Wassup Behind the Scenes?

Dear Mom,

It’s been a month since my last letter. [Wait! That’s a different note. Let’s start over.]

Dear Reader,

It’s been a month since my last blog post. And what a month it’s been, filled with lots of doings behind the scenes to get AL (<ay el>, AKA Andersen Light: A Mystic Creek Novel) ready for publication.

Fine “Finishing” Edits

I have been working with GracePoint editor Laurie Knight. She is a dream to work with on the edits. Understandably, she was the first to read the whole book. However, I was surprised how she created a buzz about the story among the others at the publishing house. That was very cool.

Before and After Bits

Some doings involved preparing the before and after bits (my terms). These are things like the dedication and acknowledgement pages. I must thank my friend Lucia for the beautiful examples in her YA novel, Borrowed.

I polished the “blurb,” or the short paragraph(s) publishers put on the back cover so readers can decide if they want to read the book. I experienced angst with this particular behind-the-scenes activity because this is the key for readers. Luckily, in the next step the blurb editor polishes the words into even better paragraph(s).

Headshots

Headshots are what people get to look professional. Some call them glamor shots. I was blessed with a very woke photographer, Paige Allsup. Her company is called Pips Ink (photography, media, and more). https://www.facebook.com/pipsinkphotography/  People pay her to travel all over to take photos of all kinds. Paige’s are professional quality, but portray me as me in my natural habitat. The difficult part of this process was choosing the ones to use.

Book Cover Design Discussions

Writing fiction, for me, means mentally living in a fantasy world. Taking a first look at book cover ideas the other day grabbed my attention. I get it now. This is really happening!  AL is getting published. People will get to read it. It’s happening!

Videos & Feeling the Squirm

Personally, I seriously doubt the squirminess I feel when I make the short little videos for social media will ever go away. It doesn’t seem to matter if they are live or I record, edit and then upload. It feels weird. Still, I know I must stand up, feel the squirm, and do it anyway—since I really do want you, the readers, to experience AL and get to know Georgie, Luther, Josefina, Shawn, Maria Elena, Professor Will Jones, and even Harvey, and the others in Mystic Creek. Remembering that always outweighs the squirm.

Until next time. Hasta entonces.

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Fiction writer and author, Tanya D. Dawson, has written a story for the young adult in all of us. Andersen Light: A Mystic Creek Novel is an atypical tale set in our everyday reality alongside an unknown world of extraordinary others. This becoming-who-you-are adventure breathes fresh air and light into the world of YA fiction, without giving up the angst or the weird. Andersen Light: A Mystic Creek Novel resonates like Harry Potter, if he was a girl who stepped into Richard Bach’s book Illusions.

Georgie Jones rescues her siblings then saves a new friend from a high school bully, but will her newly ignited strengths help her find and free her kidnapped friend?

Can lighthouse keeper and mentor Luther Andersen help Georgie regain her confidence, develop her abilities and become who she was born to be?

While Andersen Light is primarily set the fictional town of Mystic Creek, Oregon, Tanya lives with her amazing husband in the enchanting American Southwest.

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Early endorsements of Andersen Light: A Mystic Creek Novel

“You really are evidently an extraordinary writer. Show the world you are an extraordinary storyteller, too. You have a beautiful style and a great eye for detail. Your story is lovely. I can see it being commercial. Yay!” – Carmen Fox, author of Show Don’t Tell: Immersive Writing from the Roots Up, as well as urban fantasy, paranormal romance, young adult novels, puzzles and games.

“A great read, intriguing from the beginning to the end. Suspenseful, but at the same time a great adventure. It encouraged me to open my mind to possibilities. I am amazed and in awe. What a glorious and sacred space you’ve created in Andersen Light: A Mystic Creek Novel.” – Adolfo Quezada, author of over twenty five spiritual books, retired counselor and psychotherapist.

“I enjoyed very much reading your book… interesting that it delved into areas that I know very little about. I want to read it again. It was action packed and kept me intrigued with what would happen next. I hope you can continue to write about more of Georgie’s adventures.” – Susan F. Mitchell, Defense and intelligence contractor executive, retired; former executive board member, National Classification Management Society; spoiler of grandchildren.

“In her debut novel, Andersen Light: A Mystic Creek Novel, Tanya D. Dawson weaves an empowering tale of adventure, intrigue, and mystery. A mystical coming-of-age story involving a race of “meta-normals” living among humans in the modern-day world, the novel inspires courage to be the very best version of one’s true self. A bold new addition to young adult fiction!” – R. D. Petti, author of the Nettie’s Tea House series including: A Tale of the Afterlife, Beyond the Veil, In the In-Between, Apple Blossom Spring, and Yuletide Homecoming. She is a Letters member of the National League of American Pen Women. “Reflections on a Passing” was awarded a first place poetry prize and published in Illuminations of the Soul. “Ghosts of Lakeside Inn” was selected for publication in The Best of Spiritual Writers Network 2016. R. D. Petti is an award-winning finalist in the Fiction: Visionary and Fiction: New Age categories of the 2018 International Book Awards.

“Andersen Light: A Mystic Creek Novel is a clever story with a fresh perspective that normalizes people possessing metaphysical spiritual gifts. Becoming fully one’s self, strengthening powerful attributes, contributing to the exposure and defeat of negative forces is all part of growing up for teenager Georgie Jones and others like her. Their adventures provide insight about paranormal phenomena, as they take the reader into a world filled with pain, crime, love, compassion, friendship, and evolving humanity. If you want to expand your understanding of what it means to be a spiritual being having a human experience, this book is for you.”– Dalene Fuller Rogers, M.Div. BCETS, is an ordained minister and author of Pastoral Care for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Healing the Shattered Soul, contributing writer in Forgotten Followers, and creative director and founder of Insight Multifatih Spiritual Direction.

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