Writing Edgy in 2023

Whoa! That last blog post nearly ended the year for me. Seriously, a couple days after posting it I came down with a true illness not seen since August 2019 before anyone gave it a name. But I've recovered, thankfully. (By the way, greetings and salutations for the new year!)

However, something good came out of my drug-induced stupor: creativity. Dreams turn into notes, that turn into outlines, then become paragraphs on pages. And before you know it the first chapter exists. And the writing has not stopped. I'm in a zone where I cannot sleep at night or in an afternoon nap because of the on-going scene construction that would be better done by a Hollywood studio.

Back in 2020 when everybody was alarmed by a mysterious illness and we engaged in lockdowns and all sorts of lifestyle changes, I thought it would be the perfect time to write a post-apocalyptic novel. That lasted about two weeks. I read a few novels on the theme during the following year. Finally I was ready to write mine. When I found a way into the story (e.g., a single mom, her teen son, and a tuba), I could begin.

The first book of my FLU SEASON pandemic trilogy The Book of Mom came out late last year (click that link!). That was all well and good, but during the weeks of cover art and during the publication process, I finished book 2 in the trilogy The Way of the Son, which I expect to be available sometime in spring. Again, a good effort: two full novels within a year. But wait! There's more.

I couldn't find the entrance to the story for book 3 in the trilogy, Dawn of the Daughters, even though I knew the basic story. Then I got sick, swooned a while, and arose at the keyboard to pound out that manuscript. As I stare at this blog post, book 3 sits at what I consider to be 2/3 of the way to the end. That could change, of course. The story left to tell could be a full novel in its own right. I'm tempted to add a fourth book....

But here's the thing. I had two overarching goals for the first book - before I decided half-way that this would be a trilogy - and those were (are!):

1. a story of ordinary (if quirky) people and how they handle an on-going pandemic - without resorting to unusual motifs like zombies or other more sci-fi elements of most stories of this genre.

2. push myself to the edge of the envelope with regard to the sex and violence meter - not to throw gratuitously depicted action in readers' faces but to address the unfortunate likelihood of such aspects in a pandemic-ruined society.

So I let her rip. Book 1 opens with an anecdote of how our narrator was conceived on a nude beach when his mother was technically underage. I let "Mom" be her true self (not in any way based on my own mother), teasing and flirting yet offering quips of wisdom and songs played on her tuba. I introduce a love interest for our narrator, becoming a teen romance - but allowing our teen lovers to do what teens will do.

And the violence! It doesn't appear to shock or to drive an agenda. Rather, the violence our characters encounter is what may very well occur in that lawless situation. It pushed home the real nature of what we might expect were we to be them on the road, seeking sanctuary not only from a virus but from other people who would kill us for an old sandwich. It escalates as they travel from one destination to the next, expecting but not finding a refuge.

But the destination, a barrier island where the family's vacation home still sits, is not truly a sanctuary. Gathering people who are not infected, a kind of community has formed, but not a free society. They are, instead, something of a cult. Again, I push myself to press that envelope to its tearing point. Book 2 takes it much further as our characters try another way to varying degrees of success - yet not enough to settle down.

As I crash through Book 3, having a new narrator tell the story, the opportunities for my twisted mind to unfold schemes is enhanced. And I take full pleasure in the dirty and the dangerous which they encounter in their experiences. They gradually come into the greater world and we see how society is trying to rebuild. It seems a better place and readers may get a sense of hope, but soon the darker underbelly shows through the cracks.

I've stated on my social media how this trilogy may be my final work, with me getting old and surly, my fingers less sure on the keys, my mind taken to greater flights of fancy. Therefore, I'm allowing myself to be as naughty and violent as I can imagine for my characters. They all hate me for it, obviously. And yet I persist. I push and press and kick them forward into their fate! Why? Because I can. Because I'm mean and gnarly, and want to see them suffer. Because I want them to cry out to the universe their misery and pain! To shriek how their suffering brings universal truths to light. And they finally get it: the message. 

