Monday Update on Aurumenas

If I could have any say in the cover of my book, this is what it would look like (kind of). I'm no photoshop wizard, so I didn't know how to put the changes that need to be done, but this is pretty close. The little gems on the inner crystals would be gone and the center gem would be multi-colored, but clear (the whole prism effect thing).

What do you think? Isn't it pretty? "But wait," you say! "I don't get it!" Well, let me tell you my wonderful stalkers, er readers. That orange and red flower with the clear, multi-colored gem is the symbol of the Destructor in my book (and it's closely tied to my MC). So, I will be putting that picture at the top of every Monday post from now on.

Also, you know how on Friday I told you all about the quote of the week that I post to the right? Well, I'm going to post a small quote from the section I had just completed, and I'll also post it here during the update.

Without further ado...

The girl staring back at me was glowing with the halo of flames dancing around her. She looked happy; she looked complete. But there was something that she wanted, and I knew what that was. She wanted to release the burning ache in her back; she wanted to give in and let it all out. I would give her what she wanted.

And now I bet you're wondering just how much progress I made last week. Well, let me tell you. I cut about 17,000 words and added about 5,000 (give or take a few hundred). I had yet to get rid of all the scenes that were in different POVs, so this weekend, I decided to just buckle down and do it. It was a little depressing at first to see my word count go down so much, but it was refreshing to get those unneeded words out of the way.

My first eight chapters are out with some of my betas. One of my betas is being stubborn and demanding a hard copy, so I have yet to get to a print shop to take care of that. If his opinion wasn't so valued, I would have told him to forget it and refused to make him dinner. Hehehe. It's my husband, and I really can't refuse him anything. I will admit that finding people I know who enjoy sci-fi/fantasy is rather difficult. If you know anyone who's appealed by the idea of intergalactic fairies who ride around in battleships and control the elements of fire, water, and air, tell them to send me an email.

And finally, I've discovered that two chapters a week is what I can handle. I don't allow myself less, and it seems time won't allow me more. That being said, with only about twenty chapters left to do, I'll be done in a little over two months (right on schedule). So if my betas don't come back to me with major issues, queries can start going out this summer! Phew! Finally! (To the betas that are reading this, don't let that make you go soft on me).

Check in tomorrow for a book review I've been putting off for a very long time. You'll want to check it out so that you can voice your own opinion on this controversial novel!

~Emily White