January 4th marks the release of the 6th book in my Lily Singer Adventures – Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Identity. You can grab a copy right here if you haven’t already, and be aware I have a big sale of the rest of the series going on right now, so stock up while you can!
I’m very grateful to have gotten so far into my publishing career, and I couldn’t have done any of it without my wonderful readers. Thank you all!
Now, for my ebook readers (to minimize file size, I don’t include the illustrations in the ebook), check out the chapter sketches for each chapter below, and enjoy the captions explaining a little more about how I developed each sketch.
Episode 11 Chapter 1: A Desperate Endeavor – this compact is modeled after the antique style of ladies powder compacts from the early 1900s, when Madam Barrington would have been a teenager. I had to go find a photo of an actual antique compact for sale through an antique dealer so my artist would have a proper reference for the sketch.Chapter 2: Grumpy McGrumperstein – I’ve always loved the idea of bunkers! I also love caves and spelunking (not that I’ve been able to do much of it myself, but I’ve done a little and would love to do more). It was fun to develop a secret bunker hidden away in an old mine. While doing my research for it, I was fascinated at the whole industry of prepper/doomsday bunkers out there with companies who will install it from start to finish, almost like buying a new home or something!Chapter 3: He that Seeketh – I had a hard time choosing a scene for this chapter, but in the end I decided on something that would hopefully evoke emotion with simple objects. Also, here are all of Sebastian’s trinkets all in one place! (well, except for the knife of course)Chapter 4: The Italian Job – fun fact, I got the chapter title from one of my favorite movies of the same name. I really wanted a picture of Sir Kipling looking supremely pleased and snarky, but expressions are really hard to capture on a cat. I think my artist did as good of a job as could be expected, and I love Kip’s lazy half-lidded and knowing look. He is sitting on the back of Sebastian’s desk chair much the same way our cats perch on our chairs whenever they want attention, but are too stubborn to come to our laps like we want them to.Chapter 5: Storming the Castle – I try to keep all my episodes to 4 chapters, but I just had too much to cover in this episode! So it got a 5th chapter. This is a real place, a fascinating and beautiful historical mansion in Midtown Atlanta built in the early 1900s. The details of the buildings are a bit simplified to make the composition better, but the scale is correct. It was so funny to discover this beautiful bit of history sandwiched between two skyscrapers. That’s Atlanta for you!The Interlude: Trial by Fire – I had a really hard time deciding the image for the interlude as well. I have to balance showing something that is both interesting and unique to my books, but not revealing too munch in the picture. I also try to avoid faces, so the reader can picture people on their own without my interference. There were so many things I could have picked, but they all involved the characters in the story, so I finally settled on a destroyed McCain Library (the picture breaks my heart!)Episode 12 Chapter 1: Cause and Effect – I just had to do another Sir Kipling picture, because I’d found this AMAZING photographer of Maine Coon cats and was dying to use one (or several) of his photos as references. It really is hard to draw a fluffy cat well with just ink and a little shading, but my somehow my artist manages it! It was agonizing choosing which phrase of Sir Kipling’s to use for his magicked letters, but this was a fun choice.Chapter 2: Spelunking and Other Exploits – this one was actually an easy choice. I loved putting Mega Caverns (a place barely ten minutes from my house in KY) into this book as I haven’t yet had a chance to put anything from my hometown into my books yet. I wanted people to have a firm visualization of the setting and hopefully scale of the place, so of course I wanted a sketch of the mine entrance. It is much more impressive in person, of course. If you ever have a chance, you should definitely visit!Chapter 3: My Dark Queen – This was the absolute hardest sketch to decide on from any of my books. I couldn’t think of anything from the chapter that would be unique and interesting except a REALLY complicated spell circle that would have taken me hours and hours to design and sketch for my artist to have a reference. I try to avoid having people in my sketches, but as long as there isn’t a face I decided it was worth it. Also, I just love those nails and that crown! Not to mention the luxurious hair. A big kudos to my artist, Serena Thomas!Chapter 4: What Defines Us – this one was hard to design for the simple reason that I wanted to show Lily and Seb embracing, but I had no idea how to do it in a way that would express the emotion of the scene, but not show their faces. I spent a long time looking for reference pictures, and finally sent a variety of positions to my artist and told her to make the call. It’s important to rely on the professionals you hire to work on your project, and I’m glad I did! I love the way this turned out, and it just melts my heart to look at it.
Well, there you have it! I’d love to know what you think of the illustrations, so hop down to the comments and share your thoughts!
10 Comments
Michelle Fidler
on January 4, 2020 at 6:12 pm
I wouldn’t mind seeing faces on the illustrations. The only cave I’ve been to was in a museum, Cincinnati Museum Center. I couldn’t figure out how to get out but then I saw some people and followed them.
