Interview With Caprice Hokstad

I have two main types of writer friends. Those whose writing is outside my preferred genre / personal taste, but I happen to find them to be really cool people. The other group includes those whose writing I fell in love with first, and that led me to respect them as writers. That respect eventually grew into genuine friendship--because they're really cool people. The latter is the case with Caprice Hokstad.

Caprice and I are both published by Splashdown Books. I was honored to originally do artwork for her first novel, The Duke's Handmaid (the key on the cover is mine). After reading the novel, I was doubly honored. Her books are original, heady, and left me contemplating. They read smoothly, and her characterization is one of her (many) strong points.

Today, I'm jumping inside her head a bit. I find some of the concepts in her book fascinating--and controversial. This is not the standard, "So, when did you start writing?" kind of interview....

The key on the cover is my artwork.

K: Caprice, Your books take place in a kingdom where slavery is the norm. It's not in general depicted as a "good" thing, but it is depicted as completely acceptable. And your main character actually *chooses* to become a slave in order to "better" her life. This is a very unusual idea, especially these days, and could be considered pretty controversial. Can you explain why you chose to write about a society with slavery? And why make Kee *want* such a life?

C: Most of us ARE enslaved to one degree or another. We just don't use that term. Example: How many people can just walk into their place of employment and tell the boss he is an A.H. (and I mean saying the actual words)? We can't. Why? Because we NEED that job. Without income, we lose our house, our car, our means to buy food. Okay, so we could get a different job (good luck on a character reference if you actually DID call the boss an A.H.). But we can't just decide not to work at all. (Let's not cloud the issue with welfare bums). You have to trade your nice warm bed and sleep every morning for a paycheck. You have to hold your tongue and adopt certain attitudes and habits. You may have to follow a dress code or wear a uniform. That's just reality.

People in our world are trapped in less-than-ideal circumstances by lack of education, poverty, place of birth, skin color, and the list goes on and on. Very few people are truly free to do only what they want all the time.

So my Kingdom of Latoph is not as different as it may seem. Let's look at Kee's options: when her mother dies, she leaves her daughter a henhouse and some chickens. That's it. No home to live in, because it was burned by marauders. Kee tricked an Elva farmhand to teach her to read, but if she stays a chicken farmer, she'll have almost zero opportunity to read. She doesn't like chickens. She gets scared thinking about having to protect them from wolves. Just getting water to them every day is a huge pain in the butt because she has to haul it up from the stream in buckets. By herself.

She can sell the chickens and move into town and hire herself out as a seamstress. She has no shop or start-up money to buy fabric, so she has to work for someone. Ooops, there it is. Working for someone. She actually plans to do this during her mourning period, using sale of her chickens to pay rent. But then she has to react to another event and that puts her on a different path.

When the duke put her up in his guest house during his "posse", she saw more luxury than she's ever seen in her life: running water inside the house, a flushing toilet, tasty and plentiful food, beds with feather mattresses, glass windows, carpets, and books. The duke's slaves wear clean, new-looking clothes and they eat well and they're very kindly treated. Yes, to us, the treatment looks more like how someone should treat pets, but to Kee, it looks like affection and with her entire family gone, that's appealing. And of course, she's got a crush on Duke Vahn.

Maybe I should answer your question with another question. Why do people in our country join the military? Voluntarily even! They have to give up lots of personal freedom and even some of their rights. And the pay is terrible. Why would anyone do that? I'm sure the answers vary. Some do it for love of country. Some for promise of an education. Some just love the job and can't find anything comparable in the private sector. (How many other employers will pay you to drive a tank or pilot a fighter jet?) Yet we respect those who join the military, those who set aside their freedom to don a uniform and serve something bigger than themselves. Why is it any less virtuous to give up some rights and devote oneself to serving an important governing figure in my fantasy setting? Oh yeah. Because she's scrubbing floors and bowing instead of shooting guns and saluting.

