Cover reveal for The David Chronicles

You may wonder what goes into the design of the cover for my trilogy, The David Chronicles. I wanted to show, in a graphic manner, that the trilogy contains three volumes: Rise to Power, A Peek at Bathsheba, and The Edge of Revolt in a boxed set. So I designed the image of 'front cover' of the box and the image of the spines.

• The front image of the box displays the title and the author name in golden lettering over the landscape image, which is my own art (and appears also on the cover of The Edge of Revolt.) 
• Each one of the spines is rounded, to give the impression that these are leather-bound volumes. The title of each volume appears in golden lettering, using a regal, flowing font as if written by the hand of my character, David. A small icon, depicting a detail from the front cover of each volume, appears at the bottom of the spine.

Once I has the two images, I combined them into a 3D representation of the box, and created the reflection by reversing the images upside down, and making them faded.

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Rise to Power

Paperback ★ Hardcover 

Audiobook

A Peek at Bathsheba

Paperback ★ Hardcover 

Audiobook

The Edge of Revolt

Paperback ★ Hardcover 

Audiobook

"The miracle of Uvi Poznansky's writing is her uncanny ability to return to old stories 

and make them brilliantly fresh"

-Grady Harp, Hall of Fame reviewer

Be drawn into this exceptional talent!

Lovely review for my novel, Apart From Love:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be drawn into this exceptional talent!, December 3, 2014

By 

Peter Martin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Apart From Love (Kindle Edition)

Apart From Love
Uvi Poznansky
A beautiful and unique work from Uvi Poznansky.

Apart From Love is a sensitive and sensuous work, which entangles the senses of the reader as one dances through the strings of words to reach an intense end.

The novel gives an emotional story throughout and gives a journey to the soul, encompassing the depths of dysfunction, beckoning prayers, hate and forgiveness.

A very well-written book with true-to-life and believable characters of Lenny and Natasha portraying an amazing story and crafting a great literary experience of this gripping read.

The highly descriptive and poetic artistry of the author is one of the best to date - wonderful work.

Poznansky is one of a kind - be drawn into this exceptional talent!

Superb 5*****

Her writing is superbly crafted

An award-winning, internationally read, From Womens' Pens author and humorist, Susan Jean Ricci is best known for her series of works titled Cindy's Crusades. This is what she said about my novel, A Peek at Bathsheba:

5.0 out of 5 stars Her writing is superbly crafted and I’ve not been disappointed with any of her work, December 9, 2014

By 

Susan Ricci - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Peek at Bathsheba (The David Chronicles Book 2) (Kindle Edition)

The gifted writer and artist extraordinaire Uvi Poznansky’s A Peek at Bathsheba, The David Chronicles Volume 2, has done it again. Her writing is superbly crafted and I’ve not been disappointed with any of her work.

In A Peek of Bathsheba, the narrative begins with a soliloquy from an old man revealing his inability to understand his wives as a youth. Naturally, he’s reflecting on the past, which brings us to the heart of the matter, or the beginning of what he treasured so much about Bathsheba.

Now, I’m not an educated person regarding this time period regarding Israel’s history, but as Ms. Poznansky makes it so easy to understand the happenings of the day, I soon put my fears to rest and effortlessly continued on with her story.

Bathsheba says to David, our narrator, that there is a matter of life and death he must attend to, regarding her son. As the couple banters back and forth, we find their love for one another has not withstood the test of time – why this has occurred we have yet to discover.

David is a writer of psalms (yes, he’s that David), and expresses his desires within his prose to dictate how his kingdom shall be ruled. He’s made serious mistakes through out his lifetime, some of which can never be rectified. Bathsheba’s plea is haunting as she says to David, “I beg you: show me you still care. Read the scroll. Do it now, David, because this you must realize: my life, and the life of our son, are both in grave danger.”

Their story unfolds from there, through well-crafted backstory and psalms of David. Wars and battles will shape David’s destiny. He’s a young man coming into his majority who would someday be king, beginning with the collapse of The House of Saul. Plus, he’s a mighty selfish guy with a penchant for jewels, luxuries, and beauty.

Superficial? Perhaps. An egotist? Yes. Some men are like that, I suppose even to this day. This is where, you the reader will find solace and entertainment in discovering what makes a boy king into a man. Or did he ever step up to his mark in fulfilling his destiny?

I absolutely applaud how Ms. Poznansky took a complicated story and put a contemporary spin on an ancient tale, a deal sealer for me.

