Late Breaking News & Image Teasers

Late Breaking News!

I'm thrilled to announce that the cover for Stolen Moon,

the second book in the Light Chronicles series,

will be revealed on August 12th!

Not only that, but Stolen Moon will released on August 19th!

Stolen Moon is a standalone YA fantasy romance, featuring cameos by Ashlyn, Zane, & Taranis from Shadow Fire.

So with the reveal so close and the release in a few weeks, I wanted to share a new passion of mine. I've always enjoyed reading the image teasers that pop up once in a while. I'm not very artistic or computer savvy. I suppose I should clarify... I'm not very artistic when it comes to visual arts. I can't draw and steer clear of Pictionary (I get sick of being the butt of everyone's jokes). I'm terrible with crafts. Other ladies in the neighborhood make the cutest things for their homes. I can visualize the outcome, but the vision becomes a mess somewhere between my brain and my fingers.

I also grew up with a major aversion to computers. It's all my dad and brother talked about which drove me to the brink of madness. Though I love video games, I'm rather clueless about the machines I play them on. Starting my blogs was a lot of work since I knew nothing about... well, anything to do with blogging.

So how does a computer phobic, artistically stunted author make her own image teasers? Trial and error. Lots of wasted time with a rather large learning curve.

And then I discovered Pic Monkey, along with my favorite site for stock images, Deposit Photos.

Disclaimer: You have to read the terms and conditions to make sure you purchase the correct license for your project. Also the licensing terms can vary from photo to photo. If you're worried about copyright infringement, you can always use your own images.

I made the banner above for my blog tour. However, I have to admit, I did have help with this one. My father is quite good with Photoshop and he adjusted the image. All I did was add text and a border.

Pic Monkey is not only easy to use, it's rather addicting! If you purchase a subscription, you can make changes to hair color, eye color, and all sorts of other extras. I don't have the time to learn how to use Photoshop, so having an easy to use site is crucial. If you haven't tried Pic Monkey, I highly recommend checking it out. The basics are free to everyone.

Well, I'm doing the final read-through of the Stolen Moon galleys, so I'd better get back to work.

Please share your tips for image teasers in the comments. I'm always on the lookout for more great sites!