Haru Ichiban's Blog - Posts Tagged "lei"
Cover Reveal: Forbidden: Xmas Days
The cover for my new novella for Christmas: Forbidden: Xmas Days. It is set the year before the happenings of Forbidden: A Steamy Paranormal Romance, and features Lei in his family's crazy gathering. We'll get to see how and why he made the deal with the devil.
I kinda like how this turned out, but in my mind the pic was a lot darker. I kept fearing the lights would be too faint and the picture unclear, so I didn't dare adding more shadows. By the way, notice that Lei has a different hairdo... He doesn't have the usual horns! He was not possessed at the time, so I saw fit that he wouldn't sport them at the moment.
The novella will be out early December! And the ARCs... very soon!
My next Forbidden book
My Next Book: Forbidden: Re:Life Days
Oh, this book! If you ever read my profile, I usually say I write with the heart, not the mind. That's why Evil Days was a little traumatic for me to write. I became heartbroken with my own story! To compensate for that, Re:Life Days, the fourth book in the five tomes Lei and Sween saga, is a bit like the first Forbidden: A Steamy Paranormal Romance: lots of romance and lots of fun! It also looks like it's going to be my longest novel for now. I would say it's 85% done at the moment, but I keep adding interesting stuff. I never "sign" the manuscript until I'm 100% satisfied with it.
Want a little, very early peek inside of it? Very well.
After the disastrous happenings of Evil Days, everyone is feeling like shit. A peeved Sween hears Lei propose a trip to South Peaks, not romantic travel but a hilarious field trip with some of his students and her. But South Peaks, as much as it is a beautiful place in contact with nature, offers its own perils. If Sween survives the killers awaiting her there, Law Academy has become a gateway to Hell rigged with deadly traps waiting for her to come back. There's no way to escape the contest's spider net anymore. It's time to fight back!
Re:Life Days is the debut novel of another of the Forbidden heroes... I will name him "S" for now. He joins Lei's class as one of his students, a handsome, smart, manly and very popular with everyone guy... except that he seems to know Sween and heavily dislikes her. He's quite open about expressing his feelings too:
(Work in progress; has not been edited. Narrated by Sween)
A presence startles me. I turn to something that feels like a wall behind me. "S" stares down at me, his icy eyes expressionless. But despite that, I can clearly feel some kind of negative emotion in him. His arms are crossed as he opens his mouth:
“You’re the most disgusting trash I’ve ever had the chance of meeting.”
My eyes open hugely. With all the calmness in the world, he leaves for class.
Wh-what! Where did that come from!
“What did you say, you scum?!” I scream at him. He’s already twenty yards or so away, so I wonder if he even heard me. If he did, he’s showing no signs.
Jeeze! That definitely ruined my afternoon. What’s his problem!
Our friend Sween doesn't take things like this quietly:
[...] Five minutes later, the students start to leave. Tall and proud, bag hanging from his shoulder, "S" leaves, his perennially stern face not giving a hint of what he’s feeling. I let him go, and then tail him to one of the school corridors.
He suddenly turns to me. “Why are you following me?”
I smile, a little innocently, a much more slyly. The last thing I’ll do is reply to that question.
“Here you go!” I toss the contents of a jar full of muddy water to his face. Alert as he seemed, he wasn’t fast enough to parry me.
Without as much as a shriek, he wipes his face and directs a feral look to me. Yikes!
I turn to run away, and he chases me. Go figures! The glint I saw in his eyes was really furious. I don’t want to know what would he do if he catches me.
Haha, this gives way to a "grand chase" all over Law Academy--all right, that's all for today.
Before it comes out, I will be sharing some cool stuff about it. Next time I will reveal "S"' full name and some bios and artwork of him. I made a prototype and looks pretty good, but I already decided I am changing his haircut, so more design. He's going to be a very important character from now on, so he's receiving my special attention.
Oh, this book! If you ever read my profile, I usually say I write with the heart, not the mind. That's why Evil Days was a little traumatic for me to write. I became heartbroken with my own story! To compensate for that, Re:Life Days, the fourth book in the five tomes Lei and Sween saga, is a bit like the first Forbidden: A Steamy Paranormal Romance: lots of romance and lots of fun! It also looks like it's going to be my longest novel for now. I would say it's 85% done at the moment, but I keep adding interesting stuff. I never "sign" the manuscript until I'm 100% satisfied with it.
