THE MAIDEN SHIP RELEASE DAY!!!

TODAY IS THE DAY!!! 🌙🌙🌙#themaidenship ‘s OFFICIAL birthday!!! 🐚⚓️🌊 Did you get your book yet, or are you still waiting? ⚓️

My main character, Dain, and I are one in the same. Life throws him some hefty curve balls in this story, and I know exactly how that feels. That’s not to say I’ve been chased by faceless demons, (though I suppose that depends on your definition of a demon 😜) but the curve balls I’ve faced have been equally relentless. (I’m sure many of you can relate to both my MC and I, am I right?) So, Dain’s tale was born out of my own, and I feel excited, terrified, and privileged to share it with so many of you. 🙈❤️

I SINCERELY hope you will enjoy Dain’s (my) adventure, and I even hope you might find a little piece of yourself in this story as well. I cannot begin to thank you all enough for supporting me in my ever shifting journey as an artist. All of you buoy me daily with your encouragement and love. 💕😭 I wouldn’t be here without you, BOTTOM of my heart grateful for you all! 🙇🏻‍♀️❤️🙏❤️🙇🏻‍♀️

If you have not yet purchased your copy of TMS, just click here!

The Maiden Ship Release is on the Horizon!

It’s almost here, release date is FRIDAY! Only three more days left to preorder THE MAIDEN SHIP! Get your orders in quickly so that you don’t miss out on the FREE preorder art swag (pictured below)! You can also preorder TMS as an ebook on AMAZON as well (freebies are not included with the ebook ). Can’t wait for you all to set sail on this adventure!!!

 

The Maiden Ship is available for PRE-ORDER!

Micheline Ryckman’s debut YA fantasy adventure novel, The Maiden Ship, releases February 7, 2020, and is NOW available >>> Paperback is HERE for PRE-ORDER! And the ebook is on amazon.com for pre-preorder as well!

  Dain Alloway was only nine years old when he began a new life with his father, sailing aboard The Maiden. Eight years later, the aristocratic city-boy turned merchant-sailor feels like he lives with one foot on land, and one foot in the sea. Life floats smoothly by until the night he wakes to find a mysterious woman in his cabin.

   The events that unfold after her appearance transform Dain’s world. Now, hunted by empty-faced demons, he finds himself thrown into a dangerous web of intrigue and magic. As the crisis grows, the young sailor discovers powerful gifts buried deep within, talents that might shift the tide of a centuries-old war. Whether or not he’s ready, Dain will have to risk it all for the salvation and freedom of those he loves.

Vision vs Execution

“After a few months of practice, David lamented to his teacher, “But I can hear the music so much better in my head than I can get it out of my fingers.”

To which the Master replied, “What makes you think that ever changes?” “ ~ Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland

Yesterday I posted a portrait of my character, Sable, on IG and I hated it. I tried hard to convince myself to like it, but I couldn’t do it. She just did not look the same way she did in my head. It maddened me. I deleted it. And then today I started all over again. The portrait you see here is my fourth attempt at Sable. That’s right, yesterday was my third. She has been down right obstinate, and nearly impossible to capture.

If you are a creator, then I bet you too have faced this kind of frustration. Our vision rarely fits our execution. It’s like the image in our mind’s eye gets twisted, mucked up, and lost in translation. On rare occasions it manages to work out, but for the most part it’s much like Picasso said, “I begin with an idea, and then it becomes something else.”

Now, we can do one of three things with this experience; we can simply give up, we can try again (and again, and again in my case), or we can just accept what Picasso calls “something else” and move onto the next creation. Nowadays, option two and three is where I usually land, but in the past I have given up. I don’t recommend it. It’s important to realize that our vision (the picture in our head) is, as the Master said to his student above, always going to exceed our abilities. And, in the end, this is NOT a bad thing. Without this vision we would never improve. The vision pushes us beyond ourselves. It asks greater things of us each time we create. While we strive to reach it, we grow. And growth is good.

Am I completely satisfied with how Sable came out today? That’s a good question. Maybe… She’s a bit better, I think… Either way, she’s taught me a lot. 😉

Sable is an original character from my up coming novel, The Maiden Ship.