Scribes & Archers

Movies have credits and books have acknowledgments, but today I want to take an extra opportunity to mention all of the people who made Calligraphy Guild possible. So many people played a part in making Calligraphy Guild what it is, so let’s give them a hand (and a follow and some support, if you’re feeling generous).

As far as groups go, I have to mention The Fortress first. The Fortress is the nickname for the Christian Teens Together! forum that started on the NaNoWriMo website. This group has been a part of my life for almost seven years now and those in it have been instrumental in my writing growth throughout those years. I’ve made so many great friends in that group, including my two critique partners for Calligraphy Guild, who have been so encouraging and supportive throughout the process. There’s no way Calligraphy Guild would be where it is without Edna Pellen and JHD Paul, not to mention everyone else in The Fortress.

One of the authors I met in The Fortress is Miranda Marie, who has been such an excellent mentor to me over the years and was graciously willing to format Calligraphy Guild so that I could focus on other elements of release prep. I cannot express how grateful I am for Mandy and her friendship!

The Kingdom Pen forums are another great community of Christian authors! It’s here that I “met” some of my most faithful readers, including the author who helped me finalize the language and culture of Virilia, Libby Powell!

The Phoenix Fiction Writers had a huge impact on Calligraphy Guild’s existence, with their “HQ” combining with The Fortress to prompt the idea of the calligraphy guild itself and their members initially inspiring a number of the characters. Not only this, but J.E. Purrazzi (now J.H. Moore)’s Discord server is such an encouragement! Jill’s weekly sprints helped push me through a lot of the writing and editing of Calligraphy Guild, and both she and the other authors in the server provided so much encouragement along the way!

My sensitivity readers and beta-readers played such an important role in the process of editing Calligraphy Guild. I’m so thankful for their input and encouragement. Thank you Kristianne, Libby, Andrew, Issabelle, Grace, Edna, Bethani, JHD/Maple, Miranda, and Mom.

My mom has been behind me through this whole process, and her feedback after reading CG’s sensitivity draft may or may not have made me cry.

Feedback from my editor, Jane Maree, helped me to flesh out some areas of the story and characters that had been lacking, and some of my favorite scenes in the book came about because of her input.

My cover designer, Alli May, did a STUNNING job with the cover, and I’m so thankful for her work! She tied together all of the most important elements of the story and Virilen culture in her design; I couldn’t have imagined a better cover.

And then there are all the artists involved in the pre-order campaign: Victoria of Little Mouse Bookshelf, Johannes Engøy, Literary Treasures, my little sister, and RavenFire (the designer who made the art I use in my promo graphics!)

Thank you, also, to everyone who has participated or is participating in the blog tour! Thank you Lavender, Tasha, Kristina, Laura, Issabelle, Kayla, Dawn, Erin, Kristianne, Naomi, RaeMarie, Eden, Miranda, Libby, Bethani, Grace, and Edna.

So many people have contributed to making Calligraphy Guild what it is, and I probably haven’t even mentioned them all. (I know I haven’t mentioned all of the people who have influenced the book more indirectly, like my dad, all of the people whose traits found their way into characters, the authors whose works led to my particular flavor of worldbuilding, the authors who shaped the tone of my work…) This book owes its life to so many people.

But mostly, Calligraphy Guild owes its existence to the God who provided and orchestrated all of the relationships and experiences that went into it, the God who provided for every step of the process, and the Master Author who blessed me with His creativity in the first place and gave me grace to use it. This book would not have happened without Him.

Soli deo gloria.