Still ticking....

Been away from here a while. Too long. Sorry 'bout that. Been unbelievably swamped lately, and working hard on several assignments. Coming soon here, new covers that I've been working on the last couple of weeks. Stay tuned. :) Been working on new Elric drawings as well. It's been long days and sleepless nights. Meantime, I thought this was pretty cool. The latest issue of INTERZONE (#220) has a terrific interview with Jeffrey Ford as well as insightful reviews of his recent Well-Built City trilogy trade paperbacks. I like the way they used my cover art in the spread. Both features are written by Rick Kleffel of the amazing Agony Column. And check out the issue's cover art by Adam Tredowski, with design by Andy Cox. Love it.

DROOD Final Cover Art!

Good day today -- author Dan Simmons officially approved this artwork so now it can be revealed in its final form. This is my cover illustration for Subterranean Press' limited edition of Dan's forthcoming major novel, DROOD. They're taking pre-orders right now, and if you're considering owning of these, you might act quickly. Every Sub Press limited edition of a Simmons book has been a sell-out. I'm just sayin'.....

What's the book about? Here you go (courtesy of Subterranean Press): "On June 9th, 1865, Charles Dickens, 'the most popular novelist in England, perhaps the world,' boards a train bound from Folkstone to London, accompanied by his youthful mistress, the actress Ellen Ternan. Shortly afterward, the train derails near the village of Staplehurst, toppling into an abyss. Dickens emerges from the carnage physically, if not mentally, unscathed. And he has a story to tell.

He tells it, with typical Dickensian brio, to his friend and occasional collaborator, Wilkie Collins, the narrator of this magisterial novel. The story concerns an otherworldly figure who calls himself 'Drood,' and who moves through the wreckage like a pale, unholy apparition. The mysteries surrounding Drood form the heart of an epic narrative encompassing ancient religious practices, subterranean cities, hallucinatory visions, madness, murder, and the limitless power of the creative imagination. The result is a fever dream of a book that vividly recreates the sights, sounds, and smells of 19th century London, while illuminating the final years of a great writer's life. Absorbing, moving, and constantly surprising, Drood shows us Dan Simmons at his inimitable -- and mesmerizing -- best."

One last Subterranean Press-related note -- I just received my copy of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's THE SHADOW OF THE WIND -- and my gosh -- this thing looks absolutely spectacular. Vincent Chong did the cover and interiors for this book, and the whole package is as gorgeous as it gets. Congrats to Subterranean Press on another knockout.

FF2 = PKD Award Finalist!!

Hooray! Just heard that FAST FORWARD 2 is one of this year's Philip K. Dick Award finalists. I'm ecstatic for editor Lou Anders and all of the authors. Pyr's blog has the complete press release. Congrats to HarperCollins/Eos for having three books on the final list. That's editors Diana Gill and Jennifer Brehl, if you're keeping score at home. Wow!

Wow! MUSE OF FIRE!

Been super-busy here, but wanted to note that last week Subterranean Press sent me my copies of Dan Simmons' MUSE OF FIRE. When Traci and I popped the box open and held the finished books in our hands, we were both blown away. Completely beautiful printing job all around. The interior design by Desert Isle Design is gorgeous. The whole book turned out perfect, which happens all too rarely, unfortunately. The only bad news -- Subterranean's already completely sold out of their print run. Wow! So if you see a copy of this book out on the retail market, you might want to snap it up. :)

My 2008 Published Work

Here's a one-stop visual list of my 2008 published works. As noted elsewhere (thanks, Chris, Cheryl, and John), the awards nomination season is upon us again (Hugos and otherwise). If you wish to reference the list below for future consideration this year, please bookmark this post. FYI: in addition, my blog sidebar displays my 2008 work in abbreviated form. The big list below doesn't include all of my interior illustrations for ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS, but it includes my favorite one from that set, along with the eighteen cover illos published in '08. Onward...


