Covers: “Guardian Trilogy” by Liz Schulte
I debated on doing three separate posts, but then decided that was just plain ridiculous! It’s a trilogy, and all three covers are done! I really enjoyed doing these covers for Liz Schulte’s Guardian Trilogy. It was a fairly simple design (a ying yang) with the challenge of creating a realistic progression (glowing burst, charred flames, flaking away ashes) with no stock usage….I’ll just show the books 
Book 1: “Secrets“
Book 2: “Choices“
Book 3: “Consequences” (cooming soon!)
And the Facebook Timeline Cover image:
Cover: “Evolving Environment” by Chris Northern
The cover for the third installment of Chris Northern’s Dancing with Darwin series is complete, “Evolving Environment”. Look for it coming soon to eBook!
Cover: “In Shades of Grey” by Melissa Myers
Melissa Myers contacted me a short bit ago about redoing her covers for “The Elder Blood Chronicles” series of hers. First off, I have to say, if you are at all interested in fantasy novels READ THIS SERIES! I can honestly endorse it because I started reading the series before doing the cover.
We just finished book one’s cover “In Shades of Grey“
I don’t think I’ve told Melissa this yet, but I hold this cover particularly dear to me because in my frustration (yes I got frustrated) in getting the image from my head to the screen, I wound up doing something I haven’t done in years. I digitally painted. I work on photography, photomanipulations, design, vector art, but I haven’t actually painted stroke by stroke in, well I’m not sure how many years. The whole cover isn’t digitally painted, though there are a lot of areas that were. Mostly though it was Marrow, the cat-like creature called a Bendazzi from the books. Don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t fully free-hand, I started with something, well a couple of somethings, mostly for reference. But all that fur you see, and the detail, was painted.
Here’s a closer view.
And here’s the full print cover.
And the Facebook Timeline Cover image.
Look for the new cover soon, in print and eBook!
Cover: “The Happiness Quest” by Madison Bradford
Redid the cover for Madison Bradford’s “The Happiness Quest: How to be Happy”
Available now on eBook!
BLURB: Let’s face it; we all just want to be HAPPY! Our actions, thoughts, dreams and desires are all based around finding happiness. Do you consider yourself happy? If not, it’s time you went on The Happiness Quest. This book analyzes every aspect of happiness and it unveils simple steps you can take on your journey to contentment and joy. You will explore the connections between happiness and money, relationships, your career and much more. Learn to tap into your inner “happy self” and how to change other people’s perceptions of you. This book, written by Madison Bradford will help reach your destination on your own personal Happiness Quest!
**Written by Madison Bradford, the BEST SELLING author of Moneymalism and The Minimal LIST. **
Cover: “Headed Home” by Chris Northern
Recently I did the cover for Chris Northern’s first book in his upcoming series of short Science Fiction stories, “Rapture Ready“, and just finished the cover for the second installment “Headed Home“
Now available on eBook!
BLURB: When the world goes crazy, Sheena drives into Los Angeles as part of a military convoy, surrounded by people she knows and trusts with her life. When madness steals over her unit, she is forced away from them… and everyone else. It’s only a matter of time before she must deal with her fear and face her inner demons.
Headed Home is the second story to be released of a series of many parts, collectively known as Dancing with Darwin. It is one of the shortest in the Dancing with Darwin series at 10,250 words (roughly 30 print pages)
Cover: “Blue Wall” by Alex MacLean
One more cover to post about today. This one is for author Alex MacLean, and his upcoming eBook, “Blue Wall: A True Story of Police Corruption in Small Town Canada”
Look for it coming soon to eBook!
Matching facebook timeline cover image:
Cover: “Hoot” by Jack Howell
Another cover finished. This one is for Jack Howell’s short story “Hoot.” Predatory owls that attack humans!
Now available on eBook!
BLURB: Camping couple Zach and Emma lose their way in a remote section of the San Juan Forest in Colorado. As night falls they stumble upon a hidden source of horror — solitary creatures that have transformed into a pack of predators, hungry for flesh. When the sun goes down on the forest, the fun quickly fades for this young couple in love.
