Happy Stone: Cover Artist Interview

 "Happy Stone," my latest short story, is now up on Smashwords and B&N.  Amazon and other vendors are coming soon.  Cheryl Casey Ramirez designed this great cover for me, and here is the interview we had.

1. You designed the cover for “Happy Stone,” turning a concept and a simple stone into a creepy, weird cover perfect for my story.  Can you give us a little information on the process?

I had looked at your website and noticed that your writing leans a little toward the diabolical, so I, even before you answered whether the stone needed a happy smile or a wicked smile, I was expecting wicked.
I browsed the internet for jack-o-lantern faces, because if you can make a pumpkin look wicked, you can make a rock look wicked.

I found a couple that I kept on my desktop for inspiration and then used the natural lines of the stone you sent to find the “eyebrows” and “eye sockets.” After that it was mostly a matter of using the painbrush tool on my software (I use GIMP rather than PhotoShop) with a sort of spackled setting to highlight and darken in all the right places.

Lady of Deep Waters (Bonus: Cover Artist Interview) (Blog Version)

Bonus Material: Cover Artist Interview

CoverD

In hopes of entertaining my readers and helping out my cover designers, I have decided to include an interview whenever possible with my Free ’Verse stories.

Question 1: This cover is great. When I saw it, I knew it was perfect for "Lady of Deep Waters." What inspired you to make this cover?

I actually found the image on DeviantArt and thought the image itself looked great but was missing a little something.

That's when I had the idea to add to "magic sparkles" so it looks like they're pouring out of the jug the girl's holding.

Question 2: What are some of your favorite covers to make? That is, what do you shoot for in a cover or what are your favorite subjects?
  
At the moment, since I'm still fairly new to all this, I love making all covers, to be honest. I do like to do composites but it's finding the right images to put together which can be hard.

Question 3: What inspired you to start making covers?

My writing muse has deserted me and I've lost a little of the passion for writing. At the same time, I've dabbled in trying to make covers for myself via Photoshop but found that although I could make covers, they never fit my stories. I also found that I was having more fun creating covers than writing.

Question 4: I understand you are also an author. What do you write?

I write mainly science-fiction and fantasy stories. I've tried to write straightforward stories, but a little alien or some magical creatures always find a way in when I'm writing.

Question 5: Where can we find out more about both of your creative endeavors?
  
You can find my covers at http://www.coverd.wix.com/premadecovers. My website/blog is at http://www.gayleramage.co.uk, where you can also find links to my books.