My Kingdom for a Cover

And now. Here it is. The day you've all been waiting for since I released Do You Take This Quest? and announced the title of book two.

The day I confirm that yes, the book is awesome and epic, and that you guys are going to love it.

And what better way to do that than to share the table of contents? Yes, I'm so very generous, aren't I?

1. In the Dungeons

2. Friends and Allies

3. Duty Calls

4. Robin's Collection

5. Skewwood

6. The Lady of the Swords

7. Preparations

8. The Army Approaches

9. The Sword in the Column

10. Battle

11. Tales of Days Gone By

12. King of the Round Table

Not as long a list as my normal chapter lists. It may have something to do with the fact that I handwrote this book, rather than typing, but many of these chapters ended up super long. I think you guys will enjoy them. 

Wait. What's that? I've pulled this trick on you guys before? This is not what you came here to see?

Oh. That's right. You came so I could share with you the beautiful new author picture that I took the other month. After all, the one on the previous Bookanias is over three years old, and the one on the back of the Ankulen just doesn't fit the air of the Bookanias. (Despite the fact that, when it was taken, I was dressed up as Robin.) So my mom and I went and did another photoshoot, got some good ones, and I edited the best of them, picked out my favorite, and declared it my new author's photo. Here it is!

And yes, my hair is in an Elsa braid, it's one of my three most common hairdos. (The other two being Robin's Knot and a simple ponytail.)

Kendra E. Ardnek loves fairy tales and twisting them in new and exciting ways.  She's been practicing her skills on her dozen plus cousins and siblings for years, "Finish your story, Kendra", is frequently heard at family gatherings.  Her sole life goal has always been to grow up and be an author of fantasy and children's tales that also glorify God and his Word. You can read more about her on her blog,knittedbygodsplan.blogspot.com.

What now? This wasn't what you were looking forward to seeing either?

Fine. You want to see the cover for My Kingdom for a Quest, so see it you shall. But first, the mock cover, so you can see what my goal had been.

And now, the cover you've all been waiting to see, designed by my cousin Tenya Sharp Ingalls and her son Benjamin Ingalls. (And for clarification, they're my first cousin once removed and second cousin. And yes, they're related to Laura Ingalls Wilder, they're cousins several times removed.)

Arthur is the rightful king of Briton, but his Uncle Mordreth refuses to give up the regency.   Arthur and Grandfather are now returning with allies to wrestle the kingdom from his uncle's grasp.  But not all is as it seems among his allies, and everyone has secrets.  New loves, old loves, lost loves, kingdoms conquered and kingdoms stolen.   Who is the real "rightful heir" and will the nearly forgotten sword in the stone finally answer this question?

Feel free to take a moment and squeal. I know I did when I first saw it last week. Ain't it gorgeous?

Now you can go ahead and take the time to add it to your Goodreads to-read list - if you haven't already. Just one and a half more months! (I think I shall replace WPFP's wordbar with a countdown clock ... let me go see if I can hunt one down.)

I also intend to make this book available to pre-order for $2.99. I meant to have the link ready by the time I did up this post last night, but yesterday was my final round for Christmas, and it was far more intense than I'd planned, and clicking the publish button went completely out of my mind until late last night, and it takes up to twelve hours before I receive a link. I shall add the link as soon as I can.

Update: Okay, yes! Link here and now!

A number of blogs are also participating in the cover reveal, and on most of them I've answered two or three questions about this book and about my writing in general on each blog. Check them out!

Dolls, Books, and Things That Matter

The Rambling Rose

Jenelle Leanne Schmidt's Blog

The Splendor Falls on Castle Walls

Rivershore Books

However Improbable 

Morgan Huneke's Blog

The Road of a Writer

And, now that the cover's revealed, now I'm going to talk about my promotion plans over the next month and a half. Well, it's quite simple. From now until the release day, I'm going to write reviews of sorts about the various novels and movies that I've seen about Arthur. If you guys would like to talk about Arthur and promote my books in the same way, I'd very much appreciate it, though I'm not sure I'm in a position to give out rewards for it like I did last year. (Translation: I need to get a new job.)

Then, from the fourteenth to the twenty first, I'm having a blog tour instead of the party I normally have. Click on the appropriate tab at the top of my blog to sign up (and again, let your friends know about the sign-up!).