JD&J Book Cover Design Archives

The First Draft of Scorch Mark is Done!

February 22, 2023 By JPMcLean 12 Comments

First Draft of Scorch Mark

As much as I grumble about winter’s short, soggy days, the cold, damp weather keeps me indoors and focused on writing. My December thru February hibernation has been a productive one. I popped the champagne last Friday to celebrate completing the first draft of Scorch Mark, the next Dark Dreams Novel! You’ll understand the why behind the title when you read it.

A first draft always needs to steep, and then a whole lot of editing to make it suitable for public consumption, but I’ve already contacted the cover designer (JD&J), and the editor to request a place in their queues.

The Gift Legacy E-Books

In the coming weeks, I’ll be enrolling The Gift Legacy e-books into Amazon’s KDP Select program. This is great news for KDP Select subscribers because they will be able to download the books for free. But Amazon requires exclusivity while the e-books are enrolled in the program, which means I’ll be removing those e-books from all other retail sites. If you haven’t downloaded them yet from Kobo, Apple, Nook, or the other e-book retailers, you should do so now.

A New Award

I’m thrilled to announce that Ghost Mark is a Finalist in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. Ghost Mark has now received three awards, the other two being a Gold Literary Titan, and a RONE crowned heart. Seeing it do so well is a welcome boost for my confidence. If you haven’t yet read Ghost Mark, you can pick it up here from your favourite retailer.

In Other News

No one would describe me as an early adopter or as having an Einstein-like grip on technology, but I recently surprised myself! I figured out how to supplement my blog posts with audio. There “should” be a link above the title to listen to this post, but if the recording hasn’t yet materialized, you can check out a sample from my Christmas post. Let me know what you think.

Implementation of anything techy for me usually crashes and burns the moment my computer screen looks different from the step-by-step instructions. But not this time! I followed the directions for BeyondWords. The only glitch I ran into was that BeyondWords provided audio for my entire website, and not just the blog posts. This is the article by David Tvrdon that sparked my interest.

A New Endorsement for Ghost Mark

A sexy noir crime novel starring a bold, intelligent superhero who seeks justice for past transgressions in a gritty Vancouver landscape. McLean’s writing is as ingenious as her protagonist, ranging from grunge to repartee to sophistication to laugh-out-loud snarks. You won’t put it down till it’s done.

—W. L. Hawkin, author of The Hollystone Mysteries

I hope the days are getting longer in your neck of the woods. Can’t wait to get out for a walk today. Take care.

Until next time . . .

Someone’s Having a Birthday!

October 27, 2022 By JPMcLean 10 Comments

Blood Mark is Turning One!

It seems like it was just yesterday I was sweating over the release of Blood Mark. Hard to believe it’s already been a year. Blood Mark is turning one this month. Blood Mark was the first book in a brand new series, and I worried it would flounder in the shadow of the Gift Legacy books. I shouldn’t have. Blood Mark found its feet and has earned ten awards (TEN!). The cover is now shortlisted in the Page Turner Awards with all the credit going to JD&J Book Cover Design.

To mark the one-year birthday occasion, I’m putting Blood Mark on sale. Until November first, you can pick up the multi-award-winning Blood Mark for just $0.99. (Tell your friends!) It’s available from all your favourite retailers here.

Ghost Mark Launches This Coming Tuesday!

Ghost Mark is also at a special price of just $2.99 during the pre-order period, which ends with its release on November 1st. It will go up to its regular $4.99 price on launch day. You can pre-order from all the usual suspects here.

Watch the book trailer here.

Ghost Mark’s Latest Buzz

A number of retailers don’t allow posting of reviews ahead of the publication date, but Goodreads and BookBub are two happy exceptions. This is the latest review from a BookBub reviewer:

As a paranormal fantasy junkie this book was just my cup of tea. In short it is an intense and emotional paranormal story that will keep you on your toes till the very end. —DiKetcup, Bookbub reviewer

Upcoming In-person Events

I’ll be in Campbell River haunting Coho Books with W.L. Hawkin this Friday, October 28. We’ll be reading from our books and hanging out by the caldron. Come on by for some fun.

