Category: Update

Pretty Dynamo’s New Emblem

Shock my heart!

The logo artist Nodsaibot is steadily working on finishing up the cover art for the first two books of Jake and the Dynamo. Unbidden, he generously produced a new version of Pretty Dynamo’s emblem, originally designed by another artist (whose name, unfortunately, I do not have with me to credit, as he was hired by the publisher).

I’ve become quite fond of this symbol, as you can probably guess. It is very different, but much more aesthetically pleasing, than what I pictured in my head when I described Pretty Dynamo’s wand as topped by a lightning bolt crossing a heart. In fact, I originally—and foolishly—pictured the heart as pink even though that does not go with Dynamo’s overall color scheme. Visual arists wiser than I quickly intuited that Dynamo’s dominant colors are blue and gold, and that her emblem should therefore be blue and gold.

I love the way it looks because it nicely captures Pretty Dynamo’s nature. She has electrical powers, of course, as indicated by the lightning bolt, and she is also a tomboy, as suggested by the angular look and color scheme. But she is still a magical girl, which is a girly sort of thing, as suggested by the heart shape at her emblem’s center.

At the top of this post are the two versions of this emblem. The left is the original and the right is the new version. As you can see, both have elements to recommend them. I admit I don’t have a preference, but the higher resolution of the new version is a plus, as that will make it easer to manipulate in various covers and in other places. It could even be translated into vector art and would then make a perfect website logo. I do, however, like the slight curve in the lightning bolt on the original version, as it gives it a sort of retro feel, perhaps reminiscent of the Art Deco that fills Urbanopolis.

One More Update

I know I haven’t posted much of anything lately that isn’t about my own projects, but I ask for your patience. I’ve put things together for a logo artist who does impressive work, and though I haven’t quite sealed the deal yet, I’m optimistic that this exchange will result in completed book covers

Once that’s done, we will have two books ready to go with a third on the way. The publication date will depend on the logo artist’s ETA, so I won’t presume to give that final date yet.

It’s coming, though, slowly but surely.

Publication Update

I had an issue with a particular logo I needed to make these upcoming book releases look as official as possible, but I think I have that worked out. It appears I have also found someone to do the title graphics for the covers; I have to wait for my publishing logo first, but then we’ll go ahead with finishing up the cover designs.

I’m hesitant to give a definite date still. I’m new at self-publishing, and my last projection (last month) is obviously something I didn’t make. However, barring unexpected contingencies or work simply taking longer than I anticipate, I don’t know any reason why Jake and the Dynamo can’t see its re-release this month. If we make that happen, I intend to open Dead 2 Rites for pre-order at the same time. Its actual release will be a month later.

Things are also progressing well on Rags and Muffin. Again, I best not give a date, but I see no reason it can’t release soon after the two Jake and the Dynamo novels.

As for my optimistic goal of getting five books out this year, I think four is more likely, but aside from despondency and laziness and family issues, there is no reason I can’t get out four.

Also, I haven’t decided yet on cover art for Rags and Muffin, but I’m so pleased with the artwork of Eduardo Barbosa that I might employ him again.

‘Jake and the Dynamo’ Release Coming

Obviously, I’m behind the timeline I was hoping for, but I’m new to self-publishing, so that’s not particularly surprising. I’m waiting on a few things and also spending this evening putting together a package for the next guy I’m commissioning.

I can also tell you I’m approaching finished on the final product of Rags and Muffin. Haven’t quite decided what to do with its cover art, but I really should have three books ready to go in the near future here.

As for both Jake and the Dynamo, logos and title designs are all that still need to happen. I wanted the cover art and formatting squared away for both of those before commissioning the title designs so the artist could do both at once.

Jake and the Dynamo, Book 2 Cover

Here is a color version of the detail from the cover of Dead 2 Rites, which I previously posted in black and white. This is the sequel to Jake and the Dynamo, which will be available again soon in a newly revised text; when it goes up, Dead 2 Rites should simultaneously become available for pre-order.

