Since we didn’t have a painting by Don Troiani that worked for this part of the story, I decided to go with a painting titled “The Passage of the Delaware,” by Thomas Sully (1819), that portrays Washington and his army crossing the Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776, on their way to attack the Hessian outpost at Trenton, New Jersey. I hated to give up our Indian for the cover since so much of the story takes place among the Shawnee, but I couldn’t find a painting that was a good substitute for the photo we used on the original edition. However, if you’ve read the story, you know that Wind of the Spirit ends with the army gathering to make the crossing, and Carleton’s vision of God leading them in a pillar of fire and cloud. This image captures the feeling of those final scenes, and, of course, Crucible of War opens with the army reaching the New Jersey shore and preparing for battle, so it ties the two volumes together. And on the back cover of Wind of the Spirit, we’re going to have Don Troiani’s painting of a Shawnee warrior as a stand-in for the Native American thread.
The new, updated Heritage Edition will release in April 2013, and I’m hurrying to make the final updates to the text and the formatting in Quark so it’ll be entirely consistent with the new look of the series. And of course I’ll also update the ebook files in the spring. Lots to do so I can get this off my plate and get back to writing Valley of the Shadow. As always, there’s lots of action and romance coming up for Jonathan and Elizabeth!
Speaking of Thanksgiving, what are you the most thankful for this year? For me, it’s my family and friends. Since I moved back up here to Indiana, I’m really loving having my extended family so close. Last week I went with my aunt and two cousins to the viewing for a cousin who died quite suddenly and unexpectedly. In spite of the circumstances, his family shared a testimony of God’s love and faithfulness through his life. It’s times like this that we’re reminded of how short and fragile life can be, and how everything can turn around on a dime.
I was impressed again by how precious our loved ones are and how we need to hold them close while we’re blessed to have them. I hope and pray that you’re able to gather together with your family next week to share love and joy and laughter and reflect on God’s great goodness to us!
Beautiful cover, Joan! Just fits beautifully with the others in the series. So thankful you're settled in and having a good fall. Happy early Thanksgiving to you!
ReplyDeleteLaura, it's going to be so nice to finally have all the covers consistent! I wish you and your family a very lovely Thanksgiving too!
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