Oh, sure, I may, as happens with most of my novels, rein it in during revision. I tend to get the shivers. What would my mother think were she to read this? Well, Mom, I'm all grown up now, so I'm not holding back any longer. I'm being edgy now! Just remember, FLU SEASON is not a theater of the macabre but a view into the near future of what could be. It is a warning not to be too surprised when things don't go our way!

Book 1 THE BOOK OF MOM is available now in paperback and for Kindle. (click the link)

Book 2 THE WAY OF THE SON will be available in spring. The manuscript is completed, revised, and edited. Cover art is in process.

Book 3 DAWN OF THE DAUGHTERS is nearing completion and is expected to be available by the end of 2023. (We also get the story behind Mom's tuba and why it is so precious to her.)

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(C) Copyright 2010-2023 by Stephen M. Swartz. All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog, whether text or image, may be used without me giving you written permission, except for brief excerpts that are accompanied by a link to this entire blog. Violators shall be written into novels as characters who are killed off. Serious violators shall be identified and dealt with according to the laws of the United States of America.

Narrative and Writing a Compelling Story

Please note that if you are currently in the stages of holiday shopping, books make a fine gift and several books composed by me are available for your reading enjoyment. You will find them all with purchase links, cover art, and blurbs/descriptions on my previous blog post, so click here and be happy!

Pardon me. I awoke too late after not getting a good sleep. I'm doing the best I can to fulfill my obligations to what I imagine are throngs of blog readers anxiously sitting before their screens in eager anticipation for what words of wisdom or whimsy I might offer to them. And, to tell the truth, I seldom have any idea what will come from my keyboard until it does - and then it may be too late to prevent the ruination of my typing skills or my pedantic bent. In most cases, I prefer to confer everything I think about practically everything through the pages of a novel.

First, however, we must invent a compelling story - a narrative so bold and beautiful that none can resist following it to its end. You got to hook 'em and cook' em, a professor in my MFA program was wont to remind us plebes - mere word cobblers to him. I've written previously in blog posts about the abuse we endured in those hallowed halls. Suffice to say, the vaunted professor preferred one and only one kind of story and all others were dismissed outright or ridiculed to the point where the poor young author had to flee in tears.

I learned a few things nevertheless. One: put the characters first. That is, craft an interesting character your readers will want to know about and want to follow through the story no matter what happens in the story. At the time of that MFA program, I felt my protagonists were compelling characters; they were, after all, largely modeled after me. That seldom was a delicious recipe, as you can imagine, because seldom would my protagonist act as I would act. Communication between us was unsteady and I was frequently frustrated. Still, we carried on and came to certain understandings about who does what and what the terms of engagement were to be.

Two: what is interesting to readers (caveat: most readers, although the adage came at us as every reader) is not what happens in the story but what happens to the character because of what happens in the story. That may seem an infernal circle yet it does make a crude kind of sense. If we are "caring" about the hero/heroine then we "care" what happens to them - almost as though they were real people who we actually know and worry about, like Kevin who lives down the street. I came to realize I did treat my characters as though they were real, and I worried about them, waking in the mornings wondering if they would get out of that predicament I'd let them slip into, or whether they would still obey me after I helped them escape a conundrum I'd set up for them.

For a story to be compelling - a word this professor used - it must involve a primary character we care about and a situation that is not immediately disturbing but has the hint of great disturbance to come. Nuances and subtleties. Like laying out a puzzle. Will readers catch it, or should I bash them over the head with the idea? Bread crumbs here and there along the dark forest path or a nicely paved way with neon signs? I think I've learned the art of nuances, as intended by that professor. Of course, I can never know  - short of a book review, perhaps, or an angry tweet - whether a reader catches the subtle clues or not. I can only try my best to tip-toe through the daisies along the primrose path and up Strawberry Hill to Mary Sue's house.

