Nocturnal Journal–Mandy M. Roth

Okay, not death but a near death experience for me. I spotted this house and knew I had to stop and photograph it. I couldn’t not. The compulsion was too great. (I know now it was clearly the "other side" trying to lure me to my death. but, I got the pics so I’m okay with that.)

I had my camera with me (like always anymore). I pulled off the side of a country road that is not really heavily traveled but when someone does go down it, they don’t seem to understand there is a speed limit and dangerous curves. This house sits on one of those very curves.

I pulled way off the road, got out and began taking pics from every possible angle. Once I got over the initial creepy vibe the place let off (children of the corn-ish to the max) I was lost in the moment. Then I heard it, the sound of a car coming at a high speed. I didn’t think much of it. I figured I was safe because I wasn’t in the middle of the road. Hell, I was about fifteen feet from the gravel shoulder. But then I saw it, the kid (and I’m not just saying it, he couldn’t have been more than 16) flying around the corner in his car, on the wrong side of the road, more than hugging the shoulder. The very side I was standing near. He saw me and slammed on his breaks. Did I mention he was just a kid? I’m not sure if it was fear of hitting me, the old house or slamming into my SUV that did it for him but he managed to gain control of the car again and sat there for a min, clutching the wheel. I arched a brow and he looked very guilty. He stayed there a minute or two and I waved him onward because being parked at a dead stop on that curve left him a prime target for someone to come flying around that corner and nail him. I can’t be sure but I’m betting the kid wet himself.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I returned to taking pics but stayed on the backside of the house.

Please, Can I Get Sick Again?

I’m a publisher and editor. I read all day, every day. Yes, much of it is emails and other non-book stuff. But I also read a lot of books – work-related submissions and books to edit. I also try to read books by some of our newer authors, to keep up with what we’re publishing. And I do enjoy a lot of them.

But reading books not from our publishing company purely for pleasure? My time for that usually seems non-existent. I BUY lots of books – but don’t have time to read them. There are about 800 books on my To Be Read shelves (five large bookcases in my bedroom, double rows of books on each shelf). I see reviews or recommendations for great books, for new series in my favorite genres, for new releases by my favorite authors, so I buy the books in hopes that SOMEDAY I’ll have time to read. I joined a romance reader group at a local library, at least I feel committed to make time to read the monthly discussion book. But other than that, I seem to average only a couple books a month, if that. Often it’s anthologies – it’s easier to find time to get through a short novella in a collection, rather than a full book. I have lots of novels with bookmarks partway through – I started the book, didn’t have enough time to finish it, and now enough time has gone by that I’ve forgotten what it’s about and I’d have to re-read from the beginning.

And then – last week I got sick. I missed two full days and two half days of work. Plus still felt sick over the weekend, so didn’t work on Sunday, as I usually do. In all of 2007, I think I may have used two or three sick days; I don’t know if I had any in 2006. So having several days off work is rare for me. I did spend about four hours a day logged in to my work email, but I mainly relaxed and napped. And read books! Lots of books! It was wonderful, it was invigorating, it was the height of mental pleasure. Nine books! In one week, I had time to read NINE books. I was in heaven.

I read the first book in each of three paranormal romance series. Now I know I want to read the rest of the books from those series (they’re up to book 3 or 4, it took that long for me to get to book 1). I read a fantasy anthology, a paranormal romance anthology, an older Silhouette, and a humorous paranormal historical romance. Oh, yeah, and I did read two EC titles.

So…anyone have a contagious illness (uh, of the non-fatal variety)? Would you like to stop by my house and breathe on me? I figure that I need only, oh, about 400 more days off to get through my TBRs. Of course, that’s assuming I don’t keep adding to the shelves. Did I mention that I received two books as gifts from authors today, and I went to the bookstore at lunch and bought three new titles?

Sincerely,

Raelene Gorlinsky, Publisher

Ellora’s Cave Publishing Inc.

Sorry I was a day late on getting that making of a banner ad up. I want to thank everyone for stopping by my blog to hang out with me during the workshop. I’d also like to extend an invitation to 5 lucky winners. If you build a banner ad following the specs layed out in my vid, put the link in the comments section here. I’ll select five winners and feature their banners on my web and the raven website for a month!

Thanks again!

