I had a plot in my mind for years – one I wanted to write into a book. I started many times, but somehow never got any further than a few chapters. I could not understand why the story would not come out.

On hindsight I understand better. My father had suffered from cancer for years, and when his condition started to worsen, waiting for the inevitable simply stole so much of my creative energies I could not get the story out.

After he passed away, and the funeral was over, it was like floodgates had opened. I was in the process of writing my final essay for my Diploma in Egyptology studies (Middle Kingdom Fortresses in Nubia) and yet, at the same time, I wrote the whole story in four months. 150.000 words. It was like I had tapped to a never-ending energy source.

I then edited the story on my own for eight months (I was in no hurry to publish it). And after the first round of edits I knew I needed a real editor to work on my story – I wanted it to be the best it could be. I found Miriam Bibby, who had studied Egyptology at the University of Manchester as well, and who is a published author (for example her Mistress Meg stories are such a pleasure to read if you like stories set in the Elizabethan age).

She made me restructure the book, correct my writing, introduce some characters earlier into the story (which meant I needed to write more chapters). Miriam did not let me go easy, and I am grateful for that.  I did not perhaps fully realize how important an editor is until Miriam began to work on the story. Wow. Thank you so much, Miriam!

And then came the question of the cover… I had joined ALLi (the Alliance of Independent Authors), and one other member recommended Avalon Graphics to me. I wrote to Cathy Helms, and was impressed at how quick she answered – and delivered three wonderful suggestions for the book cover. Seriously – I could not decide on the cover, and had to ask my husband and Miriam for advice. They both liked this version the best, so here it is. And you bet I’ll have the covers of the other books in the series made by you, Cathy!

I shall publish this as an ebook in January 2016 (Amazon, Smashwords, iBooks, Kobo, Nook…).  And as this is my first published novel, I want to give people a chance to check out my writing before making any decision on buying it. For that purpose I shall be publishing the first chapters in small bits on Wattpad and also here on my blog. Check out the tab that says “Books”, you will find “Nephilim Quest” underneath it and then the chapters.

And here’s a limited time offer: you get this book for free in return for a review on its publication date.