As we ramp up toward the release of HOUSE OF FALLING RAIN, the next step in Salla Saar's journey and the first book in the new Eyes of Odyssium sub-series, a natural lead-up to that tends to be...a cover reveal! These are always fun, and I'm hoping to make these more of an event in the future, rather than just stumbling along like I typically do in the world of indie publishing. So without further ado, let's talk about the cover!
I had a pretty solid concept of the direction I wanted to go as far as cover art goes, but my idea was a little...meh. It was an okay idea, but something that we've seen a good few times before, I suspect. In short, I was hoping Dennis Willman of Iron Dead Studios (cover artist for the series thus far) might be able to make something special of my sort of ho-hum concept. The initial plan had been to have a dark, mysterious and vaguely threatening air about the whole thing. The Cthulu-esque tentacles were much more subdued, hidden back in the clouds so you could barely see them. When Dennis showed me what he'd come up with, it only took a second for my attitude to shift in favor of the new look. Having the tentacles MUCH more prominent took away some of the veiled threat, sure, but it made for a far more intriguing and visually interesting cover.
Also, the actual House of Falling Rain ate up a lot more cover space in the original design. This was another change that I warmed to rather swiftly. Making the House smaller made it (and its occupants, naturally) seem more vulnerable to what descends from above. So yes, I'm pleased as the proverbial punch with the cover, and I absolutely look forward to future collaborations with Mr. Willman.