Covers

So I write quite a bit, but one of the main frustrations of writing (for me anyway) is packaging it when you're done. Or catching the eye. Or anything to do with illustrations, really.

Don't get me wrong, I love art. I used to be fairly artistic, (I used to dream of being a comic book artist, ideally drawing Batman) but I haven't really drawn anything in the last fifteen to twenty years. It's something I keep saying I'll come back to, and I will, one day, but I'm aware it takes a lot of practice to get good, and to be honest, I kinda need that time to invest in the writing.

But the problem is, when you're a self publishing author like me, you're all kinds of pleased when you finish what you've been writing, but then when you come to release it, you realise that you've got to create a cover, and let's just say that the default ones offered by some of the services that enable you to self publish... don't exactly do what you've written justice.

So for me, I am always amazed by anyone with artistic skill, and incredibly grateful when they are kind enough to provide me with something to use with my writing.

I'm aware I don't post on here enough, and I'm trying to do something to fix that, so with that in mind I thought I would share some of the covers from the talented individuals who've been kind enough to lend me their talents:

Richard Wheelhouse:

Richard has done me covers for three of my All Worlds Unseen novels, but my favourite is still his first, the cover for Aurora, my first novel.

(Unfortunately the only copy of the cover I had was this, with the border and formatting, which doesn't do it any favours. Still, it should give you a good idea of what it's like.)

Ewan MacNeil:

I've known Ewan for years, but didn't realise he was an artist until recently. Turns out he's a pretty good writer, too, damn him. Here are his covers for The Boastful Turtle, a folk story I wrote for the World Stories project, and The Transients, my upcoming novel I'm going to publish on here a chapter at a time:

Jon MacCaull:

To my shame, I've not met Jon, which is a shame as he's immensely talented. Ewan put me in touch with him, and I'm really pleased he did, as he's supplied me with the following:

Avalonne, the cover of the second All Worlds Unseen novel:

Cog, which was my post before this one:

and most recently Sow What:

Now this was a short story for the World Stories project, too, but seeing this, I know I've gotta turn the damn thing into a full length novel now, don't I?

Will Chetwynd:

Okay, I'm biased. I can't do a piece on art without talking about Will, my partner-in-creative-crime. Will and I met years ago at a comic convention, and we collaborated on a comic together. I might have to do a post on how we made the comic, because it's a hell of a thing to do.

This is one of my favourite panels from it:

Oh, this is on sale in Gosh! comics, Orbital, and the Cartoon Museum, all in London, FYI. Just putting that out there.

We've got another comic on the go, but it's a while away. Chalk it down to perfectionism, procrastination, and that stupid life thing.

The other thing Will's done for me is this, the cover for Space Suits, my second novel. He did it in no time at all, cheeky so and so.

So yeah. Artists. Handy people to know.