Before any of you worry that my obsession with the cover is detracting from my real job, allow me to mollify you somewhat:

I’m mostly doing the design stuff in my off-hours (as if I ever take an hour off). And this is when ideas for other short stories percolate to the surface and I can recharge before diving back into my Molly research. Also, I think this experience is going to give me a nice vocabulary for working with future book-cover designers. Understanding what they do with their time will help me appreciate the challenges they face, and allow me to have reasonable expectations for their output.

Also, the time spent in front of Photoshop is frankly quite relaxing for me. Fiddling with pixels is like mixing paint on a palette and spreading it across a canvas. I even stand back and tilt my head at the screen, just like I’ve seen real artists do. It makes me feel very creative when I adopt this stance, which must be a good thing.

Oh, and I think I may be a tad ahead of the game when it comes to my writing. Book two is nearly complete. As in submittable-to-the-publisher complete. Two more weeks and I’ll be done with it, ready to start work on book three. Even with a shortened release schedule (6 months between books 1 and 2), this means I’m caught up for the next 8 months. Nothing but pleasurable editing with my lovely and fantastic publisher, picking at nits on the book cover, and endless self-promotion.

So… I’m thoroughly enjoying this process of tinkering with something that was adequate two weeks ago, and I hope you’ll join in on the fun. Don’t worry about the story that’s going inside these purty covers… they are nearly “wrapped up.”