How My Covers Came To Be

Oh, I could tell you stories.

I will, too,

The first novel of mine ever to see print was a novel called HOUSE OF SECRETS. It was co-written with another author and we worked on  HARD deadline. It was a work for hire, and we were supposed to have a card made for the card game Vampire: The Eternal Struggle based on the cover and the story. We worked hard, we gave what I thought was a pretty darned decent story that involved as many actions and characters from the card game as we could reasonably fit, and we delivered on time.

And then they gave us, hands down, the worst piece of shit cover I had ever seen.

It had NOTHING to do with the book and made for such a lousy card that they decided not to include it in the card game.


The second time around I was working on a different work for hire book for the same company, this one had been licensed out to Random House, I believe. Once again, there would be a card for the gamer and I was ecstatic. They asked for notes. I gave them EXACTLY what i wanted on the cover. I gave full descriptions of the characters and how  they were dressed, how to place them in the picture, what the background should be. A climactic scene from the novel that involved two gunslingers, one horribly scarred, one who looked like a corpse, a glass building next to them in which, if the artist was feeling adventurous, he might show the tornado that was coming for them reflected in the glass.

This one was called Werewolf: Hellstorm. I had a blast writing it.

And then I saw the cover.

NOTHING. Not a damned bit of the information I provided, was included. Not one iota.

What I got instead was a hot mess that did everything it could to rip off Mike Mignola, a far better artist. The artist in question who worked on the cove actually told me the cover was too ambitious for him.

And from there, the list goes on. I've had a LOT of covers over the years. Some I loved, some I hated. The latest ones? The ones I have loved the most? They all have to following in common: A smart art director, a fabulous artist and the ability to actually portray characters from the books as they are described. 

The artist in question is Alejandro Colucci. He is amazing. 

These are the covers he did for me. 

In every case, he was given a few paragraphs of description about the character in question, usually pulled directly from the manuscript, and suggestions were offered as to what sort of background would be best. 

And then...magic.

Not surprisingly, the sales of the latest four books have been substantially better than those first two. I blame the covers.

Well, and maybe the writing got better too, but I can't really judge that. 

Okay, back to work on the edits for TIDES OF WAR: Book one, THE LAST SACRIFICE.

That, too, is a book of mine coming out from Angry Robot Books.  They gave me those gorgeous covers. We've discussed the new series and what the covers should look like. I personally can;t wait to see them.

Crafting the Cover

A timely topic for me this week as we just released book two in my Sorcerous Moons series, ORIA'S GAMBIT, which was a bit later going up than originally planned because we were tweaking the cover.

Okay - because I asked for a huge change after I saw the final cover. Here's the story.

See, I'm still new at designing my own covers. With my traditionally published books, like The Twelve Kingdoms and The Uncharted Realms, the covers are presented to me as a fait accompli. I get a little input at the beginning, but that's it. Because I'm publishing the Sorcerous Moons books on my own, I work with my cover artist, the amazingly talented and infinitely patient Louisa Gallie to come up with just the right cover.

We started with me sending Louisa the draft of the book. She read it (one of the perks for her, she claims) and sent me some initial sketch ideas.

I liked all of them, but none felt exactly right. This is the hard part for me. I have a really hard time envisioning what I think it should look like and communicating that.I kept coming back to look at them over several days and ended up saying:

I think none of these really sing to me, though I totally see what you’re going for. I like the action of #1, though not the exact pose. LOVE Chuffta flying and flaming and I like that background. I also like the background of #2. What about this? What about a pose similar to #2, but in her rooftop garden, with them at kind of a tense standoff and Chuffta flying and flaming above? And maybe she should be in her mask? It doesn’t have to be a scene directly out of the story. Though another thought could be something from the testing scene at the end. I’m just throwing stuff out here....

Louisa replied:

So, something like the pose of 2 but with the tilted, actiony angle of 1, Chuffta, and the background from 3? Trying to get the image straight in my head.
I can put her in her mask, it would work for a tenser scene if we can't see her expression. They're described as smooth and featureless but I seem to remember cheekbones mentioned. So would her mask be shaped with the contours of a face (cheekbones , nose, browbone) but without eyes or lips?

We went back and forth a bit and she worked on it from there and next sent me these sketches:

I still wasn't totally on board, though I wasn't sure why. I was finding that I couldn't get closer to knowing what I wanted by seeing what I *didn't* want. Louisa sent me a new sketch with this caveat:

My clients are never supposed to see this stage of a sketch, but as we're exploring...

