APRIL 2026 News – KICKSTARTER PreLAUNCH!

Here is the wrap-around cover painting for my upcoming novel, THE MIRROR OF TRUTH, my YA Retelling of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES. It’s big!–a 24×36 inch oil painting.

FOLLOW my Campaign on Kickstarter as I illustrate this story and produce a deluxe illustrated edition , launching the book exclusively on Kickstarter with over fifty planned illustrations in both black and white and full color. I’m still working on some revisions of the story, and I’ll be offering the revised first few chapters soon in a project update. If you love fairy tales and retellings, and like my artwork, I’d love to have you join me on this project.

Here is an excerpt from the story. BAN (the half-dwarf teen and maker of the magic mirror) tells the story of the dwarf creation myth to LUMI, the Snow White character, whom he has befriended. Ban has delivered and cast the truth spell on her stepmother’s mirror, with no clue of how she’ll use it for her own evil ends.

CHAPTER 11

BAN

Ban wasn’t sure what had gotten into him— he’d never told a story to anyone. But he liked Lumi’s company and wanted to cheer her up after what the queen had done to her cat. Lumi was so different from anyone he knew. His brothers weren’t that talkative. As for Narl, they did a lot of things together, but didn’t get into deep discussions. And he didn’t speak with any female dwarves his age now, of course. The few snatches of sign language exchanges with Kurta didn’t qualify as detailed conversation.

Alright. I can do this. He stood. His eyebrow began to twitch. He looked away from Lumi, and focused on addressing his story to the raven, who’d managed to hop onto a low pile of firewood.

Ban cleared his throat and began.

“Before the earth existed, there was Darkness. And hidden in the Darkness was an invisible Being, the all-powerful One we call the Mighty Hammer, though that is not His true name. For His true Name is known only to Himself.

Thought, a male raven, sat on His right shoulder, and Desire, a female raven, sat on His left shoulder. A raven named Wisdom hovered above him. After passing many ages in the darkness, the the voices of Wisdom, Thought and Desire convinced him to create a Change in the darkness. Soon, the darkness began to shine like a mirror. And this mirror reflected the image and glory and beauty of the Mighty Hammer’s true being.

And He was pleased with His reflection.

One day the Mighty Hammer had the Desire to expand His glory, and he had the Thought that he needed to shatter the mirror to make that come to pass, and the Wisdom of how to proceed. And when he shattered the mirror, bright stars appeared in the sky, and the Earth with its oceans and mountains and forests appeared below. And the Mighty Hammer placed the Sun above the Earth to light the day and the Moon to light the night.

The Mighty Hammer was pleased.

And under the light of the Sun and the Moon, the Earth became the Mother of all life— the plants and animals and fish and insects and birds. And in the cave of the Earth Mother’s womb, the Mighty Hammer created the dwarves, the first people of the world. He created them to reflect the aspects of his nature— to have thoughts and desires, but wisdom was something they must choose to strive to attain, so they would grow and change.

And the Mighty Hammer set all life upon the Earth and in the Earth into vast patterns of Change. And that’s why we have seasons— of life and death and rebirth.

The Mighty Hammer was pleased.

And buried deep in the Earth were all the gems and the precious metals that were but dim reflections of the power and beauty that was and is the Mighty Hammer. They were his wedding gifts to the Earth Mother. And this is why the dwarves love the caves under the Earth, for it is our place as the first peoples of the earth. We create things of beauty to honor the Mighty Hammer, our Creator, and the Earth, our Mother.”

Ban paused for a moment. He’d been addressing his story to the raven, and now he glanced at Lumi, who smiled and looked attentive.

Okay, good. Eyes back on the raven, he took a breath and continued.

“There is one more part of the story:

The Moon, seeing that her light was weaker than the Sun’s, was embarrassed that she was not as good as the Sun, and so she always runs away and hides her face little by little every month. Only on one night a month do the Sun and the Moon see each other’s faces. And they remember when they were made, and they praise the power of the Mighty Hammer. And the moon reminds us to be humble, and to remember that we too are but dim reflections of the Mighty Hammer.”

“Well, that’s it.”

Ban had never told this story himself, though he had heard the dwarf storytellers recite it many times when he was young. He was always a little confused by the part about the sun and the moon and thought perhaps he should have left that out. But Lumi was smiling.

She liked it! His heart danced in his chest.

“Thank you!” said Lumi. “That’s a very good story. I liked the ravens— Wisdom, Thought and Desire. Ravens do seem to think a lot. And they want a lot of things too. I don’t think they are always wise, though.” She laughed, got up from the bench and stretched. “Like grapes, right Raven?” The bird looked away, as if it understood and was embarrassed.

“People want a lot of things too, don’t they?” said Ban, bit his lip and added “…things they sometimes shouldn’t have.” He grabbed his pack, bade Lumi farewell, nodded to Maggie, and took his leave.

People want a lot of things, Ban repeated to himself as he strode down the road to the town, and through the narrow winding streets that led to the inn. He wanted Kurta, of course. But the creation story reminded him of one thing he wanted that he’d never have. He’d never be a full-blooded dwarf. Being in this human place, away from the taunts of the dwarves at the mines, was a relief in many ways. But he was the heir to the mirror-smith, bound to Goldhaven. At least with Kurta he’d finally be content. He didn’t have to be friends with everyone.

Narl was at their usual table in the farthest, darkest corner of the noisy common room of the inn. He was sitting with the nobleman, Prince Raimund, who must have just returned, by the look of his boots and the travel stains on his elegant cloak. Ban understood that Narl wanted to earn money from this man by making him a sword, possibly a sword of power, which was something reserved for royal dwarves. Why was he doing this? Narl hated the race of men from the Upperworld. And Narl knew Ban was part human, yet remained his friend.

Narl was a puzzle.

“I’m hoping you’re hungry,” said the innkeeper’s daughter to Ban as she passed him to serve some other customers. “I cooked your favorite mushrooms today,” she added with a wink and a smile. Ban certainly didn’t hate the race of humans. Not when its women were so nice. So friendly. Well, some of them, anyway. The queen was beautiful, but he wouldn’t call her nice. Or friendly. Lumi was both.