A fleur de lis to fall in love with

So, I told you I have bookmarks to show you, and I do. But I’m not going to show you today.  :-) Instead, I wanted to show you a symbol that is used in the book that I’m very excited about. It’s a fleur de lis that I’ve planned to use from the very beginning of writing this story, and I originally wanted to use it for the cover design. But when I started designing the cover, I didn’t know how to get it on there.

So I kind of gave up on using it anywhere. I figured I’d need to get someone else to draw it on a computer, and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to afford it. (I totally blanked on the fact that I have a good friend who does that sort of thing. *face-palm*)

But just recently I decided to give it a try myself because I was thinking it would look really nice to have it up on the website (see it up there in the banner?). Also, a few months ago I came across a stockpile of temporary tattoos that I’d lucked into about twenty years ago. My kids were thrilled when I pulled them out, and they’ve been covering their bodies with them on a weekly basis ever since. I realized as we were pawing through them that the fleur de lis that gets drawn on Sera, Luke, and Fey would be perfect as a temporary tattoo.

And it would make a great giveaway for when the book comes out.

So I did some drawing last week (I do that from time to time), photographed it and opened it up in my photo editing program and started cleaning it up. I think it’s come out pretty cool.

I’m not a big fan of the fleur de lis symbol in general. I mean, it’s okay, but nothing that I find particularly interesting. But it carries special meaning for my characters and when I came across a design similar to this, I just fell in love.

Also, since I’ve figured out how to get it digital, I decided I would put it inside the book, too!  It’s going to appear on the title page (I think) and at the start of each chapter. I can’t wait to get the book back from my proofreader just so I can start formatting it, slip this into the chapter heads, and then see how lovely it looks on my Kindle. :-) (Really. It’s the little things that get me so excited.)

So I’m now trying to put the finishing touches on it, and figure out how many temporary tattoos to order. (Which, of course, I have no idea about.)

Hope you’re having a great week, everyone!