If you love feel-good fantasy with talking dogs, don’t miss my new Kickstarter: THE POOCH SALUTE!

Woohoo! Fashion Frenchies #2: The Pooch Salute! is now live on Kickstarter!Cover of The Pooch Salute! A cheerful French bulldog in a red, white, and blue outfit strikes a confident pose beside a stylish older woman who wears a white blouse with a red bow and gestures dashingly at the title. Behind them is a festive Fourth of July backdrop with sparkles and celebration vibes. The title is bold and playful, with “Fashion Frenchies Book 2” as a subtitle. The overall tone is whimsical, heartwarming, and fun.

It’s a cozy contemporary fantasy featuring talking dogs, a stubborn dogwear designer, and a Fourth of July parade no one’s quite ready for. Think Bewitched meets A Dog’s Purpose (BUT NOT SO SAD), with a little Crock-Pot magic and a lot of heart. 🐾

Here’s the official blurb:

Vivian Feng can talk to animals—a secret she uses to rehabilitate tough foster dogs while running an online dogwear business. But when a mishap leaves her with a broken arm just weeks before a big Fourth of July parade, she’s convinced she can still pull it all off—one-handed and dangerously determined—with a healing potion that’s brewing way too slow.

Meanwhile, her grandniece Alanna Lu has a secret riding on the parade’s success, and the newest foster dog, August—a melancholy German shepherd—is carrying invisible scars he’s not ready to share.

It’ll take teamwork, trust, and a little Frenchie flair to stitch together a miracle—and remind everyone that love is the real magic. 💖

Backers get:

📚 Early access to the ebook
🎨 Exclusive digital extras (coloring pages, posters, wallpapers)
📦 Paperback copies + Frenchie-themed add-ons (STICKERRRRRS!!!!!!)

Preorder with Perks on Kickstarter!

Even if cozy fantasy isn’t your usual thing, you’ll probably like some of the extras (STICKERRRRRS!!!!!!). Either way, every pledge helps support a hardworking indie author (hullo! 👋).

If you like light magical realism, talking dogs, or stories that feel like a warm hug, you’re gonna LOVE The Pooch Salute!

If you click through, thanks for checking out my campaign—and DOUBLE THANKS for sharing the link with a dog-loving friend. You da best. —Danielle Williams

Work-in-Progress WIPWednesday Book Cover Art Makeover – FASHION FRENCHIES Cover Makeover: Spine Design before and after

For as much work as I put into illustrating a cover, the truth is that books spend the majority of their lives as a spine. So I didn’t want to skimp here! I wanted the spine to be as cute as the cover.

I took a lot of inspiration from those old Disney VHS tapes…you know, with the character portrait on the side? I knew I needed that. But I wasn’t sure how to organize all the information a reader would need (the name of the series, the number of the book, author, title etc.)

BEFORE

First, it was a hot mess of fonts. The reader-desired info was on there, but not in a beautiful fashion.

Version one of a book spine: there's a lot of horizontal white text on red and a cute French bulldog decked out like Super Dave Osborne (on a blue background).

AFTER

The next day, I thought a little more about how it should be organized, and came up with this:

Final version of the Fashion Frenchies 2 book spine: The author name, cute French bulldog decked out like Super Dave Osborne (popping out of a ring), series name, and series number are oriented the traditional way, while the title is oriented sideways, with little stars surrounding it. The spine is mostly white text on red, except for the series number, which is blue text on white and on a retro-looking shape

Maybe this is only interesting for book geeks…but I’m SUPER PROUD of how this spine design turned out!

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress, February 2025 Edition

The Pixelvania Publishing Proclamation o’ Progress is a semiannual post detailing what’s going on around here, and what might show up in the future.

Cute kitty photos at the end–including our 3 newcomers, Raider, Dolly, and Biscuit!