K: That makes sense. Kee's life doesn't offer her much and I can see why she would see that slavery in the Duke's house would appeal to her. Instead of tromping through chicken crap and bathing in the stream (where she is likely to get attacked anyway) she can scrub the floors of a mansion and *live* in that mansion. 


What things did you struggle with in trying to make Kee's life choice seem like an honorable one? Have you gotten opposition from readers? Maybe grief for presenting a female MC who isn't all female warrior and secret ninja like so many female leads today? (Did your inner editor scream at my use of the word "female" three times in that last sentence?)

C: My inner editor has the day off. I don't think I've gotten "opposition" as much as just indifference. I think the subject matter does bother people and rather than start a controversy or question it, they just decline to read. And that's their right. I, myself, am a very picky reader. I don't like the majority of fantasy out there because of those very things you mention. Why must a female pick up a sword and act like a man to be worthy of interest? I don't relate to that. Women are strong all the time without becoming warriors or sex objects or damsels in distress. Why can't fiction show women like that?

I don't know if I succeeded in making Kee's life choice seem honorable to readers. I think she's brave and selfless. I find that honorable, but I'm sure others would disagree with me.

As for opposition... would someone PLEASE ban my book? Hold a burning? Denounce it? I could use the publicity.

K: Hah! That would be great publicity, wouldn't it? 


You've answered in other interviews (such as the one at NAF) about the lack of overt Christianity in your novel. I know the whole thing is kind of a thorn in your side. You are a Christian, but your book was never intended to be labeled as "Christian fiction." You were writing a story that appealed to you. I've read both The Duke's Handmaid and Nor Iron Bars a Cage. I haven't seen anything in there that would keep it out of the general market. Maybe not "mainstream" since it's technically genre writing, but definitely not pigeonholed as "Christian." BUT, Grace Bridges, who happens to own a Christian spec-fic publishing house, is the brave soul who took a chance on your novels, and I know you are happy with her and her publishing. So...what has been the biggest obstacle presented by this relabeling of your novels as "Christian" (or at least seemingly directed at the Christian market)?

C: The biggest obstacle is explaining. Whenever I see it labeled "Christian Fiction" I try to clarify because there are way too many definitions out there and my fiction doesn't fit a lot of them. In my books, there's violence. (YOU write a society that uses swords for defense and keep the blood out!) There's seduction of an underage slavegirl. There's raping and pillaging. There's cursing. It's NOT sanitized to CBA norms. It's not meant for a YA audience, like the vast majority of fantasy available in Christian Bookstores is. It's allegorical. It's set in a different reality where they call God "The Nymphs" or "The Heavenlies" which sounds polytheistic, but think about it, we call God "The Trinity". Genesis 1:26 says "And God said, Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness..." [emphasis mine] Hmm. Plurals. Yet, we consider ourselves monotheistic. Imagine that.

I don't label my work "Christian Fiction" and I discourage others from doing so without a CLEAR definition of what they mean. But so far, my work has been so obscure and ignored, that I haven't really had to do much defending. My biggest problem is finding the readers that might be interested in my book and coaxing them to try it. I've had fans who are Wiccan, Mormon, and atheist. I'm not trying to preach to them or to anyone else. I'm not a preacher. I'm just a storyteller.

And the shackles on this one, too.

K: I mentioned in the last question that your book is "genre"--falling into the category of fantasy. Yet, your books are not traditional fantasy. There is a pointy-eared race, but they are not "elves" in the traditional sense. You have no other races or creatures commonly found in most fantasy novels. (No dwarves, orcs, unicorns, dragons, etc.) The books actually, in many ways, to me at least, seem rather literary. They certainly are heavy on characterization and social issues. How exactly do you personally classify your novels? Are there specific genre labels you would place on them--either already existing or terms you have made up? What other books/authors do you most associate your "genre" with? (And just to be difficult, I'm going to make the rule that you must leave out Lewis and Tolkien, since you mentioned those in the NAF interview. Mwoohoohahahahaha.)

