Tag: arts

Giving a Title a Makeover…

One of the things that an author has to think about is the impact that the cover has on your sales.  It’s all very well having a superb story, but if you don’t give it a cover that grabs the attention of a browsing reader, it’s not going to get read.

One of the books that I am currently revamping is “The Heir of The Dragon”.  I love the original cover by Bradley Wind  :

 

but because I am adding some new content to the book, in the form of a new, never before seen story and a couple of of other pieces, I have a new cover to go with it.

And that’s what I want to show you…

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… Ta Dah!

This one has been created by the wonderful Cheri Lasota, who is a brilliant established Author as well as being a talented Cover Designer.  She has also worked on the cover for the next Dark Cities Chronicle, “The Curse of the Jade Cat”, which gives them a series feel, despite the fact that they are completely separate stories.

However, I’m going to save the cover reveal for that book for another time!

So keep your eyes open and watch this space – I’ll be back as soon as I can to tell you when the new edition is available!

 

My Author Heroes: Neil Gaiman

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This is hopefully the start of a regular series of posts on the writers that I love and look up to. Some of them are well known, some of them independent, but all of them come highly reccomended.

At the end of each post, I will add a link to the author’s blog and any other links that I think you need to know about, so that you can discover their work if you feel like it…

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Neil Gaiman is one of those writers that I look up to. He writes what he wants to write and it is always a good read. It doesn’t fit into any one genre but slips and slides between them,  the rhythm of his word choices carrying you into other places, other times and lacing it all with the unmistakable addiction drug that is a good book.

Sometimes his words are dark, sometimes they’re funny. There’s rarely anything in them that doesn’t bring a new side to the story or the characters. His stories are simple at first glance but the more you read them, the more you see.

He’s a gentleman to his fans. His tumblr blog gets questions galore. He doesn’t answer all of them (he’d never get any writing done if he did), but when he does answer them, his answers are thoughtful and never nasty, no matter what the subject.

Today’s question was a fascinating one:

neil gaimen

I think he handled the question with his usual gentlemanly aplomb, especially as it’s one of those trickier ones.

Mr Gaiman is without doubt one of the world’s best writers and I was introduced to his work the same way that I met the work of Terry Pratchett; I picked up a copy of “Good Omens” out of curiosity. With Terry Pratchett, it didn’t take me long to be hooked, I started with “The Colour of Magic” and devoured every book I could get my hands on.

With Neil Gaiman, I had to reread “Anansi Boys” twice before I decided to look at his other work. As I’ve got older, I’ve come to appreciate his work more and more. Even his children’s books are beautifully worded, my favourite of those being “Blueberry Girl”.

I’m slowly collecting his work. savouring each one. I have both Coraline and Stardust in Movie form and despite the differences from the book form, they are delicious. I hope that you will join me in appreciating his work, but I am realistic enough to know that they aren’t everyone’s cup of tea.

So here are the links for you to discover him through –

The Publisher’s Site: http://www.neilgaiman.com/

The Twitter Link: https://twitter.com/neilhimself

The Tumblr Link: http://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/

The Young Reader’s Site: http://www.mousecircus.com/