Want a little, very early peek inside of it? Very well.
After the disastrous happenings of Evil Days, everyone is feeling like shit. A peeved Sween hears Lei propose a trip to South Peaks, not romantic travel but a hilarious field trip with some of his students and her. But South Peaks, as much as it is a beautiful place in contact with nature, offers its own perils. If Sween survives the killers awaiting her there, Law Academy has become a gateway to Hell rigged with deadly traps waiting for her to come back. There's no way to escape the contest's spider net anymore. It's time to fight back!
Re:Life Days is the debut novel of another of the Forbidden heroes... I will name him "S" for now. He joins Lei's class as one of his students, a handsome, smart, manly and very popular with everyone guy... except that he seems to know Sween and heavily dislikes her. He's quite open about expressing his feelings too:
(Work in progress; has not been edited. Narrated by Sween)
A presence startles me. I turn to something that feels like a wall behind me. "S" stares down at me, his icy eyes expressionless. But despite that, I can clearly feel some kind of negative emotion in him. His arms are crossed as he opens his mouth:
“You’re the most disgusting trash I’ve ever had the chance of meeting.”
My eyes open hugely. With all the calmness in the world, he leaves for class.
Wh-what! Where did that come from!
“What did you say, you scum?!” I scream at him. He’s already twenty yards or so away, so I wonder if he even heard me. If he did, he’s showing no signs.
Jeeze! That definitely ruined my afternoon. What’s his problem!
Our friend Sween doesn't take things like this quietly:
[...] Five minutes later, the students start to leave. Tall and proud, bag hanging from his shoulder, "S" leaves, his perennially stern face not giving a hint of what he’s feeling. I let him go, and then tail him to one of the school corridors.
He suddenly turns to me. “Why are you following me?”
I smile, a little innocently, a much more slyly. The last thing I’ll do is reply to that question.
“Here you go!” I toss the contents of a jar full of muddy water to his face. Alert as he seemed, he wasn’t fast enough to parry me.
Without as much as a shriek, he wipes his face and directs a feral look to me. Yikes!
I turn to run away, and he chases me. Go figures! The glint I saw in his eyes was really furious. I don’t want to know what would he do if he catches me.
Haha, this gives way to a "grand chase" all over Law Academy--all right, that's all for today.
Before it comes out, I will be sharing some cool stuff about it. Next time I will reveal "S"' full name and some bios and artwork of him. I made a prototype and looks pretty good, but I already decided I am changing his haircut, so more design. He's going to be a very important character from now on, so he's receiving my special attention.
Forbidden: Re:Life Days Cover Reveal
My definitive cover for my latest novel, Forbidden: Re:Life Days.
>
This follows the theme I originally thought of, but I think I got it much better this time. The expressions are subtle, the focus of the picture is on both Lei and Sween, and I worked hard for the snowy trees to not steal it. Sween's coloring gives the picture a warm touch that goes well with the romance theme, otherwise the whole would end up too gelid.
I like how this came out, but I'm still nowhere close to where I want to be as an artist. I need to work hard for next cover to be better than this one!
On the other hand, this was my first attempt at making a cover.
>
As you can see, I didn't really finish. There was something I felt couldn't be fixed: Sween's eyes are too big and seem teary (she's supposed to be overcome with emotion, but not teary) and for some reason Lei just can't be seen, my eyes return to Sween again and again on their own. Also, it can barely be seen but I tried an intricate work with the leaves, but that light blue barely shows. All in all, it wasn't coming out like I wanted to so I chose the same theme but in another picture for the cover.
>This follows the theme I originally thought of, but I think I got it much better this time. The expressions are subtle, the focus of the picture is on both Lei and Sween, and I worked hard for the snowy trees to not steal it. Sween's coloring gives the picture a warm touch that goes well with the romance theme, otherwise the whole would end up too gelid.
I like how this came out, but I'm still nowhere close to where I want to be as an artist. I need to work hard for next cover to be better than this one!
On the other hand, this was my first attempt at making a cover.