(above)
Cover illustration for
FAST FORWARD 2
edited by Lou Anders
Pyr
October 2008



(above)
Cover illustration for
MUSE OF FIRE
by Dan Simmons
Subterranean Press
December 2008


(above)
Cover illustration for
VIEWPOINTS CRITICAL
by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.
Tor Books
March 2008


(above)
Cover illustration for
ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS
by Michael Moorcock
Ballantine/Del Rey
February 2008


(above)
"Elric The Damned"
One of many interior illustrations for
ELRIC: THE STEALER OF SOULS
(Note: here's a gallery of more interiors from this book)


(above)
Cover illustration for
ELRIC: THE SLEEPING SORCERESS
by Michael Moorcock
Ballantine/Del Rey
December 2008


(above)
Cover illustration for
THE PHYSIOGNOMY
by Jeffrey Ford
Golden Gryphon Press
October 2008


(above)
Cover illustration for
MEMORANDA
by Jeffrey Ford
Golden Gryphon Press
November 2008



(above)
Cover illustration for
THE BEYOND
by Jeffrey Ford
Golden Gryphon Press
December 2008


(above)
The three Jeff Ford covers above are a trilogy, so I created their covers as a triptych. This is what the original art looks like. It's one of the most labor-intensive pieces I've ever done, but definitely a labor of love. This is all traditional media, no digital.... oil painting, found objects, collage, and shadowbox assemblage.


(above)
Wraparound cover illustration for
SON OF MAN
by Robert Silverberg
Pyr Books
June 2008


(above)
Cover illustration for
STARSHIP: REBEL
by Mike Resnick
Pyr
December 2008



(above)
Cover illustration for
ASIMOV'S
Inspired by Stephen Baxter's
featured story, "The Ice War"
September 2008 Issue


(above)
Cover illustration for
SHIMMER MAGAZINE
edited by Mary Robinette Kowal & co.
September 2008 Issue


(above)
Cover illustration for
STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE 9:
FEARFUL SYMMETRY
by Olivia Woods
Pocket Books
(TM, all rights reserved,
& copyright 2008 CBS Studios)
June 2008


(above)
Cover illustration for
STAR TREK: MYRIAD UNIVERSES:
ECHOES AND REFRACTIONS
by Keith R. A. DeCandido,
Chris Roberson,
& Geoff Trowbridge
Pocket Books
(TM, all rights reserved,
& copyright 2008 CBS Studios)
August 2008


(above)
Cover illustration for
STAR TREK: MYRIAD UNIVERSES:
INFINITY'S PRISM
by Christopher L. Bennett,
William Leisner,
& James Swallow
Pocket Books
(TM, all rights reserved,
& copyright 2008 CBS Studios)
July 2008


(above)
Cover illustration for
STAR TREK: TEROK NOR:
DAY OF THE VIPERS
by James Swallow
Pocket Books
(TM, all rights reserved,
& copyright 2008 CBS Studios)
March 2008


(above)
Cover illustration for
STAR TREK: TEROK NOR:
NIGHT OF THE WOLVES
by S.D. Perry & Britta Dennison
Pocket Books
(TM, all rights reserved,
& copyright 2008 CBS Studios)
April 2008


(above)
Cover illustration for
STAR TREK: TEROK NOR:
DAWN OF THE EAGLES
by S.D. Perry & Britta Dennison
Pocket Books
(TM, all rights reserved,
& copyright 2008 CBS Studios)
May 2008


(above)
Pocket Books really liked the triptych I did for a Kirk/Spock/McCoy trilogy a couple of years ago. So they commissioned me to do another for their 2008 STAR TREK: TEROK NOR trilogy. This is what the three covers above look like when they're side-by-side.

Onward and best wishes to everyone in 2009!

Fresh New Year, Fresh New Sidebar

Blogger's been cranky these last 24 hours, but finally my sidebar updates are available for all to see. Check out the sidebar to the right and you'll see a complete visual rundown of my 2008 published cover artwork. I'll tweak it a bit in the coming days as well as do a detailed post here in the near future.

Hello, 2009

Happy New Year, folks! Hope 2009 brings us all better days than '08. I just tried uploading my 2008 body of published work into the sidebar at right, but Blogger's cranky right now. It doesn't seem to like all the new data for some reason. Once it cooperates, I'll have little pictures of eighteen shiny new covers over there, representing my 2008 published body of cover artwork. Last year at this time, I did a post showing all of my published covers from the previous year, and I think I'll do that next. Stay tuned. :)