Sorry. I slipped into a purple prose paragraph again. It happens on these kind of late mornings when I haven't slept well yet need to produce a blog post to let the world know I remain alive and verbose. So, I suppose I've achieved my goal. Actually, my goal was the notice at the top to potential readers of my library. Simple as that. But then I kept typing and, well, this is the result. I'm not ashamed; I enjoy typing although the number of mistypes and the corrections increase with each passing day.

Did I mention I have a new novel out now? It's Book 1 of a series called FLU SEASON. The first book is titled THE BOOK OF MOM, a kind of memoir. It's a near-future (almost contemporary) story of a teen boy and his single mother who try to survive the chaos of a pandemic and its worsening society by fleeing the city for what they hope will be relative safety at the grandparents farm, only to find that life in the country isn't much better and they must come up with Plan B, then Plan C, until they reach a small coastal island where the family previously vacationed and have a house - but the survivors there have set up their own strange community and the teen son and his mom must decide whether to stay and obey or hold off the strict requirements until it is safe to leave for a better place. It is a tale of survival, of family relations, of dark secrets, and a teen romance - as well as the dystopian undertones of an odd collection of characters trying their best to get by in the new normal. And Mom plays her tuba quite a lot, I should add.

Book 2 THE WAY OF THE SON is complete and coming in late spring.
Book 3 DAWN OF THE DAUGHTERS is started and the writing continues. 

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(C) Copyright 2010-2022 by Stephen M. Swartz. All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog, whether text or image, may be used without me giving you written permission, except for brief excerpts that are accompanied by a link to this entire blog. Violators shall be written into novels as characters who are killed off. Serious violators shall be identified and dealt with according to the laws of the United States of America.

The Season of Reading

Small Business Saturday meets CyberMonday!

For end of year holiday shopping, no day is more celebrated than Black Friday and its opulent pre-dawn sales. Then comes Small Business Saturday when our shopping attention is supposed to go to the smaller mom-and-pop stores. Of course, nobody has a smaller business than an independent author who dreams, writes, researches, revises, edits and proofreads, and may get some help with editing and cover art. Finally on the weekend of retail madness comes CyberMonday, the day when everyone who didn't find what they were looking for goes online when they are back to work, more often than not searching for a good book to read or to give to the readers in their families.

This is where I come in. I've never been big on marketing, despite actually passing two courses in college. Granted, I mostly wrote advertising copy for those classes but it did help me get a job at a local TV station. People do not seem to like marketing - or promotion, as it is often referred to in the book world - beyond a few commercials during Super Bowl Sunday. A brief mention of the existence of a product or service is all many of us require. Social media platforms may be the worst. I often must sit through 6 ads to watch even a 3 minute video on YouTube. And scrolling down my Twitter feed is like leafing through a department store catalogue rather than my followers' clever posts.

I've written before on judging books by their covers but, for me, the cover draws me to the shelf, gets me to pick up the book, and then comes the real judging. I flip that book over and read what it is about - the blurb. I don't need to know what other authors thought of it, even famous authors. I don't need to know what awards it won. Just tell me what happens. I may open to the first page of the story and read a little to get a sense of the voice and the style. I may turn to a middle page (the Amazon "surprise me" feature) or skip to the end. If it is non-fiction, I study the table of contents, sometimes the index. If the story seems compelling, the narrator interesting (either it is the author or a character doing the telling), and the setting may be out of the ordinary or appropriate for the story, I'll take chance on it. 

So now we come to the holiday gift giving season and it is important to note that books are one of the easiest gifts to give - often a 1-click purchase and instant electronic delivery or on its way via a delivery service. A book is also one of the more valuable gifts anyone would be thrilled to receive. I know this from personal, first-hand experience. The only real issue is to match the genre to the reader. Therefore, it is my duty to inform you that I write in a variety of genre so there is a book for nearly everyone. And on that note, allow me to share my collection with you for your holiday reading and gift consideration.

