Lethal Seasons Cover and Guest Artist Alex Storer

I am very pleased to display this fabulous cover that Alex Storer created for me. When I was first thinking about the cover, I ran across Alex's website. His artwork looked exactly right for this book. Two paintings especially caught my eye. After Hours, because of the mood and energy in it.

And Hope, because it showed a similar futuristic world.

I asked him to stop by and talk about the creative process.

From Alex Storer:

The obvious question when designing a book cover is how can you best represent a story through a single image or design? Fortunately in this case, Alice had a fairly clear idea in her mind of what she wanted, and it was my job to realise this, then refine it.

Being Alice’s first SF novel, part of the task was to present a cover which clearly represents the genre. In addition to the right visual elements, the cover painting also needed a particular atmosphere. Luckily, I got a lot of inspiration out of just the title itself – Lethal Seasons – it has a certain edge to it, and an underlying sense of menace. With this, I knew straight away the sort of lighting and textures I wanted in the painting.

What was essentially a landscape scene ravaged by climate change, needed that extra science fiction slant, somehow integrating or representing the killer virus that lies at the core of the story. We discussed various ideas of how to integrate a DNA helix into the tornado and other means of including viral elements – which is where the idea of framing the image with cells and particles eventually came from. This went through several revisions, before settling on a subtle blend of virus cells and molecules combined with spatters of blood, for a subtle suggestion of the underlying horror of Lethal Seasons.

We felt we reached the right visual approach with this combination – but I also wanted to extend this into the typography, so the title wasn’t merely text sitting over my painting, but an integrated continuation of the design with the broken molecule lattice and other viral elements contaminating the text.

Once the cover was finished, I started working on an idea for a video trailer for the book, using the imagery of the cover set against some of my own music. In the end I composed a new piece of music for it, to better reflect the impending sense of threat and disaster – it wanted to be dark and dramatic, and hopefully something that will draw people in to want to find out more about the book.

 

Next week I will debut that amazing book trailer that Alex created!

A couple of things

First of all, I just received some coupons from ACX for a free copy of of the Unintended Consequences audiobook.

If you would like a coupon, send me an email.

The sales are slow, but I haven't been doing much in the way of marketing right now.

The WIP has changed slightly. I took down the image from the sidebar because I think I will be using other artwork. And the title I had been using doesn't work anymore with the shift in plot. Bummer. Naming a book is one of the hardest parts. I was wandering through images on Shutterstock the other day and may have found the perfect one. I need to figure out how I will use it before I buy the license. One license has a limit of 230,000 copies. Ha, ha, ha! Wish I had to worry about that!

On the writing side - I think I may have finally broken through the sludge. I wasn't happy with the part of the story I was writing. Then I realized how bare bones the story was. I went back and clarified point of view, added setting, emotion and wow, what a difference. The words are flying again.

Branding. 

I have been reading a lot about branding lately. It makes sense. First rule - make sure your covers indicate your genre. I think mine are fairly obvious. Blood dripping into a puddle probably won't make people think it's a romance or humor. Maybe horror, but the cover blurb would clear that up. White Lies has flames, I might consider tweaking that when I have some time.

For the next book, which will be near-future, post-apocalyptic fantasy, I am thinking of using a pen name. That way all the mysteries will be under one name and other genres get other names. Another way to brand. Although I have heard that the downside to that is that it confuses fans that might read across genres. I have to think about it.

I added some pictures to the Artwork page. All watercolors. Several from when I lived out west. Enjoy!

November Afternoon has been added to the artwork page. It's a painting about big skies. The color shifted a little in the image. It comes from a time when I was doing a lot of painting and was experimenting. I think it is one of those lingering warm days in early winter when the trees have lost all their leaves, but the sun is still warm.

Check the Artwork tab for sizes and prices.

More artwork and other things

I am posting more artwork today.

This week I took the first steps toward turning White Lies into an audiobook. It looks like it should be an easy process. Hopefully, I will be surprised and it really will be easy!

Thr Self Published Book Contest is still running. You can vote until December 3rd. Here's a link if you haven't voted yet. Underground Book Reviews

I'm working on a story for another flash contest. And I dove back into the next mystery. Things are finally moving along!

Artwork Post

Today I loaded a very old painting that was suddenly on my mind. I remembered it incorrectly and thought it might work as a bookcover. Nah.

Click the Artwork tab above to see all the work loaded so far

More Artwork

Today I finally got around to adding a few more pictures of artwork.

I'm rolling out the artwork

I haven't painted in awhile.

Aside from putting a lot of creative energy into my writing, I think the reason I have artist's block is because there is no ready market for it. Fairs and shows are expensive and hit or miss when it comes to sales. And a LOT of work. It is a full time job in itself. On top of my pay-the-bills job and the writing.

So I am going to start posting some work here to share and sell. At the very least I have a place to show all the work in the closet! And maybe it will get my visual creative juices going again.

You can get to the ARTWORK page by clicking on the word at the top. Please feel free to comment on any of the work.

A Loss of Standards

The latest flu is a killer. To stop it from spreading, the government will shut down the city for three days. Dolan can't abide the thought of being trapped in his apartment, alone, for that long. He hit the bars the night before looking for someone, or two, to keep him company. The next morning, hungover and hazy, he discovered a very unexpected house guest.

Available for $0.99 on Kindle or for other formats at Smashwords 

I had fun putting this cover together. I'd love feedback on it. Does it catch the eye? Entice? Confuse? Turn you off?

Ta da!

The final cover for White Lies. I did a couple different ones and my critique group voted unanimously on this one. It is the first image that came to me. Maybe I should have trusted my gut.

