Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Cover Art That Wasn't

If there is one universality of being a writer, it's that you get no professional courtesy.  My publisher loves me and treats me far better than anyone has before, but the cover art process has still been schizophrenic at best from my end.

But I'm not here to complain.  I'm here to entertain you with failed cover art ideas.  See, the process starts with me throwing out a bunch of things I think would make a good cover.  Then they grill me for details.  Then they grill me some more.

And in this case, I go to my alpha-reader-slash-whatever-the-female-word-is-for-chump and get her to sketch up my various ideas, because it's very, very hard to describe picture composition in detail.





Then nobody talks to me for two weeks until they show me a finished cover version that has nothing to do with any of these.  This will sound terribly harsh to regular people, but honestly, Curiosity Quills by leaps and bounds treats me better than anyone I've ever written for or tried to write for.  Keep that in mind if you want to be a writer.
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9 comments:

  1. grimshawlOctober 22, 2014 at 6:59 AM

    Sorry to hear that's how it is. personally I liked the concept art for the finger on the button idea best. I can just imagine the big red button and the irresistable urge to push it. : )

    looking forward to this second book quite a bit.

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  2. Le Blue DudeOctober 23, 2014 at 12:12 PM

    Here's a dumb question. Are the vague implications that Penny and Claire are half sisters intentional? Brain Akk certainly seems attracted to Claire's mom, and has worked with and against her before.

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    1. FrankensteinbeckOctober 23, 2014 at 12:20 PM

      HA! Not a dumb question, but no, it's not intentional. I am aware it could be read that way, but all men are attracted to Claire's mom, and some women. It's the nature of her super power.

      I'm sure a gossip column about the superhero/villain community would be novel length, but that particular insinuation is not one I'm making.

      Delete
    2. Le Blue DudeOctober 29, 2014 at 4:18 PM

      You know, Misty and Beebee practically helped parent each other's children. Misty is almost as much a mom to Penny as Beatrice is, and Beatrice is nearly as much a mom to Claire as Misty is. The two girls are almost like sisters in how they interact.

      At least that's the feeling I got from reading. Poor Ray with his abusive parents, anyway.

      So, dumb question: Is it alright if I'm writing a little bit of fanfiction with The Inscrutable Machine in it? It's certainly not for any kind of profit. I'm just writing a short story.

      Delete
    3. FrankensteinbeckOctober 29, 2014 at 4:39 PM

      Doesn't bother me. I'm allergic to reading fanfiction myself, but that's just a weird personal quirk rather than any disapproval. I'm flattered you like my creations that much. Also, while I love and feel protective of my characters, what you write for your own and your friends' amusement is none of my business.

      A lot of the stuff I write is modeled off of real experiences. With Ray, it mimics my slow realization that there was something wrong with my best high school friend's home life, because he never, ever, ever talked about it.

      Delete
  3. RedWolfeXROctober 24, 2014 at 3:10 AM

    Heh, so even if she isn't quite one of the "good" girls, her powers as a "bad" girl buy her a lot of forgiveness and leeway from the moderately paternalistic heroes?

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    1. FrankensteinbeckOctober 24, 2014 at 8:08 AM

      A little bit of that, but mostly a social system has arisen where it's very easy for villains who are seen as doing more good than harm to get slack. The government prefers to let superhumans police themselves and pick up the pieces, because the game-like structure that has arisen saves them from a nightmare scenario: dealing with desperate criminals who are effectively single-person weapons of mass destruction. A little nodding and winking gets most offenders arrested, minimizes damage to the public in the process, and prevents entire police departments or government agencies murdered as a way of escaping prosecution.

      It's in everyone's interest to propagate this Geneva Convention style treaty. The government avoids chaos. Heroes and villains both minimize their risk of rape, torture, and murder. Heroes get to know the public is more safe, and villains get stability where they can enjoy success rather than always looking over their shoulder. This is so useful to the most intelligent and organized villains like Spider that they make sure the social code is policed with murderous efficiency.

      I modeled it off of the arrangements organized crime tends to make with the government.

      Delete
  4. Allen jeleyFebruary 1, 2016 at 5:54 PM

    I see this picture and such a very beautiful cover and its show us a good character i really like this thanks for share it mathematics personal statement .

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  5. Allen jeleyMarch 7, 2016 at 2:49 AM

    nice

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