First is my forthcoming pandemic novel, the first in a trilogy called FLU SEASON. Book 1 is titled THE BOOK OF MOM, a reference to the main character, as told by her teenage son, a kind of "mom"-memoir set in the near future - actually quite close to now. You can pre-order the ebook for Kindle now (click here) and it will be automatically delivered on November 29. The print version will follow about a week later. Note: Book 2 is finished (I know a lot of readers don't like to start a series if they have to wait for the next book), and Book 3 is started. UPDATE: both paperback and Kindle versions are  now available (click title link above).

Teaser:

A boy and his mom and her tuba try to flee the chaos of a world-wide pandemic.

Sound familiar? We've been there. But everything has returned to normal for most of us.

Yet what if it didn't? What if the worst of the past couple years is now in its sixth year... with no end in sight?

What would you do? How would you get by? Where would you go to survive?

No, wait! There are other books!
 
Scroll backward in time - by publication date - and check out the following novels with links to ebook and print versions.

THE MASTERS' RIDDLE (July 2021)
[sci-fi]

Toog is a simple gardener living with a full-mate and a springling on a planet called Sebbol. Until one night The Masters arrive and capture him, taking him back to their world.

Awaking in a cold, dark cell, Toog fears he will never see his family again. Communicating with other prisoners he learns that The Masters have visited many worlds and brought many different beings back for their laboratory or their work camps. But why? Toog wonders as he vows to escape.

But even if he can get out of the prison or escape a work camp how can he ever hope to return to his world - before his family is long gone and his planet ravaged by time.

Perhaps his hardship is his destiny and serves a bigger purpose. Is that the Masters' Riddle? Only if he can solve the riddle can he go home.

YEAR OF THE TIGER (November 2020)
[action/adventure]

Every night Karl Edwards has strange, violent dreams. He sees the world as though he's looking through the eyes of a Bengal tiger and it's driving him insane. Fortunately, his sexy wife knows a hunky doctor who can help her have Karl committed, that is.

Locked up, the nightmares worsen as the tiger hunts down the men who killed its mate. Karl has a plan, however. All he has to do is persuade Althea, a young nurse, to help him escape. Next, he must get to India. Then he must find that one tiger and kill it. Only then will he have the mind they seem to share all to himself.

But others are also interested in joining the hunt. The doctor who put Karl in the mental hospital, fearing Karl will reveal his crimes. And famous big game hunter Colonel John Barrington will come out of retirement, with worldwide media in tow, for one last chance at a man-eating tiger!

(You can read a lovely review here.)

EXCHANGE (May 2020)

[contemporary crime drama]

An Unspeakable Crime.

High school teacher Bill Masters and his family have a comfortable life in suburban Oklahoma City - until his wife and teen daughter are killed in a mass shooting.

Overwhelmed with grief, Bill struggles to put his life back

together - or construct a new life from what remains - even as he must combat continuing crime that threatens him and his home.

A Second Chance.

When exchange student Wu Ting "Wendy" Wang arrives from China for her year at an American high school, she has no idea what has just happened to her host family.

She's a constant reminder to Bill of why his family is gone. Yet he is determined to protect her at any cost - ready to use his father's gun. And he will not fail this time.

(You can read a lovely review here.)

SUNSET (February 2019)

Book III of the Stefan Szekely, Vampire trilogy

Midnight 31 December 2099.

As the Empire of Europa celebrates the new centennial with battle lines in Ukraine and preparations underway for invading England, the Emperor in His capital of Budapest welcomes His guests, the elite of vampire society.

Yet all is not well in the empire. Different factions agree the time has come for new leadership. As rabid mobs protest and attack palace guards, Emperor Stefan and his closest staff huddle in the imperial suite, awaiting rescue.

But how do you get away from the clutches of the supreme demon who lives forever and exists everywhere? If Stefan can free himself, the world may yet be saved. If he fails, the destruction will continue...until the Anglo-American Union falls and vampire society rules the world.

