ScrollKeepers Community News

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…

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Other Worlds SHOCKED BY READING This week I read the most amazing series I’ve ever read. I’ll go into detail below. But first… THANKS FOR THE GREAT RESPONSES! Last week, I asked for advice about which direction to go… I loved hearing everyone’s ideas on which series you’re most anxious about. It was so encouraging–but I wanted to leave it up one more week in case you didn’t get a chance. (The vote is SOOOO close!) LAST CHANCE TO SHARE YOUR…

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Other Worlds MY NEXT FOCUS Over the past 18 months, I’ve been working on the Trunk of Scrolls: Paths of Faith and Fire relaunch, including now the audiobook and the Turkish translation. Ahead of me, I have a fork in the road. I NEED TO DECIDE which series to finalize first. Book 1 of each of them is almost ready. But it depends on what YOU want first. In Your Hands If you’re reading this, YOU need to put your vote in. Which have you been more…

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Other Worlds MY FROZEN SEAT It’s been funny to listen to the Trunk of Scrolls: Paths of Faith and Fire audiobook while sitting in my eternal recliner with my healing ankle raised. In the story, Byziana and Marcellus struggle with seemingly lifelong suffering all the while growing and learning to live a life faithful to God. What’s comic is that while I’m listening to Byziana ask “why” the earthquake happened (and all that destroyed her life),…

From the Desk of Darlene N. Böcek Faith-building Other Worlds MY ACCIDENT 🚑 It’s been a while since I last wrote, and I wanted to update you on my accident. 🚨 My ankle was majorly messed up. It’s called an “ugly trimalleolar fracture-dislocation.” Doctors in Pt Townsend fixed the dislocation. But for the repair, I had to go home. I flew from Seattle to Istanbul/Izmir on a 16h trip with the broken foot. ✈️🌍 HEAT WAVE We arrived in the middle of a heat wave (43*C on my arrival, 109*F)🔥, and my…