As of last month, the relaunching of my first book was complete. After rewriting nearly all of the content and tripling its length, I can state that I'm finally happy with the start of this grand adventure. The first book will now be roughly as long as the second, with the Part II now currently receiving similar treatment. The editing process for the next book will be considerably faster, given I only need to make small changes to the timeline and alter a few specific scenes. That being said, I'm still going through chapter by chapter, making minor adjustments to things like place descriptions and dialogue tags (small details I learned to improve upon with practice). I believe these adjustments should be complete by the end of this year, if not the end of the fall season. Updates will follow once that is complete.
One may also notice that the book cover for the first book has been entirely changed. After constantly editing the front and back cover in Photoshop, I eventually came to use a new AI program to develop artwork and bought the rights to use said artwork for commercial purposes. For example, here is the original full cover spread of the first book:
I really preferred the updated versions, which helped convey how a being regarded as a fallen deity could interfere in man's domain and create a growing number of zealots willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of power. I wanted to present the mysteriousness of the cosmos in the form of light cosmic horror, since there are aspects of the story influenced by H.P. Lovecraft. But that's not all there is to the book, and I fear the old cover could turn people off because its appearance is too obscure and occult (which technically fits some of the content). Yet the story is also one of hope in the face of tragedy. In the far north, the morning star (or the sun) is regarded with so much praise that it has a cultural influence on the characters. There is also a hidden realm of dreams being explored by a small group of characters, which occupies their minds with inspiration, escapism, and even glimpses of the future. So I find the updated look more reflective of this:
As you can see, the front aligns with both the physical setting and the general theme of the first chapter. It works brilliantly to that effect. Yet it also foreshadows an event near the end of the book, where the light of dawn is more sinister than it appears. The back of the book represents what many call the Red Dawn, and in later centuries is referred to as the Day of Whispers, where the sky turns crimson red and the deities fight for control over one another, involving humanity in an endless battle. There are also hints of a biblical end of days and the same cosmic horror I was going for originally.
With the use of new artwork, I have also updated the new website with brand new art. The maps of the world were all redesigned with a program specifically made for map-making. For example, the world map that I once designed in Microsoft Excel (believe it or not), was entirely redone.
I've also updated nearly all of the depicted scenes in the books, the page about the World of Dreams, and the info page about the gods. I will be creating some new images shortly, but they will mainly be meant for updating the new set of book covers for the unreleased books