SUNRISE (April 2018)

Book II of the Stefan Szekely, Vampire trilogy

For Stefan Székely it is a fate worse than death: To be dead yet stuck with his dead parents. 

After 13 years Stefan can endure it no longer. He wants a castle of his own. But first he must visit his family’s bank in Budapest.

With endless strife rumbling across Europe, Stefan hardly recognizes Budapest, now capital of the Hungarian Federation. The world has changed. 

Nevertheless, he embarks on the reign of terror he always denied himself, living the vampire playboy lifestyle. Until he gets a stern warning from the local vampire gang. He is not welcome - unless he plays by their rules.

Should Stefan fight for his right to party like it's 2027? Or will an encounter with a dangerous stranger change everything about his new existence? As clashes between vampire gangs and State Security escalate, Stefan just might be the key to changing the fate of Europe forever!

. . . If he can survive three bloody nights in Budapest.

The sequel to A DRY PATCH of SKIN continues the trials and tribulations of Stefan Székely, Vampire.

EPIC FANTASY *WITH DRAGONS (March 2017)

[epic fantasy!]

CORLAN, MASTER DRAGONSLAYER, the best in the Guild, the best in the Burg!

And yet, returning from his latest expedition, Corlan discovers jealous rivals have conspired with the Prince to banish him from the city.

Sent into the Valley of Death, Corlan conjures a plan. He and his new sidekick, a runaway boy from the palace kitchen, will trek the thousand miles to the far end of the valley, where a vast marsh provides nesting grounds for the dragon horde. Once there, Corlan vows to smash dragon eggs and lance younglings, ending dragon terror once and for all time.

And yet, as dangers, distractions, and detours harry him along the way, Corlan learns ancient secrets that threaten to destroy everything in his world. Even with the aid of wizards and warriors, he must use all his guile, his bravado, and the force of his stubborn will just to survive - and perhaps return home - no matter how the gods challenge him with their harshest tests.

A GIRL CALLED WOLF  (December 2015)

[action/adventure]

Ice and snow are all 12 year old Anuka knows outside the hut in Greenland where she was born. 

When her mama dies, Anuka struggles to survive. The harsh winter forces her to finally journey across the frozen island to the village her mama always feared.

But the people of the village don’t know what to do with this girl. They try to educate and bring her into the modern world, but Anuka won't make it easy for them. She sees dangers at every turn and every day hears her fate echoing in her mama’s voice.

Her mama gave her that name for a reason. She is A GIRL CALLED WOLF who searches for the place where she belongs, a destination always just out of reach, on a path she will always make her own.

(You can read a lovely review here.)

AIKO (May 2015)

[mystery/romance]

When the handwritten letter from Japan arrives, Benjamin cannot help but flash back to when he lived in Hawaii and met Hanako, a Japanese stewardess. 

But Addy, Benjamin’s wife of three years, knows what the letter really means: a love child was born.

Now Benjamin must save a child he has never met, learn the truth behind Hanako’s death, and risk his marriage and his career to do the right thing. But venturing into the lonely woods of northern Ishikawa throws him into an ancient world of strict customs and tight-lipped villagers.

AIKO, a love story wrapped around a mystery, is a modern version of the Madame Butterfly story told from his side.

(You can read a review here.)

A DRY PATCH OF SKIN (October 2014)

(the only medically accurate vampire novel)

Book I of the Stefan Szekely, Vampire trilogy

The truth about being a vampire: It is not cool, not sexy. It’s a painful, miserable existence.

Good reason to avoid that situation, thinks medical technician Stefan Székely. He's too busy falling in love with TV reporter Penny Park, anyway. Until one day when she notices a dry patch of skin on his face.

At first it's just annoying, nothing to worry about, some weird skin disease he can treat with lotions. However, as his affliction worsens, Stefan fears that his unsightly problem will ruin his relationship with Penny.

