I find that working on
the cover image of my book helps me work on the text itself. Right
now I need clarify my feelings about the book.
The book’s working
name is Mud and it is set in modern Prague. At first
I was playing with classic images of Prague – Charles Bridge and
moody spires, but they didn’t feel right. For starters the story
isn’t set in tourist Prague, but in the lovely but less well-known
area of Holesovice. But I didn’t want to identify that area
particularly.
One of the reasons for
playing with the cover is that it helps me identify my audience and
genre. For many writers that is easy, but I write magic realism which
isn’t easy to slot into genres and can appeal to a range of
audiences. The book is partly a psychological mystery (a main
character is a Czech detective) and partly paranormal (the book
touches on the Golem legend). I searched for books of these genres
with a reference to Prague and got a load of books with moody spires
or darkened streets. Maybe I should copy them – if it works… But
I don’t want to.
I wanted a moody
picture but not a conventional one. So I wrote down the key elements
of the book. They were
- the extreme storms and floods of 2013
- the Golem
- Prague
- missing female
- male detective
Then I searched for
photos on 123rf.com which had combinations of the above phrases. It
didn’t work until I used the word “rain” and “Prague”. That
generated a photo by Czech photographer, JaromÃr Chalabala. I
clicked on his name and there was this photo:
It was just what I was
looking for. There’s even a hint of a Golem in those
reflections, don’t you think?
Now all I’ve got to
do is finish writing the book!