Mandy

BtS with Nikki Watson

I don’t know when it was that my interest in the fantasy genre became a little bit more particular. I remember it wasn’t that long ago that I couldn’t conceive of a workable urban or mythical fantasy story. It was like the perfect vampire story. I’m intrigued by the idea of writing an epic vampire novel. I just don’t think that what I could put out there could compete with the multitudes of vampire fiction already in circulation. Maybe one day…

When I started with my "Of Elves and Men" trilogy (the first title, "Changeling", published with New Concepts Publishing), I remember taking a very loose look at the difference between such a magical race as the elves, in comparison to the men who perhaps were less magically inclined, and how the interrelation between the two kinds would work in a modern setting. That was the premise for "Changeling". I spent hardly any time going into the background of the magic used at first, expecting for it to be a stand alone novel. Then I went back to it. In "Ascent", coming soon to New Concepts Publishing, I gave more time to the background mythology, in an approximation of the Dark Ages. I endeavored to write a story over the premise of how magic was first passed between elves and men and how it was kept from being abused. "Haunted" will be the third book in that trilogy, and that tells of how the magic was lost in the midst of witch trials, and the rush forward of technology.

I only ever meant for that to be a standalone trilogy of three books, but this idea of another race existing alongside our one is something that still fascinates me, and now I’ve finished writing the "Of Elves and Men" books, I’m still thinking of sticking to my modern fairy stories. There is still so much on the subject to be said -not to mention read about, and researched, and explored, which are all things I delight in doing anytime I find an interesting subject- and indeed, people have found it an interesting topic to explore for centuries already.

A lot of writing has come out of this mythology, and is being written still. In Celtic mythology, the Sidhe (pronounced "shee" are seen almost as gods, or spirits of ancestors and nature of that culture. European folklore sees fairy kind as the sort who would steal human children and sometimes leave one of their own in their place. There have been countless stories and poems, from W. B. Yeats’ well known poem ‘The Stolen Child’, to the brownies and pixies many of us remember from Enid Blyton books as children.

I’m aiming to write about the fairy tale romances for mature readers in my own writing. Find me talking about fairy lore and fiction in my blog.

Nikki Watson can also be found at MY WEB and My SPACE

"Changeling: Of Elves and Men" can be bought from New Concepts Publishing:

I’ve been sitting here, going nuts since about 5 am when I got up to realize my desktop (my main one) will not start up. Doesn’t even attempt to turn on. Its getting power to it and I have hopes its only a power supply box issue but I won’t know for sure until after 10 am EDT since Best Buy doesn’t open until then. I have 1200 gigs worth of stuff on this computer. I have vital info backed up but the backups are from almost 4 weeks ago (I do this massive ones monthly on the 5th– I shit you not). Its better than nothing I guess. The multiple hard drives on the desktop are holding covers, email and all my friggin programs hostage. If it comes down to it, I’ll buy a new tower and see about having those hard drives put in it too, or the data yanked from them and moved over. That’s not an expense I need or want right now so cross your fingers its as easy as a power supply prob. Plus, this is/was running XP. Any PC desktop I buy now will have vista on it. Now, I don’t hate it. I think its a memory hogging, giant process sucking, pain in the ass, that hates most of my programs, and can’t seem to change a file icon to save its life, but no, I don’t hate it. *grin*

She’s (pc desktop) has been giving me fits for a while now. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that told me she was headed downward and fast. I wanted to believe I could make it through the end of the year with her and officially say she lasted me two years (people, in mandy land that is a hell of a  long time).

Its hard to explain but she was my "hub" so to speak. My main everything. Without her, my office is basically a body without a head. There, but really, kind of pointless.

This is super fast, super easy one. Once I learn this new capture program more I’ll show you how to make some more advanced static banner ads. This should get you going.

Paint.NET

Photoshop Elements

Photoshop

Having technical difficulties with the video. Am trying to work out kinks to get the banner ad making portion up.

I’m back again to share with you some concept to final peeks at a few of the covers I’ve worked on. Today, we’ll start with Twice the Night by Dawn Halliday. This was the first cover I’d been handed that specifically requested a dark fantasy/urban fantasy feel. I have to admit, that made me giddy right there.

