An announcement and an appeal

I’ve been keeping a secret from you. We plan, God willing, to release a new novel of mine within the near future. This is a draft of the cover, with a lovely painting by our friend Jeremiah Humphries, and cover design by our own Phil Wade.

How is this possible, you ask, when I keep complaining of having no writing time because of graduate school? Well, this is a book that’s been pretty much finished for some time, except for a couple plot problems. I took my brief study hiatus this summer to work on those holes, and now I think she’s ready for launch.

The novel, entitled (obviously) Death’s Doors, is sort of a sequel to Wolf Time, but not what you’d call a close sequel. The location is the same, the town of Epsom, Minnesota, but a few years later, and with only a couple of the same characters showing up. In the world of Death’s Doors, assisted suicide has become a constitutional right. The main character, Tom Galloway, is trying to keep his depressed daughter from exercising that right, with no help from the authorities. On top of that pressure, a stranger drops into his life — the Viking nobleman Jarl Haakon (whom you may remember from The Year of the Warrior), who has passed through a door in time.

What we’re asking of you, at this point, is just your opinion on the cover above. Phil isn’t sure he’s satisfied, and would appreciate your input.

Thank you for your support.

15 thoughts on “An announcement and an appeal”

  1. Okay. Wasn’t sure if the door was yours or his. The perspective of the door feels awkward. Not sure if it fits the perspective of the corridor. I wonder if Jeremiah tried just having the door straight.

    The name on the feet bother’s me a little. He’s clearly running, but I feel it stifles the movement in the painting. Did you try putting name with title at the top so it reads Lars Walker Deaths Door? Just a thought.

  2. I kept thinking about it, but the letters couldn’t be as large as they are in this design. I like the fact that you can read the title and name in the thumbnail, which you can’t on some eBooks. Putting them up top is a good idea to consider.

  3. It may help to have a bit more contrast between his tunic and cloak. Unless I view my laptop screen straight on, the two tend to blend into one dark mass.

  4. I agree. There needs to be more detail and contrast with the cloak and tunic. You don’t have to overdue it, but it looks incomplete now. I also think you should do something with the ceiling with wood which would contrast nicely with the brick/stone floor.

  5. All is good to perfect…’cept the orange round spot on our right/his left. The color should maintain similar to all the others. This is from the art major and wood carver. Congrats Lars! I’m proud of you!! s

  6. I don’t propose to make changes to the actual painting. There are reasons the corridor and its windows look as they do here. Our main concern is the design and arrangement of the lettering.

  7. I loved Wolf Time, looking forward to this.

    As for the cover design, I’ve proven to be entirely out of touch with what attracts the general public, so never mind what I think.

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