My NEW bookcover for P&R

When I first wrote The Priestess and the Ravenknight I only needed to create the front cover for the ebook. This is what I came up with. I decided to make a knight's shield, sort of with the title on the front. Since this shield was for a ravenknight and a dark elf, I decided it should have pointy edges. What I wasn't too crazy about was the way the gold didn't seem to pop from the shield. I tried different colors but this gold seemed to be the best choice.

Ebook Cover

Now that I am going to have this published as a tradebook, I tried once again to make the title pop better and add a little more contrast. I am happier with this new version. I chose a different font that I think is more appropriate for my story. Disregard the salmon pink edge around the graphic. That won't be there. I welcome any advice or thoughts on my new book cover. I know there are some designers out there and I welcome your input. Thanks!

You can click and preview this graphic to make it larger so you can also read the blurbs. I welcome any constructive criticism for blurbs, colors, design, anything. Thanks again! The proof copy is on it's way and so there is time for final changes before it goes on sale.

Dalyn and Lyrica

Back in April, I started working on a drawing that I'm going to use for inspiration for my third book about pirates and mermaids. It will feature Dalyn the pirate and Lyrica, a Swansong mermaid. I first started the drawing with a pencil sketch, then I inked it.

Once the basic drawing is done, I scan the image and pull it into Photoshop or another graphics program and begin digitally coloring it.

Last April, I showed what the image looked like and then just slapped a photo background to it so you could see what I had in mind. This drawing is not necessarily going to go into future book. I do these drawings to inspire me. I put them on my walls, in project notebooks and online so that I can look at them while I write about them. I have to admit, I am pretty lazy when it come to do backgrounds so I often cheat and either use photos, Internet and books.

Summer came and went and for me, it's really hard to get back to a project I put down and put away. I need to finish it even if it takes me long hours and several days to do it, or it doesn't get down. That's what happened to this graphic. Anyway, after months of setting this aside so I can concentrate on turning The Priestess and the Ravenknight into a trade book, I have finally pulled up this graphic and one afternoon (at the ranch! =P) and spent a several hours finishing it. FINALLY!

I printed it out and put it on the cover of my notebook. Now I need to get to this book next and I hope to resume writing that story very soon. The working title is The Sirens of Swansong for now. I am still doing research for it but I have started the first few chapters.

This time I did do the background, but I don't think it came out very good. Still, this will do unless I decide to sell this image somehow either by making cards or small posters. But for a notebook, this will do. Hope you like it. If you have suggestions or mermaid graphics you have done, I encourage you to share it with me.  Have a great day and keep on writing... or drawing... whatever you do!