LTUE and the problem with traffic,



It may have taken us a while to get through traffic but we made it to LTUE and the book signing was fun!

 

With that said here's a look at the setup.

(After taking a half an hour to breath from running to get to the convention center after parking a block away.)

Thanks again to my dear writer friend Meg for coming with me to

the event and just being awesome in general.

 

 

Until the next event, keep chasing your dreams my friends and stay tuned for more writing updates!

 

AB out-

LTUE after the fun,

 

Hello friends!

 

I know it has been some time once again but I was working on art for my booth at Comic-con FanX and have been at LTUE! Which is what I am mainly here to talk about today.

 

Going to the symposium was absolutely wonderful and beyond meeting, talking and hearing from some of my favorite authors I got to sell and sign my own books!

 

Now normally I would douse you with a face full of pictures but I was so absorbed in the event itself I have to admit to capturing almost nothing picture wise but one shot I did get with the help of another awesome author L.Palmer.

 

 

Being my first really big author event with a ton of other awesome story tellers was amazing let alone I sold some books and got to meet and talk with book lovers as well.

 

All in all though this post may be short I would highly recommend going to LTUE next year as it truly is and was one of thee best writing symposiums I have ever been to. 

 

Also on a side note here was my booth at Salt Lake Comic-Con FanX run by my fantastic Father and my best friend and awesome artist Gracie. ( @tiny_olive_art  Go check her out!)

 

(I was not at my booth but in California but that's a WHOLE other story for another time.)

 

So with this all said more writing, book events and so much more coming real soon, so until them stay awesome!

 

Anastasia out-

Behind the book cover: From The Dust

 

Hey everyone, so while thinking about what might be fun to share with you I realized I have never shown my YA fantasy cover progress and how it came to be.

 

With that said let's get right into it!

 

My illustrator for the book, Ben Simonsen is such a fantastic artist and was so fantastic to work with.

 

The start of the cover design I gave him my ideas and he did the rough sketches of what the cover might look like.

(See if you can tell which one we went with.)

 

 

 

Being an artist myself I was in love with them all but we finally went with the middle cover as it felt powerful which was what I wanted for the book to complement my story.

 

 

The next step was when the sketches became defined and it was that moment you realize your illustrator must be a magician.

 

Now on these next two see If you can spot the difference...

 

 

 

Do you think you found it?... I'll give you another second so don't scroll down if your still bent on finding it.

.

.

.

.

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Got it yet?

 

Her shoes turn to feet and necklace, these were a tiny detail but knowing I could get as close to my main character as I could I was grateful to Ben for doing exactly that, this cover is my character down to the little details.

 

Ready for another spot the difference?

 

Here we go...

 

 

Now this time I give you less time to find it because I don't want to keep you all day.

 

Her shirt, green to blue. Little once again but it was meant a lot to capture as much of her as we could so the cover was my Alayna with little to no difference from my writing of her.

 

 

Now this was getting close to the end but the last thing that was changed was Runner's mane darkening as once more the horse needed to be close to the same as story.

 

And finally the end result... 

 

 

Nothing is as cool as seeing how the end product looks, its magical and all thanks to working with Ben to make something that was my vision with his expertise and talent to make it fantastic.

 

So with that said I hope you all have a great day and have enjoyed seeing how the cover for "From The Dust" came to be.

 

More book news, art and so much more coming so stay tuned.

 

Anastasia out-

Coloring Contest Winners!

Hey everyone so our winners have been picked and they are...

*drum roll *

Sara Despain on Instagram and Xovinx on DeviantArt!

 

Both are fantastic and Sara got the creative part that looked so cool and Xovinx on the best of the best, but let's be honest they are both awesome!

 

With that said both will be receiving the code to the Kindle copy of "From The Dust!"

 

Now with that all said I have some awesome things coming up for both book and art news so with that said stay awesome guys and keep on chasing your dreams!

 

-A.B out

From The Dust Coloring Contest! *Prizes included*

 (This is the rough sketch of the coloring page, for details on the real one read below.)

 

To get right into this super fun contest going on from January 1ts to 30th 2017 is to celebrate "From The Dust" launching on kindle!  

 

For those who want to go right ahead and buy a copy off amazon or read the sample you can find it here "From The Dust"

 

To get the coloring page you can find it right here on

the "From The Dust" website.

 

Prizes:

With the first weeks of the book being available as a kindle ebook there will be two winners receiving the ebook. Winners of the contest will be chosen by yours truly and my father/manager on January 30th.

One prize for creativity and one for the best of the best. 

