"Passenger to Paradise" - the Second Book is Set in Sedona

"Bell Rock - Sedona" ©Mary Montague Sikes

After Jamaica, the journeys of the "Passenger to Paradise" continued. She visited Sedona and fell in love with everything about the picturesque terrain of red rock formations against glorious skies. She remembered the same scenery from the old western movies that brightened her weekends long ago, so she enjoyed seeing them even more.

During that initial trip to Sedona, she took a pastel workshop the first week and then grew enchanted with vortexes and meditation wheels. These elements eventually help form the second "Passenger to Paradise" book, Eagle Rising. As with Hearts Across Forever, a touch of the paranormal creeps into her dreams, and she goes on a journey into the spiritual lands of the Indians.

Unable to shake the horror of her fiance's death, Rachael Barker draws the concern of her kindly boss at the Observer Times. Perhaps, he thinks, an assignment in the exotic desert community of Sedona, AZ, might shake Rachael's malaise, so he sends her to cover the enigmatic New Age guru, Arch Adamson at his Earth Awareness seminar. Unnerving things begin happening before Rachael can interview her subject...she meets Derek Ryder, a man with an obvious secret in his past, but is further shaken by her experiences in the mystical desert where an Indian warns her to leave their hallowed ground undisturbed. As Derek and Rachael search for answers, a new question presents itself: Can they overcome their wounds? 

 

 

 

 

Lots of travels. Lots of stories. That's the life of the "Passenger to Paradise".

"Sedona Red Rocks" ©Mary Montague Sikes

 

 

Sedona Features Timeless Beauty, Energy and Art

Rainbow Over Sedona Red Rocks ©Mary Montague Sikes

As visitors drive toward Sedona, Arizona, a sense of amazement is inevitable when all of a sudden the timeless red rocks rise up in the distance. The views are incredible. Clouds appear as angel images. A rainbow ascends from nowhere into the sky.

No matter how many times we visit this mystical mecca, it is never enough. So many art galleries, so many rock centers, so many spiritual retreats, so many trails to red rock formations--there is never time to see them all.

Bell Rock ©Mary Montague Sikes

We just returned from a week in Sedona. Although I planned to revisit Cathedral Rock, Airport Mesa, Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Tlaquepaque, and more, I didn't get to them. We drove by Bell Rock many times and felt the remarkable energy of that formation. We dined at Miley's where a huge new painting of Bell Rock dominates. We feasted on seafood omelets at the Golden Goose and enjoyed lunch at Shugrues above the Hillside shops. And we spent a lot of time with art.

Art and the energy are what drew us to Sedona the first time. During a two week visit a few years ago, I enjoyed a pastel workshop and then took a metaphysical workshop that I found fascinating.

Ever since that early visit, those red rock images have crept into my artwork. Red rocks along with energy have also stolen their way into my writing and my novel, Eagle Rising. 

Something special exists in the timeless landscape of Sedona. Something special pulls us back again and again.

Checking Your Name in Google

How often do you check your name in Google to see what comes up? I try to do it from time to time just to find out what is registering there and what is listed at the top. Today, when I searched "Mary Montague Sikes," I got 367,000 results with Notes Along the Way on the top, followed by my website, then my Amazon page. Nothing unusual there, so, just for fun, I decided to search "Monti Sikes," my nickname that I have been trying to avoid for the last year or so in order not to brand two names. Much to my surprise, that name got almost one million results.

I was amazed.

What was especially amazing to me is that under Monti Sikes, I pulled up a whole long list of various references to Arch Adamson, the New Age novelist character I created in my book Eagle Rising. It appears that Arch Adamson has taken on a life beyond what I ever imagined.

"Buy Eagle Rising in India. Price:Rs.595 Discount:18% + Free Shipping on ... series presented by enigmatic New Age novelist and lecturer, Arch Adamson. ... www.flipkart.com" This is a place I know nothing about.

It was rather disconcerting and surprising to find my character's name on a page with background checks and vital records. Then, beneath all of that, this long list describing Arch Adamson as the "popular novelist" and "New Age lecturer." Of course, all of this is completely fictitious, but it looks a little real when you see it all listed in black and white. I know characters often take over from me as I'm writing the story, but taking on a life of their own is a new one for me.

What about you? Have you found your characters making an impression beyond expectations?

Do you Google your name periodically?

Where Should Artists Promote Their Work? Only at Home?

Mary Montague Sikes in Cielo Bella Art Gallery with her meditation paintings

Recently, someone asked me why I had come all the way across the country to Sedona, Arizona to promote my art work. That is a really good question and it started me thinking. Weren't there plenty of venues in Virginia where I live?