>As you can see, I didn't really finish. There was something I felt couldn't be fixed: Sween's eyes are too big and seem teary (she's supposed to be overcome with emotion, but not teary) and for some reason Lei just can't be seen, my eyes return to Sween again and again on their own. Also, it can barely be seen but I tried an intricate work with the leaves, but that light blue barely shows. All in all, it wasn't coming out like I wanted to so I chose the same theme but in another picture for the cover.
Omake: Forbidden: Revelation Days Cover
My first attempt to make a cover for my next novel: Forbidden: Revelation Days.
Here I thought I could make a cover with color pencils instead of my usual watercolors, but didn't turn out the way I wanted. At all. Dunno, watercolors and I just have more affinity. The more I progressed, the more I realized it was not going to turn out the way I wanted, so I gave up on it and began working on a watercolors version which is the definitive cover.
Yeah, it's Lei with long hair... Or perhaps someone who looks a lot like him...?
Lei Synge-Sturmmond, Forbidden: Revelation Days by Haru Ichiban.
Out of a Whim - Afterglow - Lei and Sween
Slight NSFW that I don't know if it's allowed here so I'll just give the link to deviantArt.
Out of a Whim -Afterglow - Lei and Sween
I just saw a similar pic in a doujinshi and drew this one. I don't know, it kinda makes me hot. I imagine this after Lei and Sween have made love, and typically, Lei is all groomed and dressed while Sween is still dreamy and scruffy and "aaah... that was nice". Phew!
XD
I painted this in a 130 grams draft paper and it really got wrinkly, even though I used little water. I'll have to think how to use this one, since I still have quite a few sheets and they are no good for colored pencils. Maybe I'll rest the picture under a heavy weight before scanning it!
Lei Synge-Sturmmond, Sween Synge-Sturmmond, Forbidden by Haru Ichiban.
Out of a Whim -Afterglow - Lei and Sween
I just saw a similar pic in a doujinshi and drew this one. I don't know, it kinda makes me hot. I imagine this after Lei and Sween have made love, and typically, Lei is all groomed and dressed while Sween is still dreamy and scruffy and "aaah... that was nice". Phew!
XD
I painted this in a 130 grams draft paper and it really got wrinkly, even though I used little water. I'll have to think how to use this one, since I still have quite a few sheets and they are no good for colored pencils. Maybe I'll rest the picture under a heavy weight before scanning it!
Lei Synge-Sturmmond, Sween Synge-Sturmmond, Forbidden by Haru Ichiban.
Forbidden: Revelation Days Cover Reveal
I had a lot of problems with Facebook and Amazon publicity services and I haven't solved them yet, so I figured I would go ahead and keep publishing my books anyway. I've had enough.
This is the cover for my fifth steamy paranormal romance novel
Revelation Days. There is a lot of ancient Chinese, specifically Manchurian, stuff later in the book so I figured the cover would have some Chinese air. I painted it with watercolors and the stamp is added digitally. It is Lei with such long hair... or maybe someone who looks exactly like him?
Playing with AI - Pic 2
According to AI, this is Lei Synge-Sturmmond from my steamy paranormal romance novels
, this time in anime version.I'm never going to use AI for my pics, but since deviantArt is giving away some tries, I thought I would have some fun with it.
Reincarnation Days Cover Reveal
Cover for my sixth novel
Reincarnation Days This is the second part of the three-book climactic ending of Lei and Sween's Legend.It's time to fight the ultimate evil! From left to right: Jason, Archie, Lei (looking so cool in his black armor!), Sween and Astaroth (looking so cool in his street fighter attire!). Things are heating up as the story reaches its climax!
Blurb:
As the war with The Great Commandment intensifies and more of Sween's past comes to light, so do more mysteries.
Who is the Indigo War God really?
And who was the one who killed Sween when she was nine years old?
All clues point to the one she loves and trusts the most:
Lei.
Two days to Apocalypse Days!
Only two days until the last novel of Lei and Sween's Legend is released! This is some future Amazon A+ Content for my sixth paranormal romance novel, Forbidden: Reincarnation Days
, and illustration for the prologue of the most dangerous sex scene in the whole story. Sween is getting cuddly after an intense day and wants to make love... But after a vigorous make out, what do hungry vampires do?
100% NoAI, I made this on drawing paper with colored pencils and pens. I used the cheapie stuff in here, except Pablos for Sween's skin and difumination.
