by Roseanna White | Jan 7, 2015 | Uncategorized
My Facebook friends may have seen my upcoming cover already, but I figured today I’d do a design post on it, just for fun. =)
You’ve no doubt all heard me talking about my idea for a biblical Christmas story. It will be set in the early days of the man who became known as St. Nicholas, though I’m calling him by his name as it was said in Greek, Nikolaos. Nikolaos is one of the key characters in the story, but this is me–I’m all about the fictional characters. =) So in this case, my protagonist is a young woman named Cyprus. A young woman with rare (in that part of the world) red hair that plays a rather vital role in how her life goes. A young woman who experiences a miracle…and then spends years wondering why the Lord healed her. What’s her purpose? What life is she meant to live?
My search for a model photo led me to www.DeviantArt.com, and I’m oh so glad it did! I’ve discovered that a lot of the artists and photographers and designers there love to share their work and have permissions for even commercial use on their pages. Which thrilled me beyond all thought when I stumbled across the Greek queen collection by Kirilee Lennerts. She had many poses of herself in this fabulous green dress, but I fell in love with this one.
I love the draping of the fabric. I love how she’s looking over her shoulder. And I love how her hand is right there by her hair, playing with it. Something Cyprus does whenever she’s upset or distracted. Of course, her hair’s the wrong color, but red is an easy change. So I deleted the background and reddened her hair. I moved her off to the side of my page so I’d have room for the title.
(You’re seeing it here with some lighting effects added too…)
I was happy with how she looked there, but feedback on Facebook said her arm looked weird and a few folks weren’t sure what her hand was doing there, so I decided to add a bit more hair to make it clear.
There she is–hi, Cyprus!
Now, background. As I was playing with this cover for the last month and a half, I thought I wanted a fireplace in the background, or candles. The main action of the book takes place during Saturnalia, the Roman festival of lights that led up to the winter solstice, which Christian scholars believed even then was also the birthday of Christ, though the celebrations we know and love were still centuries away from developing. I thought this would look Christmasy though…but try as I might to play and play with fireplaces and candles, it just wasn’t it.
So I did a lot of studying of successful Christmas novel covers. I asked everyone questions. I learned that the majority of Christmas-story readers like things like snow on the covers.
Um…this is set in present-day Turkey, then part of Greece. They aren’t exactly rolling in snow, LOL. But it’s really the colors that shout “Christmas!”, right? So I have the green, snow = white. White I can probably do.
I decided to head to Wikimedia Commons and search for Patara, the town it’s set in. I find quite a few pictures to choose from!
I’m not sure if you can really see it in the screenshot, but there are lots of photos of the countryside and the ruins of Patara, some with archways, some with columns. (And a turtle??? LOL)
For once, the first one I choose ended up working out well. 😉 I chose the picture in the middle of that bottom row there, the one with the columns.
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| Photo by John Morgan-Evans |
Of course, I don’t want the people in there. And I also don’t want the pillars to be in obvious disrepair. Plus, I need the perspective to be right. So that picture gets super zoomed and put behind my heroine.
Doesn’t look very white yet, I know. But with some brightening and lighting effects, it turns into this.
I really liked how it looked both white and gold. It complements the gold on her dress just beautifully. =) Of course, in the image here, the top and bottom are faded out. That’s because a bit later in the process I decided to fade the bottom to the creamy gold and the top to the same green as her dress. It ended up looking like this.
I was in love! LOL. The colors felt spot-on, and I had a lovely blank space with a nice glow to it for my words.
So. Title. By the time I started this round of the cover, I had it nailed down, but when I first started playing with it, I had no clue what I wanted the title to be. I started with The Gift from Nikolaos. Which…meh. I looked up things like The Gift Giver and Giver of Gifts…all used quite a few times. I liked the idea of Gift for a Christmas story…but I just couldn’t think of how to make it sound right. So what else was Nikolaos known for?
His miracles. As a boy in Patara, he was called Wonder-Worker. (Can you imagine growing up with that for a nickname???!!!) Wonder…hmm. I liked the sound of that! It also evoked Christmas, but more beside. So how could I work with wonder? I decided to put it together with the gift idea and ended up with:
Giver of Wonders
What do you think? I really liked it. I liked how it could be describing God or a person (Nik), how it evokes thoughts of both gifts and miracles and the simple wonder we feel as we look at his amazing love for us. I decided that was my winner. =) So it was time to play with the font and positioning.