I urge you to put A Peek at Bathsheba on your to-read list. Or better yet, add the story to your Holiday wish list. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Five stars for Uvi Poznansky and a high five for enjoyment!

Where favorite authors read their books for you and clothing is 100% optional

CK Webb is an author of thriller books, a book reviewer, and the host of WebbWeaver Books, Where our favorite authors read their books for you and clothing is 100% optional!. What a joy it is to come on her radio show, to talk about my trilogy, The David Chronicles, and the new third volume, The Edge of Revolt!

Come listen for my radio interview with Cassidy Webb:
WEBBWEAVER BOOKS PROUDLY PRESENTS...

Check Out Books Podcasts at Blog Talk Radio with WEBBWEAVER BOOKS on BlogTalkRadio

✿ The Edge of Revolt is out, just in time the holidays! ✿

I raise her to her feet and carry her—all the way up the staircase—into my chamber

From there I go down to the women’s quarters, to see Bathsheba. The two of us continue to react in opposite ways to what has just happened. While I have regained my vigor, she has lost hers. I find her lying there, on the ground, utterly motionless. 

Meanwhile, my wives have gathered around her. Some of them are whispering amongst themselves, others—wiping a tear. 

In between them, light falls on her, catching her hand. By the glistening you can tell it is damp, because she is gripping her breasts, where the pain is the worst. Her milk is still welling up in them, still flowing. She is silent, but her body is still screaming for the child.

The notion of giving her a voice, expressing her suffering, recording this moment for her in my own poetry, crosses my mind. I figure that if left unspoken, this grief—combined with the shortened mourning period for her husband, Uriah—will catch up with her later, and tear us apart.

Then I try to forget all about it. I cannot write her pain. First and foremost I must find a way out of my own.

I try to comfort her, but she seems to be far away, locked in her own grief. I raise her to her feet and carry her—all the way up the long, circular staircase—into my chamber. Kissing her I taste the salt of her tears. I smell the sweet fragrance of her milk. 

Then I make love to her.

For me, this is the only way I know to fight off the presence of death. For her, at this moment, the fight is over. 

My writing is always inspired by art. There are many other paintings that show passion, such as David and Bathsheba by Ernst Fuchs, where David is shown in all his oriental, ornamental majesty, filling most of the canvas, imposing himself on the woman he loves, and she responds to him. The painting I love is David Consoles Bathsheba by Ivan Schwebel. Here the two lovers are shown on the roof of his palace, which overlooks a cold, indifferent city scape, where one is lost in alienation. Against this background, David and Bathsheba cling together and become one, to celebrate life and passion in the face of death. 

David Consoles Bathsheba by Ivan Schwebel

David and Bathsheba by Ernst Fuchs

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"The miracle of Uvi Poznansky's writing is her uncanny ability to return to old stories 

and make them brilliantly fresh"

-Grady Harp, Hall of Fame reviewer

A madman is in the house

During the production of Rise to Power I learned one thing about David George, the voice talent for the audiobook edition: he is a man of few words. He lets his thoughts resound in his voice, in the reading of the text. I indicated to him what passage I would choose for  the audio sample (which is what you'll listen to on the Audible/Amazon product page), saying I loved the way he read it, teasing out notes of comedy at the beginning, followed by quick action, and culminating with deep, profound ruminations. 

So when he asked me--once again--what passage I prefer for the voice sample, I knew he had  a different passage in mind, only he would not say it outright. So I invited him  to tell me about it. In turn David indicated a different passage, saying that, "It's classic and sexy and reminds me of the Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah." With these words, and with the steamy scene he chose, how could I refuse him? More precisely, how could I disobey the king? 

What did David choose, you ask? For now, I would not tell you! Yeah, yeah, sorry to be such a tease, but lets wait just a little bit, until the audiobook is out. Meanwhile, here is the passage I liked: David feigning madness in the court of Achish of Gath:

So I use my growing irritation to my advantage: I pretend to be insane. After all, I have learnt from the best, having worked such a long time in the court of a madman. Here I am, in the hands of these Philistines, so what choice do I have but to act like a lunatic?

 With my fingernails I scratch at the walls, and make marks on the doors of the gate, all the while letting saliva run down my beard. They go on making fun of me, so I figure I might as well join their performance. 

I break into their midst, hop onto the center of the hearth, and kick its pebbles till they fly out every which way. Then I sing with bold ecstasy at the utmost top of my voice, “David! David! David!” and point my fingers, glaring at everyone around me, and at Achish most of all. 

