The Covers

They say a cover often sells a book. There is a lot of truth to it. Looking back, there’ are a lot of books (and graphic cartoons) I purchased because of the cover.

Case in point: I was introduced to The Rook by the cover of one of his magazines. The guy

Looks like he blew out of the old west. He has a knife in one hand and a pistol in the other. In the background is the wrecked time machine from George Pal’s “The Time Machine” movie. Shadows of the Morlocks are closing in on him.

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter series. For an eighteen-year-old, card-carrying nerd, a scantily-clad Dejah Thoris on the cover is catnip.

Same for the book, The Cave Girl. I mean a Raquel Welch look-alike, wearing her trademark fur bikini, and she’d be clutching a spear in one hand and the leash of two tigers in the other. Really. How can you resist?

Then there’s the cover of the book, beautifully broken. Handsome guy, pretty girl wrapped in the flag in front of a piece of America, in this case a covered bridge. Looks very Hallmark until you realize handsome guy has no legs.

The new covers show the growth of an indie author. Before, without money, I created them myself. I still do, but now I’ve got better tools. I’ve learned how to use AI to generate images and applied them to cover work.

Here’s what they look like now.

The cover for The Cross and the Badge: The cover reflects a place in Conejos County that actually exists. Here, it’s the cross on the hill overlooking the small placita of Las Mesitas. I added the story of the cross as a preface to the book.

Notice that Will has stolen his “look” from The Rook above. In a scene in the novel where he mentions how he dresses, he never really knew how to dress, liked the look, so he stole it.

He talks about it here in an interview.

Life On Mars– I had to ask what the central piece to the story was, and it was the sexual assault that occurs in the story. I tried to capture an image that shows something happened, but reflects the girl’s shattered state.

Broken People– Again, what’s the centerpiece

of the story? It’s Pam’s attempt at suicide. I opted for a sweeping vista of the San Luis Valley, a pretty girl with her back to us, and a gun to her head.

Event Horizon – This is one of the rare times we’ll see the face of one character. Again, what’s the central piece? That would be Eva’s murder. Will is coming through the door and see’s her dead on the floor.