Although I shared this on social media, I realized the other day that I had yet to mention it here: At the beginning of February, I found out Serpent’s Mark, the first book in the Snakesblood Saga, had been nominated for a literary award and had made it to the finalist round.
I never would have anticipated what happened next.
And so Serpent’s Mark took the 2022 Darrell Award for Best Novel.
It was a stunning surprise and a huge blessing, one of many I’ve seen so far this year. I guess from now on, I get to introduce myself to people as an award-winning author.
In the midst of all the surreality of the award, there’s some small news for the Snakesblood Saga, too. The first 3 e-books are now available in a digital box set, so you can enjoy the alternate cover:
I believe I’ve mentioned this before, but that was the original planned cover art for Serpent’s Mark, but it took absolutely forever for me to draw everything, so I didn’t think it was a viable cover style for the rest of the six-book series. And yes, that’s a drawing; I drew the bark, the moss, the sword, the leaves… I took a ton of reference photos in the forest and at more than one botanical garden so I could be sure I was doing it right, and everything was digitally painted in Photoshop. I hope you enjoy this interpretation of the Kingsword!
This box set edition is now available on Amazon, if you’re interested in having a look. If you haven’t read the Snakesblood Saga yet, this is a great opportunity to start… and find out why Serpent’s Mark won that award. 😉
You can check it out by clicking here.
Onward!