Posts in category updates - Page 2

This has been a long time coming but it’s finally here! The cover for Amethyst Shards. If you look closely, parts of it may seem familiar. That’s because it’s actually a blend of the other book covers. I wasn’t originally going to do this, but the idea came to me and it clicked. I originally had two other directions for Amethyst Shards’: Another fractal, like Emerald Haze. I even had fractal candidates set aside for this route. Physical art like...

If you’ve been on the Spine recently, you may have noticed that things are very different now in terms of design. The Spine has has a pretty major face lift. I received some advice from a designer friend of mine, Kelly Rauwerdink, on The Spine of the Empire’s website design, mostly focused on the home page. There was a lot to take in and a lot to improve. The Major Design Changes The home page, save some copy, was gutted...

The print proof copy of Emerald Haze has arrived! I am very pleased with how it turned out. This was the first copy I ordered using Lulu’s new interface and option set. The new Lulu interface was SO easy to use and the new options were fantastic. If anyone from Lulu is reading, thank you for all your hard work! It came together really well and so Emerald Haze’s print form has. Behold! The cover spine looks nice Title Page...

Emerald Haze, the ninth book in the series, is done and ‘released’! It has been a long, strange journey getting here. It tested me and the characters in ways never before experienced. It was intense…very intense. But it’s over now. It is ready for consumption. I imagine there will be much discussion from Emerald Haze, and it will all be due for it. It’s a very…character driven book, despite it also existing at the ‘apex’ of a certain quest. The...

After mulling over the top fractals I recently generated, the rejects you can see here, I settled on one fractal to use. It was the fractal that I deep-down knew was going to be the Emerald Haze cover art the moment I saw it generate. Any hesitation I had towards using the fractal medium once more for a book cover was shattered by this fractal. This fractal…its entire composition is so apt for the book contents. It is almost like...

I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted for the Emerald Haze cover art, but I knew it had to be green. I played around with the Apple Pencil and the Sketchbook app, but I wasn’t too fond of the above results (the art is the post thumbnail). It lacked punch and texture. It needed something more dynamic to convey the themes present in the book. After some thought, I decided to spin up the JWildfire Fractal Generator again. I used...