Yes and no.

When I first visited Sedona in the early 1990s, I was both stunned and captivated by the scenery. No wonder so many of the old western movies used the Red Rock Country as a background. I loved the "feel" of the area. I enjoyed snapping photos--actually mostly 35 mm color slides at that time. I liked the New Age atmosphere all around me.

Over the years, we've returned many times. The Hotel El Tovar is part of my coffee table book, Hotels to Remember. Side stories and many photos in the book relate to Sedona and the area. I've taken art classes there, and I set my novel, Eagle Rising, in and around Sedona. What better place to visit and promote my art?

That's why I returned to Cielo Bella Art Gallery in the Village of Oak Creek to sign books and to talk about my new Master's Meditation Paintings and Soul Songs that accompany them. The gallery is also featuring my Giclee prints from Hotels to Remember, and I plan to ship some of the original paintings from the book for display there.

On this trip, it made me sad to know that the Grand Canyon National Park was closed. The El Tovar is located inside the park, so that historic edifice, along with many other famous tourist stops, is closed as well. I cannot imagine the disappointment of planning all year long for a special trip to the Canyon and being stopped by the antics of foolish politicians from visiting it. I wanted to go and sit along the edge, take more photos, sketch, and muse about my writing as well as imagine new paintings I would like to create.

The wonder of the Grand Canyon, the New Age essence, the vortexes hidden among the Red Rocks, and so much more beckon me to cross the country and show my art somewhere different where visions align with my own.

I love Virginia, but my breath catches as soon as the Red Rocks come into view. The artist and the writer within me are both torn. No wonder Mark Twain loved to travel.

(The art work behind me in the photograph is the work of other gallery artists. The art pieces on the table are paintings in progress from the Master's Meditation series.)

Eagle Rising - Painting A Day

A to Z Challenge

Today the Blog Challenge is the letter "E". I chose an eagle for my Painting of the Day subject. Using photos I took in Sedona, Arizona while I was working on my novel Eagle Rising, I created my painting for today. The beauty and serenity of the Red Rock Country inspires me every time I see it. This painting is smaller than the last two, 14" x 11" and is acrylic on stretched canvas.

"Eagle Rising" acrylic painting ©Mary Montague Sikes

Since I was taking an all-day printmaking workshop on Thursday, I did not have time to catch up with my A to Z blogger friends. I promise to make up for it today. Thank you everyone who has visited my blog. A painting a day is a challenge, but it's fun as well!

Mary Montague Sikes

Creating the Right Logline for Your Work

What is a logline?

A logline can be defined as a brief summary of your story that provides a synopsis of the plot and offers a hook for interest. It can be a tool to attract readers to your book. If you are in the market for an agent or publisher, the logline can be an essential selling device.

Writing a logline sounds easy, but it's not. At least, it's not easy for me!

Recently, one of the lists I follow has worked on creating the perfect logline for some authors' books. That project started me thinking about what words would work best in loglines for mine.

Here is a logline I developed for Eagle Rising, the book I discussed on my blog earlier this week: "Recovering from the tragic death of her fiance, a young woman travels to Sedona, Arizona where New Age adventures, dangerous plots, and a frightening new love evolve among the mystic Red Rocks."
The logline should be 25 words or under. Mine is 32 words, so obviously it needs some work.

 What about a logline for another book, Night Watch? "Death on the high seas--how is the murder of a NPR reporter on the English Channel connected to a young woman kidnapped by gunrunners in Trinidad?" This is 27 words--better, but still not 25 or under.

Here's one for Secrets by the Sea: "Diaries, ghosts, and a house by the sea confound a young woman seeking to uncover her grandfather's murderer. Is her unconventional neighbor the dark killer or her true love?" This one is 29 words, so it, too, needs some work to make it shorter.

Working on these loglines might be more fun than I thought. Do you have loglines for each of your books? Do you find them difficult to write? Do you consider them an essential selling tool?

Mary Montague Sikes

Touching an Eagle in Sedona Inspires a Novel, Eagle Rising

Author touches a bronze eagle created by sculptor Lloyd Pinay

 From the moment I first saw those dramatic red rocks rising from the arid land that surrounds Sedona, Arizona, I was hooked. No wonder so many artists and writers have come for a visit and never wanted to leave. I first traveled to Sedona in the mid-1990s and since have returned again and again.

Onyx obelisk centers medicine wheel --MM Sikes

 Not only the terrain intrigues me but so does the spirituality that embraces the town and its inhabitants. Many of the shops are dedicated to New Age materials. One store, located across from the entrance to the Tlaquepaque Arts and Crafts Village in Sedona, features a garden in the back complete with medicine wheel and onyx obelisk. The little garden overlooks picturesque Oak Creek.