Date: October 28, 2022
Time: 6:00-8:00 pm PT
Location: Coho Books, 2092-I South Island Hwy, Campbell River BC

In other news:

The inaugural Big Island Book Fest in Courtenay this past weekend was a wonderful event. Forty authors offered books in a multitude of genres, and throughout the day, a number of us read from our books. The organizer, JP Bailey, left no detail to chance. I doubt she’s slept for the past six months.

A bonus meet and greet at the Courtenay Museum on the evening ahead of the festival was such fun! It provided an opportunity to mingle with the other authors and enjoy some appies and 40 Knots wine. We were allowed to stroll through the museum and JP even organized for a photographer to be there to take headshots for those who wanted them.

It was such a well-organized event! I hope it returns again next year, and if it does, I’ll be there.

As this is the final week leading up to Ghost Mark’s release, I’m unbelievably busy, so I’ll end here.

Until next time . . .

Jo-Anne

JP McLean

Writing addictive fiction

Ghost Mark Cover Reveal

July 10, 2022 By JPMcLean 12 Comments

Ghost Mark Cover Reveal!

It’s finally here and I’m so pleased to share it with you. Cover Reveals are the icing on the cake in the book world. Ghost Mark’s cake is deadly dark chocolate with two layers, fresh raspberry filling, and a spicy ginger, butter-cream icing. I’m craving a corner piece, the one with the red, devil’s tail flourish.

This is Ghost Mark, the second and newest Dark Dreams novel.

Once again, the folks at JD&J Book Cover Design have created a gorgeous cover. They are a joy to work with and they do a spectacular job. It’s hard to believe they designed this cover based on a scant written summary and a few notes about tone and character.

Ghost Mark will be out on November 1. That may seem like a long ways off, but I’ll need every minute to finish the technical prep, gather endorsements, organize early reviews, and pave the way for a skyrocketing release (at least, that’s my hope!).

Ghost Mark is available right now for pre-order from all the usual retailers:

Amazon ~ Kobo ~ Apple ~ Nook

In other news

Blood Mark has racked up another award, its 7th! This one from the National Indie Excellence Awards (NIEA).

On the Writing front:

A lot of my writing time these days is consumed with Ghost Mark’s release and all the material that must be written to usher it out into the world. But I also continue to work on the third book in the Dark Dreams series, building the outline and sketching out scene and character arcs. It’s very early days but already the story is developing in wonderful and unexpected ways, which is a good sign.

On the Reading front:

Ann Charles’ Deadwood series continues to entertain me. I’m currently reading the fourth book, Better off Dead in Deadwood. These books are such fun reads. I’m so ~~envious~~ impressed that Charles continuously comes up with original, witty material.

On the Home front:

Summer still hasn’t properly arrived on Denman Island. Cooler, wetter weather is hanging on, but occasionally, Mother Nature tosses in a warm, sunny day, which I’m convinced is just to tease us. Urgg.

But the crap weather hasn’t stopped the weeds. Thankfully the flowers don’t seem to mind it either. They’re colourful and fragrant right now, which is lovely. The tomatoes and zucchini continue to grow and we picked a bumper crop of garlic scapes, which I minced and froze to enjoy all winter long.

Review Team:

Another important pre-launch job is putting together an advanced reviewer team for Ghost Mark. If you’ve reviewed another of my books, and you’d be interested in reviewing Ghost Mark, reply to this newsletter or contact me through my website to let me know. ARC reviewers get a free digital copy of the book before it’s released.

Until next time, XO

Jo-Anne

Blood Mark Cover Reveal (and a Sneak Peek)

June 5, 2021 By JPMcLean 16 Comments

Blood Mark cover reveal and this one comes with a sneak peek inside!

Cover reveals are exciting on so many levels.

It’s the first visual representation of the story.
It’s a signal to the world that a new book is coming.
It’s collaborative artwork.

This is the cover for Blood Mark:

My thanks to the creative team at JD&J Book Cover Design for their fine work. JD&J are SO easy to work with. They’re resourceful and responsive, so if you need a book cover, I highly recommend them.