I could turn him like this? I did increase the tilted view simply because two people standing side by side, facing the same way, can get boring quite quickly, and it adds some drama. I think maybe I'd want to angle him more behind her just to add some more depth and so they still look far apart (although technically it creates less distance between them on the canvas, which helps with a vertical aspect ratio.

Hear that crazy artist talk? I was all, sure, what you said. Though I pointed out that he should probably be holding the axe in his right hand.

Turns out that's easy to flip! She sent me three more sketches, along with this explanation:

Ok, I've sketched the amended poses out properly, and there's a flipped version so the axe is in Lonen's right hand. I think it maybe looks a bit better the original way, but it's really not much difference either way. So your call!
The only small difference between the two versions here is whether their hands have actual canvas space between them. They're not actually touching in either but if they're just barely not-touching, then technically their hands should overlap because of where Lonen is standing. It does also let me bring them closer together and make the figures a little....but looking at them now, there's no real huge difference. It's a tiny detail and I'd be ok with either.

I was liking it and we went with the flipped version. She sent the next sketch to let me know she was making progress and would be refining details.

I gave her a few thoughts and she sent the almost finals.

At this point I discovered I'd missed something along the way. Enough time had lapsed that I'd forgotten I'd asked for her to wear the mask! I'd been thinking her face just wasn't done and now... well, the mask looked creepy. Also I remembered that Lonen has a scar on his face! I said:

So, what I said about the scar: They locked eyes and wills. His, densely fringed with black lashes, were a dark gray, like the granite their sister-city to the north, Arvda, sent in trade. Surprisingly lovely, they would have made him look feminine but for the angry line of a recent scar that dragged from his forehead, skipped his eye, and continued down his cheek. Nearly missed losing that eye to whatever had sliced at him, something thin and sharp by the look of it.
 Lonen lay on his back, face relaxed so the scar that cut from his forehead, over one eye and down his cheek didn’t pull to the side as it did when he was awake. More scars criss-crossed his chest and concave belly—funny that her sgath didn’t show them.

As for the rest – looking good! Love how the title/fonts look.

Her left, upraised hand looks funky with the way her fingers are spread – can we bring them together?

Also, I think the mask needs to be smoothed. I’d forgotten that we’d talked about her wearing the mask and I was all wtf is wrong with her face?? Lol. So *I* didn’t see that it was a mask, so I think we need to make it more mask-y. A blank oval might work better to make this more obvious?

Can we add a moon to the sky? Either is fine. Maybe too hard with the text and Chuffta, too.
 And it there’s any way to make her hair look more copper (maybe there isn’t) that would be great.

At least she didn't kill me. That was still to come. She said:  

Ok. I really tried with the mask but a plain blank mask, or even one with eyes and no other features, looked totally bizzare. At a normal distance it looked like she had no face at all (like we'd forgotten to add it) and even when zoomed it it just looked weird and at best, sci-fi.  So, I did my best to smooth out the features and make it more metallic so it looks more mask like. What do you think?
Moon did conflict with the text and Chuffta so it's partially behind a cloud, but still there!
I adjusted her hand and gave her hair more coppery metallic tones.
 Unless theres' anything really critical (or really really tiny) this is all the time I have more changes, as I'm on a train after work tomorrow. I'll have a little time at lunch or first thing before work if there's anything very quick.
I'll upload the high res files now, crossing my fingers they're ok, and send you the links! 

And here's that cover: 

And... people - Louisa did an amazing job! But I *hated* the mask. I showed it to a few people and they all used variations of the word "offputting." We were at the drop-dead mark for getting the book released on time, Louisa had killed herself to get this finished by the deadline and was going away for the weekend. 

This wasn't tiny.

But I also didn't want to put it out there with an offputting cover. 

I emailed Louisa with the bad news and she exercised that infinite patience. Five days later, Oria had a face. 

I'm really pleased!

And now we're starting on the cover for book three, THE TIDES OF BÁRA. I'm sure Louisa is breathing a big sigh of relief, as I just approved the very first sketch.

About the Book

A Play For Power

Princess Oria has one chance to keep her word and stop her brother’s reign of terror: She must become queen. All she has to do is marry first. And marry Lonen, the barbarian king who defeated her city bare weeks ago, who can never join her in a marriage of minds, who can never even touch her—no matter how badly she wants him to.

