Ghost Hunting Diary Volume 5 Cover -- Full

My first full sized cover.  T.M. is putting Volume 5 up on CreateSpace, so I upgraded her ebook cover to full.  I used all the same stock from the original ebook to created the back cover, aside from the addition of the wood pile.  I tried to line up everything as close as possible, but I think it's still a little off.  I didn't have a lot of time to get it perfect since she needed it same day.  Printed copies of the book will be available for sale at the Bechkam Hotel in Mineola, TX once it opens.


Amazon

T.M. Simmons: Website & Facebook



Stock Used:

House - fairiegoodmother.deviantart.co…

Sky - purplestripedbrain.deviantart.…

Grass - fairiegoodmother.deviantart.co…

Lightning - ObsidianDawn.com (bought commercial license)

Treeline (in background) - dierat.deviantart.com/art/Foli… & coffinkittie.deviantart.com/ar…

Additional scrub around the house - derangedhyena.deviantart.com/a…

Wood pile - perisheddoll.deviantart.com/ar…

Fence post - frostbo.deviantart.com/art/Fen…

Barbwire - frostbo.deviantart.com/art/Bar…

'No Trespassing' sign - showna-stock.deviantart.com/ar…

Mist - spiritsighs-stock.deviantart.c…

Shadow person

Font - OptimusPrincepsSemiBold (front & spine) & Veranda (back)

Monsters Among Us Cover

The finished cover for T.M.'s newest book. A lot of work went into this one, mostly looking for a model. Thankfully, Michaela gave up permission to use one of her wonderful stock images. The wall is from the Ford-Green Cemetery in Mineola, TX, & the burial mound and other two tombstones are from New Hope Cemetery in Mineola. There are a lot of mounds out there. It's really neat.  Also, T.M. recently got a post print of this framed and hung it up in her dining room.  It looks awesome.


Kindle

T.M. Simmons: Website & Facebook


Stock Used:

Woman w/ cat - mihaela-vstock.deviantart.com/… (Used with permission)

Rock Mound, Wall, Double Tombstone & Rock Marker - policegirl01.deviantart.com/ar… Exclusive Stock Pack

Book, Candles & Pentagram - www.dreamstime.com/royalty-fre… (Provided by T. M. Simmons)

Flames - redheadstock.deviantart.com/ar…

Fur (for cat) - knathies-stock.deviantart.com/a…

Grass - smokeylittleclover.deviantart.…

Stars - kuschelirmel-stock.deviantart.…

Moon - shutter-shooter.deviantart.com…

Trees - derangedhyena.deviantart.com/a…

Angel - hauntingvisionsstock.deviantar…

Energy Beam - photoncubetutorials.blogspot.c… (tutorial) & freshemedia.deviantart.com/art…

Font - Black Chancery

The Last 40 Days Cover

The Last 40 Days is about a man who travels back in time & ends up witnessing the Crucifixion. I initially did a bit of research to find out what the landscape looked like back then, and found that it was a lot different that it is today. Technically there should be an abundance of trees, shrubs & plants in the background but I was limited on what stock to use & C L really wanted sand dunes. He really likes the way it come out, so I'm glad. The whole time I was working on this, all I could think about was Life of Brian. I even played 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' for some inspiration.

The hardest past was deciding on using either a physical time machine or or use a portal. C L wanted the Stargate...which, as you can guess, isn't going to happen. It would have looked really cool, but I have no desire to see the inside of a jail cell. I looked around for weeks trying to find something use use as a base but came up empty handed. So, I started looking for portals. Typing in 'portal' in dA gave me a wide range of results, from Portal game/logo pics to several misplaced photos of penises (don't ask). Eventually, I stumbled across the one I used. I added in the lines to give it a little more action & depth.


Update 1 - C L decided he wanted the dash out of MP1. I also added in a shadow for the man, which I realized I had forgotten.


Kindle Link: Coming Soon

C L Smothers Site



Stock Used:

Background - greenleaf-stock.deviantart.com… & shiama-stock.deviantart.com/ar…

Sunset - mgb-stock.deviantart.com/art/S…

Man - mindsqueezedesign.deviantart.c…

Crosses - hand drawn by me

Scrub Grass - wolverine041269.deviantart.com…

Time Portal - stock7000.deviantart.com/art/T… & freshemedia.deviantart.com/art…

Font - Cimbrian & Roman S

Living with Dead Folks Vol. 1 Cover

This was a fun cover to do since I finally got to put Trana on the cover of one of her books. This book is basically all of her blog post for last year, and she will do a new one each year will all the collected posts. The general theme for the covers will be candid shots of her doing stuff around the house while the ghosts do whatever in the background.

