From Concept to Cover: Blind Stitches Update

It takes me a long time to design a book cover (probably one of the reasons I don’t do it for hire). I usually have an idea or concept in mind, and as soon as I compile the basics, I can’t wait to share, like here, on my blog. I also assign it as my computer desktop background so I can stare at it for a long time, or glance at it quickly and regularly. That way I determine its strengths and weaknesses, both in content and compositionally. The result of my last, weeks-long staring episode is significant—and really a no-brainer. The sheer cloth of the initial layout lacked interest and a human element, which I think is important when there’s an underlying love story. But it’s more than a love story, it’s a psychological drama set against an absurd backdrop.

Blind Stitches is about a ‘vicariously-delusional’* blind artist and a seamstress, and the painting of a dress that brings them together in a suspenseful tale of twisted family dynamics.

In this version of the cover, I think the painting makes all the difference. My artist husband  rendered it in the same Impressionist style that Nikolai—the purportedly blind artist—painted his sister’s wedding dress, designed after his delusional mother’s ballerina costume and modeled by … well, I don’t want to give it all away. Let’s just say it’s all rather twisted.

*Yes, I made up that term; you won’t find it in any psychology textbook.