This is a series I posted on instagram to promote the three books in my urban fantasy novels, The Ravenwood Trilogy. And really, it may have just been an excuse to create bouquets from the flowers in my garden and to showcase all my thrifted vases, teacups and coffee mugs.
If October seems too long to wait to find out how the Ravenwood Trilogy ends, my publisher has made ARC’s of the Light Bringer available on Book Sprout. Just click on the button below to receive a free copy of the ebook in exchange for a review.
Reviews and ratings along with pre-orders are the most effective ways for authors to get their books into the hands of readers who would enjoy them. If you love to read and you support indie and small press authors, I would appreciate if you downloaded the ARC today.
My Mid-Winter / MidSummer Writing Space: I was asked recently how my writing room / office is set up and my reply was that I don’t have a dedicated office. I have two spaces in my tiny rental house that I use. As I thought about it, I realized, I change where I write based on the seasons.
My house has a basement entry (so the main floor is actually the above ground “basement”, that houses the laundry room, powder room and the rest of the space in what my generation called the rec room or rumpus room. I, however, no longer rumpus and prefer to sit and read or watch old movies. So along with writing in this space, it is also my library, my tv room and because it has a very old broken-in sofa, it is my nap room.Â
I love my house but it gets very cold and draughty in the winter and sweltering in the summer heat and this basement room stays relatively cool in the summer and warmish in the winter. I can also turn on the fireplace channel and my battery operated candles and create a cozy ambience in the winter. Mid-summer, I can fling open the curtains on the patio doors and gaze out into the lush green and vibrant colours of the flowers in my back garden.
The large floral painting I’ve posted on Instagram. It was destined for the garbage heap at the local thrift store and had been left out in the rain. Both the painting and frame are heavily damaged but it needed to come home with me. The oil painting to the right, I purchased at a garage sale a few years back and I happened to have a frame picked up from yet another garage sale that fit it perfectly.
I use the console table behind the sofa to set up my laptop and the bowl full of rocks also hold Steve the Dragon Cat’s sparkle balls. Because every writing room needs a bowl of rocks and sparkle balls.
My Spring / Fall Writing Space: Which is at my dining room table. But really, my 1970s rental was renovated into an open plan, so the kitchen, dining room and living room are all one space. And you may have spotted my assistant, who spends his time making sure I’m writing and not just scrolling on social media. Oh and of course, he demands payment in snacks. Everything in the space, with the exception of my laptop (although it is 15 yrs old) and Steve is thrifted.
Late last year, as I started to write the last book in the Ravenwood Trilogy, I wanted to refresh my memory of how Lizzie’s journey began; to get a better picture of her character arc and where it needed to end up.
Being a curiologist meant just re-reading book one wouldn’t do. I had to come up with a creative and challenging way to review the storyline of The Enchanted One. Thus, The Unbound Book Project was born.
My challenge was to create a mood board for each chapter encompassing not just the mood but a key phrase or pivotal moment in Lizzie’s journey. I also set parameters on the props I could use: they had to come from what I already had in the house or out in the garden. I had a great deal of fun with this project and it was fascinating to see a definite colour scheme emerge and how it shifted slightly as the mood of the book did.
Although it ended up being a great deal more work than I anticipated, I also had a great deal more fun in the process. And I have to admit I felt a little sad when I uploaded the last image a few weeks ago. So, to all of you that followed my posts for this project, I thank you and I hope you enjoyed the rather odd way I see the world and how my writing process very often involves other forms of art when I work on a book.
“The stone house was deserted and by the looks of things, it had remained so for a very long time. A thick carpet from seasons of leaf and pine debris littered the porch. The windows were obscured by grime and one of the shutters hung drunkenly from a single remaining hinge. The bright blue door of her dreams had faded to a pale grey.”
The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.292
Background Images from The Dark Forest Lunar Calendar 2023
“The pulsing crimson orb exploded, throwing out energy shrapnel that sparked and flared like fireworks, each bright point fizzling out to nothingness.”
The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.275
“Taking her place again at the alter, she raised her face to the night sky and drank in the sight of a thousand stars strewn across the black endless void. Holding a fluorite wand in each hand, she lifted her arms in supplication and called out into the night.”
The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.271
“A meadowlark trilled its flutelike song from somewhere in the distance as she picked her way cautiously across the springy, moss-covered ground and around fallen tree branches while trying to avoid stepping on pinecones the size of small pineapples.”
The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.255
“She rubbed her fingertips against her lips to erase the tingling sensation. She wished she could rub away the memory of the look on his face when he pulled away from her. She wanted to erase the words he’d said.”
The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.249
“These gifts would leave her with just one of the blood-red stones that had been her safety net and, in some ways, her albatross. One ruby was more than enough to cover her needs for the foreseeable future.”
The Enchanted One by Lora Deeprose pg.246
Lora Deeprose 