Title - Twice the Night

Author- Dawn Halliday

Paranormal Red Hot

Dawn did a great sum up of her story. She provided details on all her characters and embedded pics of covers she really likes to help set the tone of what it was she was hoping for. (She offered examples from NY and Samhain)

"Maybe Tamara and Cole embracing with Duncan in the background reaching for
her? Something like that might be cool."

 

1. I received the cover art form and got to work right away on what I envision. (First person who laughs at my concept sketch has to listen to me sing Poison songs for two days straight).

(Like the head with no face in the background *snicker*? Hey, I was in a hurry and really excited.)

2. The hunt for just the right stock photos was on.

The window was the first pic I found that I fell in love with. It had the grunge element already there and from the second I read Dawn’s form, I wanted the other man looking in–that out in the cold feel. The man was the next pic I found. (He did not win man of the year award from author or editor… snicker… but he was one of the easy fixes artists love). The couple was the third pic I found and I fell in love with the pose. It was opposite what I’d first envisioned and offered a lot more of their bodies, which I hadn’t planned to show, but the overall feel of it was too "right" for the cover to pass up on it.

3. I don’t have all my comps for this one, mainly because I did a cleaning of my files before the idea of sharing all the steps came to me. This comp is VERY close to the first comp. What was the sticking point was the man in the background and finding just the right look for him. Dawn and her editor, the lovely Sasha, had (I think) one other change request which was for me to increase the size of the word "the"– (done by this comp already).

The next comp was the third man’s a charm winner. He fit the feel of the character more and also gave the expression needed to pull off the overall look.

4.  After a few minor adjustments…. The FINAL high res

Twice the Night by Dawn Halliday, coming soon from Samhain Publishing

(side note– I think the web guy might have boo booed on the cover artist name. It was only me, I swear. LOL)

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Since I’m running out of days for the workshop and talk too much, I’m including another start to finish in today’s session.

Bound by Steel by Kirsten Saell. This was tricky because its the third book in the series and the first two were done by the same artist so they would have an overall different feel in the end than my style. I opened my email from Scott (Art Director at Samhain) and dug into the art form.

Title of Book- Bound by Steel

Author- Kirsten Saell

fantasy romance

Kristen summed up her story nicely. She gave great details about each of the main characters.

She offered this as possibility of what she might be looking for…

"I was thinking a view from above– a bed with rumpled sheets, the hero’s and the second heroine, Kaela’s naked legs tangled together, shown from mid-thigh down. And the heroine Lianon, lying on her back partly covered by the sheet with her head at the foot of the bed alongside their legs, eyes closed, head turned toward them so her nose is almost pressed against their calves, with a secretive little smile on her face."

1. I instantly dug into making this cover without a sketch on hand. The first version I did never saw the light of day let alone went to the author (hey, that happens too… you think you have it, get the comp all done and BAM you have a case of WTF was I thinking so you do it over again without embarrassing yourself by sharing with the author/editor or the world. This should also prove I work much better when I take that 2 mins to sketch something out.)

2. I did a NEW comp. model pics

Here is the first comp the editor/author was given.

3. Feedback comes. Oops… wrong kind of sword. Kristen really fell in love with the font used on her first two books in the series and wondered if I could use the same one. I put a call out on the Samhain artist loop and Christine (who did books 1 and 2) answered instantly, telling me which she’d used. She also asked if it would be possible for me to put the goatee thingie (like my tech terms here) on the hero.

4. Approval from editor/author arrives with a tiny request that they actually feel bad asking me (I always think that’s cute). The author has a sword in the book that’s a blend between two types of swords and wondered if I could adjust the handle to reflect that.

After some minor tweakage… The Final high res

Bound by Steel by Kristen Saell, coming soon from Samhain Publishing

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Be sure to join me for Part V of the workshop where I’ll walk you through taking your final cover and making a static banner ad.

Its that time. The time I embarrass myself by sharing my uber fast concept sketches with you while I walk you through the cover art process.

Cover: Uncovering Egypt by Ann Cory 

1. I get the email with the cover art form attached to it. If the author sent jpegs for me to see, they’re attached as well. Often they’re embedded in the RTF itself. I crack that puppy open and read it over, making notes as I go. Once I’m through it, I reread it to grab details and then I look away and let the creative juices flow.