C: I call my books Sword Opera. I made up that Fantasy sub-genre to differentiate from "Sword and Sorcery" since I have no sorcery and "High Fantasy" which is usually about a quest. It is meant to be analogous to "Space Opera", which is commonly applied to Star Wars to differentiate it from "Hard" Science Fiction. I have never tried to lump any other author into my self-applied label. I'm not sure anyone else would want to be there.

I do use a few science fiction-y elements. Byntar (the name of my world) is not just an alternate Earth. It has two suns and two moons. It has some "fantastic" creatures, but they aren't mystical or magic. Koopchucks are strong draft animals that look like shaggy hippos and have especially smelly dung. Zupwolves are like miniature wolves. Think of being attacked by shelties instead of German shepherds. Still not fun, but conceivably survivable. I kind of regret not putting in dragons, because that might have helped me market the book, but then the dragon-crazy would probably complain that I cheated them. I don't dislike dragons, but I don't understand the whole ga-ga over them either. I'd probably only be putting them there to unfairly lure readers who would cry bait-and-switch when the story isn't about dragons at all.

Literary, huh? No one else has ever told me that. I'd never intended it to be anything but fantasy-adventure, but I suppose as a catch-all, it could apply.

K: I like that term: Sword Opera. I think it fits well. And I tend to think of "literary" books as those that have me pondering when I put them down, and yours did so for me.


What books are you drawn toward reading? What is it about a book that grabs your attention and/or makes you fall in love with the story and/or characters? And if you were the reader of your own books, what would those things be in them?

C: First off, I read to escape reality. A writer must give me a better reality to escape to. This is why dystopias don't generally interest me much. However, I have been known to find plot devices within certain dystopias that offset the bleak setting. For example, in Frank Creed's Flashpoint, I dislike the state of the world, BUT when he gives the Christian "Underground" what amounts to spiritual superpowers via "re-forming", then I can set aside the bleakness of the rest of the world. I could enjoy living there if I could also get re-formed.

Of course, in my own books, I made Latoph a place I'd love to visit or live in. Authors  spend MUCH more time imagining themselves in their settings than the readers probably ever will.

It also helps to give me characters I love or love-to-hate. Please do NOT make the main protagonist someone I'd avoid in real life if we met. Please do NOT make the protagonist someone I want to slap upside the head either because they're monumentally stupid or whiney. I have children. I get quite enough of whiney in the real world, thanks.

And most of all, do not depress me. I want to feel BETTER after reading fiction, not worse. I'm not saying there can't be sad events, although keep the gut-wrenching, bawl-my-eyes-out scenes to a minimum, please.

Beyond that, I gravitate towards science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, and suspense. I don't typically read the romance genre, but I don't mind romance as part of a plot that includes other things. I think I already covered how my books have lots of elements in them from romance to adventure to mystery.

K: Who is your favorite side character (as in not Kee, not Vahn) and why? (You know my answer on this! Blackthorn!)

C: Well, if I can't choose Vahn, then it would probably have to be Blackthorn. Blackthorn is sort of a Vahn-surrogate in the first book. In the second book, he has to train the duke as a slave and that made for a very interesting situation. By the third book, I have him really reaching outside the box and becoming a "landlubber admiral". He's the guy whose path to knighthood got cut short, who had to figure out another way to make something of himself. He's the "everyman" who can achieve great things by working hard.

K: Maybe that is why I like him so much, too. I felt I could really relate to him--he seemed very real, genuine.

Let's jump ship now (pun intended--read on, readers). Besides your Latoph novels, you also write fan fiction. Sea Quest fan-fic, to be specific. (Get the pun now, readers? Yes you may roll your eyes.) I'm not going to ask you to recap all your reasons for writing fan-fic. You've posted about it on your blog in detail, and anyone who is truly interested can read about it there. But the whole fan-fic thing to me is interesting. I've never personally been drawn to it. I suppose it is because I consider it sort of treading on sacred ground. If I adore Harry Potter, I don't want to muck around with the story and characters. I love it because of how the author wrote it and don't feel comfortable stepping into her shoes. But I *can* see how one would want to be a participant in the world, and how that would lead to writing fan-fic. Or, as in your case, a writer for the show disappointed you and you felt compelled to "fix" the episode. So, let's ask some questions. 