If only that was all Stefan has to worry about! He soon realizes there is a lot more at stake than his handsome face. To save himself, Stefan must go in search of a cure for the disease which is literally destroying him inch by inch. If only his parents had told him of the family legacy.

A BEAUTIFUL CHILL (February 2014)

[campus anti-romance]

Opposites may attract... but can they stay together?

Íris is a refugee from an abusive youth in Iceland, further abused on the streets of Toronto - until she sees Art as an escape. With a scholarship, she drifts from depression to nightmare to Wiccan rituals to the next exhibit. There's a lot she must forget to succeed in a life she refuses to take responsibility for.

Eric is settling in at Fairmont College, starting a new life after betrayal and heartbreak. Divorced and hitting forty, he has a lot to prove - to his father, his colleagues, and mostly to himself. The last thing he needs is a distraction - and there's nothing more distracting than Íris.

A Beautiful Chill is a contemporary romance set in the duplicitous world of academic rules and artistic license - in a roundabout way a prequel to A Girl Called Wolf.

(You can read a review here.)

AFTER ILIUM (October 2012)

[action/adventure/age-gap romance]

Troy! Ilium! 3000 years ago Greeks and Trojans battled below the fortress city.

Now comes Alex Parris in 1993, freshly graduated and eager to tour the ancient site. On his cruise to Istanbul, however, he meets Eléna, a mysterious older woman who draws him into an affair.

When the two lovers challenge Fate by visiting the ruins of Ilium, they are rudely separated – forcing Alex to embark on his own Odyssey. His struggle to return to Eléna becomes a fight for survival on the wild Turkish coast.

THE DREAM LAND Trilogy (2012-2013)

[sci-fi, steampunk, interdimensional doorways, teenage know-it-alls, world-ruining, political intrigue, time travel, battle hamsters & magic potions]

Book I  Long Distance Voyager  (December 2012)

Book II  Dreams of Future's Past  (June 2013)

Book III  Diaspora  (December 2013)

How far would you go to save the love of your life? Through a portal to another world?

High school sweethearts Sebastian and Gina discover a doorway to a new world. Adventure-loving Gina falls in love with the world of Ghoupallesz and wants to stay, but studious Sebastian fears losing touch with Earth, so he returns alone.

Years later, working the night shift at the IRS, Sebastian feels the cosmic pull once more. Gina is in trouble. Again. Of course he must return and save her! Perhaps this time, he hopes, they can remain together. Returning through the interdimensional doorway, Sebastian must gather his old comrades from the war, cross the towering Zet mountains, and free Gina from the evil Zetin warlord’s castle. 

Unfortunately, there are more questions to answer. Is his adventure on the other side real? Or is it just the dream of a psychotic killer? That’s what the police want to know when his friends and co-workers go missing.

THE DREAM LAND Trilogy is a tour-de-force genre-mashing Epic of Interdimensional intrigue and alien romance, a psychological thriller marbled with twisted humor, steampunk pathos, and time/space conundra. 

NOTE: Check your local Amazon listings. You may be able to get these for free if you are a Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime member!

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 (C) Copyright 2010-2022 by Stephen M. Swartz. All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog, whether text or image, may be used without me giving you written permission, except for brief excerpts that are accompanied by a link to this entire blog. Violators shall be written into novels as characters who are killed off. Serious violators shall be identified and dealt with according to the laws of the United States of America.

FLU SEASON: The Book of Mom - cover reveal

This year has been full of stress. (That's 2022 for those who may read this in the future.) Of course it's stressful to write about the stress of surviving a pandemic in a novel while surviving a pandemic. 

However, even more stressful has been the revolving door of cover designs for my forthcoming pandemic novel FLU SEASON: The Book of Mom. 

(Note: FLU SEASON is the series title; The Book of Mom is the first book's title.) You may have read my rant in my previous blog post. If you haven't, don't worry; I'll be recalling some of it here. Covers revealed below!

