Hunter's Rose Book 2 First Reveal! *sorta

Welcome everyone,

Yesterday, I promised a reveal today, but I kinda hedged. The image I'm about to reveal is not one that will appear in my book. Instead, I'm going to finish telling you a story I began in the spring.

If you can, remember back to when I mentioned the artist I hired for Book 1 was unable to perform for Book 2. He's the one that provided this image for Book 1:

To me, that's a great shot. He captured a lot of detail from the sketch I gave him. The warriors look fantastic in the sunlight. The mountain pass looks both inviting and intimidating at the same time. It was the perfect interpretation of that scene for Book 1.

Now, the first image I wanted to get for Book 2 was the village inn. As you recall, the inn is own by the main character's uncle. I didn't have a picture for it in Book 1, so I wanted to include one in Book 2.

The inn will always be a central location in my series, so I felt it was important to illustrate it for the reader. I provided photographs of real medieval inns from around the world along with my own sketch of what I wanted. The artist seemed excited to begin the job, but weeks and weeks went by with no progress.

Finally, I really had to pressure him to produce something. Sadly, this is what the artist gave me and it becomes my first reveal for Book 2:

The detail is really lacking. The side of the building isn't finished. Overall, the inn is far too small for what I'm envisioning. Even the front lattice-work, if you zoom in, is hazy and ill-defined. This image is the product of a month's work. Yet, in all that time, the artist only got about half done. The first image in this blog post took only two weeks for him to create.

I can't judge the artist harshly. There may be something very tragic or distracting going on in his life. But I can judge his work, and it is severely lacking.

As a result, I had to find a new artist. You'll get to see his rendition of the inn on Thursday, so you can look forward to that. I don't believe he's quite as talented as my first artist, but he produces excellent work on time. That's what I look for in a business partner.

In fact, I liked this new artist so much, I actually commissioned an extra piece from him. I think the book will benefit from it.

So anyway, come back later this week to get a real look at the inn. I can't wait to share that with you, and it is something you will see in the finished product!

Peace,

-Troy