Recap

Cover for THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECKTHE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK – RELEASED EVERYWHERE

After my successful early-release Kickstarter for The Guests of Crooked Neck (the reasonably-sized sequel to science-fantasy epic Steel City, Veiled Kingdom), I released it everywhere in November.

Buy THE GUESTS OF CROOKED NECK direct from me

Or get it everywhere else (paperback on Amazon)

I am working on making the paperback available to buy directly from me, so stay tuned!

 

WIP WEDNESDAY POSTS

Some social media sites celebrate “WIP Wednesdays.” WIP stands for “Work In Progress.” Since I’ve been working on cover art, I’ve decided to join in this year, posting progress images from my Fashion Frenchies cover makeovers.

 

See all the WIP Wednesday Posts here.

FINAL FRIDAY 5 FAVORITES POSTS

Despite a hiccup in January, these fun posts keep coming! 

Here’s everything I’ve recommended so far.

Currently in Production

FASHION FRENCHIES BOOK 2: The Pooch Salute!

(If you want to know when it’ll be released, sign up for my newsletter.)

My fellow writer and good friend (and dog enthusiast!) Sally Johnson was kind enough to typo patrol The Pooch Salute! for me. Soon I will be incorporating her corrections into the final manuscript and formatting it for paperback and ebook. But before I did that, I wanted to work on…

THE FASHION FRENCHIES COVER MAKEOVERS

"Fashion Frenchies" series book cover. Background is now a ruby red-pink cover. A smiling French bulldog, inked with flat colors, now stands on a simple table built of flat vector shapes. Next to him is a simple sewing machine with some fabric on it. Behind him, a sassy fashion grandmain a simple placeholder black dress stands with one arm akimbo. She appears to be throwing a roll of magical fabric with her other hand.Simple cabinets are indicated at the top, providing backdrop for the series and title text in a retro script font: FASHION FRENCHIES BOOK 1: LOVE POTION COMMOTION.

Partially-finished cover for LOVE POTION COMMOTION!

After an excruciatingly slow start, I finally started making headway on the Fashion Frenchies cover makeovers! But the work has been worth it! They’re looking better than I thought they would!

Click the image to the left to see it at full-size! Each book cover will have the characters wearing different outfits, but here’s book 1 with the completed “paper dolls”.

Once I have the cover for book 2 completed, I can start the Kickstarter in earnest. 🙂 Look for this Kickstarter in the spring of 2025.

GIFTS OF THE GORGON

This story is longer than I expected–and I paused work writing on it to get the ball rolling on the Fashion Frenchies artwork. But I hope to restart it soon (though I’ll have to re-read it first, since I’ve been away from it for so long!)

THE CAPRAMANCER NEXT DOOR’S CHRISTMAS BOOK – STARTED

I’ve been dying to write a Capramancer Christmas book. So I wrote the prologue! Which was very exciting! But progress came to a screeching halt due to the Fashion Frenchies cover makeovers.

Plotting: Small Future Art Projects

Once the FASHION FRENCHIES work is off my plate, I think I’ll focus on the two Christmas books mentioned above. But there’s also a couple of smaller art projects nagging at me:

  • The Girlfriend Who Wasn’t from Delaware: This book needs a cover makeover like whoa. I’ve collected ideas, but I think a few hours worth of work would net me a greatly improved cover. While I’m at it, I may just revamp the paperback.
  • Hello, Wizard: needs a paperback version with a new cover. Again, while I’m at it, I’ll just revamp the whole thing. So it’d probably be a week or two of work, but worth it.

That ends my news, plotting, and scheming!

Presenting: New Kitties!

In December 2024, Mr. Pixelvania and I went nuts and added three new kitties to our home! Let me introduce you.