The character featured here is Magical Girl Metal Huntress Vanessa Van Halensing, a vampire-hunting rock starlet who battles the forces of evil with her crucifix keytar. She plays, let us say, an instrumental role in the story that unfolds in this exciting second volume: Ancient conspiracies, alien gods, murderous cabals, and sugary foods come together in an effort to destroy the remnants of the human race—and only Jake and the Dynamo stand in the way!

Project Update with a First Peek

I know I don’t post enough these days; aside from my projects, I’m getting used to the new baby. But I have some good news: The cover art for Dead 2 Rites, the second book of Jake and the Dynamo, is well underway.

My plan is to get both covers completed at once; then I will re-release the first book and offer the second for pre-order. I will hire a logo artist to make the graphics to go over the cover art, but I want to have both covers in hand first so I can offer them to the logo artist to do all at once.

In the image on this post, you can see an initial sketch of Van Halensing, the vampire-hunting rock starlet who features prominently in Dead 2 Rites.

Since I’m new at this, I’m still not comfortable giving a projected release date because I’m unsure how long the logo art will take, or whether there might be some additional delays on the roll-out. But I am still hoping to release Jake and the Dynamo this month and Dead 2 Rites a month later.

In the meanwhile, I am still working on the manuscript of Rags and Muffin, tightening the prose and putting on the final polish before I generate the books. I like the work of my present artist but haven’t decided yet whether to use him for Rags and Muffin or to find someone with a more gritty, and perhaps photorealistic, style, which I think would be more appropriate for this particular book, which is less cartoonish. There are plenty of pro cover designers who would be interesting to work with but also more expensive.

Sneak Peek: Jake and the Dynamo’s New Cover

Here is a detail from the new wraparound cover that will grace the re-release of Jake and the Dynamo. It still needs to go to the logo artist for title graphics and the blurb and so forth, but it is otherwise complete, thanks to the impressively fast work of Eduardo Moura Barbosa.

This (finally!) captures the image I have long wanted of Jake and Pretty Dynamo together: Dynamo flying on her board with a panicked Jake hanging by his fingertips. Although not precisely like any particular scene, it captures the relationship between these two characters in the early chapters.

Editing and Formatting: Rags & Muffin

I am currently putting the final touches on Rags and Muffin, the book project, a long time in coming, formerly known as Rag & Muffin. I still like the original title better, but I changed it because the ampersand is a special character in HTML, so it would likely cause me grief when posting it on other sites.

Also, the book’s antiheroine main character is named Rags, and I’m tired of people asking me why it’s “Rag,” singular, in the title. The reason is because of the pun, but I don’t want to explain anymore.

I have said previously on this blog that Rags and Muffin was through the editing phase. This is my first novel (first written, not published), and like many first novels, it needed years’ worth of work to make it worthy of print. It really had been edited to death before now, but I’ve recently learned a lot about improving sentence structure and deleting unnecessary words, so I am giving it one last round of improvement—and then I will finally let my baby out into the world.

This will be the third book I release this year; it will appear after the re-published Jake and the Dynamo and its sequel Dead 2 Rites.

Once I’m done with this, I am back to working on the third book in the Jake and the Dynamo sequence, which runs under the working title of The Shadow of His Shadow. I hope to finish and release that book this year also.

Book Update

I just hit a major milestone in the effort to get my books (at least three with hope for five) out this year. It’s late where I am, so I’ll give more details later, but let’s just say I am most relieved that I can move ahead, as this particular phase—as things often do—took longer than I anticipated.

In any case, it’s exciting! Once Jake and the Dynamo makes its reappearance, I will have the long-awaited sequel Dead 2 Rites out the month after.

Editing and Formatting

I’ve almost finished plugging Jake and the Dynamo into Vellum. I’m still deciding whether I actually want to commit to this software’s steep asking price. It doesn’t offer a lot of customization, but it does remove a lot of major headaches. I’ve got pretty much the entire text and the illustrations plugged in and now just need to clean up a few artifacts from the reformatting. I admit it looks really clean, and it shows how it will come out both in print and on several devices.

My only serious complaint at the moment is that I can’t add a caption to a full-page image. I can insert illustrations with captions, but then I can’t make them as large as I want.