A Fragile Bond

To rule is to suffer, but Lonen never thought his marriage would become a torment. Still, he’s a resourceful man. He can play the brute conqueror for Oria’s faceless officials and bide his time with his wife. And as he coaxes secrets from Oria, he may yet change their fate…

An Impossible Demand

With deception layering on deception, Lonen and Oria must claim the throne and brazen out the doubters. Failure means death— for them and their people.

But success might mean an alliance powerful beyond imagining…

Amazon

Smashwords

The Character I'd Love To Write

Confession time: I really don't want to write any characters but my own. Yes, I enjoy the heck out of other people's books and there are characters I LOVE...but I don't want my version of their world and continuing story - I want the actual, original author's plot. And not as continued or extended by anyone else...

When I was a kid and there was a world I longed to be a part of - Trixie Belden maybe, or Robin Hood or Tom Corbett Space Cadet - I wrote myself into their worlds (fan fiction before I even knew such a thing existed!) as a character of my own.

I've thought and thought about this post all week, trying to come up with somebody's existing character I could honestly say I wanted to write stories for and the best I could do was Eomer from Lord of the Rings. I wanted a LOT more of him (but how much of that had to do with Karl Urban I'll leave up to you...)

Now I really liked Marcella's idea yesterday, of taking someone real and wanting to tell their story...but as soon as I do that, my brain starts adding science fiction and fantasy elements and that's kind of how I started writing my Gods of Egypt series in the first place. I don't want to be be tied to reality or anyone's actual life.

I would enjoy being invited to write my own story with my own characters in certain authors' worlds, as I've mentioned (probably too often!) in the past, but the blog topic for the week wasn't "what other worlds do you want to write in"...

As far as characters in my own books, I've been wanting to get to the story of Khevan the D'nvannae Brother and Twilka the Socialite, supporting characters in Wreck of the Nebula Dream, and What Happened Next. I even had the plot pretty much figured out but I just never had the motivation to sit down and write it. Last week I finally figured out that if I wasn't writing, it wasn't the right story so I challenged myself to take a totally new tack and - there the adventure was! I've had readers asking me for more about Khevan and Twilka since Wreck came out in 2012, so I'm hoping people will enjoy it. Nick and Mara do have a role to play in the action.  The goal is to publish the book before the end of 2016.

I also want to tell a new story for Mitch, the sergeant in from Escape From Zulaire  but I'm still listening for the Muse to give me the right challenge for him to tackle.

And Edekh, the Chief Scribe in the palace of my Pharaoh in ancient Egypt, really needs his own book but again, waiting for the Muse to deliver more details.

What character in a book have you always wanted more of?

WIsh I Had, Wish I Could

This week's question has two possible translations, I think. What characters would I like to have written. And: What characters would I like to write. Both easy answers. Characters I wish to all the gods I had written? These guys.

Badly enough that my first SFR (which shall never see the light of day) was far too easily identifiable as a Firefly wannabe. When I love something, I'm apparently REALLY good at mimicking the voice of it. Which, turns out, might be the fast track to a copyright infringement suit, not to mention all kinds of wrong. Too bad there's not a living to be made pretending to be one of the writers I love - but they all doing just fine being them.

This then leaves me with what I would like to write. Someday. I would like to do some serious research and then some serious dramatization of this lady's life:

Then Hatshepsut. First queen, and then pharaoh. Her reign was one filled with peace, and prosperity. The arts flourished. So did the economy. But it all clearly came a cost, with many enemies made along the way. I'm fascinated by her and by the questions that arise surrounding her rule - was it a means by which she protected the throne for her son? Or was it a power grab? A clear usurpation that merited the treatment she was given after she died with her name chiseled off monuments? Erased from history and from the afterlife altogether? So many questions beg a huge, long list of stories. She intimidates me for that reason. I don't know if I'll manage her story or not. But I sure would like to.

Who Else Would I Write?

You know, I love writing the Maradaine books, and I have a bunch of other stuff in the back of my mind beyond those books.  I've got plenty to keep me busy for years to come.

That said, if I got the call from DC to, say, take over Green Arrow, I'd be all over that.  I mean, if you've read The Thorn of Dentonhill, the idea that I'd be into writing a bow-wielding vigilante isn't too surprising.

Yeah, that'd be pretty awesome.

That said, I've got plenty on my plate, including finalizing The Imposters of Aventil, and a few more things in the hopper that I'll be telling you about soon.