C: Wait. Before you ask, let me touch on one of your points. I don't see what I do as quite the same as Harry Potter fanfiction would be. I'll tell you why. Harry Potter was ALL J.K. Rowling. She didn't collaborate with anyone else. It was all her baby. SeaQuest is NOT any one person's "baby". Yes, it was created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. But after he created it, he did NOT write all the episodes or even most of them. Spielberg had a LOT of writers contributing to the show. Three authorized novels were published and even the first one (which is basically just the novelization of the pilot) is listed as authored by Diane Duane and Peter Morwood, just "based on" O'Bannon's TV script. The other two published books are by David Bischoff and Matthew Costello. So if to use Mr. O'Bannon's created universe is "stepping into his shoes" then lots of others did it long before I did, and they got PAID to do it.

Another point would be that, unlike the continuing franchise of Harry Potter (Rowling still sells a LOT of books, plus DVDs, merchandise, not to mention a theme park), there is NO continuing franchise for SeaQuest. All the books are out of print. I had to get them used. They had a teeny bit of merchandising back in the 90s, but nothing new is being produced. Only the first two seasons are available on DVD. I also seem to remember that Spielberg once said he considered the show a failure and an embarrassment. I have a hard time seeing my writing as "treading on sacred ground" when the creators have dissed it and abandoned it. I'm giving the poor, unwanted orphans a new lease on life.

K: I definitely see the distinction there.  


Have the unique challenges of writing fan-fic--such as trying to stay consistent to an existing story world that you did not create--helped you with your writing outside of fan-fic? In what other ways has it either benefited or hurt your writing? And by that I mean craft, not success of.

C: Fanfiction brought back the joy that had been missing for a long time. I go into the particulars of that in the blog, but suffice it to say that it has helped all my writing to have that back. It also helped me see that my natural writing speed was not so bad. Just because I cannot write 50,000 words in the month of November does NOT mean I'm a failure or "slow".

I'm not saying my fanfiction couldn't benefit from a round of critique and editing, but you know what? The chapters I have posted without it (because it was for FUN, not for publication to be sold) are not that bad at all. In fact, some of it is my very best writing EVER. I constantly self-edit. I get it closer to right the first time because I feel more experienced and my confidence has soared because of fanfiction and the readers there.

My third original book, God willing, will be written, critiqued, edited, revised and polished to publication-ready status in under eight months, start-to-finish. Maybe others can get a book out faster than that, and if you can, more power to ya. I may not be the fastest writer around, but I no longer feel inferior with regards to speed.

K: For a while, you tried to keep your novel writing and fan-fic separate, even using a pen name for your Sea Quest writing. What was your reasoning behind separating like that? I'm curious because my writing spans a rather odd gamut between inspirational nonfiction, fantasy, and horror. I also thought of using separate names but chose to write everything under my real name because I like the idea of being seen as, well, odd in that I write so diversely. Did you find the separation to be help, hindrance, or neutral? Would you change it if you could go back and do so?

C: Fanfiction.net (the site where I posted my stories first) requires people to make up a "handle" to sign in there, like most places on the internet do. I used CF Vici because I know it's generally not taken by someone else and I didn't know what kind of weirdoes might stalk around the place. I did eventually share my real name on my profile, but after building a "following", I certainly didn't want to confuse anyone by changing the name they were used to seeing. If I ever got permission to publish the fanfiction as authorized (and yes, this is one of my far-fetched goals) I would probably use CF Vici, but I'd also be open to using my own name if anyone thought it would be useful or advantageous. I've heard good and bad for both sides of the argument. It does help with reader expectations if you've previously been writing fantasy to give you room to write science fiction in a different style. I'm not sure I have much value in "crossover". Most people who like my fantasy aren't interested in the sci-fi and vice-versa. But I don't have a big fanbase to really worry about. I don't think the name matters much, to tell the truth.