I won’t lie. I tried a lot of different fonts! But I won’t show you all of them. I’ll just show you what I decided on–something bold and big, which would fill that space, be easy to read in a thumbnail. The font is called Bembo, and it’s a rather traditional typesetting font. I really love the Ws in it. 😉
The only fancy part is the “of” which I made just a shade or two darker and, in typical “me” fashion then rasterized so I could delete parts of it and make it look like it loops around the E and the O. (Not sure if you can see that on here, LOL, but it’s one of those “well, I know it does!” things.)
So putting that overtop of our picture, we get this.
I actually put Giver behind the girl–it only slides behind her hand a bit, but I liked the interaction of model and font. So then I went ahead and put my name on there too. It’s big solely because it filled up the space best that way, LOL. And to make it easily read in the thumbnails. Same font as Giver and Wonders.
We’re getting somewhere. I liked the red of the font–I now had all my main colors. Red, green, white, and gold. How much more Christmasy can we get?? Yet it’s subtle. It’s not something that looks cheesy or over the top.
But Wonders didn’t stand out very well. And when my hubby came over to look at it, he said, “I liked the way you had the title on your old cover.” He was referring to The Gift of Nikolaos cover I first played with, which had Nikolaos on a banner. I headed back to Google to look up free banner vectors and decided to try out a gold one.
I plugged it in behind Wonders and voila!
Yep…definitely in love. =) My final step was to add a little subtitle (which could yet change). I used “A Story of St. Nicholas” to let readers know it’s a seasonal story and that, despite the biblical flavor of the cover, it deals with a well known Christmas figure. Though I may yet also add a little something to the top left that says something about this being about the Visibullis family my biblical readers love so well. =)
So there we have it! The cover for Giver of Wonders, which will be coming to you late this year, in time for Christmas but not solely a Christmas story. =)
And just to make sure the amazing Kirilee had no issues which me digitally dyeing her hair, I did send the cover to her for approval, and she was incredibly stoked. 😉
by Roseanna White | Jan 5, 2015 | Word of the Week
Here we are! A new year, and back on schedule for blogging. =) I had a lovely holiday, and I hope you all did too!
So today, back to a word I’d looked up for the last section of The Outcast Duchess. I use it because it rhymes with a character’s name, but I had to make sure it would have been used like that, after all. 😉
Brat. The word dates back to about 1500 as slang for a beggar child. It’s taken directly from the word for a cloak or ragged garment–Old English taken from the Celtic. The etymology sites tell me that the modern meaning came from a notion of the word being applied to a child’s apron, but I don’t think I quite get that leap, LOL. But the evolution from “beggar’s child” to “spoiled, contemptuous child” doesn’t seem as long as it may at first glance. Insults often stretch over the years, after all.
I hope everyone’s off to a wonderful (non bratty) 2015! On the blog, I’ll have some cover design posts coming up this month and should have the first peek at the cover for The Lost Heiress soon too (not that I’m designing that one)! I’ll also be sharing a bit about my St. Nicholas story, entitled Giver of Wonders, as I write it in the next month or two and get it ready for a late-fall release. It’s the Visibullis family again, just a few generations down and set in a town in what is present-day Turkey, though was Greek at the time.
In the meantime, back to the homeschool grind today (speaking of the possibility of bratty behavior…LOL). Have a great week!
by Roseanna White | Jan 1, 2015 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Happy New Year!
I’m out of blogging practice, LOL. But my kiddos and I have enjoyed our Christmas break, and now I’m starting to flex my mental gears and get ready to buckle back down to business. School, writing, editing…2015 is bound to be as busy a year as 2014 was!
When I was a kid, this is the day when I’d make resolutions. They were always a combination of my external goals for the year (finish my first book, for instance) and my internal goals (not lose my temper). I took them seriously, and I enjoyed the challenge. Sitting here this morning, I see a list of resolutions that my niece and daughter wrote together, and they so make me smile–they remind me of me! A few of the highlights are “read the Bible every day,” “always be cheerful and happy,” and “give my true opinion.” I remember being her age and agreeing with my friends just because I thought it was what they wanted to hear. I remember deciding at about age 12 that it wasn’t worth it, and I needed to just be honest in my opinions.