RAIDER

Tuxedo cat with yellow eyes looks up at the camera against a field of busy tan carpet

Raider (aged 3) is a chatty tuxedo lovebug who makes spectacular jumps to catch his toys. He will also grab your hand and make you pet him. He loves my current crop of piano students and will come out and socialize with them during their lessons. Unfortunately, Barnaby Jones believes he is the devil. 🙁

BISCUIT THE ATTACK KITTEN

Garfield-orange kitten goes BLEP!A Garfield-orange kitten lazes on a grey bed amidst a pile of paper.

We weren’t planning on getting Biscuit (AKA Cheddar Bay Biscuit), but the adoption lady opened his cage without us asking. This at-the-time 6-month-old kitten flung himself onto Mr. Pixelvania’s neck and began purring up a storm. Mr. Pixelvania could not resist. So now we have an attack kitten! He is a little much on our older fellas and sometimes has to go into time out. He is very sharp. But has mellowed over the last couple of months. Sometimes he stands around purring for no reason.

Dolly Purrton

A sweet-faced, Garfield-orange lady cat modestly looks away from her fountain

Dolly Purrton (aged 3) is America’s sweetheart. She came with the name “Chleo” but I didn’t think that name fit this gracious, loving beauty, so Dolly she became.

She is every little girl’s dream cat: she adores being brushed, plays ferociously, and purrs constantly as long as you’re with her. The only thing she loves more than people is her GIANT fluffy bed!

And now, to our OG cats!

Barnaby Jones

Barnaby Jones, a grey and white cat, lounges upside down in a green wingback chair

This is Barnaby before we got the new cats. Unbothered. Flourishing in our green chair in the office. We thought he’d take to the new cats nicely, but he has, unfortunately, decided that Raider is Public Enemy No. 1 and that Dolly isn’t to be trusted. He’s fought with them several times, making the fur fly! (He’s okay with kitten Biscuit, though). When the new guys are closed away in their rooms, he’s the same sweet guy I cyberstalked years ago!

Pixel J. Cat

An elderly orange and white cat smiles up at you from where he lies curled among a big puffy comforter

This old man just turned 18! He seems to be losing weight, but is otherwise the same cranky guy he’s always been. To our surprise, he was completely unbothered by the new grown cats, letting them pass by untouched. He only gets upset when kitten Biscuit jumps on him–and who can blame him? That kid is SHARP!

(Thoughts, prayers, and good vibes would be appreciated so we can get all 5 cats out and about at once!)

Until next release, I wish you good health and happy reading! – Danielle

Work-in-Progress Wednesday Book Cover Art Makeover – FASHION FRENCHIES Cover Makeover: FINISHED fancy vest!

Here’s Marty’s final outfit for Fashion Frenchies 1: Love Potion Commotion!

In the Fashion Frenchies series, Marty the French bulldog loves getting dressed up because it brings smiles to all his fans who follow his mom’s dog fashion blog!Completed dog clothing illustration. The smiling white French bulldog now wears a pink tuxedo vest and short-sleeved white shirt! Nicely inked and digitally colored. He stands against a plain blue background so I can do a full cover reveal later.

I’ve completed one other costume for Marty and one other costume for his mom, Vivian, since finishing this one! My foundational work is paying off and once I draw the costume, the actual finishing work comes together quite quickly!

Kickstarter coming this spring! I hope you’ll join me for it!

Work-in-Progress Wednesday Book Cover Art Makeover – FASHION FRENCHIES Cover Makeover: fancy vest!

The past few weeks, I did minor adjustments to the prototype cover, and I’m finally happy with it. Now I can move on to specific costumes!

For Love Potion Commotion!, Fashion Frenchies Book 1, I decided to put Marty in a pink tuxedo vest with bow tie! I’ll clean up the inks digitally and color it so I can add it to the book cover proper.

 

 


Scan of a dog clothing drawing. The French bulldog was printed out in a light value. The costume was roughed over the printout in red Col-erase pencil (which can barely be seen) and inked with black Sharpie marker.

 

Work-in-Progress Wednesday Book Cover Art Makeover – FASHION FRENCHIES Cover Makeover: ruby red!