K: Thanks, Caprice, for letting us tromp around inside your head a bit. I know as a fellow small press author, getting people to consider your books is a difficult task. I, for one, am truly glad I found them! And I hope everyone here sees that they are *not* typical, in a good way. 


So, dear readers, if you want to read something that's adventurous, with rich characters and a well thought-out story world...


The Duke's Handmaid: available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords


Nor Iron Bars a Cage: available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords


Caprice's blog: http://caprice.splashdownbooks.com/


Caprice's SeaQuest novels (read for free): http://underseaadventure.net/

The Things I Do for Art....

We're back to art today, folks. And strange art at that. Remember, way back in the beginning, I told you about a call-out from Grace Bridges at Splashdown Books for a drawing of a key. I answered, I drew, I got accepted. And my key is now prominently placed on the cover of The Duke's Handmaid by Caprice Hokstad:

Well, one thing about publishing and book covers. Take a look at a series you have. You'll notice that the publisher creates all the book covers for that series in a similar style. It lets you know the books go together. Of course, we wanted to do that here.

In the above cover, there's this burlap "frame" that lets you peek through and see a double sunset (yes, double--in the world Caprice has created there are twins suns). She had originally self-published this book, along with the second book, and she already had a double sunset image on the first version. The self-publishing company she chose decided to be complete jerks about her keeping that image after she left them, so Grace created a new, and way better image. But it was still the same idea as the original.

For Caprice's second book, Nor Iron Bars a Cage, she also had artwork, but this artwork was not gained through the self-publishing company. Caprice commissioned it from Audrey Rawlings Arena. Grace placed that painting inside the burlap "frame" of Nor Iron Bars a Cage.

Something was missing, though. It needed that other element, like the key on The Duke's Handmaid to be consistent. Grace wanted a different image, though, this time. Something odd...something relevant to this story of slavery...

Shackles.

I'll tell you what--searching Google for images of shackles was an, um, interesting experience...

But I found a set, tweaked the arrangement, and drew it. Black and white to match the key, of course. Scroll up for a moment, and check out the subtle differences. The Duke's Handmaid has lighter burlap and darker text. Nor Iron Bars a Cage has darker burlap--same shape and size, though--and lighter text of the same font. Clever, I think. My drawing is in the lower left corner on TDH, and the lower right corner on NIBaC. Clever again. Grace has laid these both out consistently, but with enough difference to mix it up a bit.

And the covers look even cooler in person :).

Back to the Drawing Board

Well, after interviewing Karina Fabian here last week, and now that Christmas is over, I'm getting back to the series of posts about my artwork.

You've seen examples of the art work I did in high school, and then some of the stuff I've done since picking up my charcoal pencils after years of not drawing. I started drawing again only for the love of it, with no intentions of trying for anything professional. But that's not how things would turn out.

Grace Bridges of Splashdown Books put out a call for artists to the members of the Lost Genre Guild (an organization for Christians who write speculative fiction). She needed an illustration to be used as an element on a book cover. At first I didn't answer the call-out, thinking the drawing would surely need too be in color. But after speaking with Grace about it, she told me to give it a try and that black and white would most likely be just fine. So I drew the key according the author's description and sent the scanned image to Grace.

Before long I got an email from Grace telling me that she wanted to use the drawing and offering payment. My first professional sale! The drawing can now be found on the cover of The Duke's Handmaid by Caprice Hokstad:

Grace had already gotten the rest of the cover layout done. The dual-sun image is one that she took herself of a sunset and photoshopped to create the two suns referenced in the book. The key was the last element to be added. I personally think the black and white works better than color would have, as a color key would have made the cover too busy, and would not pop out the way it does now against the brilliant sunset.

Of course, Splashdown being a small press, the author's input was strongly considered. From what I've heard, larger publishers give authors very little input when it comes to their cover designs; but small presses work more closely with authors on such things. Caprice gave the overall design and the key itself her seal of approval, and the book was nearly ready to hit the presses.