So, one more thing done. I wrote the dedication and acknowledgements. Now I need my short and long blurbs.

Oh, and of course the final editing.

Learning new skills.

Who knew that one of the skills I would need for writing would be graphic arts?


Sheesh.

Over the past few days I've spent most of my writing time figuring out a new graphics program. It's not something that you can just pick up by poking around. It really stressed me out. I found a couple of tutorials and tried to follow along, but somehow I never came up with the same product. Aggravating.

I finally made some progress and came up with an adequate cover for my illustrated flash.

Book covers are the sort of thing that I would very much like to be in control of. They are unrealistically influential on the buyer. Me included! There's a series that I started reading because the book cover was so luscious. The story was NOT my cup of tea. But every time I am in the bookstore I find myself picking up that series. Then I remember and put it back, but that's how powerful a good cover can be.

And I admit when scanning through the hundreds of e-book titles out there, a professional looking cover makes a big difference as to whether I'll give it a look. That and the blurb. I've seen a few too many poorly written blurbs. Another skill to acquire before I am ready to self-e-pub.

Art Starts with Learning the Craft

I'm noticing a lot of similarities between painting and writing.

First of all, you need to know your materials, like watercolors, and supports, like paper, which translate to vocabulary and grammar. Sure, there are the singular geniuses that create brilliant works without a single lesson, but I think those people just know the craft intuitively. Most of us have to learn it through rote until we can feel it that way.

An artist learns that highlight and shadow gives depth and that you can't give everything the same attention or the eye won't move through the image. That was my big mistake in my first novel and I am seeing it in other new writers. You can't write eveybody's story at the same time. If everything is clamoring for the attention of the audience, nothing stands out.

What is the point of the story? And for me, a lot of paintings are stories.

It is important for the writer to know his characters. Even the minor ones. But some of that information needs to stay in the notebook and not go into the story.

When the detective takes a cab to the crime scene we don't need the cab driver's life story unless it contributes to the story. Maybe he was the last one to see the victim alive, maybe he saw the killer. Paint him him in lightly and let the eye wander back from the boldly drawn detective to the driver. Let the audience wonder - what part does he play?

However, if he doesn't play a part and the audience is left wondering about him, the story will be unsatisfactory. Maybe you rendered him so well, that you can't bear to lose him. You know his family, the sick mother and child with a handicap, the aging relatives he visits on the weekend. Either give him a place in the story or let him go. Save all that luscious detail for another story. Because it's dimming the main character's spotlight, (oops, just stumbled into a theatre metaphor, but I think you know what I mean.)

God forbid all your characters are so well drawn. How will the audience know which one to care about?

Being a good artist is all about learning to see in color and shape and negative space. The writer needs to think in plot and pace and overall arcs.

Art as business

I am an artist. My largest body of work is watercolor landscapes. I stopped marketing my art years ago because it was just too hard. This was before the Internet, which meant poring through art magazines and shipping slides off to juries for shows, fairs and galleries. While I was working as a freelance scenic artist, I concentrated on trying to get income from my paintings. I was a little successful. And I learned a lot about art as a business.

It's hard.

Art is subjective. There is no way to predict an audience. A painting that I might be especially proud of can be interpreted in any number of ways. Once I did a bold, loose painting of a sunset over the Kansas plains. It was a bit abstract in that it was just blocks of color. My sister said it made her think of car accidents. I did a pastel of a mother peeking into a room on a sleeping child and many people see it as the moment before a murder. Who'd want to put that on their wall?

Very subjective.

Writing is the same way. There is a ton of Urban Fantasy out there right now. And I'd probably tell you I never read it, but I love the Dresden Files.

Totally subjective.

So now I am back to learning the business of art, in this case writing. I have all the financial stuff down - I come from a family of accountants. Not that it is an issue, since I have no income from art right now. It's the marketing and prep for sales that will be the biggest learning curve. Here I had hoped I was getting into an industry where I could just be creative. Ha.

There's a lot of information out there on how to be successful, but it's a slow slog thru that stuff. A lot of it won't make sense until I get there. I'm more of a hands-on kind of person. Don't give me the details until I can put them to use or they just clutter my brain and confuse me.

I'm building in time for research every day, but some days it just overwhelms me and I end up not writing. Which is a bad thing. Got to go one step at a time. Finish the book, then worry about how to sell it.

An experiment

I am eager to try out Smashwords and yet don't have anything ready to publish. Sooo...after reading David Farlands articles about enhanced e-books I decided to try an experiment.

An illustrated flash.

Because, really, who will pay good money for just a flash, and that's all I've got that is ready to go to "print" right now. I'm pretty excited about it. I started the illustrations yesterday. I think there will be 6 or 7 of them. That's one drawing every 100 words. And it has occurred to me that I could also sell the illustrations...

But, it is a totally unknown market for me. I have no idea if it will sell at all. Aside from maybe a few pity-buys by relatives and friends. I told my sister it is like doing a craft fair. Who knows what will sell.

I consider this a dry run for the mystery - White Lies. It's out to family readers right now. Then it will go to the group, to be read as a whole. Then, gulp, it might be ready to go to Smashwords. So this will put me through the process - formatting, bookcover, isbn, the whole 9 yards! Whew.

And at the same time, I am trying to sort through my bible for the Scifi story. It's been awhile since I was in that world. I am so glad that I was ridiculously meticulous in making my star charts and planet notes. Although, I am noticing some sizable gaps that may need to be addressed right away.

Busy, busy, busy! I just wish some of it was earning me a little money.