Book covers and AI

When you are writing a novel, especially a historical romance, the appearance of your characters matters a lot. Especially the picture that you chose for the book cover. Apparently some appeal more than others! Is your hero tall dark and handsome (classic male trope)? Is your female lead small, fair and pretty (classic female trope), or more probably, as in real life, quite, quite different from these archetypes? In Lady Serena's Secret, I am afraid I have gone fairly conventional - I just hope the story line is interesting enough for you to overlook that! In the Brockworth Chronicle's, I normally try to mix it up a bit, but one always has to bear in mind what sort of images are available commercially, at a reasonable price, to those who are indulging in a bit of self-publishing on Kindle.

HEW 1

But now I have discovered AI art design programmes! When I mentioned this to my son Peter, he promptly dismissed these sort of programmes as something only useful for those with no artistic abilities whatsoever. Well, that could be a perfect description of my drawing/ painting skills, I quietly thought to myself! I have a very clear memory of Miss Noblett (our art teacher at Larkhill Convent) standing behind my chair in art class, and saying quite loudly, 'Well, we won't be seeing you again next year, will we, Bernadette?'. This was her not-so-subtle-at-all way of telling me that putting my name down for GCE Art would be a waste of everyone's time, especially hers. I did needlework instead!

HEW2

I am happy to say that this summary dismissal did not, however, dull my interest in Art, which is still a bit of an obsession, but only from an admirer's point of view.

But back to AI for the artistically talentless! I'd looked at a few reviews on line and watched a few YouTube videos on the subject and had really been impressed with the results shown there. The one that stood out for me was, Leonardo AI, and so I thought I would sign up for the free trial. Obviously you don't get all the bells and whistles with the free trial, but it does give you an indication if it is going to produce the sort of material that might prove useful for your own personal projects. I have now signed up for a basic subscription which allows you to fiddle around with the images a bit more, plus whatever you generate can be kept from going onto the images freely available to anyone who signs up. What you produce is yours.

HEW 3

Well, the results are variable, I have to admit, but like photography, out of every ten pictures that you generate, you will will probably get one or two that really catch your eye. No doubt the results get better with a) practice and b) getting to understand the tools better. However, you end up with quite a few possibles, and then you wonder which would have the most book cover appeal. 

Now few people would say that I was 'normal'. I know this because people have told me - kindly - but leaving me in no doubt whatsoever, that I am 'different', bordering on eccentric. Therefore, I have to conclude, that what appeals to me, may be completely way off target as far as the general public is concerned.

HEW 4

So, I have decided to test the water, as it were, and see what my friends and family think. I have picked out the five images of Hew that I prefer, which I generated with my personal vision of him in mind, (Hew is the male love-interest in 'Lady Serena's Secret' - to be published around Easter). For guidance here is a short summary of his character:

Hew d'Arras, 9th Earl of Blencathra cousin to Lady Isabel Brockworth (nee d'Arras) of Book 1, Lady Isabel's Inheritance. Tall, dark, handsome (but not drop-dead-gorgeous - that would be too much of a cliché), with near black hair and pale green eyes, a bit on the thin side as he has returned from India because of illness (tropical diseases killed off a lot of Brits in India at that time). Very rich, through his own hard work, with business interests in shipping and gemstones. He has returned to England, reluctantly, but with the firm idea that he would re-establish the good name of d'Arras in Society, and continue to build an extension of his Indian business empire, in England. He is serious, ambitious,  uninterested in the usual society entertainments, and suspicious of all, especially of all beautiful blue-eyed blondes. (Serena, of course, is a beautiful blue eyed honey-blonde, whom he tries to ignore, but with little success). Sorry - that's enough spoilers for now!

HEW 5

So which of the five possible Hews would you look at twice? I have numbered them coveniently for you to choose. You are allowed to choose as many as you like. I know which ones are my favourites! You can reply via the comments box, on Facebook, or send your answer to: arcadystitching@gmail.com. I will publish the results at the end of the month!

If you would like to receive notice of new blog posts, please let me know, and I will add your name to the mailing list. (this is a personal blog, not a business website - I DO NOT pass on any info about my correspondents to ANYONE. Just in case you wondered. You are my friends, and I'd like to keep it that way!

Happy New Year! I hope 2025 is a good one for you!

B.

Progress Report: Lady Serena's Secret

Hello, and apologies for my absence. I have been unwell. Hopefully, all fingers crossed, I am on the mend, and ready to engage with you all once again! Despite some really rubbish days, I have managed to work on steadily with 'Lady Serena's Secret' when feeling up to it, so it's time for a progress report.

The proposed book cover. Lady Serena is actually more blonde than this, but it is surprisingly difficult to find true blondes in book cover designs. Copyright LitAtelier (Etsy)

As I have mentioned before, doing the research for these books is probably the most enjoyable bit involved in the process of producing a book. My brain takes me walkabout in its hidden recesses, chivvying out half known facts and forcing me to learn something more solid about them. So the sacred lotus flower of the East comes up during the latter part of the book, and though I knew roughly what it looked like, to make sure I didn't make a massive horticultural faux pas, I did a little bit of research. (We are so fortunate to have the Internet - the information we need is literally at our finger tips. I would have had to seek out some botanical tome or write to someone at Kew pre-Google and Wikipedia). But I digress.

So the sacred Lotus flower. Though the flower looks like a water lily (Nymphaea) it is from a completely different different plant group - Nelumbo. It is also different in form, having a much larger flower and can stand up to eight feet above the mud in which it grows. Water lilies grow in water and rarely stand above the surface more than eight inches.

 

Lotus flower. Copyright: T.Voekler, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

However, it was the symbolism that really interested me. It has different meanings in different cultures, the primary ones being Purity, Rebirth and Overcoming Adversity. Other attributes are Beauty, Strength and Enlightenment. Whilst I refuse to let slip some spoilers, you can be sure that the lotus flower's appearance in the story is somewhat significant, bearing in mind its symbolism.

My other recent area of research is Malaria. Our hero, Hew d'Arras, Earl of Blencathra (not giving away too much here as this information appears at the beginning of the book), is reluctantly returning to England from India, because he has been told that remaining in the country would mean his early demise from disease and the effects of an unfriendly climate. We are not actually told that he has had Malaria, but as he has come back armed with cinchona bark (the only effective treatment for Malaria at that time, though it was used to help with other types of fevers), it's a reasonable conclusion to make. Also, people could have relapses, even after they appeared to have thrown off the disease. I'll let you draw your own conclusions about possible plot lines involving those facts.

 

A depiction of the train for George IVs Coronation. The invited Peers had the dubious honour of being told to wear Tudor or Stuart dress. The acceptable designs were placed on display at the College of Arms. Levens Hall has one of the original Page's costumes (in remarkably good condition considering it is over 200 years old. The silk fabric is truly beautiful) on display Copyright:Edward Scriven (after Francis and James Stephanoff), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Finally, towards the end of the book, the Coronation of King George the IV takes place. Though the actually ceremony doesn't play a part in the plot, per se, the hoo-ha and eyewatering expense surrounding it, does. Finding original sources has led me around the world (digitally, that is), though it pains me to see that other countries value our history more than we do. Once more I digress! There is a particularly deliciously funny scene involving Theo which makes me laugh just thinking about it.

The first draft is nearly finished - hooray! Turning it into a good story, rather than just a collection of connected events, starts probably in the next week or two. That's when the going gets tough!

Best regards, Detta