16 May 2012

New Challenge - Cover Design

A friend of a friend of a friend asked for my advice on the cover design of his new, self-pub book. After a bit of discussion he asked me to design the whole thing. I do cover layout in my day job but I don't create the graphics so this was a new challenge for me. A bit of back and forth, well, a lot of back and forth, and we came up with this -


This is now up on Amazon and here is the blurb -

The Veil. A doorway between worlds, hidden, feared and worshipped. The Veil reflects the life of the world and on Nalamae, there was no darkness within its silks, not one flicker of black. Nalamae breathed fresh air but when darkness does come to a green world, it comes swiftly and it comes with an army.

Nikki, Leah and Tobias are the only survivors of the attack. They must escape Nalamae and find the man who killed their world, the son of tyranny, Vladimir. Once through the Veil, the three discover the darker side to the universe and for Leah and Nikki, a destiny that will test the limits of their friendship.

The three travel through worlds of deserts and forests, of genetic technology and dagger-like mountains, right into the heart of darkness itself. To get to Vladimir they must get through the Dimlight, the place behind the blackness of space. Dragons roar through it, ridden by beings of pure magic and it is here that Nikki realises that she is much more than simple girl.

But Vladimir has a plan of his own, he has been hunting them since they left Nalamae, intent on completing an ancient task that will shake the universe to its core.

Darkling Worlds is an epic fantasy that takes you through the universe on the back of a dragon, to worlds of magic and death, and through the fabric of space. 

During my design time, I also read the book. I don't usually read self-pub books, I'm a firm believer in traditional publishing and the importance of editors but Darkling Worlds might change my mind a little. I'll just say that if this book doesn't get picked up, I'll be surprised. And obviously with a surname like Lewis, AJ is already on the right track to stardom!

4 May 2012

Writing Update

I have been a bit lax with blogging and updating and all that jazz. The reason for this is because in the middle of February I finished my WIP. I then spent the next 6 weeks editing and revising it. Now it is on submission to agents and the responses have been wonderful so far.

This isn't the only thing that has been taking my attention away from blogging. I have started a new WIP which I am super excited about, even more than the first book. This new project currently stands at 12k and I'm really happy with it. It is using narrative techniques I haven't used before and I'm experimenting with chapter length and jumping POVs. In short, loving it. I'm also getting married in 6 weeks so the planning has just overwhelmed every other spare moment.

I will be blogging more in the future, hopefully with some good news of my first WIP! :)