Posts Tagged ‘i made this’
The Raven Door
Thursday, March 3rd, 2016
The Raven Door, 9″x12″ watercolor on bristol
Loose watercolors render this dark wood door beautifully against the pale green wall, surrounded by a fall of ivy and profusion of potted plants. Rich red brick and warm terra cotta invites one to step up and knock, to peer through the raven’s eye and see what’s inside.
Who do you think lives behind the raven door?
The Raven Door, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the lovely mottled-glass peephole that makes up the raven’s eye. Below, you can see this larger watercolor in its frame, waiting to add a breath of green goodness to any space.
The Raven Door, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: for sale, i made this, watercolor
Consulting Magic short stories
Monday, October 26th, 2015
Untrue Love is a short story about murder, magic, and our very own Alex Benedict as a 20-year-old university student.
If you’ve read and enjoyed my other Consulting Magic books, you’ll be delighted to see Alex meeting Lapointe for the first time and trying not to drive her off with his personality before they can solve a murder. There’s magic and food and mystery, all wrapped up in one little bite.
If you’ve not read them, this is a good place to start! You can figure out if you’re interested in the world and the people, long before the romance starts in The Courtship of Julian St. Albans.
Alex Benedict is a student of magic in his third year at Hartbridge University with no clear direction for his studies. That is, until he puts himself in the middle of a criminal investigation by literally stepping in it.
This is the story of Alex’s first case with Agent Murielle Lapointe, and while it’s lacking in romance, it’s a delightful look into grumpy young Alex and what he got up to before he was a professional consultant.
After you’ve read The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans, you can get a little taste of the holidays that follow! This cheerful little story shows Alex and Julian holding an actual holiday part, where friends and family drop by, and they end up filling their home with magic, love, and wonder.
Rosemary for the Holidays is definitely a sequel to the first two books, a quick treat if you’ve finished both books and still want another taste of our boys. Not to mention a visit with Horace, the flower fairy, the brownies, and the rest!
Julian St. Albans and Alex Benedict celebrate the Solstice with a visit to the wish tree, and a holiday party at their flat. A little holiday gift to the readers of my Consulting Magic series!
This story comes after the events in the second book, The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans.
I’ll be writing away on the third book during NaNoWriMo, so enjoy these little nibbles while I’m figuring out what’s next for Alex, Julian, Horace, and the rest of them!
Categories: Words Words Words
Tags: consulting magic, courtship, holidays, i made this, julian st albans
Unlock Me
Tuesday, May 5th, 2015
Unlock Me by Amy Crook
I’ve been working hard on a new novel, Unboxed, which should be out sometime this summer. There’s a theme of keys and locks in it, and this lovely painting is part of the cover art.
Lovely hand-painted filigree in a warm rosy gold frames a mysterious keyhole, just waiting for the right key to come unlock it. There’s 3 painted gemstones held in the spirals and curls of the metal. The background is a dark brown woodgrain, the opening of this mysterious box kept safe and sound by the lock that covers it.
This painting gives a fairytale sense of mystery, inviting speculation and storytelling of your own to explain the reason for the lock, who has the key, and what hides inside.
Unlock Me, 8″x10″ Japanese and metallic watercolor on Arches cover black paper.
Unlock Me, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the painting washed with sunlight, catching on the gold and copper paint that make up the filigree design. Below, the painting sits in a frame, a fairytale just waiting to be told.
Unlock Me, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Series and Books, Whimsical and Strange
Tags: black paper, i made this, japanese watercolor, metallic, nfs, sold, unboxed
Julian’s sequel is finally out!
Friday, August 29th, 2014
Finally!
After wrestling in June & July with copy edits, and in August with weird tech problems (Createspace was finding their own cover template a tad confusing), I’ve finally published my second book! The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans is a sequel to my first book, where we follow Julian this time as he settles into his new life in the city with Alex.
Also, there’s a Kindle Matchbook thing.
If for some reason you want both versions of the book, you have to buy the physical book first. Then after you’ve paid for that order, you can go back to the ebook page and Amazon will offer you a discount. It’s cool, but tedious.
Either way, it’s done it’s done it’s done omg!
PS – If you haven’t read the first one yet, it’ll be free for a few days on Kindle. It’s the perfect chance!
Categories: Words Words Words
Tags: consulting magic, courtship, i made this, julian st albans
Soon, Very Soon
Monday, June 30th, 2014
Swag for my new book release!
I’ve finally (omgfinally) finished the sequel to The Courtship of Julian St. Albans! Huzzah! I’ve sent off for a proof copy from Amazon, and once I’ve red-penned that for last-minute typos, the book will be ready! I figure mid-July, depending on the whims of the postal owls and pollen trees, but I’ve already started making up swag for a giveaway once it’s out!
The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans takes us into Julian & Alex’s life almost a year after the Courtship that brought them together. Read a sample chapter here.
Categories: Words Words Words
Tags: apprenticeship, consulting magic, courtship, i made this, julian st albans
My book is on sale!
Tuesday, February 11th, 2014
Horace with The Courtship of Julian St. Albans, both by Amy Crook
I finished my first draft of the sequel, The Apprenticeship of Julian St. Albans, and to celebrate I’m putting The Courtship of Julian St. Albans on sale for a week! Assuming all the Amazon Kindle magic has worked properly, the ebook version should be $1.99 for a week — and it’ll show a countdown so you know how long it’s on sale.
I’ve also set it up so that if you buy the physical book, you can get the ebook for only a dollar more through more Amazon magic. Right now that’s the only place the book is available, I think, though I tickied some boxes the other day that might make physical copies available to your local bookstore, which is a little bit awesome.
Categories: Words Words Words
Tags: consulting magic, courtship, i made this, julian st albans
Fairy Flower
Saturday, December 7th, 2013
Fairy Flower by Amy Crook
Our week of the Floating Gallery is almost over! It closes Sunday night, and all the art floats away, leaving me to relax and enjoy my holiday season.
As part of my long month of working on the sequel to The Courtship of Julian St. Albans, I decided to do an illustration for the cover. There’s a lot of plants in the second book, but the fairy flowers feature in both of them, and I wanted to give a visual to them.
They’re described as a common flower, so I wanted something that reminded me of the wildflowers I picked as a kid, but that had a bit of magical whimsy to them. You can just imagine the butterfly fairies that are attracted to these little blossoms, giving luck to your home as a reward for letting them grow.
Fairy Flowers, 5″x7″ pen & ink and Copic marker on paper.
Fairy Flower, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a close-up of the flower’s five fat little petals, and the way the purple ink wanted to bleed out past the lines. Tricksy blending. Below, you can see the piece in a frame with Horace, the bird from the cover of the first book.
Fairy Flower & Horace, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: apprenticeship, consulting magic, copic marker, for sale, i made this, julian st albans, pen and ink
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