Read the new novel "conversations with myself".

Available at Amazon.com.  Click image to purchase.

Get a copy of Dark Waters for you or someone special to you this Christmas

My new novel Dark Waters is available now from Amazon. A purchase of the print version comes with a free digital copy for Kindle readers and apps via the Amazon MatchBook program.


Be sure to leave a review on Amazon to let me know what you think of it.


You can sample an excerpt from the novel and find product links at gjowensbooks.com.


Thanks,
-gj

Order the Paperback of Dark Waters Now

You can now order the paperback version of my new novel Dark Waters from CreateSpace, Amazon, or your favorite local book store. Purchasing the print version from Amazon also gives you a free digital copy for Kindle readers and apps via the Amazon MatchBook program.  You can also pre-order the Kindle version for download Tuesday.

Be sure to leave a review on Amazon to let me know what you think of it.

In the meantime, you can sample an excerpt from the novel here.

Thanks,
-gj

Dark Waters Release Date & Kindle Pre-Order

The release is finally set for my new novel Dark Waters.  You can pre-order the Kindle version right now for delivery on 11/25, just in time to give yourself a thrilling read for the US Thanksgiving holiday.  The print version will be available on the 25th as well, and remember that a purchase of the print version comes with a free copy for Kindle readers and apps via the Amazon MatchBook program.

You can see the cover art below.  Click on it to go to the Amazon Kindle product page.

Three years ago cancer took the wife of Pat Collins.  Feeling neglected and forgotten by her father leading up to and in the months after the death of her mother, his teenage daughter ran away from home.  He has not spoken to her since, left only a text message to announce her leaving.  Afterward, Pat’s life spiraled down into a dark hole from which he had barely been able to pull himself.

Now returned to his life as a police detective, and with few memories of the time following the destruction of his family remaining, Pat is afraid he might be going insane.  Dreams that haunt him at night are beginning to take hold during his waking hours, and he is starting to see things . . . things that have no logical explanations.  He discovers that, with a touch, he is somehow able to see the memories of others.  As he struggles with his newfound existence, he finds true madness stalks him in the form of a sadistic killer for whom Pat has become a fixation.

Sparked by a memory not his own, Pat begins a quest to stop the devil haunting the streets of his adopted home, but he must deal with his own personal demons in order to do it.  Only by resolving his past can he find a future free from the hell his life has become.

Thanks,

gj

Dark Waters Preview

What if you could live another person's memories?

It has been three years since Pat Collins watched cancer cause a painful death for his wife.  If this loss was not enough, his teenage daughter, feeling neglected and forgotten by her father leading up to and in the months following, was driven away from home.  He has not spoken to her since, left only a text message to announce her leaving.

Now Pat is afraid he might be going insane.  Dreams that haunt him at night are beginning to take hold during his waking hours, and he is starting to see things...things that have no logical explanations.  But it is true madness that stalks him in the form of a sadistic killer who believes Pat is the secret to fulfilling his dark destiny.


It has been a while, but I have been hard at work on my forthcoming novel Dark Waters.  I am putting the final touches on it, as well as working on the cover design and art.

The writing of this latest novel was unusual for me in the sense that it became something almost entirely different than what it began as in my head, and I wanted to share this short preview with my readers.



Thank you for your time,
-gj

Click the image below to go to the preview.

The White Door - Kindle Version Now Available

The digital version of my debut novel of suspense and horror The White Door is now available for purchase and download for the Kindle and Kindle eReader apps via Amazon.com for only $2.99. 

If you prefer, the paperback version is also available from Amazon, or you can visit my eStore.





Thank you,
-gj

Commissioning Cover Art for My Novel "The White Door" - A Progression

Now that you've seen the final cover for my novel The White Door, I thought I'd share the stages that went into creating it...with images.

So, the first step of the process was to come up with an idea for the cover, something I could convey to prospective artists.  As a writer, I use words to depict what I want, while most artists think more visually.  Because of this, I decided to do a quick cover sketch, which ended up scribbled with writing to convey my poorly rendered visuals anyway.  It was then time to find an artist, and I turned to longtime comics artist Tom Derenick (DC Comics' Action Comics, INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US), who is extremely versatile and always delivers a quality product. 

Here is that first sketch I made for Tom.  Try not to snigger too much...and don't strain too greatly in an attempt to read my atrocious handwriting.

Yes, that image, along with a synopsis of my ideas was what I gave to Tom.  Needless to say, when he delivered the initial thumbnails for the concept sketches, I was happy not to have to refer back to it.  Below are images of the three thumbnail sketches Tom did for me, the first being a direct translation of my idea and the other two his own interpretations.


 

 

The only idea I had any issue with was B, and that was for entirely thematic reasons.

A was, of course, the closest to my original idea, so I felt slightly partial to it, despite C being the real attention grabber.

This was one of Tom's original concepts, and the pick of anyone whose opinion I trusted.  The only aspect I didn't like was the extreme angle, thinking it would appear narrow on the front of a book.

 

With that in mind, and my inability to entirely let go of my original idea, I asked Tom to do two new thumbnails with some small revisions and he obliged. 

Despite a touch of confusion concerning one of my notes about the placement of the arm reaching around the door, when I saw the second revised sketch, I knew it was the winner.  It captured the character's struggle and was the most interesting visually.  I informed Tom of my decision, and he went to work.

Some time later, he delivered the finished pieces to me, one in pen & ink and one fully shaded.

 

I was thrilled.  The artwork was exquisite and conveyed all I could wish of my book cover.  Tom's work made it so easy to be pleased, but I had work of my own ahead of me if I was going to be able to finish the book cover in such a way as to honor his original art.

I wanted to lessen the shadowing on the girl's face because I thought it made her appear slightly older than the character of Alice.  To this end, I simply overlaid the image from the pen & ink piece with that of the shaded one, letting a smaller amount of the shading show through from beneath.  When that was finished, I set to coloring the image, something I'd never attempted before.  In the end, I wound up with something I was pretty happy with.  In all honesty, Tom's shading work made the coloring process much simpler than it otherwise would have been.  The final task was a simple matter of laying the image into my final cover layout, which had been finished prior to receiving the art.

And because I was feeling playful, I also altered the colors as an experiment.  I made all the color paler with a higher degree of delineation.  The only exception was the nightgown, which I made a darker, striking blue.  I call this my "EC Comics" cover.  I would have also changed the character's skin and hair if I was doing it as more than a lark.


Off to the printers!

That was my journey from original concept to finished artwork for my novel The White Door.  I hope you enjoyed the insight into this process, and remember the release date for the novel is next Tuesday, October 15th.


Thanks for your time,
-gj

The White Door - Available October 15th

The release date for The White Door is set for October 15th.  Here is a good look at the gorgeous cover artwork by DC Comics' artist Tom Derenick.  After you've had a chance to soak in the finished cover, I'll be posting a series of images with notations, detailing the progression of the artwork from my embarrassing initial sketch to what you see here. 

Enjoy,
-gj

The White Door Book Trailer

Let me present the book trailer for my novel The White Door.
Watch and learn the release date and get a first look at the cover, illustrated by DC Comics' INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US artist Tom Derenick.  Then read the preview of the book here.