The Tattered Page

Let’s just cut right to it, shall we?

Anyone who says that writing a book gets easier with each one is full of crap.

There, I feel better now.

As discussed before, ‘Threads (we’ll just call it ‘Threads, since it’s easier to type) started life as a sequel to Beyond Silence and Light, my first nosedive into the book writing world. But the early drafts just didn’t have the right feel. I ran headfirst into a creative wall and things got pretty stagnant for a long time. But then, much to the delight of my inner pantser, it evolved.

Narrative links formed, the plot web spun wider, and I realized I was creating something more than a collection but not quite a full-length novel. In turn, everything else had to evolve, too: research, compiling notes, redraft after redraft, corralling random new ideas, swapping scenes around, and so on.

This turned the process of drafting ‘Threads into an erratic maelstrom of whiteboards, 3-inch thick folders of word vomit, Post-its all over my place, and a crammed Notes app on my phone when ideas appeared at 4:30 in the morning at the gym – because of course.

By the time I submitted the first draft of the manuscript, it was probably on version 47.

But that’s how it works. No first draft is ever remotely good enough. First drafts exist solely to be shit. But as Arnie Cunningham profoundly told us in 1983, “shit wipes off.” I was able to deliver a clean manuscript (thanks to the day job) that needed more developmental edits and emotional delving than anything else. This little victory allowed the time to focus on other phases of production, notably the cover design.

To speak to that end, I’m joined by the illustrator, Molly Errek, for a little Q&A about her creative process for this terrific piece.

Me: Having not read the book yet, how did you approach the concept for the cover? (Besides being annoyed by the author complaining about his creative struggles with the story every day for like two years.)

Molly: So many conversations for sure and I never minded a single complaint because writing is HARD. Anyway, I’d say lots of communication early in the process is key. We had a lot of conversations about overall aesthetic that reflected the theme of the book like colors, tones, event fonts, etc. We bounced around a lot of ideas and made some pivots along the way. But I will say, I think I’m an anomaly in this case because I’ve had an early “in” and got to hear about the book throughout the writing process, so I got some spoiler info that really helped shape the overall vibe of the cover. So even though I haven’t read the book yet, I got a really good vision of the story as it was being crafted and I think that really contributed to the final concept.   

Me: You incorporated some different sketching and blending techniques with this cover that you hadn’t tried before. What gave you the idea for that and how did you execute them? 

Molly: My original idea was to draw the cover physically on paper with pastels or colored pencil, maybe mixed medium with graphite. Something told me not to bother going that route and to take a stab at digitally drawing the cover. It had been a long while since I used a drawing tablet, so it took some getting used to. It was all pretty seamless once I got into the flow of drawing! I really loved how naturally it all came together. 

Me: What do you like most about designing book covers?

Molly: I’ve only designed a handful but what I really love about designing them is trying a new technique with each cover.  

Me: If you had to pick a genre(s) and/or art style(s) you’d like to design, what would they be?

Molly: The fantasy book cover design game has been killing it lately. So many good covers in that genre alone. I’m not sure if I could ever compete with that. I only say that because I think of illustration/cover artists like Ivan Belikov who knock out incredible covers. But, if I really had to pick a specific style, it would be art nouveau, similar to artist Megan Lara’s style! 

Molly, thank you so much for your amazing work and helping out with this behind-the-scenes post.  

And with that, I proudly reveal the official cover (it’s awesome), and chapter list of The Mournful Threads:

The official Mournful Threads chapter list:

Exegesis

Widow’s Walk

Angels in Hell

115

The Best There Ever Was

Signals

Caedis

The Gift That Keeps on Taking

The Watcher of King’s Cross

Ora Pro Nobis

Shivelight: The Second Penance

Aeternum

Strap in. The End is just about here.