Exciting Progress

Two major developments to report: the first round of copy editing is completed. I will now be going back over the manuscript, taking my own pass at catching errors and contradictions. Joe Crowe was extremely helpful and generous, so everybody give him a big hand.

The good news is Joe says he liked it! (yay!) He's the first person to read it and I either did not totally waste my time writing this thing or else he's just extremely kind. (Maybe both.) I could ask him for a review quote for use on the back cover of the book, but I'm afraid it might say something like "Great use of semi-colons! Complete command of apostrophes!" so maybe I won't do that.

The second major development is in regards to the cover art. I have agreed to terms with an artist that will be doing a painting for my cover. And, trust me, that particular understatement is a case of extreme restraint. I cannot express how excited and thrilled I am to have this particular artist working for me. His name might not be known to the general public at large, but to a certain percentage of the population his name is legendary.

He's had at least a 40-year career and I've personally been a fan of his work for over 20 years. Never in my life did I ever fathom that I could have him do something like this for me. Thank the wonders of the internet for allowing me to even track him down and correspond with him.

I won't announce the name just yet. But it's a done deal and it will happen. And regardless of whatever may be on the inside, at least my book is going to look fantastic!

So with a fully painted cover coming from one of my favorite artists, my excitement and enthusiasm for this project is not only renewed but off the charts. However, this does mean waiting a little bit longer before the book is available. I had been considering doing an advance edition with a simpler cover, but not now. I don't want to reduce the impact of the book coming out with the real cover right from the start.

In upcoming posts, I'll go into a little bit of how this book will be published and made available. I also have plenty of other character sketches on standby, waiting to be scanned in and shared.