One thing is for sure… it’s a Hoot.
Cover: “Vanguard of Man” by GA Marshall
I have a few images to show with this one. The book is a science-fiction horror story, “Vanguard of Man” written by GA Marshall, and will be available in print and eBook soon. (will link when it’s out)
We did something a little different with this cover. The author wanted to incorporate the logo related to the story stamped onto a broken piece of metal. And since the image is of the crash scene, I thought it would be interesting if we wrapped it around the spine of the print cover.
So it will look something like this, but better because when it’s printed it won’t looked pieced together like mine does. LOL I make this 3D image for each and every cover I do, but just could NOT get this one to line up perfectly! So ignore that flaw.
We did the eBook cover just a tad bit different than the front cover of the print version, just so that the logo was more visible.
And finally, the matching facebook timeline cover image.
Cover: “Waif” by Nigel Edwards
Greyhart Press hired me to revamp the cover of their popular short story, “Waif” by Nigel Edwards.
“When midnight comes, Waif must serve Young Master. But what service will he demand of her?”
Cover: “The Dark Proposal” by Megan Cashman
My latest commissioned work was for author Megan Cashman and her upcoming novel “The Dark Proposal”
Look for it on eBook, coming this summer!
Blurb: Girls, if you had the perfect boyfriend who suddenly reveals he is a vampire, and also wants to make you one or else…what do you do?
That is the dilemma college graduate Claire McCormick faces when the man who brightened up her life turns out to be a murderous vampire who won’t take no for an answer when he proposes Claire to join him for eternity. She faces becoming evil herself or have evil done to her and her loved ones. The Dark Proposal explores Claire’s nightmare and fears while she makes her decision. Along the way, she learns why exactly her boyfriend wants her to be vampire like him.
And the Facebook Timeline Cover Image:
A Non-Cover Post
Look! I’m posting about something that isn’t book cover related! I’m taking a break from covers, well for the weekend I was really bored today, refused to ‘work’, it was raining outside, and I didn’t want to clean. So I got my camera out, ran outside through the rain to pick a few flowers that are in bloom (left the camera in the house), and thought I’d play with my macro lens.
My husband bought me a macro lens flash for Christmas the year before last. It takes AAA, and EVERY time I go to try it, I didn’t have any batteries! So it’s been sitting in my camera bag for what? A year and a half now? Well today I had batteries!
I set up a small backdrop, dug out the tripod, swapped to the macro lens, hooked up the never used flash and started shooting. This flash thing is pretty cool. I was able to play with lighting on a small scale. It’s a lower end flash. Not one that actually attaches to the lens, but instead is on a bendable arm. (Found one on Amazon.) The bendable arm is pretty neat because I can move it around and change the lighting directions, not just center it with the lens.
Everything I shot today, I shot in black and white, was just the mood I was in I guess. I have been looking at a lot of older work from photographers such as Imogen Cunningham, and Edward Weston, so I suppose you could say that was influencing me a bit.
The shots are all as is….as in NO PHOTOSHOP! Shocking isn’t it??? The only correction between camera and computer was file size, and slapping my name in the corner. I had to force myself not to adjust the contrast, or crop, or tint, or high light, or open the curves, or add layers of texture and dodge and burn, and and…oh sorry..was getting away from myself there a bit.
Anyways…here’s some eye candy for your Saturday evening. Though I imagine most people have better things to do on a Saturday night, unlike me.
Azalea Blossoms
Bleeding Hearts
Peony
Cover: “Rapture Ready” by Chris Northern
I recently finished the cover for Chris Northern’s first book in his upcoming series of short Science Fiction stories, “Rapture Ready: Dancing with Darwin” Now available on eBook!
