A Sneak Peek at the Art for "Ruthless"

This week I had a text from Ed Calkins.

I was super excited to see it and told him so. Ed usually communicates by email, unless I pick up the phone.

But then the next text said, "No, this is his wife because I'm sending you pictures for each chapter."

Nancy Calkins, Ed's wife, designed the cover and chapter headings for the prologue, epilogue, and each of the novel's twenty chapters. She started texting them all to me, wasn't happy with the lighting, and decided she and Ed will drive out to Joliet and bring me the originals next week.

In the meantime, here's a pictorial glance at the illustrations Nancy sent so far for Ed's book. I'm doing a hard edit on the manuscript over the Thanksgiving weekend. 

Just so you know, "Ruthless" is longer than "Staked!"

Release date? Why Calkins Day 2021, of course (Feb. 13).

Here's the cover, and yes, it looks crooked because of the way the images came through over text. Some of the illustrations follow it, so keep scrolling.

And now, eleven of the interior illustrations:

First, the forward.

Chapter 1: Backward

Chapter 2: Pigs Don't Plow

Chapter 3: Mirror

Chapter 4: Road Trip

Chapter 5: The Why Chromosome

Chapter 6: On Being Ruthless

Chapter 7: Suspect

Chapter 8: The Naughty List

Chapter 9: Happy Hunting

Chapter 10: A Government Of, By, and For Ed Calkins

Chapter 11: The Divine Refrigerator

KDP Decides for Us

So a couple of weeks ago, I posed this question:

https://bryonyseries.blogspot.com/2018/11/color-or-no-color-that-is-question.html

And then I received some great feedback on Facebook.

Most of the responses favored a black and white frontispiece, citing black and white best kept with the prequel's vintage (and over all nineteenth century) theme.

However, I have a book published in 1908 with a color frontispiece. And I found a medical book from 1848 with a color frontispiece. And Rebekah Baran said, "I feel that Victorians would have used color if it was available to them."

Well, it was. And they did, at least some of the time.

We decided to order the first proof with color just to see.

And then we learned if we chose color, we'd have to give up the cream interior. That prompted a call to KDP. My very nice service representative put me on hold to talk up the ladder to find out why. He soon returned with the answer: Because colors don't print accurately on cream paper.

Fair enough.

I felt white was too stark for a novel, so we flipped through some of the novels we owned. We did find a few printed on white paper (not many) and decided to order the first proof in color on white paper to see if we liked it.

Well, last night we had one more blow.

The base cost for a 150-page book with one color illustration was more than twice times the base cost of Bryony, which was nearly twice as many pages.

Then KDP said the lowest we could set the retail price was $20.

Which meant the consumer would have to pay $100 to read all five, which is really one book.

Heck, I wrote it and wouldn't pay $100 for a soft cover book. Even if I signed all five volumes.

So we aborted last night's upload until tomorrow when we can call KDP, but I doubt the answer will favor color.

Technically, a frontispiece would have a color plate and not be printed directly on the same paper as the prose. But that's a feature KDP or any "for-free" self-publishing service offers at the present time.

That's not to say down the road someday it won't be.

But it looks like the frontispieces will be black and white.

On cream paper.

But black and white.

BTW, here is the frontispiece for the third book. In stunning color that perfectly reflects them themes and quote to accompany it.

Which is why we are so attached to the color.

Because the colors themselves are a sort ot "subtext" to each book's mood.

It's a darn shame to lose them.

10 Reasons to Read (or Re-Read) the BryonySeries this Year

Talk about shameless self-promotion!

Well, not really. But with all the "top ten" stories online coupled with the many story lists I've made for The Herald-News website, I thought I'd have fun with one of my own.

If the points below DON'T interest you, then the series is definitely not for you.

But if any of them make you think, hmmm, well, then maybe...


1) You'll become immersed in another world.

Munsonville. Simons Mansion. Eircheard’s Emporium. Grover's Park. The land beyond the mirror. Jenson College of Liberal Arts.

These are just some of the examples.

2) It's not what it seems to be.

Or to quote Tom Hernandez's forward from the third book:

The ability to capture and convey the challenges and rewards of human interaction -- pain and joy, celebration and sorrow, heartache and elation. These are the difference, to paraphrase the immortal Truman Capote, between “typing” and “writing.”

Thanks, Tom!!! :)

3) The trilogy is not a page-turner.

Wait -- what??? Shouldn't good books be page-turners? Well, yes...and no. Instead of a sprint to the the end, the BryonySeries trilogy has a slow-build pace to keep you rooted to each word in each line so you read slowly and carefully. Very carefully.

4) If you're a parent, you may understand your teens better.

5) If you're a teen, you may understand yourself and your peers better.

6) There's an emphasis on personal responsibility and consequences of actions.

Translation: No victim mentality here.

7) No sparkling vampires.

Not one. Not a single one.

8) You might fall in love.

Plenty of 3-D characters here, all with their virtues and vices (more or less) and no cliches.

9) It's complicated.

If you like "light reading" or beach reads, this isn't the series for you.

10) You'll improve your vocabulary.

Some terms lightly tossed around (depending on the book): pseudogenes, hanta virus, crubeens.

How to buy it? Right HERE.

Illustrations by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt ("Bryony") and Matt Coundiff ("Visage"). Follow Matt at www.facebook.com/artbymattcoundiff or @MattCoundiff on Twitter.

A Matter of Art

I'm seriously considering dropping the chapter heading illustrations in Before the Blood.

It's not that I don't like them, but sixty-two pieces is A LOT of work to ask someone to produce for free.

Over the past year, I've had a couple of volunteers and even sent sample chapters out, but no one picture has come back, and I'm not surprised. People are busy, and to create this much art for a low-key project,well, it's selfish of me to even consider it.

Now the book is not quite halfway written, so I don't expect to need the art for another eighteen months or so. But let me repeat: its SIXTY-TWO pieces. Chapter art is a luxury I may have to forsake this time.

Or I'd better learn to draw, fast.

On the other hand, I've seen some cover prototypes that look extremely promising.

Which means I'd better produce a book worthy of that art.