Colin Masson, who has done the cover art for “War of the Unwanted,” is also doing the maps that will be printed in the front of the novel.
This is his first draft of the map of Rutalil’na, the world in which the novel takes place. Yet again, I left dumbfounded by Colin’s commitment to this project.
Click the image for a higher resolution version.
So, I have some great news. In my novel there is a song called “Look Away” that becomes important in the story over time. James Nelson of the Celtic Tenors has agreed to sing it as the music to the book trailer we’ll be putting on YouTube this spring. I’m really thrilled!
James is the one singing the (unaccompanied) opening of “Danny Boy” in the video below.
Here are the words to “Look Away”:
Do you dwell upon the distance far,
Curse the night that keeps us apart?
Do you gaze upon the same bright star
That lights the way to my darkened heart?
Look away! Look away!
That star yet stirs desire for what we’ll never see.
Look away! Look away!
That star yet lights a fire for what will never be…
That star yet lights a fire for what will never be.
Jempart’ha
I’ve created a slide show of all the iterations of Colin Masson’s spectacular artwork for the cover of “War of the Unwanted” — I think it’s pretty cool, if I may say so myself.
Please check it out and let me know what you think:
Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012)
I studied with Hans Werner Henze at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, Germany, from 1983 to 1985.
I remember with great fondness my two years with Henze. He took me with him to the Santa Fe Opera when they were performing his “We Come to the River” — we were there for a month, during which time he was composing his 7th Symphony, which I “edited” (meaning, he wrote whatever he wanted for the harp — a notoriously difficult instrument to write for and of which he had no understanding — and I fixed it). At the same time, we also co-composed the music to Alain Resnais’ film “Love at Death” (l’amour a mort), for which Henze paid me an outrageous sum of money, allowing me that second year in Germany. A week later we were in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he conducted the world premiere of a work of mine with the Edinburgh Chamber Orchestra. It was truly the most intense time of my life. Continue Reading »
War of the Unwanted cover art, Round 3
Here is the 3rd round of the artwork for the cover of War of the Unwanted. There are still a few details to deal with, but I think it’s pretty close to perfect!
Click the image to see a hi-res version.
This is the latest round from my cover artist. This is a very hi-res picture and may take a while to download. Zoom in anywhere and look at the detail he is adding! As he says, much of the city still looks like a “toy,” but look at the castle on the right. The stepped gardens… I’m just amazed, flabbergasted, astonished… I’m running out of adjectives.
Click image for a full-sized view
The artist doing the cover art for “War of the Unwanted” just sent me this… I’m flabbergasted, it is so beautiful.
He is still in the process of adding atmospheric detail to the buildings and water, and will be putting in a nice thunderstorm out on the plains beyond the mountains.
What do you think?