Title of Book- Uncovering Egypt

Author – Ann Cory

fantasy/time travel

Ann listed the characters features, summed up her story nicely and offered this "I’d really like a hot guy or hot couple. Possibly a pyramid or something Egyptian but not too much or overstated"

 

2. I grab whatever is close to me. At certain points this has been a napkin. LOL. I sketch out what I’d like to do. These are always rough and done in less than 5 mins so they’re kind of embarrassing to look at. They give me the building block, or starting point I need to begin my quest for just the right stock photos. For Uncovering Egypt, I had computer paper nearby so I had at that. From the moment I read Ann’s art form, I had a clear image in my mind of what I really wanted to try to pull off.

3. From this point (stop laughing at my sketch) I went on the hunt for stock photos that I could build from. I use stock as my base and manipulate from there. I also do some digital painting/drawing and some of my own photography when need be. But, since I have no hunky-hunks or a studio, I lean heavy on stock of people and so on.

Here are two comp pics (this means low res, watermarked photos that are used to build a comp so the artist can see if the overall design will work). I spotted the woman on the bed first and knew she would work perfectly for what I’d envisioned for Ann’s cover.

4. I get to work building the low res comp. This is done to avoid forking out a ton in stock only to find out the author would rather put their eye out with a spork than have the cover or that the publisher is wondering if you’re on drugs.

Comp 1

5. I send comp 1 off to the editor/author for approval. The editor requested a slight change on man in background. While I was at it, I figured I’d add in a key piece of info from Ann’s story-a bracelet.

Comp 2

This is the next comp I send off. After some minor tweaking it becomes….

6. Final high res (okay, not high res on the web but you get my drift).

And there you have the process for Uncovering Egypt by Ann Cory (coming soon from Samhain Publishing) Working with Ms. Cory and her editor was a pleasure. 

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Join me for Part IV when I take you through the process again for another cover, giving you a peek behind the scenes of the making of a cover.

More Tips and Tricks

I put a call out to  industry friends—cover artists, authors, editors—for their thoughts and suggestions to help you help them and your book get the best cover for it. These are people who have “been there and done that” so their advice is always welcome. Here’s what one had to say.

Syneca—Cover Artist, Ellora’s Cave Publishing…

I think the most important thing an author can do is allow the artist to do their job.  There are times that an artist will have an idea that’s stunning, something that would catch the eye in a flash, but the author has been quite specific in asking for something else and so they end up with a less arresting cover.

Often authors think in a bit too specific terms … this "scene" from a book.  Well, we’re not creating scenes, but single shots - a moment frozen in time.  And is a specific shot from the book the best way to visually convey the tone or feel of the book?  Not always.  

A good example of an author working with an artist is found in the cover for Madeline Baker’s book Hawk’s Woman. 

  Being a true professional, Ms. Baker gave me an idea what her book was about - a wounded hero, heart-sick with loss and bent on revenge and the woman who gives up everything to help him.

That gave me an idea.  Focus on the emotions of the hero - let the reader see him in a moment where he’s longing for all he lost and wishing for justice.  Add elements that let the reader know this story has Native American elements in it and add into the background the suggestion of the heroine "watching" over the hero as she does in the book when she nurses him back to health.

Luckily for everyone, the cover turned out well, Ms. Baker and the publisher were thrilled and we all went home happy that day.

There are a lot of authors who put complete trust in artists and send up simply character description and a great synopsis and let us run with it.  That’s when artists get to shine.  Just as writers come up with words to reveal a story, artists come up with visuals to convey a feel and tone.

Finally, something quite important for authors is to always remember that the bottom line is drawing attention to the book.  A good cover that captures the eye may not be an elaborate shot.  It could be simple (for example, Roughing It by Vonna Harper  

Or one of my favorites, a cover by Darrell King for Ellora’s Cave.

In closing, I suppose my overall advice would be to work "with" rather than against the cover artist.  Chances are, you’ll end up with a better cover and one that will help the book get attention.

Hope this helps!!

Hugs-

Syn

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In Cover Art: From Form to Finish Part III, I’ll share with you the stages of the art process on my end. I’ll *gulp* put up my concept sketches, comps and finals. You’ll  get author bits/requests that appeared on the art forms I was working from. Later in the workshop, I’ll also walk you through taking your final cover art and creating a static banner ad to use for marketing and promotions.