OCTOBER 2020 – Illustrating has been the primary focus of my creative efforts this month. Have done dozens of drawings and by the time you are reading this they have all been scanned in to the computer and added to the book! There are individual chapter drawings and a selection of other inner cover artwork. This book is for an older audience than my previous work, but I think there is still room for illustrations. I think they really add a lot to the work as a whole and the experience of enjoying the story.
Cover artwork has been a bigger challenge. I have a visual in my mind of what I would like it to look like and the current design is getting closer to that, but there is still a missing piece. I have tried several different ideas to bridge that gap between expectations and reality, but I’m not quite there yet. I was looking at covers of books on the NY Times Bestsellers list and the top selling Amazon books listings. And there are some design fundamentals that seem prevalent as the ‘in-style’. My current design continues my antique book look that I’ve started with my other titles and will be continuing for this one. Though I do think in the future I’d like to try a more modern take on visuals for a book cover, as it would be fun to do something really wild and imaginative.
A more classic design seems much more fitting given the material.
Autumn leaves have been gorgeous this year. Feel rather remiss for not taking any photographs of them to share. My brain has been rather preoccupied between work and the new book, it has sort of dominated all of my attention. For all of you who have been waiting patiently for the next book to come out, I thank you! Has been a LONG time coming, but I’m beyond amped up to share it with you all. Most days I have this internal bouncing creative energy as I’m so happy with how this is all coming together. Glad I didn’t make any predictions though for how long it would take to complete!
This month I did read, I snagged a copy of Brandon Sanderson’s book ‘Starsight’, the sequel to ‘Skyward’ which I’ve mentioned in the past on the site here. If you want a prolific writer who is an absolute workhorse and machine, Brandon Sanderson is your writer! He has an amazing level of capacity for creating new material, it is amazing. I’ve been listening to his YouTube video lecture series as encouragement and I was happy to read his new (as of 2019) book. ‘Starsight’ continues the adventures of Spensa and the distant human race as they struggle for survival and to escape into space. Was a fun read, very different than what I would have guessed it to be, but I like that, as it opened up a lot of doors for him to take the series in a number of different directions.
It also made me want to read more Science Fiction, so I think I might look to read more Orson Scott Card this Winter. But first things first, and make sure there is a new, completed, C.S. Robadue book to read this Winter! Hahaha.
Cheers everyone!
~ CS
