Chorus of Crows Caught a Stared Review!

I received a heartwarming, stared review from Independent Book Review! Whenever I get kicked in the gut by bad reviews, I’m going to reread this review, over and over, and hopefully persevere. 

Please take a look!

 Read my stared review at Independent Book Review!

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“Wear the old coat and buy the new book.” ~ Austin Phelps

When life shoots emotional arrows, don’t you wish you could spin an exoskeleton like a beautiful seashell? We’d be unique and lustrous, with a strong and shimmering layer of calcium carbonate forming an external barrier to protect us against barbs and stings. Alas, our bones are on the inside and will not thwart life’s external dings, dents, and bad reviews. So what can we do? Visit a rage room, perhaps?   Guru Jay Shetty said he feels envious of a tea kettle's loud and obnoxious release of pressure. I get it. I bet you do, too. Maybe that’s why roller coasters are so much fun. It’s acceptable to scream like crazy. And that’s why people love the horror genre. It's liberating to yell at the monster that can’t really hurt you. And let’s face it, sometimes we want to watch someone else struggle with something even scarier than what life throws our way. It felt healing for me to write Chorus of Crows, purging a horror story spun from my dad's real-life heartache. I’d like to imagine my book screeching off a catapult when it launched on March 13. “Read me!” it screamed. So much is happening right now. I have two live book events coming up at Books On Third and Annette's Book Nook. You can read my latest author interview here!  And read author Dawn Colclasure's review here! Some of you may have seen my big giveaway post on socials, but the giveaway is bigger and better here! See below... My birthday was on March 1st. The best gift you can give me is your rating or review of Chorus of Crows.  I’m giving away one last gift bag full of Chorus of Crows-themed goodies to my newsletter subscribers. Be like a crow and collect shiny things! Curiously, the giveaway on my social pages was a big yawn. But at Tattered Page Book Club, over 100 people entered to win a gift bag. They blew me away with stories of spine tingling paranormal encounters, spooky dreams, and scary real-life, often tragic events. This bag includes a signed copy of my book! The first person to respond to this email, to tell me they want the gift bag, wins! But the second person will receive a signed copy of my book. Like on socials, you can tell me the spookiest thing that’s ever happened to you, or the scariest dream you’ve ever had—my nightmares are always inspiring my novels. But it's not required today. Did you know I wrote Chorus of Crows first, and that a dream I had there, during my book research trip to Sedona, AZ, inspired The Levitation Game? The bag’s value is over 65 dollars. Here’s what you get: ~ A cute but sturdy crow tote bag from The Enchanted Journal Shop on Etsy. I love these. ~ A big Chorus of Crows mug from Zazzle. ~ Dream Salve from my favorite Etsy shop, CatNapBotanicals, to help you remember your dreams! ~ A cute corn rubber duckie from Tumblers360 on Etsy. Who knew? ~ Candy corn. ~ My book! ~ A Florida themed mystery trinket to leave for your favorite neighborhood crow—or crow fairy. Author Jess Lourey hides a marble somewhere outside for the fairies to thank them for their literary help after she completes her novels. I love this idea!  US only, please. Caw! A winner will be selected by 5 pm Eastern Standard Time on March 24, 2026! Discover my author website! Read Chorus of Crows!

The Controversy of the Book Cover

Fallow versions of my cover. (early versions had a "the" in the title)

I wrote Chorus of Crows many years ago, and the story grew from my dad’s spooky and surreal battle with Parkinson’s. Without his ordeal, I wouldn’t have started writing at all. And after the literary fireworks, I created a cover. I’m an illustrator. What else would I do? Like my dad, Oren Walton, the main character, is a corn farmer. I painted the gnarly roots of a cornstalk that reminded me of a skeletal hand reaching beneath the soil, added crows growing from its twisted tips, and set it against a luminous orange background. I loved it. For years, while I queried agents and publishers, accumulated rejections, edited, rewrote, and finally published another novel entirely, I envisaged Chorus of Crows with that glowing silhouette on my Amazon page. As soon as I signed a contract with Dreamsphere Books, however, they told me my cover was chicken $#%t, and tossed it into the tree line behind the farm where old tractors go to die. I was heartbroken.

Above, you'll find the cover that never was. I assumed the publisher would love it. And the art department would add their own dramatic title type or font. I thought the glowing color and simple imagery would make it stand out against other covers when it was a small icon. I like to create imagery that is curious and different. Artsy.

Dreamsphere Books created a new cover. I felt this version should be fed to the dogs and in the spring, mown over. I called this version stock photography and sorrow.

This update is better, but I still hated it, and they didn't want to do any more tweaking. I persevered, telling them readers wouldn’t see the tiny crows when the book was a small icon on Amazon. The sky was so dark, I said, that it made the title hard to read. Wheat? Whatever. My main character, Oren Walton, is a corn farmer. And please, why not put a crow in an “O” instead of tacked onto the side of the field like a stock photography mistake? Do you know what they said? 

"Okay. We'll give it another go."

Unholy crows! Now, I love it. The trail leads the eye through the corn to the creepy barn and glowing window. I'll always be sad about my unharvested version, but I hope this cover leads future readers straight to Amazon to buy a copy! Chorus of Crows launches on March 13, so look to social media for book mayhem, fun, and freebies.

"The cover of a book is the beginning of a conversation between the author and the reader." ~ David Pearson

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Chorus of Crows Cover Reveal!

When retired farmer Oren Walton meets a mysterious woman in his old RV, he believes he’s received a final mercy–a brief escape from loneliness, grief, and the slow theft of his body by Parkinson’s disease.

But there’s a problem: his daughter, Sedona, thinks he hallucinated the whole affair. Oren insists the woman is real; Sedona only sees the familiar signs of illness and delusion.

The girl in the RV is just the beginning. Sedona watches her father unravel as stories of strange visitors and malevolent crows escalate into inexplicable farm machinery mishaps, dangerous encounters with intruders, and a battle with a terrifying creature on the porch.

Through her late mother’s diaries, Sedona finds a brief respite from the harsh realities entwining her peculiar new life on the farm. When the land itself begins to feel watchful, Sedona wonders if something else is at work, something that took root long ago at the spot—a place behind the barn that changed the family’s lives forever.

As hallucination and horror blur into one, father and daughter must ask the same question: Is Oren losing his mind, or is there something far worse than madness at play?

***

I hope this copy ignited a spark. The arrival of my new book in 2026 sparks joy for me. You can check out an alternate version of my back jacket copy on my website books page. See below. Kindle preorders are open with print orders to come! :) 

Discover my author website!

Read Chorus of Crows!