This always seems like a hot topic, particularly where it concerns independent publishing. We’re all told how you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but, well, we do. It’s human instinct. At lightning speed, we associate things with what we see: pleasure, boredom, disgust, intrigue… If you see a plate full of brown, gooshy, lumpy something, what’s your first reaction? I’ll bet you don’t want to eat it. And if you see a book with a poor cover—too busy, text that is tiny or otherwise obscure, amateur photoshopping—your instincts go “ew” and you move on. (Unless you’re morbidly attracted to literary […]

I am so pleased to reveal the cover for my debut fantasy novel, As the Crow Flies. I loved making it the second time around as much as I did the first. The original design was one I made for NaNoWriMo. It included a stock item I wasn’t sure about, copyright-wise and although I liked the cover very much, it wasn’t quite right. This version feels much more appropriate to the story and looks much… cleaner. I know a lot of authors announce their books months ahead of time—and I would like to, but I fear the date I would like to […]

“Dragonlace is a fun and humorous read, full of witty one-liners and rich, vivid details—enough so that I’d love to read more stories featuring Keeta in this fantasy world of dragons, wizards, knights and maidens. […] Lythgoe’s other short story, “In the Mirror,” has an equally artistic cover, and is on my reading list. As the Crow Flies, Lythgoe’s current work in progress, is on my reading radar as well; her blog describes her writing process as she works on this debut novel. I look forward to its release date.” Thank you so much to the folks at The Indie […]

Joel Friedlander, a book designer, blogger and the author,  hosts an eBook Cover Contest every month, and gives comments about the covers entered—which is a really great way to see how your cover stacks up. Kudos and a cool web sticker go to the winners of the fiction and non-fiction categories. I entered the cover my sister helped me design for In the Mirror, and although we didn’t win, we got some really nice feedback. One of the commenters, Zelah Meyer, even said that ours was one of her two favorites. Thank you, Zelah! MarshaLee and I are both tickled […]

Dragonlace is now available on Smashwords in all major ebook formats!  An apprentice wizard must outwit a clever dragon  in order to acquire the single strand of precious dragonlace  she needs to pass the test set by her master. ~  ~  ~ Please visit and download it! If you like what you read, please consider mentioning it to your friends and passing the link along. If you would leave a review of the book, I would be grateful.

Hello! I feel like I’ve been gone forever! I was “off” last week, concentrating on putting together a website for my photographer hubby. It is not quite done yet (hello, Hubby!); he still needs to supply me with photographs to display on it, and he’s been up to his eyeballs taking wedding pictures – engagement, bridal, and wedding. And working his regular job, to boot! So it has fallen to me to gather and edit some of the pictures we *do* have available, and I imagine I will be helping assemble the finished wedding package, too. Fun. I also had […]