In my previous 15 novels, the cover design was not too intricate. Yes, they could have been more detailed, more compelling, more artistic, but what I ended up with suited my tastes if not readers' tastes. For science fiction and fantasy, the genres demand artistic, fanciful, detailed art depicting some scene related to the story. I could not achieve that by myself with the skills I have. (My best artwork comes from my 7th grade art class: a portrait of a Neanderthal man in tempera paint. Be amazed below!)

So I went to my usual art friend who has managed to please me through several novel covers, hoping she could do some of that art stuff for me but more complex art. Unfortunately, she was not then available. My first thought was to do it myself. I have made a couple covers for my novels but the design was simple - some effective that way, some not so much. The main obstacle was gathering the images I needed and relearning Photoshop. I did create a decent cover but I didn't feel confident in it.

On Twitter (@StephenSwartz1) I'm following/followed-by other writers and - as they choose to connect with me - various cover designers and publicists looking for work. One fellow writer showed off her covers. I liked them, thought it was a good example of what I needed for my book. I asked who did them for her and she put me in contact with her cover designer.

This was an adventure. No offense intended, for he ultimately did good work, but the process of working with a one-man-band proved to be frustrating and dragged the project out longer than necessary. I should have used that time to go through my manuscript once more for any final tweaks, given the time it took, but I kept expecting the finished product any day. When I finally got the finished product (full covers for print and e-book plus assorted promotional images featuring the cover) I was delighted. But...not wowed.

He created a cover that exactly matched what I said I wanted. It was technically correct based on my description. A couple of friends had valid criticisms of the finished cover. One said the cover looked too much like a comic book rather than a more serious novel about a tuba-playing mom and her teen son escaping a city in chaos for what they hoped would be relative safety in the countryside. I fretted over whether to use this cover or not. As the first book of a trilogy I was also concerned with the subsequent covers based on the standards of this one. 

I submitted the files for the manuscript and the cover, got my proof copy, and saw it with fresh eyes. It did look a bit too comic - but that was what I had described unknowingly so I could only blame myself. Having the physical book in my hands also showed me how big it was. The font was needlessly large for one thing (looked fine on a computer screen), so the page count had expanded. Right away I reduced the font throughout by 1 point, which shaved 40 pages from the manuscript.

All right, I thought to myself. I was then half way through that final reading/tweaking of the manuscript as I waited for the finished product to arrive. That "final" read through allowed me to snip here and there to further reduce the size. I knew I would need to resubmit everything and I worried that the cover may not match because of the change of the spine width due to having fewer pages.

At about the same time, I was contacted by a short-term follower who happened to be a cover design artist. Actually, she represented a business that designed covers and promotional material. Feeling distraught at my situation, I inquired about their services and found it reasonable. I gave them less instruction for the cover, hoping the artist would use his/her imagination more. I received a good rendition of my earlier description, however; the only problem was switching out a French horn for a tuba (I did specify a tuba).

They sent the files two weeks ago but I was traveling and forgot or missed seeing the email with the link to the files. Once I'd caught up and gotten the files, I was pleased - though two weeks behind my own timeline. I did see an error to fix and as long as they were fixing that I might as well ask for a couple other minor changes - which they fixed in 24 hours and resent to me. 

I don't know which cover is the best. They are all similar and yet differ in some ways. You may comment on your favorite (or, more likely, the one you like more than the others) and I will wait until I get the consensus I want before sending that cover to the publisher. I will reveal (although you might guess in the meantime) which is done by which designer. You can click on the image to enlarge it.

Now that I have everything - the manuscript tweaking is finished - I will resubmit everything and hope the next proof copy will be perfect. If it is, you will soon have Book 1 of FLU SEASON The Book of Mom available in print and for Kindle before the holidays.

Book 2 (The Way of the Son) is finished and undergoing appropriate revision and editing. The cover design shall commence forthwith.

Book 3 (Dawn of the Daughters) has begun, with much note scribbling, and may be used in this year's National Novel Writing Competition in November (just have to write 50,000 more words than what I have now).