Ah, life lessons. 😉
I tend not to make resolutions anymore. But if I were to make one this year…I think it would have something to do with being willing. Being willing to do whatever God calls me to. To give up what I don’t need but might want. To toss out whatever gets in the way of my relationship with Him. I’m praying for a word for the year–either a goal or a promise–and listening to hear what He says.
It’s going to be a full year. My first book with Bethany House will release in September. WhiteFire will put out 10 books, which will keep me quite busy. I’m teaching a class on the history of the B&O Canal at my homeschool group beginning next month. Rowyn will turn 7. Xoë will turn 10. Next fall we’ll be doing 5th and 2nd grades.
The year past has been a busy one. We dealt with Lyme disease. Finished up therapy for the broken arm of the year before. My last book released with Harvest House, I finally wrote and published the sequel to A Stray Drop of Blood. Was blessed with a new contract with Bethany House. I got to attend ACFW as an editor for the first time. I made an effort to cook better meals and not let the house get totally away from me…as often, LOL.
One of most important accomplishments to me, though, was going through a Bible-in-a-year study. I actually did it from July to July, so it spanned the change from 2013-2014, but it was an awesome journey for me, and I’ll no doubt do it again soon.
And so, here we are. Farewell, 2014. Hello, 2015. What will you have in store? Some things I can anticipate…and many will no doubt surprise me. But I’m starting this year with the peaceful reminder that if I keep my heart inclined toward Him, He’ll guide me exactly where I need to go. It’s rarely the easy way. But it’s the full way. Filled with His promises, His lessons, His blessings. We don’t always recognize them when they come…but we see them looking back.
In the Julian calendar, the new year begins with January, which is named after the god Janus–who had two faces, so he could see both in to the past and the future. We can see clearly only behind us…but how blessed we are to serve the one true God, who holds past, present, and future in His hand–and holds us there too.
Have a blessed New Year’s Day, and I’m saying a prayer right now that 2015 is a year full of blessings!
by Roseanna White | Dec 19, 2014 | Remember When Wednesdays, Uncategorized
Merry, merry Christmas, everyone!
I hope everyone has a wonderful week. I intend to spend mine having fun with the kiddos and finalizing our plans for making Christmas Day a day of remembrance for Jesus.
With this on my mind this year, I’ve been quite struck by a few things I’ve come across. A week or so ago we went on a field trip to a local historical house, which had a World War 1 display up for the holiday. The children got to hear the story of the Christmas Truce, when the British and German troops declared a cease-fire for Christmas and ventured into No Man’s Land, exchanging rations and playing soccer and remembering what peace on earth is really about. The fighting began again the next day–and the command was none too pleased when they learned that the soldiers in the foxholes took it upon themselves to do this–but looking back, it’s an inspiring story.
And oh, how I love touring this historic house. When you step into the ballroom, you see the grand, 16-foot-high Christmas tree. And learn that in 1914, the tree wouldn’t have been decorated until Christmas Eve, and would be closed off so the kids couldn’t see it until Christmas Day. But not first thing–oh no! First came church. Then a family brunch. And only then did the family open those doors to the ballroom and reveal the tree and the presents.
I’m really coming to love the simplicity of these sorts of celebrations. The fact that the gifts were few but meaningful, the emphasis of the day on Jesus first, family second, and only afterward the things. I find myself longing to recapture some of that. And wondering at the roots of our traditions.
So being me, I do a little research. 😉 I started in Ancient Rome, where they celebrated a winter holiday called Saturnalia. They would give gifts, light candles, and celebrate for a week…but while this celebration led up to the winter solstice, it’s not, as some would suggest, the roots of our Christmas. Nor, as other have suggested, is the Roman festival to the sun god, also celebrated on December 25. For centuries people have suggested this–with outrage–but in fact, the date of Christmas pre-dates the holiday of Sol Invictus. So if anyone was stealing, it was the Roman emperor. 😉
Why December 25th then? Well. *Grins* As it turns out, it all goes back to March 25. At the time, that was the date of the spring equinox. In Jewish tradition, it was believed to be the date that God created the earth, the date of the Passover, and so the date that Jesus was crucified. According to another Jewish tradition, important men were believed to live in whole years–which is to say, their life began and ended on the same date.