Lydia
on January 4, 2020 at 8:54 pm
Wow, I’m so glad you found a way out of the cave, otherwise no one would have ever seen you again! Maybe someday we’ll have faces. For now, though, if you want you can always hop over to Goodreads and look up the books you’ll see two editions listed and you can see the covers for the first editions, they were actually illustrated and had the character’s faces 🙂
That last illustration does nail the emotion. I’ve been deeply sad and hugged others that way – I can relate.
Sir Kip on the back of the chair was also a good one. It is hard to give a cat an expression, because in the providence of God, He decided NOT to allow them to raise their eyebrows. Dogs can – big difference. Probably a good thing; imagine how snarky a cat would look with one archly raised eyebrow!
Lydia
on January 7, 2020 at 12:10 am
I would LOVE to see a cat with their eyebrow raised!!!
Kristal
on January 6, 2020 at 11:00 pm
Your books are no longer available on Kindle Unlimited.😞 Will they become available again or are they done deal gone?
Lydia
on January 7, 2020 at 12:13 am
At this time, I have no plans to put my books back into Kindle Unlimited (KU). Unfortunately the way the legal aspects of KU work are such that I’m not allowed to have the ebooks available anywhere else at all (not even giving them away or in the library) if they are in KU, which means I’m totally dependent on Amazon for all of my income, and that is a very risky place to be. It works for some people, but it is not a financially sound place for my family to be the way things have worked out. I really am sorry for the inconvenience, but it is just the way things have to be. I do try to offer sales on my books once or twice a year, so keep an eye out for those sales and grab the ebooks while you can :).
Cindy
on January 19, 2020 at 4:04 pm
When will books 5 and 6 come to audible?
Lydia
on January 19, 2020 at 9:04 pm
Hi Cindy! Right now we have no firm date. The company who produced the first four may or may not be doing the next ones. Personally, if I were you I wouldn’t wait around and would just read the next two. But if you are only able to consume them in audio format, I do plan on getting the audio done eventually, we just don’t know when yet.
Lynne Bryant
on January 29, 2020 at 11:24 am
I really enjoyed your book and the interview with Sir Kip!!! I have a charcoal tabby named Kathryn Esmeralda! Lady Kate for short! She is spoiled rotten and loves her morning treats of Salmon or Chicken strips.
Lydia
on January 29, 2020 at 11:40 am
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! My my, Lady Kate sounds both beautiful, and VERY spoiled! I better not tell Sir Kipling about her or he might demand an introduction ;). My cats would never leave me in peace if I started giving them Salmon. But then I also have a little kid running around so with so many life forms to care for I guess I’m not quite as prone to spoil any one of them.
I wouldn’t mind seeing faces on the illustrations. The only cave I’ve been to was in a museum, Cincinnati Museum Center. I couldn’t figure out how to get out but then I saw some people and followed them.
Wow, I’m so glad you found a way out of the cave, otherwise no one would have ever seen you again! Maybe someday we’ll have faces. For now, though, if you want you can always hop over to Goodreads and look up the books you’ll see two editions listed and you can see the covers for the first editions, they were actually illustrated and had the character’s faces 🙂
That last illustration does nail the emotion. I’ve been deeply sad and hugged others that way – I can relate.
Sir Kip on the back of the chair was also a good one. It is hard to give a cat an expression, because in the providence of God, He decided NOT to allow them to raise their eyebrows. Dogs can – big difference. Probably a good thing; imagine how snarky a cat would look with one archly raised eyebrow!
I would LOVE to see a cat with their eyebrow raised!!!
Your books are no longer available on Kindle Unlimited.😞 Will they become available again or are they done deal gone?
At this time, I have no plans to put my books back into Kindle Unlimited (KU). Unfortunately the way the legal aspects of KU work are such that I’m not allowed to have the ebooks available anywhere else at all (not even giving them away or in the library) if they are in KU, which means I’m totally dependent on Amazon for all of my income, and that is a very risky place to be. It works for some people, but it is not a financially sound place for my family to be the way things have worked out. I really am sorry for the inconvenience, but it is just the way things have to be. I do try to offer sales on my books once or twice a year, so keep an eye out for those sales and grab the ebooks while you can :).
When will books 5 and 6 come to audible?
Hi Cindy! Right now we have no firm date. The company who produced the first four may or may not be doing the next ones. Personally, if I were you I wouldn’t wait around and would just read the next two. But if you are only able to consume them in audio format, I do plan on getting the audio done eventually, we just don’t know when yet.
I really enjoyed your book and the interview with Sir Kip!!! I have a charcoal tabby named Kathryn Esmeralda! Lady Kate for short! She is spoiled rotten and loves her morning treats of Salmon or Chicken strips.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! My my, Lady Kate sounds both beautiful, and VERY spoiled! I better not tell Sir Kipling about her or he might demand an introduction ;). My cats would never leave me in peace if I started giving them Salmon. But then I also have a little kid running around so with so many life forms to care for I guess I’m not quite as prone to spoil any one of them.