Good News! I’m almost finished Shades & Shapes in the Dark, the first novel in my dark fantasy/horror series. The first book is getting one final readthrough before it goes to the editor. Expect a release date and preorder launch soon.

But as I am wrapping up that one, I’m already almost finished the first draft of the second book, and I have written a large portion of books 3, and 4.

Sometimes when I’m working on something, the image of the cover is so clear to me, that I just have to sit down and bring it to life. But first, I thought it might be good to tell you a little more about the forthcoming series.

The four book series, Shades and Shapes in the Dark is the story of 9 year old Clarissa Lamont accidently unleashing something sinister from an ancient ritualistic site in the middle of a forest in the suburbs of Philadelphia, and her four decade long struggle to first understand the nature of this shadow monster, and then find ways to fight it.

The first book, Shades & Shapes in the Dark focuses on her first encounter with the shadow monster, she names Demon, and her early attempts to defend herself from it’s relentless hunger.

Book 2, Through An Endless Darkness Gleaming focuses on Clarissa’s teenager years and her attempts to forge a weapon and find new tools and knowledge to combat the shadow.

Book 3, An Illumination of Extraordinary Madness, focuses on Clarissa’s 20’s as she finds new knowledge and skills to protect the people she loves.

Finally, Book 4 titled, The Nature of Twilight At Dawn, deals with Clarissa’ growing into herself in her 30s, and her final confrontation with the monster in her 40s.

I’ve already released the cover for Shades & Shapes in the Dark, but today, I’m excited to release to you the cover and cover art, for book 2, Through and Endless Darkness Gleaming. Each chapter of each book contains a poem that tells a truth about Clarissa’s world.

Here is the opening poem for Book 2:

Through and endless darkness gleaming,
Where time ceases flowing and streaming,
And the wicked things are dreaming,
In the sea of the infinite more.

The white raven’s feathers flutter,
Over a child’s head who has no rudder,
Lost in despair so utter,
As she walks across the bone strewn shore.

For Whosoever shall borrow a favor,
Will forever savor, the flavor
Of the first science’s power of darkest, blackest lore.

For that power always has a price,
In contracts made with language precise,
Made with the devils forged in the fires of the forgotten before

But perhaps a bargain made can be broken,
For her power, is only a token,
Of the loss she suffered, and the pain she made others endure

Unbound is that magic that came with the pact,
Another hidden clause in the contract,
For power seeps from the very cracks,
The cracks hidden in the earth’s deepest core

Oh friend,
Be careful what you say,
Or what you give away,
Because reader,
The danger
is greater
than before.