As a bonus, Grace added the key as interior art, in the upper corners of the pages of each chapter beginning, and also an even smaller version at scene breaks:

How cool is that?

Inside scoop:

The agreement between Grace and I is that I would not resell the image of the key to anyone else. I had no problem with that, of course. I consider it the property of Splashdown Books and Caprice. However, Grace did allow me the freedom to use the key for my own artwork, provided it was infused into a more elaborate piece. I sat on the key image for weeks before being hit with inspiration.

Ah, but I will save that for next time....

The Other Side of Me

I realized I've spent a huge amount of time on this blog talking about my writing. Well, that was, of course, the original intent for this puppy.

But I'm not JUST a writer.

You know this, I'm sure, as you've seen me slip in here and there about my artwork. But it's been sorely neglected, really, considering that was my first and only love for many, many years.

When I was a kid, you'd catch me drawing any time a pencil or pen and paper was within reach. Actually, anything I could draw on without getting in trouble was fair game. My jeans and sneakers were always covered in doodles.

Everyone expected me to "be an artist" when I grew up. I had no idea what that meant, though, and my passion ended up fizzling out after I graduated high school. Oddly, though, it came back when I start writing.

This is the first thing I drew after probably 15 years of not drawing:

My sweet, sweet old boxer, Rocky :).

The really cool thing is that my connections to other writers opened a door for my art. Grace Bridges from Splashdown Books posted a call-out for artists on a writers forum. I answered the call-out, and my drawing of a key ended up on the cover of Caprice Hokstad's "The Duke's Handmaid."

This was a double honor, because Caprice's writing is top-notch!

Sooooo.....what I've decided is to do some blogging here over the next few weeks about my artwork. Get a little more specific, and give you an insider's look at doing work for publishers.

In the meantime, check out Caprice's book. You can find it on Amazon in both print and Kindle edition (the Kindle version is only $4.99!). Also, at Barnes and Noble in print and NOOKbook. (Again, the Nookbook is only $4.99!) If you need it in a different ebook format, you can find that on Smashwords.

It's All Tied Together With ART

And we're back to mish-mash blog posting...but it's all artwork related. Well, mostly.

First, notice the page make-over? I was getting a bit tired of the old look. I went with simple this time. Have no idea how long it will last, though....

Second, I attended the NECRONOMICON this past weekend. It's a sci-fi/fantasy/horror/gaming/anime convention. Lots of fun stuff like costume contests, science panels, writing panels, and games. I won a tote bag and gift card to "Think Geek" catalog by playing "rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock." If you're unfamiliar with that game, check out this clip of "The Big Bang Theory." (No, that's not art-related, but this part is...)

My drawing made the cover of the program for the Necro:

I had no idea until a few days before. Since I thought it hadn't been used I made matching t-shirts for my friend and I to wear. They have the same image, but with the black and white reversed. Also, the T's say, "ZOMBEETLE" and "cerebrum devouricus."

(Check out the scrolling thingie to the right and you can find the above t-shirt and other stuff with my artwork for sale on Zazzle. And right now, you can save $5 on any t-shirt by using the code OCTSHIRTSALE.)

Third, I'm still waiting on the decision from a small press that is looking at both my manuscript for Finding Angel and a short story. I'm trying to not get my hopes up too high. I'm trying not to be nervous. Trying. Hm. (Okay, that's not technically artwork, but I will most likely be doing some drawings for this press as well, in the anthology that will hopefully contain my short story. There, now it is art-related.)

Fourth, my latest drawing will soon be out for all to see on the cover of Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Caprice Hokstad. This is the sequel to her book The Duke's Handmaid, on which you'll find my rendering of a key.

Here's the cover to The Duke's Handmaid:

And here's the cover of Nor Iron Bars a Cage. The shackles are my handiwork. (Not a statement I ever thought I'd be making....)

This will be releasing next month, and I will of course let you know immediately :).

