Song of the Spheres is Finally Here!

The moment has finally arrived. The second book in the Celestial Serenade Collection – Song of the Spheres – is here. This is the second collection of Celestial Serenade books – a giant volume for your coffee table, if you so desire. (A way to save your shelf space if you don’t want a bunch of small books.)

I’m beyond excited to share this release with you. In all honesty, it’s really hard not to make this entire release notice a bunch of incoherent screaming just to express the fact that this book is finally out – I finally did it!

In all seriousness, it gets a little harder to write each of these release notices. Not because I can’t think of anything to say, because everything feels like a spoiler. And the last thing I want to do is give away what happens in this beauty.

I’ve spent a lot of time talking about the reasons why I decided to expand the Celestial Serenade series. And I’m sure I’ll spend a lot of time next year talking about why I decided to add a third trilogy (which takes place in the future). I’m sure you’re sick of hearing about the fakey covers I made to inspire myself to finish the story and all the themes I hoped to explore.

So for this release, I’m going to keep things short and sweet.

(Incidentally, this will be my last post of 2022 – I will be back with more shenanigans in 2023!)

I work with an amazing cover artist!

There’s something I’ve wanted to talk about for a while. I’m not sure it’s long enough for an entire blog post, but it fits nice and neat as part of a release notice – so here we go!

You’ve probably noticed that all of the Celestial Serenade covers were made by the same lovely artist. Her name is Molly Phipps and she runs We’ve Got You Covered Book Designs. I don’t feel like I give her nearly enough love. That changes today!

I first worked with Molly to create covers for the Dream Things True duology. It was the first time I had a little bit of extra budget for book creation, and I had literally no idea what to put on the covers. Molly was recommended to me by a close friend who also commissions her for covers.

I admit that I was nervous at first. I’d never worked with a cover artist before, and I didn’t know what to expect. But I looked at Molly’s portfolio and decided to go for it.

The first proof she sent me required a little discussion – something totally new to me. I didn’t know what kind of feedback would be useful or even welcome. But after only a few exchanges, Molly implemented everything I asked for – and so, so much more. The end result was so brilliant and beautiful, I knew I wanted to keep working with her for a long time to come. And my experience with Molly has been delightful!

This series would be nowhere near as pretty without Molly

When I introduced her to the Celesital Serenade, we came up with a format we could use for each of the books and discussed with elements we would use to make the series feel cohesive across all the designs. I love that she pays attention to little details like this!

For each new book in the series, I send Molly a wall of text and a link to some of my Pinterest pins, and she sends me back brilliance. Sometimes it feels like she plucks the images right out of my head.

One of the best things about working with her is that I can trust her to tell me if an idea I have is bad. She knows her craft – and I am not a designer. Once I asked to increase the length of a character’s hair and she was honest that it just didn’t work. I didn’t want the character to end up looking like a total goober.

Molly also catches things that I wouldn’t even think to look for and sends me updated covers whenever she notices. When I’m not sure what to do with a cover or what might even look nice, she gives me guidance. It’s such a relief to know that I’m always going to have gorgeous covers to share with the world and I don’t have to agonize over every little detail.

If this is starting to feel like I’m gushing – well, I am! I highly recommend checking out Molly’s work. And if you’re on the fence about working with a professional cover designer, I hope this will convince you to give it a go. It’s more than just getting a quality final product, it’s having someone to guide you through the process.

See another of her lovely covers below!

Song of the Spheres is available now!

The human-Caltaran alliance has achieved their first victory – but at the cost of their military leader.

As the two civilizations struggle to integrate with each other, all eyes turn to Gaia to cement their tenuous relationship. A child of both worlds, Gaia alone understands the pressures each culture faces as they attempt to move ahead as one.

But when Gaia falls ill, her condition reveals an insidious secret the human delegation hoped to hide – a secret that threatens to kill the Earth’s most powerful delegate and rob the humans of their place among the stars.

While doctors race to save the symbol of their alliance, the new Kantis struggles to reconcile his position with the legend that surrounds his name. He cannot ignore the destructive nature of his past, nor the bloodshed on which his new career will be built. Yet his name can turn the tide of battle, and a single failure could destroy the morale of the alliance’s remaining forces.

Before he can prove himself, the fleet uncovers evidence of a new weapon with the same destructive force of the dragon. Piloted by the once silent hero that provided salvation to the Caltaran Empire, Cerendi now threatens to enslave those he used to serve.

United by the shared pain in their past, Kantis resolves to lead his old companion to the light – if he can be reached. But it quickly becomes clear reasoning with this new enemy will not be as easy as Kantis anticipated.

Will he mend the bridges of his past or burn them to cinders?

Song of the Spheres contains the second 3 books of the Celestial Serenade (Duality, Unity and harmony) previously published separately.

Grab your copy today!