Viona Halim Archives

A New Cover for Redemption

January 5, 2016 By JPMcLean 15 Comments

It gives me tremendous pleasure, on behalf of WindStorm Press, to reveal the new cover for The Gift: Redemption. The Gift Legacy covers are now complete, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

A big thank you goes to Viona Halim, the digital artist who created the original covers, then patiently tweaked the artwork and re-designed the title treatments, spines, and back covers to produce this new cover. Viona has been part of The Gift Legacy project from the start.

Early on, she captured the dramatic coastal setting and the ominous mood of the books, and she’s been a joy to work with through all the back and forth that such a detailed project entails.

Redemption will return to print and ebook formats in mid-January.

With the editorial review behind me, and The Gift Legacy fresh in my mind, I thought I’d rummage through my notes and start dreaming up story ideas for the next book in the series. This part of the writing process is such fun! Feel free to add your two cents in the comments below. I have a feeling Sebastian will continue to be a thorn in Em’s side, the Tribunal will face new challenges under Mason’s leadership. And I believe Emelynn had some critical decisions to make.

(*Update: Redemption is now Burning Lies)

A dishonourable legacy. A powerful enemy. A future threatened.

While recovering from a psychopath’s savage attack, Emelynn Taylor learns the ugly truth: deceit spawned her gift of flight, and ruthless brutality safeguards it.

But knowing the truth doesn’t prepare Emelynn for the terrorist who rips her world apart. And when the escalating violence spreads to the inner circle of her covert community, Emelynn uncovers a conspiracy that threatens to expose the gift and all those who share it.

Emelynn joins forces with a man she doesn’t trust and a family she doesn’t know to fight a menace that cloaks itself in lies. And when she lands at the feet of a dangerous enemy, Emelynn must face her worst fears to save the people she loves—and she must do it alone.

The third book in The Gift Legacy series, Burning Lies is a thriller that skirts the edges of reality in a world within our own. Step inside and escape the ordinary: take flight with Emelynn Taylor.

Get your own copy of Burning Lies with one click right here. And if ebooks or Amazon aren’t your preference, other options are available under the Bookstore tab.

Revelation’s New Cover

December 18, 2015 By JPMcLean 8 Comments

The house is a mess, laundry is piled up, the Christmas wreath is still not hung, but Revelation has a new cover! Viona Halim’s artwork remains front and centre. The new title font for all of The Gift Legacy books is Cinzel.

WindStorm Press reports that Revelation with its new cover will be back in print and e-book on Christmas Eve! (Maybe even sooner?)

(*Update: Revelation is now Hidden Enemy)

A forbidden book. A dangerous secret. A life in the balance.

In the wake of a bullet and a broken heart, Emelynn Taylor learns the true portent of a gift she can barely control. Her discovery of a forbidden book unlocks explosive secrets that connect her to a past she never imagined.

Now someone is threatening to expose those secrets, and an unknown assailant is hunting her. With everyone hiding something, whom can she trust? Emelynn is thrust into the eye of a storm as two powerful factions clash: one ancient, one evil. And both of them want a piece of her.

Knowing that not even her gift of flight will save her, Emelynn forms an uneasy partnership with a dangerous man she must learn to trust—and then she must risk her gift and her future to protect her friends’ lives.

The second book in The Gift Legacy series, Hidden Enemy is a thriller that skirts the edges of reality in a world within our own. Climb aboard and escape the ordinary: take flight with Emelynn Taylor.

Get your copy of Hidden Enemy with one click right here. And if ebooks or Amazon aren’t your preference, other options are available under the Bookstore tab.

The Gift: Awakening has a new cover

November 21, 2015 By JPMcLean 4 Comments

Awakening’s new cover is here! We’ve not strayed far from Viona Halim’s gorgeous design, just a little tweak here and there.

(Update: Awakening is now titled Secret Sky.)

Everybody wishes they could fly—until it happens. When Emelynn Taylor wakes up in the emergency room, her injuries present Dr. Avery Coulter with more questions than answers. Who is this guarded young woman? Why was she found in the middle of Sunset Park? How can she have injuries consistent with falling from above the tree line? Seemingly from nowhere? And, more importantly: Why is she lying about it?

The truth is stranger than anyone could have imagined – least of all Emelynn herself.

Nine Years earlier . . .

Nine years earlier, during the same summer she’d lost her father, 12-year-old Emelynn accepted a ‘gift’ from a mysterious woman called Jolene. Now, as she recovers in Dr. Coulter’s emergency room, she’s left wondering if that blessing was really more of a curse. Jolene’s gift planted the seeds of incredible power within Emelynn – but what’s the point of such abilities if you can’t control them? Her emerging gift of flight, for example, nearly killed Emelynn when it sent her plummeting to the sidewalk in Sunset Park. Next time, she might not be so lucky.

But Emelynn is determined to master her abilities, and returns to the seaside cottage where Jolene had once granted her this ‘gift.’ There, Dr. Coulter guides Emelynn in uncovering a secret society of others just like her, who inhabit a mysterious world-within-a-world that challenges everything Emelynn thought she’d known. But the more she uncovers, the murkier the truth becomes. Soon, Emelynn is left questioning the motives of those she’d trusted the most – and is forced to rely on her barely mastered powers in a desperate fight for survival.

Secret Sky is the first book in the thrilling, otherworldly The Gift Legacy series by JP McLean. Seamlessly blending paranormal mystery, fantasy, and romance, this beautifully written and deeply resonant adventure will swoop you into a vivid, new reality and leave your imagination soaring.

For those who prefer the older design (see below), which is no longer in print, I do have a limited number of first edition copies available. While supplies last, I’m happy to sign and personally inscribe a book, and ship it. Please contact me here for details.

You can pick up a copy of Awakening, now titled Secret Sky, with one click right here. And if ebooks or Amazon aren’t your preference, other options are available under the Bookstore Tab.

Cover Reveal: Penance

March 20, 2015 By JPMcLean 26 Comments

Coming fresh on the heels of Penance‘s sneak peek premiere on The South Branch Scribbler, I am thrilled to present the cover reveal for Penance, the fourth book in The Gift Legacy series.

This is Penance (Now titled Lethal Waters).

It’s been months in the making and once again, graphic artist, Viona Halim, has designed a cover that not only reflects the book’s ominous mood, but she has also captured the setting beautifully with a watercolour scene from beneath the Granville Street Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia. And if you look carefully, you’ll find Emelynn in her cover debut.

Deadly Games . . .

A body in the water. A vast ocean. A killer on the loose.

In the midst of a bloody rebellion, Emelynn Taylor exposes her gift of flight to save a man’s life. Now International Covert Operations knows her secret. The powerful organization is willing to cover up the carnage and protect her secret—in exchange for her services.

Her first assignment is a drug case in the coastal city of Vancouver. The case soon reveals a grisly murder that implicates one of her own kind.

Stalked by the ancient Tribunal Novem and vilified by a distrustful team of detectives, Emelynn takes on a perilous undercover role embedded in a drug ring where anyone could be the murderer.

Intrigue and danger lurk in the cold Pacific, challenging Emelynn’s unique gift and pitting her loyalties against her honour. And her choice is guaranteed to hurt someone.

The fourth book in The Gift Legacy is a thriller that skirts the edges of reality in a world within our own. Don your life jacket and escape the ordinary: take flight with Emelynn Taylor.

Lethal Waters (formerly Penance) is a dark supernatural thriller, perfect for fans of JR Ward, Deborah Harkness, Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, and Keri Arthur.

Download a PDF excerpt here.