Until then, into the word mines.

The Character I'd Like to Write: The Classic Villainess Medea

Once upon a time back in college, I took a class in which we had to re-write famous stories into short stories told from the perspective of a lesser-known character. So.Much.Fun. The assignment that sticks with me is rewriting Euripides's Medea. I think I picked one of the boys to be my POV character for the class, but, man, I really wanted to tell Medea's story from her POV starting at the beginning--like the pre-Jason beginning. I contend that it's totally possible to make her a sympathetic character if given her own agency independent of the patriarchy filter.

Yes, I realize I just said that about a woman who murdered her children seemingly to spite her husband. That's after she sent a poisoned wedding dress and crown to the would-be bigamist's would-be second wife. Which is years after she hacked up her brother's body so her then-crush, Jason, could escape with the golden fleece.

Hey, there are people who cheer for Cersei Lannister too. Just sayin'...

That's probably why I tend to write strong female characters who can easily be viewed as villainous if the story is told from anyone else's perspective.

The Character I'd love to write.

So many choices...

Limiting it down to one?

The Creeper.

Who's the Creeper, you ask? He's a character from DC Comics.

Jack Ryder is a reporter in Gotham City. Once upon a time he ran across the wrong bad guys, a mad scientist and a Halloween costume. The end result its that when Jack Ryder touches a device planted in his arm, he becomes the Creeper.

So what it is about the Creeper? He's a good guy with just a slight twist of the Joker thrown in to add to madness. He MIGHT have some DNA from the Joker. he MIGHT have a few supernatural twists. He definitely runs toward the crazy side and he can be horrifically violent. I ask you, what's not to love?

The Creeper was created by Steve Ditko, the very same gentleman who created Spiderman along with Stan Lee. He is disturbing and off the rails in the best possible ways. There is so very much I'd like to explore about him and so many tales I would love to tell. I think he could be a unique Gothic hero in Gotham of all places. A chap who handles the things that Maybe Batman doesn't get around to seeing. And that says a lot as Batman is the world's greatest detective.

Oh, and in a pinch I'd gladly work on Batman. :) Or the Joker for that matter.

The Character I'd Love to Write? Phèdre!

Our topic this week among the Seven of us SFF types is The Established Character We'd Love to Write.

Because, of course, all writers start out as readers (or they should), and we're all fangirls and fanboys at heart. In fact, I'd wager that many writers conceive the first spurring desire to *really* write something (as opposed to playing around with stories about our pets) from reading a story, world or character that lit us up. I think this is why so many writers get started by writing fan fiction. Yes, it's easier to play in a world with characters someone else has created - but also that love is what sparks enough fuel to do the work.

(Writing is hard work, whether fan fiction or creating your own worlds. Never believe anyone who says otherwise.)

There are a LOT of established characters I'd love to write. Or wish I'd written, which comes out to about the same thing. In fact, I suspect a lot of my writing is me working out how I would have written certain characters or worlds.

But today I'm picking Phédre nó Delaunay of Jacqueline Carey's absolutely brilliant Kushiel series.

Full confession: not coincidentally I read these books only a year or two before I got serious about writing my own fantasy. Thus I do think of this character as a spark that finally gave me enough propulsion to do the hard work.

Why Phédre?

First of all, at that time (book one came out in 2002), there were few epic fantasy novels or series with a fully gratifying political and mythological sweep that featured a heroine as protagonist. The initial trilogy centers on Phédre - told in first person point of view - and the story is about her journey. She's not a partner or an accessory. In fact, the male characters, while heroic in their own ways, are accessories to her story.

That electrified me.

(I can't tell you how many epic fantasies I set aside over the years because I wearied of reading about men romping about doing interesting things while the female characters barely registered as more than cardboard props.)

Also, Phédre is a sexual being. She's a courtesan. She's also a spy, a brilliant linguist and an skillful navigator of tricky political waters. She is all of these things at the same time. Her sexuality is integral to who she is - and is a strength that allows her to triumph. Love love love.

Finally, Phédre possesses a kind of unshakable integrity that I admire in my heroes. She always fights to do what's best, even in the face of others' disdain or dismay. Her internal compass leads her unfailingly. Not that she doesn't doubt, not that she doesn't suffer tremendous setbacks - but she always sticks with what she believes to be right, even if the people she loves most disagree.

Amazing series. Amazing character. Amazing world.

Oh! Also, I'll be at WorldCon this week. Check here for my schedule!