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I love the original cover created by Mister Sam Shearon — he captured the moment beautifully and with a release date of late September, with Halloween looming, the spooky vibe worked really well. But we decided we were missing Angela from the cover.

Once again Sam knocked it out of the park. Keeping the integrity of the original cover was important to us and he delivered that and more. It is a perfect representation of Angela’s tentativeness as she prepares to have her fortune told by Madame Vadoma.

What had once been fun and games, and something to tease her best friend Mallory about, was now all too real. Sam nailed the moment and I love what he did with Angela. She is very much how I picture her in my mind’s eye.

I love the feeling of the fresh new look. It gives the cover a little lightness in tone — after all, a book with a farting fairy is not all doom and gloom. And Angela looks as if she’s always been there.

Perfection.

For more information about The Journal of Angela Ashby, including where to buy, go to: TheJournalOfAngelaAshby.com

The post The Journal of Angela Ashby: A Fresh Look appeared first on Be the Cat.

Mallory, being the character she is, had to research the purpose of the crystal … what its healing properties were.

      “Anyway, malachite has been used for thousands of years for healing, protection, drawing out negative emotions, and clarifying intention.” She ticked the uses off on her fingers. “I’m sure that’s why Madame Vadoma gave it to me.”
     “What’s why?” I didn’t see how that explained anything.
     “She gave you the journal for a reason. I’m not sure what that is yet, but she must have known you’d need some help, especially with intention.” She settled her glasses firmly on her nose. “Like with the frogs … It’s also supposed to help with shyness and timidity.”

The frogs Mallory is referring to were accidentially released, but that is a post for another time …

“She calmed me down and told me the nicest things. She even gave me a crystal.” She opened the drawstring bag and held up a round stone which had been carved into a skull, dark green with bands of turquoise, and shiny.

Whether you believe it the properties of crystals to help calm, provide better focus, influence your behavior or life — or whether you only believe in its ability to make food taste better (table salt, which is a crystal made up of sodium and chlorine ions arranged in a lattice) or make your computer run (computer chips are made from crystals—a lattice of silicon atoms), crystals are a part of our daily lives. So why a crystal skull?

Some associate a skull as being a symbol of death or dying. Look at Sugar Skulls and their association with Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) — and the symbolism inherent of both death and rebirth. But some view crystal skulls as a means to awaken human consciousness and include self-awareness and creating balance. Besides, they are simply cool.

In The Journal of Angela Ashby you’ll find illustrations by the fabulous Mister Sam Shearon and the illustrations have been made into a pack of playing cards which can be purchased here.

The post The Journal of Angela Ashby: The Malachite Skull appeared first on Be the Cat.

One of my first brushes with the concept of an Angel of Death was in the holiday classic by Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol. Every Christmas Eve, I’d wait up to watch with chilling anticipation for the silent, scary, Spirit of Christmas Future. The frightening thing about this spirit for me was the refusal to speak and the cloak covering everything except the outstretched bony finger when it directed Scrooge’s attention. Far more fearsome than the other two spirits because of the unassailable silence. Does the Grim Reaper always move so silently?

Sam Shearon did an excellent job of capturing the reaper for the brief moment it appears in The Journal of Angela Ashby. The work in progress, The Star Warriors and the Secret of the Red Key also deals, much more in depth, with the concept and personification of the Angel of Death. It should be a fun topic to grapple with.

In the middle of the layout, the Ace of Spades drew me in. Smoke from the candles created a foggy layer and the image wavered and morphed into a winged hooded figure carrying a scythe through a graveyard. The angel of death. I blinked and ran a hand over my eyes. Once I lowered my hand, the card showed the black spade and letter ‘A’. Nothing else. Not even a gravestone.

During this scene, Angela went back and forth from being freaked out to thinking Madame Vadoma was a fraud. But this moment Angela knew was no trickery by the mysterious fortune-teller … but what did it mean???

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If you like the illustrations, check out the Liana Gardner Collection on Redbubble.

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I have great power.
That’s what she told me. The old fortune-teller at the school carnival.
I thought I was doing the right thing … with the magic journal she gave me.
But nothing could have prepared me for what happened next.
Or, for what I unleashed.

At a school carnival, a mysterious fortune-teller gives twelve-year-old Angela Ashby a journal and warns her to use it wisely. Nothing prepares Angela for the journal’s power—when she pours her heart onto its pages her desires come true.

She tests the journal by conjuring a gnome, a unicorn, and a farting fairy and then uses it to stop the school bullies in their tracks. But the unintended consequences alienate her best friend and puts her favorite teacher in danger of losing her job.

After she shares her deepest desire of all—that her parents get back together—her adversary steals the journal, and Angela fears she will use it to bring mayhem to the entire school if she doesn’t get it back.

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