Lara's Wanderings

From the moment he could walk, Bowmark has trained for a fight to the death. The Disc awaits him: a giant bronze platform suspended over a river of lava. He dreads the day of proving—when he must kill or be killed—to claim the throne.

His people have hidden from the rest of the world for generations. But when the discovery of a mysterious Atlas reveals forgotten lands and peoples, Bowmark begins to question his culture’s traditions and laws. His unavoidable future seems grim and pointless when contrasted with another world full of unique civilizations populated with other intelligent species and marvelous creatures.

Meanwhile new threats arise from the depths, hidden enemies emerge from within, and soon everything and everyone Bowmark knows and loves will be changed forever.

Torn between a desire to fulfill his duty, and his empathy for others, Bowmark must use all his intelligence and courage to navigate an uncertain future.

Perfect for fans of Salvatore’s Drizzt.

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Hi. I’m Rose Foreman. My oldest son and I wrote this fantasy adventure together. Josh Foreman is a video game artist and he is the one who made the cover and inserted over eighty illustrations. We had a lot of fun and a lot of frustration putting this together. I had published prior with a publishing company and self-published under another name, but neither of us had ever made a book with so many illustrations. The Scarred King I: Exile is the first in a trilogy. The trilogy, in turn, is the first introduction to an entire series of Tales from Talifar.

I am currently working on book eleven in the series. Every novel after the trilogy is a stand alone but set in the same world that Joshua invented. Josh and I will brainstorm a main character, situation, and plot over a number of weeks. I’ll write the first draft. Josh takes all the fight scenes and doubles their length and intensity. I correct his grammar and spelling, a role both of us are used to since I homeschooled him. Then both of us go over the story a hundred times, adding a little here, subtracting a little there. Then we hire an editor and proofreader and hand off the book to beta readers. Sometimes the reactions of the beta readers cause us to scramble to solve whatever issue has come up.

I think how Josh made the cover is interesting. First, he used a computer program called Z-Brush to make a digital 3-D bust of the main character, Bowmark. Somehow, he exported that image into a 3-D printer and printed a bust. Then he spent a gazillion hours sanding and adding to the sculpture. Then (we’re in the realm of magic to me) he made an enlarged bust and separate pieces that are added later (such as the dangling dreadlock) He used that to make a mold and cast five or six resin models. After cleaning them up, he spray-painted each one a slightly different metallic color. He asked his fans on Twitch which color they liked best. The winner was posed in several angles in front of a neutral background and lighting was adjusted. He took several photos, choose one, and used Photoshop to add the map he had drawn. Last came the words.

The whole time I nagged him, “Can’t you just draw the image? Can’t you make this go faster? I’m not getting any younger.” Etc I’m surprised Josh still talks to me. He ended up with a cover I love.

You can contact Josh as his website www.breathoflifedev.com or watch him on his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/scrybe.

Check out my young adult fantasy fiction novels HERE for something optimistic and fun.

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