Sudden Rescue - The Cover

My next, and first full length, novel is scheduled for release some time in March.  It's in the revision process right now, and as mentioned previously, that allows a window for the preparation of a cover.  This was the first time I've ever commissioned artwork in my life, and it was a lot of fun from start to finish.  The artist, Rapha Pinhiero (on Facebook and Instagram), took a brief description and ran with it.  He prepared four thumbnail sketches and together we settled on the one that best captured the threat, action, and sense of wonder that the book hopes to present.

This is the description I sent him:

I need an action shot of a space trucker in leather jacket and black baseball hat saving a pretty space princess in full ball gown from a vaguely knight looking robot. The action can take place in the halls of a spaceship or set on the wilds of an alien planet, whichever you're most comfortable with.

How did he do?  You be the judge:

The palette Rapha chose is bold and bright, and allowed me to use a high contrast yellow for the title that reads well at any size, and neither the art nor title overwhelm the other.  It's not a color pair that I would have chosen, but it works well, and it's just that sort of creativity and experience that makes the money so well spent.

 

Here's where everything gets even more fun.  I didn't realize that the titular space trucker - his name is E. Z. Sudden - had a full 'stache and goatee.  In my mind he didn't until I saw this picture.  Now, as I revise the work, that's how I'll picture him.  Better yet, there's a log on his shirt that serves as an Easter Egg for the fans of the cover artist.  On questioning, Rapha admitted its a burning pyramid taken from a comic book he created called Tomes of Tessa.  I can't tell you how thrilled I am that he included that in the art work.  I specifically left things vague to allow him room for just that sort of personal touch, and he came through like a champ.

 

Think about.  That means that either Sudden is a fan of independent comic books or that the burning pyramid is a local in Sudden's universe, and he not only visited it, but bought a t-shirt at the gift shop.  Either way, it makes me laugh every time I think about it.

 

Anyway, the point is, commissioning artwork is a blast.  It was so much fun, it has me motivated to write another book as fast as possible just so that I can go through the cover process again.