Possible cover picture for Redstone books

Going through my family's facebook pages this morning. Lynn took this on her jog through our nearby park - about 1/2 way between our houses. (We live 2-3 miles apart.)

As soon as I think she might be awake and into her day, I'm going to call and ask her permission to use it for one of my covers.

Great photo, Ann. That would be an asset for your cover.

Isn't it amazing? She said he just stood there and seemed to be posing for the picture. And, it was an iphone pic. He was that close.

Ann

Stunning!

That picture has wonderful natural balance. The buck's pose, the rock in the lower left, the dark foliage in the upper right. Nature photographers strive and contrive for that effect. It will make a great cover.

11/26/2011


Ann...


That's awesome ! I say ask her and use it for
your book ...


Cheers...Joe...

Another question - I took these two pics of the Fredricksburg Public Library while I was there in May. Before the building housed the library, it was the county courthouse. It was built in 1881, which is the same year that the third book of the series, Thorne's Return, begins.



I think I can de-mordernize either or both pics with PhotoImpressions, and get something that looks like that time period, but there is a glitch. I am thinking about using it for the cover of a short story I'm working on, where Jake meets Karin (his wife in the first novel) and is convinced that he needs to take on the job of sheriff's deputy for the county. The only problem is that my story takes place in about 1847, or 34 years before the building was built.

How big a problem is that?

Ann

Building materials don't change much in thirty years (concrete and aluminium windows might have posed a problem!)

That's a Romanesque Revival building (architectural style). It would not have yet been popular in your book's time frame and in that area. In 1847 you'd probably only have found it on a church. Even later, the RR style was mostly for large, grand buildings. Most people wouldn't know that, though, so if historical accuracy in the art isn't an issue, I think you're ok. But I would ask if a grand building is a theme in that story. If not, why have it as the cover?

This Gutenberg ebook might be useful, Ann:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28750/28750-h/28750-h.htm#CHAPTER_II

Quote :

It would not have yet been popular in your book's time frame and in that area

Additionally, what do those two buildings have in common besides two superficial round arches at the bottom of the second?

What's your point?

It was the county courthouse, and so, where Jake's office would have been,30 years later, anyway - and finding, or even taking, a picture to represent the town at that period in it's history is next to impossible.

Jake takes the job because he comes to see that he has skills that are as necessary to keeping peace as they were to making war. The courthouse represents his job, and the importance of law to the developing community.

And I have a picture that I took myself. I may decide that what I really need to do is make another trip to the town and the rock with a clearer image in mind of what I want.

Ann

Oh, ok, so you were looking for a courthouse representation? Well, that building does exude a "courthouse" look, certainly. If you photoshop it into a sketch, I think it would be alright, if not historically accurate. You need a better picture, though, one front-on.

Or maybe you could do a search for courthouses during that time period in other places in Texas?

Oops I seem to have missed a couple of posts while I was editing! I realised that the picture might not be helpful. Here's the link again:

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/28750/28750-h/28750-h.htm#CHAPTER_II

Fredricksburg was a unique town for the time and place. It was settled by Germans and looked more like a German village from the same time period.

I remembered, though, that I also took this picture that day. It's a Pioneer Museum, and the building was modeled after the old Vireins-Kirsch, which served as a general building for not only church services, but as a town hall as well.
http://pioneermuseum.net/vereins-kirche.htm

Quote :

The Vereins Kirche (an extension of the Pioneer Museum) was built soon after the arrival of the first German settlers[1845], and stands as a tribute to the courage and vision of Fredericksburg’s founders. It was the first public building in the town, and served as a town hall, school, fort, and a church for all denominations. This is also the original site of the Pioneer Museum.

The original building was demolished in 1896, but local citizens long dreamed of rebuilding it - a dream that came true in 1935 when a gala celebration was held to dedicate the new structure as a pioneer memorial.

Today, this much-loved symbol of our German heritage is centrally located in the Marktplatz. Inside, exhibits introduce visitors to the stories of Fredericksburg’s past.

Here is my picture. I had never uploaded it from my phone, so it took me a bit:

Same pic, cropped and resized. I believe I can get a sharpr image if I upload a larger version.



Ann

I retweeted this earlier tiday:

Are looking for royalty free photos, video or music for your novel? I have found some great stuff at http://tinyurl.com/3ogdlb9

CC

The Vereins-Kirche is definitely my building:

Quote :

The Vereins-Kirche (Society Church), the first public building in Fredericksburg, was designed by a Dr. Schubert of the Adelsverein and built by the first settlers of Fredericksburg in 1847. It followed an ancient German style known as the "Carolingian octagon," exemplified by the original portion of the cathedral of Charlemagne at Aachen. Originally all the religious groups in Fredericksburg used the building, which stood in the middle of Main Street and was nicknamed the Kaffeemühle (coffee mill) for its octagonal shape. .... The Vereins-Kirche was also used as Fredericksburg's first school, established under Leyendecker in 1847, and also as a town hall, a fortress, a sanctuary, and, in 1896, a pavilion for Fredericksburg's fiftieth anniversary celebration. In 1897, however, having fallen into disuse and disrepair and regarded as an obstruction to traffic on Main Street, the Vereins-Kirche was torn down. When the Gillespie County Historical Society was formed in 1934, its first goal was the construction of a replica of the old Vereins-Kirche, with the assistance of the Civil Works Administration, to be completed in time for the Texas Centennial celebration in 1936, in Fredericksburg's old market square

(The original courthouse was apparently a section of a general store that was sacked by a group of soldiers who were upset because the storekeeper wouldn't serve liquor to them. That 1881 building at the beginning of this discussion was the first real courthouse they had.)

I downloaded and printed a picture of the original Vereins-Kirche building to use as a guide,

and put my picture through PhotoImpression to change it so it looked more like the original.

It will serve as he basis for the cover for A Time for Love, once I manage to finish A Time for Peace, which I need to do before I can finalize ATFL.

I've been going through the public domain image files to find the best one to represent the Comanche camp at San Saba, where ATFP takes place. Once I have the basics for these two covers, I can get back to writing. I've been bogged down with ATFP because it is too long and technical, like a history lesson more than an adventure story, but I came up with a way to cut out much of the history part last night, so my biggest thing right now is to get it all done while the new ideas are fresh.
Ann