"total" creative freedom

A writer is never finished with a book. In the case of my own work, especially with the cover, I can't leave it alone. Behold the latest incarnation of The Silent Treatment:

This even happened by accident and I'm in love with it. Also, after seeing the cover like this (with no words -- we're dealing with silent movies, after all), I liked the idea of leaving the title off the front. Not many people have done this (maybe for good reason). Some argue that because the book will be sold next to a big paragraph of copy (including title and author), and someone handling a physical book can just turn it to a slight angle and read the spine, a title on the cover isn't totally necessary. They do it on CDs all the time.

But! CreateSpace doesn't allow for this. I even wrote them an email explaining my position and asking them to waive the requirement, but the answer was no. And yes, I tried looking for another company who would do what I wanted (one is a formatting disaster, and others want you to sign up for expensive packages), but that isn't happening. So the next proposed cover is this:

Kind of illegible, but that doesn't make a heap of difference to me (we'll see if it gets through the CreateSpace guy). This version is still sparse, still grungy, but maybe following the rules just enough.

So in the next few weeks/months/etc, expect to see a new version of The Silent Treatment: newly covered, newly edited.

New Projects

Finally designed a cover for Caligari that I like. Simple, yet mysterious. Hopefully scary.

In a completely different direction, I've been doing some other visual art. This time it's my cosmetology mannequin that's gotten the business end of it. And she wasn't used for her intended styling purpose. Observe:

The original factory paint (and yes, an unfortunate haircut ... that part's about to get worse)

Face pain removed (sharpie doesn't come off with acetone, so the bindi and name stays)

Primary repaint including eyes and skin tone (and there's that mental patient haircut. chop chop!)

Where I ended for the day. More detailing on the eye, some lip color, and a bit of shading on the skin. I'll put on some fake eyelashes and do more detailing once the paint dries. I think this is a good first attempt at oil painting. People told me it would be hard, but I found it really enjoyable. 

My goal is something like this. Obviously, I'm not going to get the same realistic look because I'm using the world's ugliest mannequin. In terms of paint quality, anyway, this is what I'm shooting for. Once Tussauds has another job opening, I want to be READY.

Going ahead

There's an old saying: You can't please all the people all the time (and going by a quick Google search, this might have been said by Lincoln -- but as Mike Birbiglia points out, everything was said by Lincoln.) As it turns out, I often have trouble pleasing anyone at any time, so I've decided to do whatever the hell I want.

I've changed the cover of The Silent Treatment, you guys. I didn't feel like the old cover was quite what I wanted, but at the time I didn't have any other ideas. This is one of the great things about indie publishing -- things can change! I ran this design past a few people, and their answers were almost completely split down the middle (which makes the point of polling useless). As in text editing, any change is up to the discretion of the author (me), and I chose to go ahead with this one.

The story is still the same, although as many writers have pointed out, you're never really finished with a book. I'll probably do some "4th anniversary special!!1!" version with additional what-have-you.

Additionally, my KDP Select enrollment is coming to an end, but not before I can have one more free promo. Please spread the word and head to Amazon on Sunday the 30th. I might go with the Select program again in the future, but I might not, so consider this your last shot at a freebie! Mama needs to eat.

Art

We'll just start where my thoughts have been pooling the past few days:

Granted, most of you have already read about this and I'm much too late to say anything relevant. (Don't we all have personal issues that prevent us from getting on with fun stuff?)

As something of an artist myself, I would think that if I attempted a job like this, especially on a painting I loved, I would make sure I had the skills to complete it -- and if not, to know when to stop  the minute I realized I'd effed the em-effer up. Apparently, the amateur restorationist in question started with the tunic and continued upward. It just ... hurts my heart to look at this, but like the freaking train wreck that it is, I can't stop going, "why? how -- it doesn't even look like -- I can't -- HOW DID THIS HAPPEN??" And look at the scroll that's now at the bottom ... it wasn't even on the original!

Something good has come out of this. The tourism this painting is generating is boosting the economy in the small Spanish town where it's located. Some people think the painting should be kept as it is for this reason. There's a video of Mr. Bean "fixing" a painting in that article.

And for a hilarious look at what "Ecce Mono" might tweet about, follow @FrescoJesus

ANYWAY...

I've been working on my own artistic project recently, and here it is:

The only thing I have to do now is finish the damned novel this cover goes on. Otherwise, it's useless.

Writing could be going better, but as the previously mentioned personal drama suggests, I've hit a tiny creativity snag. Or maybe I've been over-saturating my brain with this story and I desperately need a break.

What do you all do when you've hit a wall, creatively speaking? Do you focus on a different hobby or go for a walk? I especially enjoyed making this cover -- maybe because I was still on the same project, but in a totally different way.

Any comments or critiques on the cover are much appreciated. And if you'd like to "restore" it with a monkey face (a'la the botched fresco above), please send me a .jpg.