June 26th, 2023
My writing life has been a mostly lonely one.
I’ve written about my longing for more collaboration before (and my lack of true mentorship); an unfortunate personal lesson I’ve duly taken to my tiny, black heart is, at the end of the day, I am the only person I can rely on to get the work done.
That’s why creating the Cold World cover was such a fresh breath of cool air.
I had the vision: I wanted my book to look like it was encased in a block of ice.
It started with a simple request: I asked my good friend Steven to take a few photos of that aforementioned frozen water in his neighborhood. Whenever possible, I want to own whatever it is I do; using stock photos or art or footage or music is fine, but I would rather have something original.
He took some great shots, and I made a mock-up of the cover. I sent it to him.
“Cool,” he said, “but it would look cooler if the title was buried in the ice.”
(I’m paraphrasing him but he should get credit for the pun.)
He was right. And instead of just giving that suggestion, he did the work and sent back a new cover, close to the one that you know (and I love) today.
It went through a few subtle changes back and forth between us, but it was a fun exchange, and he highly elevated my solid idea. I have used other’s photos for covers (or cover inspiration) before, but this was the first time I really collaborated on a design, and it’s one of my favorites.
And he and I are still friends, which is further proof that I can collaborate and I’m not some kind of creative monster who’s a terrible control freak or anything and will people please ask to work with me please?!
Maybe my absolute lack of chill is the problem.
The Den 