For this one, we used her office. After taking the screen off & opening the window directly behind her desk, I stood up on a step-stool and took pictures of her looking from side to side. I would have liked to shoot a bit higher but couldn't due to the window. Plus, a few of the pictures came out a little blurred. I still have trouble putting a lot of weight on my knee from time to time, and I was extra nervous standing up on something (last think I need is to fall and mess my knee up again). The overall image ended up being a merge of three, and I had to draw in part of the wall, ceiling, computer monitor & door.


Kindle

T.M. Simmons:  Website & Facebook

 
Stock Used

Background, Foreground & Trana - Photographs taken by me

Ghost

Font - OptimusPrincepsSemiBold

Ghost Hunting Diary Volume V Cover

This one took me a few tries to get it going. Originally, I was going to use a photo of the actual house talked about in the 'Hell House' chapter. The photo was taken years before digital cameras came out and got really messed up every time I tried to adjust the brightness. So after some searching, I found a house that looked very similar and when from there. The shadow person is the same that is used for the team logo, but just in white. I used a few layers of fog brushes for the mist set at 40% to 50% opacity, then erased them down from that at about 42% opacity. That way it lost most of the detail to look like a very light mist. I also painted in the treeline in the background.


Kindle
T.M. Simmons: Website [link] & Facebook [link]



Stock Used

House - [link]

Sky - [link]

Grass - [link]

Lightning - ObsidianDawn.com [link] (bought commercial license)

Treeline (in background) - [link] & [link]

Additional scrub around the house - [link]

Fence post - [link]

Barbwire - [link]

'No Trespassing' sign - [link]

Mist - [link]

Shadow person - [link]

Font - OptimusPrincepsSemiBold

SRT Logo Design

Logo commission for Supernatural Researchers of Texas, a ghost hunting group that I'm a member of. The main logo is being used for things like business cards, car magnets & the like and is primarily printed on a white background. The t-shirt logo will only be used for t-shirts (unless something comes up). Since it will only be printed on purple shirts, I've added purple to the background so that you can see what it will look like.

Stock Used:

K-II - hand drawn by me (using own K-II as a reference)
Shadow Person - [link]
Font - OptimusPrincepsSemiBold

Ghost Hunting Diary Volume II Cover

A slight redesign of T.M. Simmons' Ghost Hunting Diary Volume II cover. Trana did the original version herself and decided that it needed to be updated along with the rest. The original is still up on Amazon if you want to see it.

I took the original image and centered it, then added a brighter sky & clouds after adjusting the colors/brightness/contrast. I also used a different font as well.


Kindle Link: [link]

T.M. Simmons: Website [link] & Facebook [link]


Stock Used:

Background - Photo credit T.M. Simmons (provided by T.M. Simmons)

Cloud - [link]

Font - OptimusPrincepsSemiBold

Forever Angels Cover V. 2

The original cover was just the background image. I added in the couple and didn't have to do a whole lot editing to them. I added facial & body hair to the guy, but you can't see most of it. I also added in some wrinkles to make him a bit older, as well as some grey hairs on his sideburns.


Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Angels-ebook/dp/B006LD1XYC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354997924&sr=8-2&keywords=forever+angels

Trana Mae Simmons: Website http://www.tranamaesimmons.com & Facebook http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001080912099


Stock Used

Background - Dreamstime (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Couple - Hot Damn Stock (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Body/Facial Hair - http://www.deviantart.com/users/outgoing?http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=27688-0

Wrinkle Tutorial - http://www.photoshoplab.com/aging-people.html

Font - Pristina

Mountain Magic Cover V. 2

Updated cover for Mountain Magic.

I removed a tattoo on the guy's shoulder & added various bits of body/facial hair. I redid the woman's hair and also extended the vest down to cover her middle.


Kindle Link: [link]

T.M. Simmons: Website [link] & Facebook [link]


Stock Used:

Mountain - [link]

Man - Hot Damn Stock (privided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Woman - Hot Damn Stock (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Hair - [link] & [link]

Chest Hair - [link]

Font - Pristina

Montana Surrender Cover V. 2

Well, the first version I did proved to be a little too hot. So I did a toned down version.

I didn't have to do too much with the guy except some body and facial hair. I also removed a tribal armband tattoo on his arm. The only thing I really changed on the woman was the hair. I wanted to cover up her mid-drift but nothing really worked.


