Quick post today. Our first day of school got pushed back a week because the science curriculum took longer to get in than I anticipated, so TODAY is our first day, instead of last Monday. Starting in 20 minutes, in fact! But I wanted to at least get something up. Trying to get back into some sort of a routine here, even if it’s ragged at first.
A little while back, I contacted an artist friend of mine about doing a painting I could use for a book cover for Wings of Song, the story currently in 2nd draft form. I have learned how long cover art can take, so I wanted to get a head start on it!
She both moved more quickly than I could have imagined, and produced something more beautiful than I could have dreamed. Here it is:
(clicking on the photo will take you to her studio’s FB page)
It’s STUNNING. I’m so pleased. The physical painting should be getting to me this week, and I have every intention of hanging it above my desk after I’ve scanned it into my computer to add title and author.
Ironically enough, right around the time Val and I were completing our transaction, the cover designer for Magic Most Deadly and I came to an amicable parting of ways – her life took a few turns which meant that she wouldn’t be able to tackle the cover for another several months, and I just couldn’t bear waiting that long to put my book-baby out there.
So now I’m figuring out my options for MMD. Do it myself from stock illustrations? Simplest, but also liable to make me tear out my hair. Hire someone else to do it? That gets pricey, and I’m also kind of fussy about my covers – standard covers today, with photos of real people gracing them, just don’t fit my writing style. Talk to artists I know and see how they feel about Art Deco? Maybe, but that also gets pricey, and can take a long time.
Plenty of options, I just have to figure out the best one. I find it thoroughly amusing that I have a book cover for the unfinished novel, and nothing for the completed one. Seems a fairly typical pattern for my life!
And now I get to put writing concerns aside for a few hours, and instead focus on teaching my kids. Science, math, and handwriting for the 1st grader today, and letters and numbers with the preschooler. Hurrah for the first day of school!
(By the way, I finished this post with TWO minutes to spare. Go me.)
Hooray for the first day of school and that wonderful art for your book!
Thank you! It came in the mail on Monday, and was even lovelier in real life than it looked on the computer screen. I’m SO pleased.
I just nominated you for the Super Sweet Blogger Award on my Screwing Up Time blog.
Aw, thanks!
I LOVE the cover to Wings of Song! I couldn’t imagine anything better than that! It looks so much like a book that belongs with all those classics we so dearly love!
Thank you so much! Since you’re one of the few who has read this story in its earlier incarnation, your opinion on it matters a lot.
I started homeschool last week too! I love the expression of the girl on the cover.
It’s taking us a little while to find our rhythm, but I think we’re going to be okay. Provided we don’t spend all fall and winter sick again, like last year!