The Mysteries, A Novel of Ancient Eleusis

The Mysteries - Daughter of Darkness

Good news! Both volumes of The Mysteries, A Novel of Ancient Eleusis are now available on Amazon. The “Search Inside” feature is not available yet, but should be within the next few days. The subtitles of the volumes are: Volume One: Daughter of Darkness. Volume Two: The Dadouchos. To go to my Author’s page on Amazon, click here. To read about The Mysteries, click here.

I have done something unconventional with The Mysteries. Since my book Novelsmithing is currently being used by some instructors in their writing classes, I have included a glimpse of how I wrote The Mysteries. At the end of each volume, I have listed many of my sources chapter-by-chapter, so that the reader can find the original material that influenced the narrative. Also, I have provided insight into what I see as the major Plot Points in the storyline.

The Mysteries - The Dadouchos

The Mysteries is a trilogy, and I am currently working on Volume Three, titled The Twice-Born. Hopefully, I will have it written in a couple of years. We all know how that goes.

In October 2009, I visited Greece for the second time, and while there, I took many pictures and videos of the ruins of the ancient sites where The Mysteries takes place. In particular I visited Eleusis, Brauron, and Delos. I am in the process of editing these videos and plan to put them up on YouTube when I’m finished. We also know how that goes.

I hope everyone enjoys the The Mysteries half as much as I did writing it.

The text has been added to the cover illustration and the entire cover layout, front and back, is now complete. The image below is what I’m submitting to the printer to obtain a proof copy. Covers for the first two volumes of The Mysteries have certainly come a long way since I first posted the mockups back on December 10, 2009.

Cover Design for The Mysteries: The Dadouchos

Here’s the first color study for The Mysteries, Volume Two, The Dadouchos. This exposes a problem with the visibility of the mass of warriors behind the Dadouchos. They need to be more distinctive and  not blending into him. Just another step along the way.

The Mysteries, Volume Two: Color Study

Here’s the final cover for The Mysteries, Daughter of Darkness. Some font changes and subtle changes to the background. Eliminated the border on the front cover. Very pleased.

Final Cover for The Mysteries: Daughter of Darkness

Publication set for February. Waiting on Volume Two, The Dadouchos cover and illustration. The first two volumes of the trilogy will be published together, with Volume Three, The Twice-Born scheduled for early 2012.

Artstudios has integrated the preliminary watercolor into the front cover of the Daughter of Darkness. We’ve been playing with a couple of ways of handling the text so that it won’t obscure elements of the painting. Here’s the first version:

Version 1 of Front Cover for Daughter of Darkness

The problem with this version is that the text obscures some of the painting elements and also is not as readable as it should be. Here’s the second option:

Version 1 of Front Cover for Daughter of Darkness

With this version, the illustration has been reduced in size, and much of the text has been positioned above and below. The effect on the painting is to reduce the detail. I’m still hoping the first version can be made to work. But this second way of doing things is acceptable.

I still love the illustration!