Kindle

Trana Mae Simmons: Website & Facebook

Stock Used:

Couple - Hot Damn Stock (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Background - Dreamstime (provided by Trana Mae Simmons)

Hair - redheadstock  & vaia

Chest Hair - http://creativemac.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=27688-0

Font - Pristina

Woefully Behind Again

FenCon was awesome, and I had a great time.  I've been working on some more book cover since & will have a ton of stuff to update once I get a chance.  Things my mom blog have picked up since it's Christmas so I've been testing a ton of products and writing reviews.

I'm going to try to get a few updates up tonight.  I'm on my laptop so I don't have all the files handy to get them all up..but I think I should be able to get most of them up.

Updates

I have been completely flooded with cover commissions the past several months.  I recently moved Misadvmom.com over to DreamHost & have been behind with stuff over there as well.

I have a bunch of stuff that needs to get up here, but it may still be a while before I have to chance to work on it.  I will try to have the site completely updated by the time FenCon rolls around. 

Also, I'm just about ready for the Silent Prey cover shoot, and I will be livestreaming it.

FenCon 2013

I will have a table setup at FenCon on October 5th, from 12 - 2 pm.  I will be sharing it with TM Simmons.

I will be selling stock packs, taking book cover commissions, & have several prints for sale.  Here's a quick list of the prints I will have:

• Rockport, TX - Pelican: 16x20 canvas; Price TBD
• FWSY 3 -- Cowboy 1: 12x18 canvas; Price TBD 
• Rockport, TX - Boat 1: Framed Photo (possibly in art auction)
• Wild #1: Framed Photo

I'll be updating the list as I go.  I'm still deciding what to take.  I will be at the convention the while weekend, so if you miss me at the table you should be able to find me wandering around.

Updates

I've had a lot going on lately so I'm way behind on getting stuff up here.  There are several new book covers & a website,  as well as some logo commissions.  I'll try to get them up later this week.

Current Commissions

• Silent Prey by T.M. Simmons - ???; still in early phase 
• Untitled Beckham Hotel Book by T.M. Simmons & Various Authors (full cover)
  
• Wanda by CL Smothers
• The Last 40 Days by CL Smothers

Commissions & Updates

I had to go in for knee surgery on the 3rd, so I've had to put all work on hold this month.  I'm currently staying at my parents house due to the fact that I can't get up the steps to get into my own.  I should be heading home sometime this coming Sunday.  Once home, I will be focusing mainly on C L's webpage so that I can get that one done first.  I not sure which romances I'll be working on for Trana yet & Grave Yarns will only take me a little bit to redo.  I also have another stock pack to get up as well.

Current Commissions

• Grave Yarns by T.M. Simmons (redesign)
• Silent Prey by T.M. Simmons (no set start date)
• TBD Romance by Trana Mae Simmons
• TBD Romance by Trana Mae Simmons
• TBD Romance by Trana Mae Simmons
• TBD Romance by Trana Mae Simmons
• Web Page for C L Smothers
• background
• buttons
• banner
• images scanned
• 3 pages (including index)

Misc Stuff

• Supernatural Art (dA group) Secret Santa -- Horror/Marcarbe/PM poster
• Screener's Poster Exchange -- maybe

Pic from FenCon 2012

Although I wasn't able to be at FenCon in person, a bunch of my stuff was.  My friend Amanda got a picture of our table that was set up on Friday from 4 to 5pm.  Next year we are going to get the table for a few hours on Saturday since the majority of the people attending will be there then.

I got the covers prited at Walmart for about $19 total.  It should have been way more due to the fact that they ended up printing them on canvas (CANVAS!!!!!) because they were out of the regular poster paper.  They looked great.  I'll get a better pic of them a little later and put it up.

Trana w/ her books & my posters.

Neil

Neil Armstrong
August 5, 1930 - August 25, 2012

The first man to walk on the moon.  A true hero.


Stock Used:
Moon - oblivionmasquerade
Stars - kuschelirmel
Font - OptimusPrinceps SemiBold

Dead Man Hand Cover

Who would have thought that they would ever see an elk playing poker?  This one was super fun to do since I made almost all the stock used. 

Special thanks goes out to Carls & Amanda for letting me borrow their poker set, and to Trana for bringing over the whiskey bottles.

Available: Kindle
T.M. Simmons: Website  & Facebook

Stock Used:
Skeleton - twins72-stocks
Elk - gsdark-stock
Table, cards & poker chips - The Poker Pack Exclusive Stock Pack   dA | Blog
Bottles - Jack Daniel's Bottles Stock Pack   dA | Blog
Stools - hand drawn by me
Font - BONES