🍃🌸May Updates🌸🍃
A Star-Spun Missive
In this post:
Freelancing Note
Writing & Project Updates
Radiance Audio Drama
A New AU
Summer Plans
Freelancing Notice
If you’re new here, I’m a freelance artist, cover designer, costume designer, seamstress, and voice artist, with the goal of creating beautiful pieces that glorify God, are 100% AI-free, and which edify and uplift those who see it!
As I recently mentioned, I’ve updated my freelancing costs and pricing methods, which you can check out below. If there’s a project you’re interested in but don’t find listed, feel free to contact me to ask!
It’s normal for freelance pricing to rise over time with experience and circumstances, and I’ll be updating my pricing every quarter. The next update is due in July, so if you want to commission a project at the current rate, get in touch with me in May or June.
I predict that cover art is going to take the steepest climb; I’ve kept most of my freelancing rates at the lower end of the spectrum, as an incentive to earn more commissions; but I need to charge what the work is worth, particularly in the amount of time it takes. Recently, a couple people commented that for the quality, my rate is low: For similar quality, they’d normally be paying in the range of $700-$1000, rather than the $300 range I had.
I’ll be timing the redo of the third Ransom cover to find a more precise baseline. I’ve been wondering just how long it takes to create them, and I’ll report back!
Writing & Project Updates
🌸 Writing Sessions - I’ve been having a weekly virtual writing session with another writer, which has been beneficial for accountability in actually writing something, as well as for having someone to discuss plot points with or beta-read chapters before posting. I highly recommend!
🫐 Haunting Melody - If you missed it, The Haunting of Seaglass Cove was paywalled last month, as I prepare to begin editing In the Shadow of the Lilac. I expect to receive the last beta reader feedback in June, and I’ll begin editing after. I’ve already requested beta readers for The Haunting of Seaglass Cove, but without a deadline this time, as I don’t expect to publish it this year.
I also foresee now that I will not be working on Boughs of Folly this year: with the expected changes to the texts, and Grant’s muddling of the planned timeline due to his issues in Seaglass Cove, I’m returning to the plan of a southern setting for Haunting Melody #3, pushing Boughs of Folly to #4.
Since there’s a bit too long of a gap between Lilac and Seaglass, the plan is to shift Seaglass back to a setting of February or March, rather than May; this creates enough room for #3, upon the end of Grant’s hiatus in Maine.
If that’s all confusing, don’t worry! When I’m through editing Lilac, I’ll post an update of some of the major revisions that will affect future stories.
Unfortunately, this shift does not mean that HM #3 will happen this year, as I’ve got too much on my to-do list to research and plan for #3; so I’ll be focusing on the Haunting Melody spin-offs, particularly Radiant Melody.
🌸 Ransom - I placed the Ransom revision on hold around Easter, but I’ll be getting back to it shortly. The cover for Book 2, Trial by Time, is almost complete, with just a few more adjustments necessary, and I’m about to halfway through revising the text. I hope to have it all done by the end of July!
🫐 May Projects - Brainstorming is still where most of my energy is! As most of you know, I’m only posting one chapter per month at the moment, with my creativity and energy for creating still mostly MIA. It looks like I’ll be bouncing back and forth from brainstorming-only to writing, which ought to give me a bit of a break every now and then.
I hike I’ve been working on Rise of Sirius, it’s time to set it aside again to work on the summer collaboration in June, and hopefully Rose Among Thorns, my upcoming Sleeping Beauty variation, will be not long after!
It might take the place of Haunting Melody for spooky season…or else Haunting Radiance will. For now, you can take a look at some of my visual inspiration for Rose Among Thorns, if you like! It’s probably mostly dress references, naturally, but I also have a collection of landscapes and architecture, etc.
The setting will be based on France and Germany, roughly the Alsace-Lorraine region, but in the same world as Silvaria and Lharmeval.
Speaking of dresses, sewing is still not a high priority in terms of my energy, but I’m finishing up a commission of veils and rosary pouches for Missio Dei Catholic this week, before focusing on mending and finishing a blouse and skirt that I wanted to post last year. . . I’ll be back on track one of these days!
The Radiance Audio Drama
Work is in progress on the audio dramatization of Lady Radiance, as we transform it into a script and make some story changes for audio! It’s trickier than expected, so we’re moving a dramatization of In the Shadow of the Lilac off the 2026 schedule and giving Radiance as much room as possible.
We are looking to put out a casting call for Radiance this summer; male roles have always been the most difficult to fill in my experience, so we hope that we’ll find enough volunteers whose voices suit the characters.
If you might be interested, keep an eye out for the casting call! It will be an open audition, allowing readers to try out some characters and send in a recording.
🌊 A New AU. . . 🌃
ALERT: Due to circumstances beyond our control, there has been another rift in the Lady Radiance/Haunting Melody multiverse, and shenanigans and chaos are predicted.
You can expect Thanatos and the Ferryman to make an appearance in a multiverse near you eventually, and it may well be the crown jewel of the three AUs! E.B. Howard and I are excited for it, and judging by how much fun we’re having plotting it, I’m sure that most of you are going to enjoy it the most, as well.
Due to the fact that we now have three AU’s to mastermind, in addition to all of our separate projects that we need to work on, we’re likely to post them in a script-like format, which will make them quicker to write, as well as easier to transform into audio, if we ever decide to.
Unfortunately, this does mean that Radiant Melody is not going to continue as a comic; I already expected that I would only create one page per year, since it’s a great many hours of work for one page. It will be more efficient if E.B. and I trade off doing a drawing here or there instead.
Please note, you’ll probably only receive maximum levels of amusement in reading the AUs, particularly Thanatos and the Ferryman, if you are familiar with both Haunting Melody and Lady Radiance in their original forms. I highly recommend getting the chance to read In the Shadow of the Lilac (paywalled, as I’m prepping it for publication) and Lady Radiance.
If you have access to a 7-day free trial for Star-Spun, you could also be masterminds and manage to read all the way through Lilac! I’ve turned the free trials on again temporarily for this reason. The required toll is to like all the posts, should you enjoy them, and leave at least one comment or restacked quote(s), so I can have fun reading them ;) If that’s not enough time to access Lilac, paid subscriptions are only $5 per month!
Summer 2026 Plans
As I have many projects and activities that I need to accomplish, but often put off due to them being less important, I’m putting a “creative retreat” on the calendar each month. I’ll have a better prayer routine, work on the minor projects, and take some time off from focusing on commissions and editing. It will be especially helpful during busy seasons, including the holidays, when I am most likely to burn out.
My first creative retreat will be this coming week from May 25th-June 2nd. I’ll usually have a theme for these retreats, such as 1950’s or fairytale, but for this first edition, my focus will be on everyday aspects, including trying out everyday hairstyles, getting through all the basic mending and tailoring I’ve put off, and finding a weekly and daily schedule that works for me.
I’ll have related bonus posts for my paid and comped subscribers! If you can’t block off a retreat week for yourself, feel free to read along during these retreats just for fun!
Music
I’ll leave you with some of the music I’ve been enjoying recently:
God bless!
In the Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,
Thérèse Judeana
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