May / Leave a comment

Kingdom of Ashes - PNG - EbookI have 3 signed advance copies of Kingdom of Ashes, and I’m very willing to share! If you’re already on Goodreads, you can enter the giveaway here. If you’re not on Goodreads, what are you waiting for? It takes 20 seconds to create an account, and it’s a great way to discover new books.

If you win the giveaway, you’ll receive an autographed paperback and a character card of your choice.

I ship worldwide!

Best of luck and happy reading!

 

Nightfall Art: Armida and Prince Vladimir

/ Elena May / 4 Comments

If you are anything like me, then you:

  1. A) Dream to see your book characters illustrated,

and

  1. B) Cannot draw a believable humanoid if your life depended on it.

Luckily, this is where my personal superhero, TheSwanMaindeN, comes in.

When you get an artist to illustrate your characters, you can take different routes. You could describe in detail what exactly you want to see, you could give them complete freedom, or you could go anywhere in between.

When I asked TheSwanMaideN to illustrate my book cover, I gave her a detailed description of what exactly needed to be there. However, when it came to Armida’s portrait, I decided to try something different and to give her only a vague idea about the character. “You are great at drawing hair,” I said, “and even better at drawing dresses. Go for it.”

This was one of my better decisions because – surprise, surprise! – it turns out her imagination is way better than mine. What I got was this:

Armida - PNG

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Self-Publish Like a Pro: How to get a quality book cover on a budget PART 3

/ Elena May / 1 Comment

So far I have covered the simpler, faster, and cheaper ways to get a beautiful ebook cover – a DIY or a premade cover. Unfortunately, for many authors these option’s don’t work. You may have something specific in mind for your cover, and no single stock image or a premade template captures it. In that case, you’ll need to work with a designer or an illustrator.

Designers

Designers work like this:

– You share your vision of what you’d like to see on the cover, including key elements and general mood

– The designer picks one or more stock photos, manipulates them to create the desired image, and adds a genre-appropriate font. Usually designers are subscribed to a stock image supplier and can download an unlimited number of photos at no additional cost for them

– There are several rounds of revisions, where you can give back your cover and request changes Continue reading →

Nightfall Art: Tristan

/ Elena May / 2 Comments

I’m happy to present this beautiful character portrait by the talented Nadica Boshkovska (aka TheSwanMaideN on DeviantArt):

Nightfall Kingdom of Ashes Tristan character portrait

If you’ve read the free sample, you have already met Tristan. He is the vampire who first finds Myra in the dungeons and accidentally saves her from interrogation and torture. Arrogant and vain, he is viciously disliked by mostly everyone at court. At a first glance, his loyalty to the Prince is his only redeeming quality, but Myra discovers further bits and pieces of his past, secrets and motivations as the story goes along.

I think the portrait does a great job capturing his personality, or at least the face he shows to most of the world. Once again, I’m very grateful to be working with this skilled artist.