Cover by Erin Dameron-Hill Graphics H ey, guys! I am so excited, gearing up to send Children of the Eighth Realm into the world. If you’re feeling the earth shaking, that’s just me dancing around in glee.  What is this genre-bending book about? Like I said last week, if Holly Black and Neil Gaiman had been co-writers of Lord of the Flies (that’s the comp my agent used to get editors to check out the full), you might have gotten something like Children of the Eighth Realm .  We have bloodthirsty elves. We have a bloodthirstier sentient orphanage. We have magical orphans who look like children on the outside but are hundreds of years old. We have…the pitch:  They’re the unwanted progeny of humans and elves; magical halfers searching for a place they can call their own. To reach an alternate reality, they must survive the forces aligned against them, including their most dangerous foes…each other.   Next up, the back cover blurb:  It’s kill or be killed for a group of ancient

                                                                                  Credit: Erin Dameron-Hill Graphics Hello, all. The past week has been a bit bumpy. My father-in-law passed a few days ago, then my uncle died a day later. I've had to do some traveling due to these sad events. All this while, I've been on a schedule to get things rolling promo- and marketing-wise because I have publishing news.  As you may be aware, my wonderful agent has been shopping my book Children of the Eighth Realm to publishers for some time. What an odyssey it’s been. We’ve submitted, consulted editors, and resubmitted. I’ve rewritten this novel for years , and after each rewrite, we submitted again.  For the most part, the feedback has been great. Really great. And yet…  Traditional publishing is heavy on the tradition, as in a book needs to fit in a neat compartment. I get it. It makes everyone’s job easier when it comes to marketing and selling. Taking a chance on something outs