A Sneak Peak at PoNS 3 and PoNS 4

http://bookworld.editme.com/kujakupoet

I've been at work most of the day sprucing up and improving my author pages at the GLBT Bookshelf. I have added thumbnails for all the ebok covers now, including the thumbnail of the cover for PoNS 3 : Iron Men. Although it is not yet out in ebook format, the cover is done, and the manuscript is at the coder, so I'm hoping it will be out in time for Christmas.

As usual, the ebook cover was done by Alex Beecroft. She found the image that is used on the cover and I'm very happy with it because it shows a Western sword side by side with a Turkish sword. To see the cover, visit the link above, choose PoNS 3 : Iron Men, and scroll down. Sadly, since it's not yet available for Kindle, the link won't take you anywhere, but it's coming. Eventually.

And speaking of 'eventually,' I've made progress with PoNS 4 : Hearts of Oak. I've hit chapter 33 of the draft, so we are now in the home stretch where I get to juggle all the pieces to make them come together and give a satisfying conclusion.

There is a new character introduced in PoNS 4 : Hearts of Oak, a 'bonny lighthorseman,' as the song puts it. He was inspired by a friend, Luc Alexander, the artist who retouched the cover of the paperback for PoNS 1 to give it a purple Sallee flag )not to be confused with Alex Beecroft, the ebook cover artist). Alex (the former) is a great fan of Hussars, and I have acquired the addiction from him.

The following artwork by French painter Gericault (famous for 'The Raft of the Medusa') depicts a chasseur, or French lighthorseman: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/GericaultHorseman.jpg. This image was the inspiration for the character of Colonel Jan Karolyi, the Hungarian Hussar in PoNS 4.

The following image is a portrait of Lord Paget, who was commander of the King's Own Hussars during the Battle of Waterloo: http://fr.academic.ru/pictures/frwiki/72/Henry_William_Paget00a.jpg. He lost his leg in battle, and because he was such a handsome and popular man, it inspired advances in prosthetic technology to equip him with a prosthetic limb that would allow him to walk naturally. His leg went on to have an independent career: it was publicly exhibited for money in France for some years afterwards.