And to finish off, since I haven't posted a notebook nugget for a long, long time...I'm including one of my favorite quotes (by one of my favorite authors):

"...science is no more than an investigation of a miracle we can never explain, and art is an interpretation of that miracle..." --Ray Bradbury, The Martian Chronicles

Catching Up and Other Suchness

(Yes, I'm making up words for my post title.)

Another "lots of little stuff" post today. Looks like July is going to be slammin' for me. Coming next month:

"Frog Face"--a short story in Flashes in the Dark on July 13

"Fire Wall"--a short story in The Absent Willow Review on July 16

"The Artist" (originally in Mindflights) will appear in the print magazine Beyond Centauri

A drawing of mine will grace the cover of Digital Dragon Magazine

Caprice Hokstad's book, The Duke's Handmaid, will officially release. A couple of final tweaks have been made on the cover, including changing the tilt on the key I drew to make it more easy to see. Here's the final cover:



The publisher has also decided to use the key as part of the chapter headings, and a tiny version for scene breaks. How cool is that?

Speaking of book covers, I've come up with another design for Finding Angel. I'm not posting it quite yet, though. I appreciate all the comments on the other one, both positive and negative, and am taking all of it in while I do more designs. I have to say that the comment Jeff Chapman added today is the one that has hit the mark for me. He said a book cover can't possible convey an entire story, or the cover easily becomes cluttered. It must be eye-catching, though, and intrigue the potential reader. I agree with that 100%. Of course, it should be significant to the story--a space ship, no matter how cool, does not belong on the cover of a fantasy that has not one space ship in it. But since the elements I included on my original cover design are in fact quite significant to the story, I've kept them, but I'm working on making the overall image more cohesive and eye-catching.

And last, but not least, another NOTEBOOK NUGGET. Well, actually, two.

The first is a Bible verse that I really, really need to keep in mind these days:

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13

The other, a fortune:

"A truly creative person rids him or herself of all self-imposed limitations." The key word there, of course, is self-imposed.

Seek Him with all your heart, and stop holding yourself back from your full potential. It may not seem that way at first, but if you think about it you'll see that these two ideas are inextricably tied together.

Playing Around With Book Covers

If you've been following me, you know I'm an artist as well as a writer. I'd never given much thought to doing book covers, though, because my favored medium for art is charcoal. I like pencil drawing as well. But neither of those involves color, and we all like color on our book covers.

So, several months ago when the owner of Splashdown Books put out a call for artists because she needed an illustration of a key for a book cover, I passed it by. But, several days later, I needed to email her about something else entirely and mentioned that I'd given thought to trying the key but that I only do black and white drawings. She surprised me by writing back that B&W would be fine.

I drew the key.

She bought the drawing. And it's now an integral part of a book Splashdown will be releasing on July 1st--The Duke's Handmaid, by Caprice Hokstad.



A few weeks later, I got another email, regarding another cover for a Splashdown title. This time, a graphic novel type drawing for a superhero spoof. No worries about color again because she only needed the outline drawing and would be colorizing it with her photo editing program. So, September first, look for my drawing of Dave, aka Powerhouse, on the cover of Tales of the Dim Knight by Adam and Andrea Graham. I don't have an official cover image to show you yet, as the publisher is still finishing the details.

All of this got me to thinking about my own book, and the cover art I'd like to see on it. I've not landed a publishing contract quite yet--although interest has been expressed--that's all I can say right now--but if I go with a small press I'll have real say in the cover art. Maybe not complete control, but definitely input. And as an artist myself, I thought it'd be cool to try something that could potentially land MY drawing on MY cover.

Here's the first result:



The locket and link it's hanging on are all drawn by me. The upside-down beetle is my original design. I blacked out the background of the scanned image, and uploaded it into a program that is actually designed for making greeting cards and some other things, but it's got features I don't have in my other photo editing software.

What do you think? Be honest!

I'm going to work on more mock-ups. I'm not sure this one conveys the right "feel" for Finding Angel. But it's been fun playing around.