An artist workshop and New Age seminars gave even more inspiration for my book, Eagle Rising. What if my heroine, Rachael Barker, witnesses the tragic death of her fiance in an airshow crash and comes to Sedona hoping to find recovery? My own jeep ride through the desert inspired some of the scenes in the book. The medicine wheels I found on journeys to the vortexes are part of the story. And then there is the eagle...

Here are reviews of Eagle Rising:

 Journalist Rachael Barker is sent to Sedona, Arizona by her editor in North Carolina to interview enigmatic novelist Arch Adamson and cover a lecture series he is conducting there in the red rock country. With little enthusiasm for the assignment and facing difficulties with Adamson, she does find stories to write and subjects to photograph while there. Former businessman Derek Ryder is in the area in search of a gold mine left him by his deceased grandfather and looking for a new life after a failed family relationship. As their paths cross after a chance meeting, emotions and responses of these seemingly regular people to extraordinary circumstances fascinate and hold the reader. Dreams, danger and adventure combine to keep the pages turning. Even though neither had been looking for a relationship, Barker or Derek become characters in this love story for the 21st century. This is a book not to miss by Mary Montague Sikes. -- --Jane Gerring, Richmond, Va. Author

"What delightful fun to pick up local writer and artist Mary "Monti" Montague Sikes's book, "Eagle Rising" and partake in  what I call a "good read." This prolific Tidewater, Virginia writer not only has written five books and many interesting articles that have appeared in local periodicals and magazines on the interesting lives of regional people, but she is also a very fine painter. The "eagle rising" thus becomes not only just the new title for her satisfying romantic mystery set in the American southwest, but symbolizes the creative spirit that rushes forth so naturally and in so many forms from this highly diversified artist."

Mary Wakefield Buxton

Urbanna

 

  Eagle Rising - Bargain Purchase from Oak Tree Books - Please scroll down. Books are listed alphabetically by title.
Available in print and e-book versions.

Has someplace especially inspired a piece of your writing? Do you have notes stashed away intending to use them for a book?

I love Sedona and am happy for the inspiration I gain with each new visit.

Book Cover Art - Original Vs. Stock

The growth of e-books has sparked the need for a flood of book covers featuring original art.

Or not!

Where do we get art for the explosion in the number of covers? Many book cover designers use stock art, all from the same stock art sources. That means the very same or similar images can appear on the book covers of many different authors. How disconcerting for an author who suddenly recognizes images from his/her cover on the work of another author!

Stock photos are just that. Stock that can be sold multiple times. If you use one of those pictures, you may see it over and over again. It's like the Van Gogh image, "Starry Night," that is found everywhere from prints hanging in homes and doctor's offices to puzzles on sale in bookstores.

"Sedona" original acrylic painting MMSikes

"Jungle Beat" - original acrylic painting MMSikes

"Tropical Waterfall" - original pastel MMSikes

If you want your book cover to be unique, you must be willing to pay an artist well for all rights to his/her work or you must be able to create original art yourself. Most of my books feature parts of my own original paintings or photographs on the covers. Hearts Across Forever, my first novel, has a cover with a favorite pastel painting I created of a waterfall that fits well into the plot of the story. For Eagle Rising, the cover artist superimposed the image of an eagle over an acrylic painting I did in Sedona, AZ, the setting for my book. Jungle Jeopardy, my latest "Passenger to Paradise" book, has a large tropical jungle painting, "Jungle Beat," I created on canvas a few years ago. This is perfect for the plot of my adventure story set in Central America. Thankfully, I'll never find any of those images on the cover of another book because I retain the copyrights to all my work.

"Beach at Sunset"- original photo MMSikes

My photo of a beach painted orange by the setting sun works perfectly for Secrets by the Sea, set on the Caribbean island of Antigua. My original photos and paintings are also on the covers of books by other authors including: Callie and the Dealer and a Dog Named Jake by Wendy Howell Mills, An Affinity for Murder by Anne White, and Lake Meade by Heather Musko.



 

I have read comments debating the use of photos taken of art on display in museums on book covers. Is it okay to place photos of the original art of others on your book cover without their permission? At first glance, I would say no. However, if the artist is deceased and the work is in the public domain, is it okay then? I don't know, and I would welcome thoughts on this subject.

As with everything in life, the issue is complicated. I like having my own art grace my covers. Then, I have control over the image. I don't expect to see it on the book cover of another author. And that's a good thing.

Please let me know what you think about book covers. Does stock art concern you? Do you use it?