Facebook Timeline Cover:
Covers: “The Kult” & “Killers” by Shaun Jeffrey
I was recently contacted by Shaun Jeffrey about remaking his covers for his Prosper Snow Novels. He was looking for something that said “psychological thriller” instead of out right horror or Gothic, but he also wanted it obvious that the two books were part of the same series. After a couple shots at it, and a little bit of tweaking here and there, this is what we came up with:
The Kult Blurb: People are predictable. That’s what makes them easy to kill.
Out of misguided loyalty, police officer Prosper Snow is goaded into helping his friends perform a copycat killing, but when the real killer comes after him, it’s not only his life on the line, but his family’s too. Now if he goes to his colleagues for help, he risks being arrested for murder. If he doesn’t, he risks being killed.
Killers Blurb: Murder makes monsters of people. Prosper Snow knows that better than most. Now he’s back on the trail of another serial killer, only this time there’s far more to the case than meets the eye. Thwarted at every turn, Prosper unwittingly uncovers a human experiment more monstrous than anything he could ever imagine. Now the only way to crack the case is to work from the inside and join a shadowy government agency that operates outside the law. Only he might be too late as the experiment has spiralled out of control.
Another New Pre-made
Another new pre-made cover:
For information about purchasing a pre-made cover, click here
Two New Pre-made Covers
Put together a couple new pre-made covers, both a bit on the grungy side.
"Pale Moon's Kiss Goodnight" Pre-made Cover $30
"Do Not Forget" Pre-made Cover $30
For information about purchasing a pre-made cover, click here.
Cover: “Death by Cupcake” by Melanie Ray
I just finished up the cover for book two in Melanie Ray’s Lost Secret Series, “Death by Cupcake” which will be available in a couple months on eBook.
You just got to love images with hippie hero’s and bloody pastries! I can’t wait to work on book three! (Neither can my kids since they get to eat the pastries after the shoot lol)
Facebook Timeline Cover for the series up to date:
Cover: “Coke with a Twist” by A.W. Hartoin
The latest in cover designs was done for author A.W. Hartoin and her short story, an introduction to her upcoming Mercy Watts series, “Coke with a Twist”
Look for it coming soon to eBook!
BLURB:
“Marilyn Monroe look-a-like, Mercy Watts, has her share of problems, despite her fabulous face. Her father’s a private investigator and when he ropes her into one of his cases, Mercy can’t contain her curiosity. Two college students have confessed to the brutal rape of a young woman, but reason they had the opportunity, remains a mystery. The case will take her from a dive bar to sorority row to the gutter. But Mercy will solve the case, if she can survive it.”
And of course, the matching Facebook Timeline Cover Image:
Cover: “Following Yonder Star” by Ehud Gershom
The latest cover was designed for Ehud Gershom’s upcoming novel “Following Yonder Star: The Untold Trials of the Three Kings”. We all know the 3 kings followed the star to Bethlehem when Jesus was born, but we don’t know what may have transpired on their journey. Ehud Gershom’s fictional novel tells their story. How they met, what transpired and what happened to them afterwards.
Ehud sent me his mock-up print cover, and the stock he used, and I got to admit, it was pretty dang good. Made me a bit nervous. But went ahead and chopped up the stock image, laying it out in a manor more suited to the 3 kings, played with the color and textures and this is what we came up with. (He plans on adding the text to the back at a later time)
And of course, with the plan to use facebook as a marketing tool, the timeline cover:
And as soon as the book is out, I will link to it. It will be available for print and eBook!
Cover: “From Crappy To Happy” by Samantha Brighton
Latest in eBook covers, “From Crappy to Happy: Transforming Your Life from Miserable to Pleasurable in Six Week” written by Samantha Brighton. Look for it coming soon to Amazon!
Gone
I spent Sunday afternoon driving around, exploring, looking for that perfect picture to capture with my camera. I haven’t been out since last fall, and I didn’t know where to go. So I just hopped in the car and drove. I wanted to rejuvenate my love for photographing old run down abandoned houses, or that barn up on the hill, so I headed north, out into to a more rural setting.