Thanks for your support!

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(C) Copyright 2010-2022 by Stephen M. Swartz. All Rights Reserved. No part of this blog, whether text or image, may be used without me giving you written permission, except for brief excerpts that are accompanied by a link to this entire blog. Violators shall be written into novels as characters who are killed off. Serious violators shall be identified and dealt with according to the laws of the United States of America.

The Lure of the Image

They say the waiting is the worst part, and I would have to agree.

After the thrill of the first spark of ideation, the workhorse charge through a plot, the clever asides and welcome humor, the tragedy and the pathos, the love and beauty, the words of wisdom and the coming together of different paths in a satisfying unification just as our breath starts to wane . . . comes the waiting.

They say to set aside your manuscript for a couple weeks, minimum - a couple months is better - before looking at it again. Let the story settle. Forget it a little. Then you can read it again with fresh eyes and, it is hoped, you will see things that need attention - flesh out thin scenes, cut unnecessary paragraphs, add a line or two of dialog, clarify some details, re-check facts, correct typos and lapses of continuity, perhaps add a side quest to explain the sidekick's obsession with bunnies, whatever.

Meanwhile, you ring up your friend the artist and ask for cover art - or you hire a professional to design a book cover that reflects the story's genre but doesn't give away too much of the story. In my experience, book covers seldom fit exactly the story that's inside. Sometimes, it's aggravating they don't match. With fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, the image on the front cover is typically so lavish that I find myself pausing among the pages to gaze back occasionally at the image on the cover, searching there for details from the pages.

I remain amazed at the power of the image to catch us, draw us in, hold our attention, evoke our fantasies and fill our dreams . . . even as I, being the writer, labor to create with words what the artist creates with color, line and form, light and shadow, and special effects that further enrapture the viewer. It is magic. I know many writers collect pictures from magazines, the internet, or they photograph their own just to look at them while typing out a textual description of the scene. Conversely, a cover artist often works from a textual description of the design idea which the author provides.

I am now in that canyon of limbo. Everything is out of my control for a while. All I can do is wait and hope everything will work out just right. I submitted a work order for a book cover and have gotten the finished product. As far as I can tell the cover design follows my description, my idea, what I asked for. However, I find that, holding a proof copy of the book in my hands, the cover art doesn't quite "pop" as they say in the industry. I blame myself; I got what I asked for. Perhaps I should have given the artist more free reign to imagine a better design.

This experience reminds me of the power of the image over the textual. It seems unfair to me that before any reader starts to read even the first page, the reader must first be intrigued by the image on the front cover. Pick it up from the bookstore shelf. Gaze upon the picture, pondering the story represented there. Satisfied, the reader flips over the book and reads the back cover. Either there is a short description of the story, composed in such a way as to further intrigue the reader, to persuade the reader to take the book straight up to the cashier . . . or there are a few quotes from critics I don't know, whose opinions have no effect on whether I will like the book.

No matter how well written a story is, no matter how compelling the story is, no matter how well crafted the plot and its twists and denouement are, a reader will not even begin the reading experience without first being hooked by mere image. Before reading the short blurb on the back, there comes first the cover art.

Imagine deciding to go to a concert only by seeing the poster advertising the concert and reading a textual description of the music. Yes, if you know the music, you can decide based on the memory of having heard it before. Otherwise, a description of how the piece begins, what instruments play here and there, what effects the percussionists add, will not likely prompt a concertgoer to go. Would a lavish picture on the poster help persuade the concertgoer to attend separate from the words on the poster? Perhaps. It may suggest to the concertgoer that the organization cared enough about satisfying their customers to add the image. I'm only speculating, being both a reader and a concertgoer.

The book world is different. And as we move steadily forward into a world without pages, without text, it is the image which will carry civilization forward - much as mere images did in ancient times when the image of a book was the word for book. Or a scroll of papyrus or clay tablet, you know what I mean. 

Ars longa, Vita brevis.

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