"Alexandra" is to be published by Smashwords

After I had written several thousand words of Helen, just for my own amusement, for some reason I began writing a novel called Alexandra, and it was this one that was spotted by a boyfriend of mine, a knowledgeable fellow who had traveled the world and had read widely.  I let him read excerpts from the book, and (this was around 2003), over the next several years, I finished the story.  This is the only story that I have ever finished, though some of the other books ---notably Helen--- have complete stories embedded in them.

For some reason, Alexandra embarrasses me.  The tone starts out almost childlike, and the first few words are out of the mouths of a couple of thirteen-year-old girls, watching the ship bringing Princess Genevieve land.  Throughout the story, the tone continues to be earnestly idealistic, but then, I suppose, my stories tend to be that way.  But I love Alexandra and her friends, notably little Ninel, whom Alexandra adopts, and Lena and Elly, the lesbian couple who loyally stand by Alexandra through thick and thin, and the tempestuous Princess Baby (I've forgotten her name) [Added later: Briana of Skree], Alexandra's young cousin, who gets the young queen into bed when Alexandra is abandoned by her wife and consort.  And of course, there's the wonderful Lady Sophie, who is Alexandra's right hand man, so to speak, with whom Genevieve is infatuated, and who Genevieve blackmails Alexandra into allowing her to have as her lover.  Oh, what a web I have woven.  It is a simple, simple story in the main, and all the complexity is in the secondary plots.

I had the most unbelievably difficult time coming up with a Cover image.  I didn't want there to be any nudity; I wanted something like a girl dressed all in leather, holding a crossbow, a sort of Warrior Princess image, but I just couldn't find one!  All the Warrior Princesses were scantily dressed, and in the story, Alexandra and Genevieve are scantily dressed only in private, so having a sexy nude image of a girl holding a crossbow would not have had anything to do with the story.  So look what I ended up with!  It is a depiction of Alexandra and Genevieve on their honeymoon.  I'm going to try and get something more appropriate before the release date in late January.