(In other words I really love it.)  

 

 

To enter the contest be sure to use the

#dustcoloringcontest

on twitter and Instagram. 

(Especially Instagram.)

 

And with it you can do realistic, watercolor, digital or any kind you want.

Heck I used a simple eight pack of crayons to just play with this one below.

 

 

Best of luck to all of you entering and be sure to share, like and let people know about this contest and please have fun with it, Alayna would want it that way.

 

Can't wait to see your entries and stay awesome people!

 

Anastasia out- 

A look at the book launch!

Now where I would normally talk your life off about how amazing this was I will let you enjoy the images of how fantastic it was with just a few words at the end.

 

Enjoy my friends.

(That is E. B. Wheeler on the right guys, E. B. Wheeler!)

 

And last but certainly not least thank you to these three wonderful people who helped me out,

 

My best friend who helped with stamps and was the official photographer who took all the awesome photo's above and who helped keep me calm, your the best Char!

My wonderful Mother who is the first proof reader of my books and a huge support to me. <3

And my father who as my agent made this possible to both publish and have the event at The Kings English, which by the way was wonderful to work with them.

 

With all this said above thank you so incredibly much to the friends and family who came out to support me and my dreams, you guys rock!

 

Also for those who want to get their hands on a copy of the book buying it from The King's English helps keep my book on the shelf so be sure to let your friend's, neighbors and heck even the people on the street know From The Dust is finally here!

 

Buy the book here: 

http://www.kingsenglish.com/event/anastasia-bolinder-dust

 

More book fun, author events and art news coming soon. Stay turned.

 

Anastasia out~

Some art behind the book scenes...

 

Hello my friends!

Today we have a look at some art work behind "From The Dust" from yours truly.

Thought it might be fun with leading up to the book to release some art of Alayna Drift before you meet her in just over a week when the book releases!

 

So lets get right into the doodles, horrid expressions and my past work...

 

 

This watercolor is one while I was writing the book of the relationship between Alayna and her animal companions in the book.

 

 

This was quite recent from while I was working on the book trailer at the start of the year.

 

 

This was a character sketch while I was editing the book for the fifth or sixth time.

 

One of the oldest sketches of Alayna from around six years ago before I was even writing her story but had her story tossing around in my mind.

 

To see more sketches of the story be sure to check out the art of section on the "From The Dust" site that will be adding new art all the time.

 

Thanks for stopping by and more art, book stuff and fun coming soon, so stay tuned!

 

Anastasia out~

The Kickstarter is here!!!

 

Hello my friends!

 

Today we have a look at some very exciting extras that are here for the "From The Dust" Kickstarter!

(To skip looking and go straight to the Kickstarter to check it out click HERE)

 

So let's get right into it...

Will have mini posters of the book cover by Ben Simonsen for one reward with a copy of the book.


Another is this awesome book mark of Alayna the main character with the art for it created by the amazing Liiga Klavina! (Link to her social media pages below)

http://liigaklavina.deviantart.com/

https://www.instagram.com/liigaklavina/

 

Another awesome item is the custom pins I have before mentioned on the blog.

 

These will not be sold after the Kickstarter and will not be made again so be sure to grab one!

If you want to check out how the pin was made you can find it here.

 

Yet another awesome reward is two custom made wood round necklaces made by a dear friend and amazing artists Lisa Lundqvist otherwise known as Vattukatt on DeviantArt.

 

 

And last but not least this incredibly adoribale chibi charm of Alyana by Victoria Messer otherwise known as HobbaGobwin on DeviantArt.

 

 

So with this list of rewards I hope something among them has peeked your interest beyond the fact that they come with a copy (Digital or traditional) of "From The Dust!"

 

 

 

Again the Kickstarter is live right now!

--> https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1673750101/from-the-dust-ya-fantasy?ref=user_menu

 

 

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the Kickstarter and share to help get the word out!

 

Anastasia out~

Prepping for a Kickstart,

So today with really no time to do this I give you a look behind the last minute Kickstarter prep...

 

 

Taking pictures of the book and some of the fun rewards in store for the Kickstarter was a big portion of my afternoon.

 

 

Then some voice recording for the Kickstarter video.

(Yes if my hair looks red, it's because my friend dyed it for me for Halloween.)

 

 

 

 

And last is some video recording later with my father at the camera and my ferret making an appearance in the video!

 

 

With that I need to leave you to finish the last edits and putting the video together, but please stay tuned for the launch of the Kickstarter and a look at the awesome rewards in store! 

 

Anastasia out~