And having started down the dark path...

... I checked my Amazon rankings this morning, to find that GCA is currently still in the mid teens, and Threshold has reached 1,900 or so.

This is the first time I've seen any novel of mine pass the 2k mark (Digital Knight once showed a spike to about 2700). I'll admit that after DK I stopped obsessively checking, though -- I have no idea what ranking either Mountain Magic or Boundary reached.

Still, it's encouraging.

Any artists willing to waste their time and effort for a chance at obscurity and a few thanks?

As many of you know, I can't draw to save my life; at best, I can use Visio to produce serviceable concept sketches. I've been fortunate in that I have a couple of fans who have been willing to devote time and effort to producing some excellent imagery for my novels -- Keith Morrison and Mary Dell.  Both of them, however, have lives and I can't -- at the moment -- pay money to outweigh the need for them to actually attend to real life affairs.

I'm in... well, not NEED, but WANT... of a number of images from my stories. Partly this would be to make some more trailer/videos for the novels, and partly just to flesh out the material available for people trying to visualize what I'm writing. And partly just because, since I'm NOT an artist ,one of my absolute favorite things in the world is seeing one of the things I've written becoming an actual image or video.

If I eventually become a Rich and Famous (TM) author, then I'll certainly be sending Keith and Mary something for their trouble -- and similarly for anyone else who sent me something I used --, but I can't actually promise anyone anything. So this would be -- from the point of view of any artist willing to take a shot at it -- purely for the fun and the fandom (presumably anyone willing to do it must like my stuff). I used to do writing projects like this for people,

I also don't say I'll use EVERYTHING (if I get a deluge, which I doubt); I'll have to choose based on style matching, quality, etc., though if I get enough a "fan art" gallery certainly could be put up. What I WILL say is that I'll very much appreciate everything and anything I get.

I am available and willing to provide input/clarification for artists who have a hard time getting clear descriptions out of the text -- something that would not particularly surprise me.

So, a list of things I want to see, in a sort-of-order of what would be most useful.

Grand Central Arena: Images of the major aliens -- Orphan, Nyanthus, Relgof, Maizas (the Molothos ground commander), Selpa'A'At, Amas-Garao, etc.; Images of specific locations (Nexus Arena, the Human Sphere); Images of cool looking Arena ships; images of any specific scenes that strike one's fancy. (Other ideas include alternative covers; one concept I recall with amusement was the idea of doing a truly exploitative Baen cover with Gabrielle and Ariane in "Dirty Pair" style outfits in front, with a shirtless and heavily armed DuQuesne in the middle and slightly behind them.)

Threshold/Boundary: Images of the main characters (Helen, A.J., Joe Buckley (I don't know if the real Joe actually looks anything like I envision the character), General Hohenheim, Fitzgerald, Maddie, Nicholas Glendale, etc.). Locations and/or scenes that strike people's interest. (the most dramatic ones of course are the "landing" of Nebula Storm and the near-destruction of Odin (twice).)

Digital Knight: Just about anything would be great. Images of any of the monsters, especially Virigar, and the main characters, and any scenes that strike people.

Diamonds Are Forever/Mountain Magic: Quite a few come to mind, but ideally the image that I wanted for the REAL cover: Jodi facing off against the Magon, in true Baen Exploitative Cover style -- and entirely justified by the text. :)