So how did the early church ascertain the date of Jesus’s birthday? They assumed that conception took place on March 25–that Jesus’s life as a human being began that day–and then counted exactly nine months forward. Hence, December 25.
Let’s not argue whether the math is exactly right or the validity of the whole-year supposition. Let’s just accept that it’s what people round about 300 A.D. believed. That is where the date of Christmas comes from, and the fathers of the early church were fully convinced by this. Me? I don’t know, and frankly, I don’t think it matters. But I accept the beauty of their reasoning, the simplicity of it, and I embrace their desire to celebrate the birth of our Christ.
In our house, we’re determined to keep only the traditions that bring us
Joy and keep our eyes on the Lord, not the ones that bring stress. Presents will be simple. Baking will be fun. Honestly, if I’m stressing about something–be it gifts or decorating or cookies–then that’s my cue to examine it and wonder if it’s pulling my eyes off Jesus. And you know what? It usually is. So those will be the first things I let go of.
I pray your celebration this year is filled with the Light of the World. That each candle you light is a testimony to Him. That each gift you give is out of love–the same love you received from the Father when He gave His Son. The same love
St. Nicholas embraced when he dropped gold down a chimney to save a family from the streets. The same love that raises man out of the mire and stretches him toward the Holy.
I pray that this Christmas is about the gift of Jesus to the world, and that new understanding of that amazing Gift falls on your heart and keeps you warm through the holidays.
God bless and Merry Christmas!
by Roseanna White | Dec 17, 2014 | Remember When Wednesdays
It’s been a pretty cool week in terms of writing progress.
First of all, on Friday I finished The Outcast Duchess, book 2 in my Ladies of the Manor Series. Yay!! I’d been so close for weeks, and had it been a time of year that allowed for ignoring the outside world and writing…
But alas. It wasn’t. So amidst field trips and The Nutcracker rehearsals, I found what time I could and ended up writing 9,600 words on Friday to get me to The End. (No, I don’t actually type The End, LOL. I just sit back and breathe a sigh of relief and then shout out a loud “DONE!” for anyone within earshot.) For reference, that’s writing-retreat sort of numbers for me. The realm that I can usually only accomplish when all outside distractions are removed. But I managed it on Friday with a half day of school and then a couple blessed hours of solitude while my mother-in-law took the kids Christmas tree shopping. Well, and then my awesome hubby picking up pizza for dinner. And me ignoring that the kids ought to have been getting ready for bed while I finished the epilogue, LOL.
So now I’m reading through it before sending it to my critique partners. And on Monday I got the word that my editor at Bethany House had just finished her pass of book 1 in the series, The Lost Heiress. Always a relief to get the nod on the revisions I’d turned in and be assured that she loves it. =)
My thoughts then naturally turn to the third book in the series. I’ve written this whole series before in a different time period, so I already have a decent idea what will happen to my lovely Ella. And I gotta say, I’m pretty excited to focus on her. Why? Because she’s hilariously bubbly and optimistic. In this version of The Outcast Duchess, she has a note of whimsy she hadn’t had in my original version one I love. It’s going to be fun to see how she carries through on that when tossed headfirst into the action of book 3.
But it also makes me wonder what people really love to see in a heroine. Oh, I know we don’t ever just read one type, and we love many of them. But what’s your favorite type? My series, at the moment looks like this:
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| A young Diane Kruger is how I picture Brook, though with curly hair |
1. Brook – the trend-setter. Bold, daring, given to mischief, quite likely to fly off the handle and do something impulsive that could get her into serious trouble…but wary about romance after seeing disastrous results in her family.
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| Emma Watson (styled sweetly, not for sexy) is how I imagine Rowena |
2. Rowena – the outcast. Quiet, reserved, and seriously injured by relationships in her past. Rowena expects the worst from people and can’t quite believe herself worthy of love…until God and Brice prove to her otherwise.
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| Amy Adams in her role in Enchanted is pretty much a perfect Ella |
3. Ella – the optimist. Always on the lookout for romance, Ella expects a fairy tale out of life…and won’t believe in anything less, even when reality insists otherwise. Ella is traditional, feminine, confident…and prepared to wait a lifetime to find true love, if that’s what it takes.
Which character type (or personality type, in reality) are you most drawn to? Which one (or a different one) are you?
Me, I’m an optimist. Guess that’s why I’m looking forward to Ella. 😉
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.