More progress on my FASHION FRENCHIES book cover rebranding!

I took some time on a printout to rough out a simpler #background (a la BEWITCHED) before working on it digitally. There, I discovered I had room for a sewing machine, which lead to a roll of fabric. I thought it looked nice so I’m going to work on it more!

I think the characters really pop against this color, but I’m wondering if it’s too dark a color an uplifting fantasy comedy. What do you think?

Hopefully I can move on to the outfits soon. 🙂

 

"Fashion Frenchies" series book cover. Background is now a ruby red-pink cover. A smiling French bulldog, inked with flat colors, now stands on a simple table built of flat vector shapes. Next to him is a simple sewing machine with some fabric on it. Behind him, a sassy fashion grandmain a simple placeholder black dress stands with one arm akimbo. She appears to be throwing a roll of magical fabric with her other hand.
Simple cabinets are indicated at the top, providing backdrop for the series and title text in a retro script font: FASHION FRENCHIES BOOK 1: LOVE POTION COMMOTION.

WIP Wednesday Book Cover Art – FASHION FRENCHIES Cover Makeover

More rebranding work on the FASHION FRENCHIES series book covers. (I wanna release FASHION FRENCHIES 2: THE POOCH SALUTE! in Spring 2025 and thought I’d redo the cover to FASHION FRENCHIES 1: LOVE POTION COMMOTION! while I was at it)

I buckled down last week and inked both characters. I’m keeping simple fill for colors–because these are now “paper dolls”! They’ll have different themed outfits for each book cover!

I also bought a new typeface (font) for the titles, after another set didn’t work out (I had to get a refund!)

And I’m working on a series logo (which is currently kicking my butt, yikes!). You might see a progress bit on it next week.

Enjoy!

FASHION FRENCHIES series book cover, work in progress. Background is still puce (grey-purpley). A smiling French Bulldog, now fully inked with flat colors, now stands on a simple table built of flat vector shapes. Behind him, a newly-inked, fully-colored sassy elderly lady in a simple placeholder black dress stands with  arm akimbo.
Shelves are indicated at the top with darker rectangles, and neon purple lines roughly indicate fabric rolls that will go up there.

WIP Wednesday Book Cover Art Sketch – Fashion Frenchies Cover Makeover

As you may remember, I’m looking to release FASHION FRENCHIES 2: THE POOCH SALUTE! in Spring 2025. I figured while I was at it, I’d redo the cover to FASHION FRENCHIES 1: LOVE POTION COMMOTION!

So here’s a working sketch of the main human character, Vivian Feng. She’s like Iris Apfel (RIP), but Chinese and for dog fashion.

Red cartoony sketch of an old woman smiling and gesturing

Yes, I went full BEWITCHED on this. She’ll have some thicc Edna Mode-style glasses, but I thought I’d add those digitally. This will be inked by hand and then scanned in. Then I have to come up with some outfits!

A fabulous French bulldog novella turns 7 today!!

Love Potion Commotion! (Cover). A white French bulldog winks at the viewer over a cauldron that bubbles pink smoke. Behind him, a brindle Frenchi looks on suspiciously.

Enjoy this cover while you can! It’s getting a makeover soon…

Whoa, Nelly! Fashion Frenchies #1: Love Potion Commotion! is turning SEVEN today!

If this book were a TV series, it’d probably sit alongside Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie, two other “family fantasy” comedies. It has some romance, sure, but that’s not the story’s sole focus–though my first reader also said it reminded her of a Hallmark movie. Very upbeat, very light, very fun.

 I wish I could let you all into my brain for a sec to hear how the white French bulldog, Marty, sounds. His voice always cracks me up.

A sequel is coming soon, and with it…a new cover for the entire series! And both books released in paperback. Hooray! But first I have to draw said cover 😱 Wish me luck!

Get your copy of LOVE POTION COMMOTION!