HOORAY New Cover!

 

It’s always a glorious day when, having worked on a novel for one, two or three years, finally to see it as others will see it on the shelves in a book shop.

And here is my novel -

The Woman Who Drew Buildings

in all her finery.

A cover is crucial to a book – a good cover can express the feeling of a novel, the mood, the context, the atmosphere. It can get my story into the hands of people who will  really enjoy it.

At its best, as well, it will appeal to those important booksellers and librarians who ensure it will be out there,  available for those who hear about the book through articles and reviews – and perhaps through this account on my blog!

 

This novel was inspired by tales told to me by the wonderful  and somewhat  mystical writer and artist, Mary Davies who now lives in retirement on the Isle of Arran and who has also, in her time, drawn buildings.

It takes place in Poland in 1981 and Britain in 2006 . What’s it about? It’s about  the consuming nature of art, the shadowy place between now and the hereafter; it’s about passionate encounters arising from a confluence of cultures and the long journey of a mother and son to mutual understanding.

And also I’ve been told it’s a damned good story…

This brilliant cover is a result of the careful response to me and my novel by my lovely editor, Harriet Evans   - in combination with  the design department at Headline. Sadly I am losing Harrie , an accomplished  novelist herself, who is going off to concentrate on novels entirely: my loss and the reading public’s great gain.

I am also delighted because incorporated in this design are drawings by my friend Fiona Naughton  www.fionanaughtonarts.com  - who also is a woman who draws buildings! This is quite something for me, as I have watched Fiona develop from a child who could draw into a fine artist in her own right.

So I hope you like the cover and – when you get your hands on the book in September – I hope you love reading the novel as much as I love writing it.

Let me know. I’d love to hear from you.

Wendy R

Artistic Licence

From time to time on this blog you will see art work by my young friend Fiona. She has always taken an interest my writing; I have always taken an interest in her art. One highlight of our joint creativity was the publication of my novel Honesty's Daughter, inspired by the manor house of the Shafto family, Whitworth Hall. Fiona painted a beautiful collection of images in and around the hall and exhibited them on our summer's day launch of the novel. As all launches should be, this was a celebration of the first order.

I am hoping some of Fiona's drawings will be part of the cover design for the new novel The Woman Who Drew Buildings, a novel partly set in Poland. You can see one of her drawings of Kracow on this blog, alongside my very first post. Making People Is Mad. (Click on this title left, on my archive list)


On this page here you can see her imagined view of Whitworth Hall before it burned down in the eighteenth century, alongside her painting of the High Street where I grew up.

To enjoy a full and proper view of Fiona's gorgeous work, look at her website at

www.fionanaughtonartworks.com

wendy