Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Friends Are Awesome

I'm not the most sociable of people. If my wife offers me a choice of going to a party or staying home with my computer, the computer is going to win nearly every time. However, in the rare instances when I really click with someone, there is nothing better. It has happened to me only a few times in my life, and since I move so much, I have only two real-life best friends that still keep in touch regularly. With them I never have to make small talk. I can talk forever about my hobbies and they won't get bored; they will actually encourage me. So, thanks Mike D. and Gary L., you really make life better!
Mike is a very creative person. We got a little band together when we lived in Zagreb, Croatia. It never went anywhere (we could never find a singer), but it was great fun jamming to old Led Zeppelin songs. I was always awed that Mike could apparently play everything -- drums, bass, guitar, harmonica. He would even try to sing, though it's better not to go there.

Well, once when I visited Mike in Maryland he surprised me with a book with the following cover:
(NOTE: This was before I had written the story!! I had only talked with him about what I intended to write.)
(click for a larger view)

It turned out to be a random novel that he had wrapped this cover mock-up around. It felt good to see my 'book'. I hate to nitpick when he put so much effort into it (and the cover art he found is really great, very appropriate to the colorings that I prefer in fantasy art), but the awards he listed are for sci-fi books rather than fantasy, and even though my series eventually turns to sci-fi, for now it is just a fantasy. I don't feel the font and coloring worked for the title, either, but having tried to do that myself a couple of times, I know just how hard it is to get right. What wowed me the most was his made-up blurb on the back cover. It isn't professional quality and has a few too many cliches, but he essentially got my story right (I must point out, though, that the boy is not a farm boy. Even I wouldn't push the cliches that far!). This was one of the best gifts a friend has ever given me!

18 comments:

  1. It's beautiful. Even if it's not exactly what you wanted, it still looks impressive. Gave me chills to see your name and title on a book jacket.

    ReplyDelete
  2. That's awesome! I think having friends who believe in us makes all the difference. It would be hard to keep going without that support.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you both. Natalie, I thought that digital photo attendance at the conference was hilarious, and I wish you luck with the baby!

    ReplyDelete
  4. That is AMAZING Ted! I mean I hear you about the font and the blurb, they're not terrible, but probably not what you would choose either. The background art is awesome though, it looks like a John Howe or an Alan Lee. Do you happen to know who painted it?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nope. I thought it might be Alan Lee, but I can't seem to find it, and when I look close it doesn't quite look like his work.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very cool, Ted! It's great that your friend would make something like that for you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Real friends are cool. We spent Sunday with real friends. Had a great time watching the kids swim. Nothing too exciting, just spending time with each other.

    Stephen Tremp

    ReplyDelete
  8. aww! what a sweetie! (gorgeous art!)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Actually, speaking from a professional standpoint, the font works very well. It was the first thing that drew me to the cover.

    It might not be what you were envisioning, but as a marketing tool, it works.

    ReplyDelete
  10. He put a lot of time and effort into it - that's an awesome friend.
    And my computer wins every time as well.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I think it's GORGEOUS. I would probably put the WORDS The Shard the same color the shard is supposed to be (isn't it a blue-green, or am I making that up?) and then maybe your NAME in gold (as that would be across the color-wheel and opposites make pleasing aesthetics, but I think it's beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a thoughtful (and creative) friend!

    p.s. - love your taste in rock-n-roll :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Maria, I know it is eye-catching, but it doesn't fit the tone of the story. It is too flashy and colorful. To me something that was more solid, perhaps like stone, would suit the mood better.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey, does no one read my buddy's little jokes on the cover? I thought they were pretty funny!

    ReplyDelete
  15. jokes? i thought king actually thought you were the next tolkien?!?!?

    ReplyDelete
  16. That looks amazing. Reading the blurb kind of makes me want to play Lord of the Rings Online again...or WoW. Darn husband is playing WoW now, but I've been off the stuff for over a year to concentrate on my writing (flying takes a long time, but not long enough to write anything).

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yeah, I can't write on a plane either!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Now that is a cool friend! Honestly, though... it is very eye-catching and I would have picked that book up. Even the font is cool. I have an advertising art degree, I like it. :D

    ReplyDelete