Did you know that, in addition to bein an author, I'm also an artist of sci-fi, fantasy, and other speculative genre media? I've been drawing, painting, wood block printing, watercoloring, and digitally rendering fantasy characters since I was five.
And this week, I proudly launched an official book cover design website! I'm now offering cover art packages for E-book, print, and audiobooks. I've been wanting to do this for years – even tried to work up the resources for it before. Life, as it does, intruded, and I put the plans on hold. I did take several cover art projects from indies who knew I created covers on the side, but never really advertised.
Then life, as it does, intruded again.
A hearing screening this January showed I have moderate to severe hearing loss on my right side. What that means from my perspective is that, while I can detect some noise on my right side, I can't make out anything clearly and sometimes I can't hear anything at all. Further tests indicate I may have a hereditary – and correctable! – condition called otosclerosis. The next step in treatment, according to my current head and neck surgeon, is a follow-up hearing screening in December, to get a sense whether my hearing continues to deteriorate.
Depending on the results of that second screening, I will (hopefully) be eligible for a stapedectomy, or surgery to remove one of the bones in my middle ear, to be replaced with a prosthesis. This will potentially restore my hearing to completely normal levels!
In the interim, though, the surgeon wants me to wear a hearing aid. Even the most basic and affordable on-ear models, however, are outside of my budget. And I want to hear again!
So, I decided to re-up my efforts to sell my cover art services, and hopefully earn some extra scratch to afford a decent hearing aid I can use until my next screening results… and potentially permanently, if it turns out I'm not a good candidate for the surgery.
There are plenty of other reasons I'm excited to jump into this adventure, though. I love art, and creating art, especially striking, colorful pieces like fantasy and sci-fi scenes. I've really found a passion in book cover art and working with authors to create unforgettable imagery. Turning that passion into an actual gig is a dream come true for my excited inner child. So I'm thrilled to be taking this step, and really hope there are indie authors out there looking for for an artist like me.