Writers' Roundup

Y'all remember I mentioned an upcoming event? Well partner, I think it's about time I tell you more about it.

Project Revealed

I've been saying for months that we've been working on a special project. Today, I am able to reveal it. First, I have to thank my friend, Mark Wilcox, for inspiring it. Originally, it was to be a Short Story to entice readers. However, as with everything that David and I start, it grew bigger and became a novella.

Yesterday, I mentioned that we had a contract for a graphic artist to do book one, Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Storm Warning). Since Grindhouse Media took on that challenge, the decision was made to have the graphic artist do this project. Ms. Ellie Bockert Augsburger, owner of Creative Digital Studios, did a most excellent job. I feel compelled to mention that she had great ideas for Storm Warning. When asked to switch, she did so with ease, for this and many other reasons, I highly recommend her. In addition to cover art, she does graphic designs for businesses. She did a silhouette of an eagle similar to the one on Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Wings of Eagles) for our business logo. 
  
One of our early thoughts for the book cover was to incorporate all the Special Forces' emblems. Ellie asked if Wrecking Crew had one, I asked David and he said why yes they do and it just so happens to match the one for our logo. Knowing this, you'll understand the centerpiece of the cover art.

The title of the novella is:

Genesis - Call Sign: Wrecking Crew Slice of Life

The reader comes into the Operations Center and is treated to the evening's festivities. As with any family gathering, someone says something that irritates another. Eventually the group goes down memory lane and the reader learns more about how the Wrecking Crew was formed as well as glimpses into their personal lives. 

Have I piqued your interest?  If so, you can find the eBook exclusively on Amazon Kindle. Print book is due out hopefully later this week. 

Available exclusively on Amazon 

I also want to mention that I was inspired by Chris Almeida and Cecilia Aubrey's Bytes of Life series. It is my dream that we come up with more Slice of Life stories to share with our readers. 

By the way, remember I mentioned an upcoming book signing? I'll fill you in more on that as I firm up the details. I can tell you this much, all three books will be available to be personally autographed and purchased. 

Have a great one,

Lynn Hallbrooks
Author/Owner
David McKoy
Author/Owner
Call Sign Wrecking Crew, LLC

Realization of a Dream

Have you ever felt like you needed something but weren't quite sure what it was. You go on with your day but it keeps working at you from the back of your brain. Gradually it works its way to the surface, then you go, "Aha! That's what it was I wanted".  That's how it was with me and the book cover for Call Sign: Wrecking Crew (Storm Warning). Dick Black (someone I know and love) and I tried to put something together on Adobe Illustrator.  The result was our first cover art.

Dick Black and Lynn

C.W. Johnson 

After a couple of months, some kind-hearted people pointed out the error of my ways. C.W. Johnson was kind enough to put something better together for us. That one remained the cover art for almost three years. 

The latter part of 2013, the niggling feeling that I'd been having final came forward. The cover art for the print book was not working for us, it was working against us.

Trade Soft cover

I started talking to David about this. I knew we didn't really have the money but the adage, 'it takes money to make money' came out of my mouth. I know David works really hard to support our business, he always has, so I didn't really push the idea full force. 

Around Christmas time, David gets a book that changed his life, I Declare... by Joel Osteen. One day, reading that book, he got a God Vision. In it, he was told that our book would get in to a prominent person's hands. About that same time, I saw a message from a moderator on Goodreads for an up and coming graphic artist.  I got some cost estimates from her and told David. He said go ahead and get the contract started. While we were waiting for our corporate lawyer to review the contracts, I see an opportunity for a book signing nearby. The catch was there were only two tables left. I inquired and sure enough there was a table left so I grabbed it. When I told David what I had done, he wasn't mad, he was actually happy, that's when he told me about his vision.

Meantime, we are still waiting on corporate lawyer, who was really busy. David's friend heard about our dilemma and offered a solution. He read the contract for us, then he asked what we envisioned for it. We told him. He knew a guy who was able to put our vision or as I call it our dream into reality. The result being our latest book cover by Grindhouse Media.

Latest by Grindhouse Media

As usual, there are technical glitches which we hope to have resolved soon but I thought I'd share our new cover art with you, today. Tomorrow, I'll share the other part of this dream.

Until then, have a great one!

Lynn Hallbrooks

Owner/Author

David McKoy

Owner/Author