Cover thoughts

Last night, I had two dreams. One was so nightmarish and horrifying that I don’t want to think about it ever again. In the other, I died while I was writing a book. The afterlife turned out to be a permanent extension of whatever you were doing when you died. So, if you just broke up with somebody and you felt miserable and then you died, you’d be miserable forever. If you won a race and died, you would forever be basking in the glory of victory. I was permanently in the state of invention. It was rather nice. I didn’t feel unsatisfied. Rather, I was forever hopeful. I was forever looking forward.

Anyway, here’s the latest cover. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to do a fifth story, so this is what a four story collection might look like. Besides working on this, I spent quite a bit of time editing today. I think that’s what I’ll be doing for most of this week. The plan was to hit Killer Pete again, but I couldn’t help myself and I cleaned up a lot of dialogue for The Carny Murders.

I’ve also been thinking about theme (aka story). I thought I had a clear idea before I started writing, but looking at these stories in a nearly finished state, I can say that they are about constructed realities that turn on their creators. They are impossible crime stories, but the solutions are tied to the characters completely.

I could go on pontificating, but I spare you.

I like my new title. It might be the final one. The red/white color scheme is pretty much set.