I drove for hours, only stopping twice to take one or two pictures! What’s wrong with me? I drove by several abandoned houses, falling down buildings, probably hundreds of barns. Have I lost my edge? Is photography not doing it for me anymore? All I could think about was how much gas I was wasting! It’s sad really.
Before I headed out, I was skimming through some of my past images. To me, I feel like I have lost something in the past couple years. Originally I blamed it on the loss of my old tablet PC. I started out with an older Toshiba Satellite Tablet laptop, with which I could just flip the screen over, and use the stylus right on the screen. I LOVED that comp. Not to mention what I saw on the screen was EXACTLY what the print looked like. This new laptop makes everything much lighter, and no matter how much I play with the display settings, it doesn’t help.
When my tablet PC kicked the bucket one last time, I stopped playing with images for quite a while. I stopped taking pictures, I stopped making abstracts, and photomanipulations? No way! But gradually I got used to using the mouse again (lefty using a right handed mouse here!), and gradually I started working my way back into my creative outlet. Looking around my blog now days, you see I’ve been doing mostly photomanipulated book covers, and recently I purchased a Wacom tablet, still trying to grasp what I had with my tablet pc. (Though I tend to go for the mouse more still lol) And with that attempted grasp, I was looking to grab onto my older style in photography/editing.
Which brings me to my original point of this post. Some days you just get sidetracked…..
After driving around for about 4hrs, I stop and get something to eat (driving makes you hungry!), sit down, pull out my map to figure out where I’m going next. Because this aimless driving, wasn’t getting me anywhere. And then I had a thought. Why don’t I go revisit some of the places I photographed before? I mean, 4-5 yrs have passed, they might be even more dilapidated! So I pack up, head an hour west, all excited that I KNOW WHERE TO GO!
To this day, my favorite image in my portfolio is “Abandoned” It just speaks to me on sooo many levels. I weave my way through all these back country roads, spitting up rocks as I fly down the dirt roads, my destination for once completely clear to me. As I start to pass the adjoining apple orchard, I slow, eyes peeled, music blaring on the radio, fingers tapping with the rhythm, sitting forward in my seat leaning over the steering wheel, so excited. The clearing approaches, I pass by an old trailer, then a massive stack of apple crates, then more orchard. Wait, more orchard? I throw it in reverse. Stop in front of that pile of apple crates. Note the shrubbery surrounding them is familure, then notice the cement foundation they are stack upon. My heart sinks. It’s gone! Gone!
I’m not sure how long I sat there staring at these stacks of apple crates, but it was a while. I reached for the camera at one point, intending to “document” the loss, but couldn’t bring myself to actually take the picture. It seems so silly to be upset about the loss. It was a falling down, abandoned house, no “historical” importance, a safety hazard! But still, I felt the loss so deeply. I can’t explain it.
I suck it up, thankful I found it when I did 4 yrs ago to take that amazing picture, then decided to revisit a few more spots in the area that are prominent in my portfolio. (There were quite a few in this area) I head down the road to where I took “Quiet Barn”. I slow as I come up to it, very familure with it’s exact location, since when I lived out there I drove by it almost daily.
Nothing! Nothing but and open field! You’d think after the house, I’d somewhat expect it. But this barn was still in use last time I drove by it! 
I keep going, now looking for places I photographed, desperately needing to know if they are still there.
GONE.
GONE.
GONE.
GONE.
I stopped looking, and just went home. It just goes to show, you never know how long something will still be there.
Facebook Timeline Covers
All of you rolling your eyes, refusing change (like I was) suck it up and get with the program! Facebook’s new timelines are here, but are you ready?
Honestly, I never gave the timeline covers any thought. I just kept clicking the “not now” button. Then earlier this week, I had an author contact me asking if I knew where she could find an image she might be able to use for her facebook cover. I had already done her eBook cover, so I had all the files. Putting something together for her wasn’t a big deal. Then after that, I did my own. And from all that, I have decided to offer facebook cover images as part of my services.
