I’ve been a creative for as long as I can remember. I drew, painted, wrote, built things—and still do … always from my imagination, and always doing over and over to see new results. My wife calls me a perfectionist, but it’s never perfection I look for. It’s the “new” that I endeavor—the different, the diversity, the multidimensionality—not necessarily better or worse in comparison.
Several months ago I published the tenth anniversary edition of my book of short stories, Night of the Hell Hounds and Other Stories from the Ridgewood Chronicles at Amazon.com. The front cover for that edition (in both ebook and paperback) looked like this:
I liked the cover and moved on to other projects until I took a sabbatical from making art and writing books. Then, last week I returned to my works in progress and found an unfinished illustration I’d scrapped for the Night of the Hell Hounds anniversary project. I found myself drawn (no pun intended) to finishing the illustration. Here’s the result:
The illustration is quite dark and doesn’t copy well via Amazon KDP’s POD paperback book market (no dark illustrations copy well at their POD facilities). However, dark illustrations show up fine at their ebook market, so I redesigned my ebook to include the illustration:
I like it because it’s both new and different. In 72 hours, the ebook and its new cover should be at the Amazon.com website. A part of me wishes I could make the same cover available for the paperback version. I could try to brighten up the illustration and have Amazon send me proofs until I get a passable printing over the next few weeks. Or, I could leave it (the paperback cover) alone and have separate but distinguishable covers for both.
Whatever I do, I’ll be happy doing it. That’s the joy of being creative.
Until my next post, peace and love to all.
Steve, 8/6/2024
This post “Loving the New” copyright © 2024 Steven Leo Campbell at stevecampbellcreations.com – All rights reserved.
Steve Campbell Creations 
I like all the details in the hounds.
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Thanks. I like to draw and paint or sometimes doodle when I’m stuck with a story. The hell hounds came about during a recent perplexity and relaxed me enough for me to figure my way out. I liked the art but wasn’t sure if I’d placed the dogs’ teeth correctly since most of the illustration was done from imagination and memory, so I took liberties there and chose not to interrupt my relaxation with a trip to my art morgue. If the art reproduces well in 4-color print, I’ll likely use it as a new cover for the paperback. If only writing a novel were as easy for me as making art!
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