From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Fantasy, Sci-fi & Speculative Stories Reader–Just three days left till launch! Don’t Miss Out…Launch is Friday! Please make sure to click the image below and click the NOTIFY ME ON LAUNCH button. This will give you FIRST DIBS and first peek at launch on Friday. First backers get cool special gifts! What is the Kickstarter Marketplace? For indie authors, like myself, the Kickstarter Marketplace is an alternative to Amazon marketplace….

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Fantasy, Sci-fi & Speculative Stories Hi, Reader If you are reading this… YOU have been CHOSEN. I sent out some emails at the beginning of October to people who were not opening these newsletters. And the people who did not respond were d r o p p e d. It’s a hard thing to see half your people gone. But it was necessary. They got their free book and they moved on. So like pruning a tree, I cut the branches. But it hurts. 👉 And it means–I…

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Fantasy, Sci-fi & Speculative Stories Hi, Reader As promised last week, I have some exciting news for you… The Return to Me series Kickstarter is about to go LIVE. Click the button or image to read the TEASER, or read on for WHAT a Kickstarter is… See the Kickstarter What is the Kickstarter Marketplace? For indie authors, like myself, the Kickstarter Marketplace is an alternative to Amazon marketplace. Kickstarter enables me to sell my book…

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Fantasy, Sci-fi & Speculative Stories Hi, Reader In my upcoming Sci-fi Fantasy Dystopia series, JulieAnn Bishop has a CIPHER she has to decode. In order to find the “safe place” where she’s supposed to go, she’s got to DECRYPT…a POEM. I wrote the poem. And inside the poem I hid the clues she is supposed to follow to find that location. (It took A LOT of research to identify and create these clues; they’re real things!) 🤦♀️ However, I forgot…

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Other Worlds Hi, Reader Recently, an author friend of mine, JA Webb, asked for advice about his updated book cover design. This began a dialogue where, in order to help him fine-tune his idea, I pointed out some things that might be necessary to find the perfect book cover. Here are some of those things… HOW TO DECIDE ON A BOOK COVER (insider secrets!) First, you have to IDENTIFY CORRECTLY what the Amazon (&BISAC) categories and subcategories…

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Other Worlds Hi, Reader Hey friend! When I was a girl, we went to the public library EVERY SATURDAY. I would come home with a stackful of books, three or four LP records, and a huge smile on my face. My absolute favorite record to check out was Sesame Street: I Want a Monster to Be My Friend. What a sweet memory. (Thinking of those songs engages my time-travel sensations bringing back the feelings of being a 6 year old on my stomach in front of…

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Other Worlds Hi, Reader Just a quick note this week– Please take a moment to meditate on Psalm 91 here. I personally cannot get enough of this song. Funny anecdote: My mom told me a funny incident she heard about a woman who was visiting New York and got mugged. As she was being held up, she was trying to remember the words for Psalm 91, but all she could remember and say was “FEATHERS! FEATHERS!” As the story goes, the muggers must have…

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Other Worlds BLESSED BY MUSIC I wanted to share a resource I’ve pulled together. Life is hard–a common theme in my books. And drawing close to Christ in our difficulty can happen by listening to music. In a startling shift of events in Trunk of Scrolls: Paths of Faith and Fire, on her way to what could be her death, Byziana asks Marcellus… “Tell me the truth, don’t you think this journey would have been less . . . less morose”—she glanced at…