And for a grand finale I roll my eyeballs around in their sockets, and let out a terrifying wail, which silences each and every one of them. Alas, it takes the wind out of me, so I fall to the floor, where I start convulsing, with just enough breath to let my lips twitch.

They cup their ears, bending over me to listen. One of them manages to guess at my words. I wheeze, “Slaying his tens of thousands... Thousands... Thousands…”

And with spasm, again I cry, “David! David! David!”

Achish glances at his advisers, and they bow their heads down, some in shame, others in confusion.

“Look at the man,” he points. “He’s insane! He’s stark raving mad! Why bring him to me? Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

It is then that the four guards close in on me. They take hold of my limbs and carry me—spread eagle—out of the palace, and throw me out into the street, where a large, voluptuous Philistine women helps me to my feet and dusts off my knees and my shoulders. 

I smell the salt of the sea on her perfume, which is left in the air even after she has turned from me. Because of a moment of dizziness I cannot recall her face. The only impression left in me is the curve of her thigh, as she has swayed her big hips to walk away. 

I wish I could speak her language. I wish I could tell her, before she disappears completely into the crowd, “I am no Samson—but like him, I find myself desperate, so desperate to touch you.” 

Oh, how glad I would be to make my peace with you, city of Gath! I wish to bury my head in your soft, white sands, and listen to the breakers rolling in from the sea, and never once think of having to come back here one day to conquer you, because your children have humiliated me, my beautiful enemy, my Delilah. 

But return to you I must. It is in my heart, and in my tired, aching limbs, because revenge never stops. It never ceases to spur all of us into spilling each other’s blood.

Lincoln Cathedral, sXXX.1

David feigning madness before King Achish & part of inscription in French

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"A tale of madmen and kings, youth and old age, prison cells and freedom's ring..."
Sheila Deeth, Vine Voice, top 1000 reviewer

Go, why don’t you go back home

“Go, why don’t you go back home,” he mutters, dismissing me with a casual wave of the hand.

“Please,” I say. “Let me serve you. You’ll find my music soothing, I trust.”

“Trust?” he says, locking eyes with me.

“Just so, your majesty. Trust!”

“There is no such thing, where I’m sitting.”

“But my music—”

“It awakens something in me,” he groans, pressing a hand against his temple. “Something I wish to ignore. An unspeakable sort of pain. There’s a demon in me, and I know—I just know he’ll break loose, he’ll take over, the moment I’ll let myself soften.” 

“Perhaps not,” I suggest. “If you soften, the pain may wash over you, heal your soul. You may find yourself rising anew, if only you would listen to me. Let me, your majesty. Let me play.”

 The king shakes his head, No. No.

“It’s not the music,” he mutters. “It’s you. I can’t bare looking at you.”

This leaves me dumbfounded, and I stand at his feet, waiting for what may come out of his lips next. 

After a while he moans, “Boy—”

“Yes?” 

“Have you ever been wounded? Ever been on a battlefield?”

“No,” I say. “My mother won’t let—”

“Of course,” he bares his teeth, belittling me with laughter. “It’s always the mother. Yours must be a smart woman to keep you safe, away from any danger.” 

“I give you my word, I’ll follow you anywhere,” I say. “Even to the battlefield. Sounds exciting, no matter what my mother says.”

He raises one of his eyebrows as if to say, I know how you feel. She hides the world from you, doesn’t she.

“Yes,” I have to agree. “I hate it, hate being protected. Makes me wonder what’s on the other side of obedience.”

He pays no attention to what I say. “Listen, boy. Let me tell you one thing: often, when I leave the bloodied scene and ride back here, a long way over the range of the mountains, I don’t even realize I’ve been wounded. My mind wanders, it roams elsewhere... But then…Then I look at myself. And what do I see? A slash, deep across my flesh... And this, this is the time—not a moment earlier—when the pain comes. In a snap, it takes a bite.”

Saul takes a long pause. Then he looks straight down at me. “That’s how I feel, right this minute,” he says. “That’s what your music does to me.”

★ Love historical fiction? Treat yourself to a gift ★

Historical Fiction with a Modern Twist...

Rise to Power

Paperback ★ Hardcover 

Audiobook

"The miracle of Uvi Poznansky's writing is her uncanny ability to return to old stories 

and make them brilliantly fresh"

-Grady Harp, Hall of Fame reviewer