For the time being, I will offer a Facebook timeline cover image FREE with the purchase of a eBook/book cover. That image could take parts of your book covers imagery, to promote that specific book, like this one, created with the image from my pre-made cover “The Lost Girl”:
Or a basic image containing the book(s) as an actual book and your info, like you see here:
Or just a snazzy design with your author information. It’s up to you!
If you don’t need a book cover designed right now, but do want to update your facebook timeline cover image, for a limited time I will be offering that service for $10 per image! Send me an e-mail at kklawiter@gmail.com.
And just in case you are curious, this is what I am currently using for my facebook fan page cover image:
Cover: “True & False: The Dreams, Thoughts, Life & Lies of an Aspiring Lunatic” by Steven Christians
“True & False: The Dreams, Thoughts, Life & Lies of an Aspiring Lunatic” by Steven Christians
BLURB: A copulation of short stories and poems that covers subjects ranging from hunting, to farming, to firefighting, to life in general. This book will have you laughing, crying, and thinking about the basics of life itself. This is written by a firefighter, who because of paraplegia, and with the help of God, found a way to deal with depression, as well as the struggles of day to day life, by writing poetry, and both fiction and non-fiction short stories.
ADDED 4.19.2012 The Print Cover:
Covers for M A Comley’s DI Lorne Simpkins Thriller Series
I’ve got four covers here I recently finished for author MA Comely’s DI Lorne Simpkins Thriller Series.
“Cruel Justice,” “Impeding Justice,” “Final Justice” (those 3 were recovers) and the upcoming novel for the series “Foul Justice”
BLURB: The headless body of a wealthy widow is discovered
decomposing in Chelling Forest. Then a second victim is found. Detective
Inspector Lorne Simpkins and her partner, DS Pete Childs are assigned the case.
Before they can discover the identity of the killer they must make a connection
between the two victims.
After a third murder, Lorne receives a grisly surprise. Clearly, a vicious
serial killer is on a rampage…and Lorne has become the killer’s fixation.
Lorne can’t allow her failing marriage or her new boss–a man with whom she
shares a sensuous secret–keep her from focusing on her job. She must catch the
macabre murderer, or risk becoming the next victim.
BLURB: For eight long years, Detective Inspector Lorne Simpkins has tracked the
vicious criminal known as The Unicorn. But the killer has frustrated MI6
at every turn and remained successful at Impeding Justice.
When Lorne is targeted in a trap that results in the death of her
partner, the tragedy shakes her confidence to the core. Before she
has time to recoup, her teenage daughter is kidnapped. More than Lorne’s
professional reputation rests on her bringing The Unicorn to justice
BLURB: A ruthless killer returns–and former DI Lorne Simpkins is forced to revisit her ugly past.
After suffering a breakdown and quitting the force, Lorne Simpkins
finds herself embroiled in an MI6 covert operation to hunt down her old
enemy, a sadistic and merciless criminal whose ambition is to become the
world’s richest man.
Lorne tracks the madman through France, attempting to thwart his plans and bring her long-time nemesis to Final Justice.
New Art
I’ve been doing all these book covers lately, but haven’t done anything for me in a long time. With the cold weather, and well just life, I haven’t been able to get out with my camera in a LONG time. Something I hope to remedy soon with all this summer like weather. But in the mean time I started working on a photomanipulation in between cover works. Honestly, I think it started out as a pre-made cover (the dimensions are right for it lol), but I didn’t slap a title and name on it. I suppose it could be used as a cover if it suited the right book.
I always have mixed feelings about photomanipulations. For cover work, they’re fine, but as art I don’t really feel that it is “MINE”. Normally I try to use as much as my own photos as possible. Come to think of it, I think this is only the second piece I’ve done with all stock art. The first would be “Lil Red Riding Hood“. No, wait, I misspoke myself, this will be the third all stock piece. “Beyond the Falls” was all stock too. Typically, at the very LEAST I use my own backgrounds, but I do use stock models in anything with people. I just don’t have willing models to pose for me lol.
So here it is, “Wishful Thoughts”
