Empire’s Child

Here is my illustration and design for Empire’s Child, the début science fiction novel by Nick Lewis.

Nick’s work has previously featured in the two Visionary anthologies published by the British Interplanetary Society, to which I also provided the cover art.

The ebook and paperback editions of Empire’s Child is now available for pre-order on Amazon.

Humanity is old. Long, long ago It re-engineered the Galaxy for its own convenience. Empires have risen, empires have fallen. Technologies close to magic have come and gone.

But the need for cabbages remains. Threnador is one of the poor agricultural worlds supplying food to the richer worlds of the Confraternity, until, one day, Time stops on Threnador. All trade with the Galaxy ceases.

A young woman, Mihana, tries to find out why. Befriending an intelligent, shape-shifting craft, she flies it across her world and beyond. Ride with her and uncover the truth behind a three-thousand-year-old chase whose consequences have shaped her life, and which has treated Threnador as collateral damage.

December 29, 2022 by thelightdreams Categories: Blog, cover art, cover reveal, NewsTags: books, cover art, cover reveal, illustration, publishing, sci-fi art, science fiction, writing community Leave a comment

Terry Grimwood: Interference

My latest cover illustration is for Terry Grimwood’s forthcoming SF novel Interference, which is will be published by Elsewhen Press. For this cover, Terry wanted to depict an alien world with a red, burning sun. The scene is within a city, which is made up of tall, curved featureless buildings.

January 16, 2022 by thelightdreams Categories: Blog, cover art, cover reveal, NewsTags: books, cover art, cover artist, cover illustration, cover reveal, Elsewhen Press, illustration, new books, publishing, sci-fi art, science fiction, small press, Terry Grimwood, writing community Leave a comment

Alice Sabo – Circuit Breaker

I recently completed the cover art for Alice Sabo’s new book, Circuit Breaker. It’s the second title in her Children of a Changed World series, and follows the map-based design established with the first book, Willow’s Run.

The main different with this cover was I decided to draw the original map element in ink, rather than digitally.

October 28, 2021 by thelightdreams Categories: Blog, cover art, cover reveal, NewsTags: #WritingCommunity, books, cover art, cover reveal, illustration, publishing, science fiction Leave a comment

Talking cover design

I’m pleased to have a guest blog interview over on the Just Write Right website, about cover art and design, my creative process and working with self-publishing authors.

https://justwriteright.co.uk/2021/07/26/talking-cover-design/

July 26, 2021July 26, 2021 by thelightdreams Categories: Blog, cover art, NewsTags: book covers, books, cover art, cover design, creative process, design services, illustration, independent publishing, publishing, self-publishing, WritingCommunity Leave a comment

Cover reveal: “Willow’s Run”

Here is my latest cover art for Alice Sabo’s forthcoming book, Willow’s Run. This cover is quite different to what we’ve done before, which made a refreshing challenge. Our first idea didn’t work out, but then Alice changed direction and the title of the book! We agreed that the new cover should feature a map with a few subtle items from the story overlaid.

For more information about Alice’s books and to keep up with the latest news, you can follow her on Facebook.

Don’t forget, if you want a tour de force of my cover art for Alice, you can download The Art of a Changed World for free!)

“Willow’s Run” by Alice Sabo – cover art by Alex Storer

August 2, 2020 by thelightdreams Categories: Blog, NewsTags: Alice Sabo, book covers, books, cover art, cover reveal, fantasy, illustration, science fiction Leave a comment

Blackpool Remembered

I am absolutely delighted to be part of an exciting project dedicated to the original Doctor Who exhibition in Blackpool, which ran from 1974 to 1985 – which was the year I visited, as an awestruck seven-year-old.

Collated and edited by John Collier, Blackpool Remembered will be a free digital publication, documenting the evolution of the exhibition through fan memories and photographs, alongside detailed recollections from some of the people who made it happen. 

Contributors include Julie Jones, Bob Richardson, Mike Tucker and Neil Cole to name just a few, plus a wonderful foreword from Steve Cambden. 

I have illustrated and designed the front cover (below) plus completed several interior illustrations. In addition, I have rewritten and expanded my own recollections of the exhibition, which originally appeared in my 2011 publication, Who, Where & When.

If you’re a fan of classic Doctor Who and if you ever went to the first and most iconic incarnation of the exhibition, then stay tuned, as this will be for you! For further updates, head over to Twitter and follow @BlackpoolRemembered7485

Blackpool Remembered will be available to download as a PDF in August.

I also have another exciting Doctor Who-related project in the works, which I look forward to sharing in the near future. Needless to say I will soon be adding a Doctor Who section to the gallery pages here!

May 30, 2020May 30, 2020 by thelightdreams Categories: Blog, NewsTags: Blackpool Remembered, books, Classic Who, coming soon, Daleks, Doctor Who, Doctor Who Blackpool, Doctor Who books, Doctor Who Exhibition, Dr Who, ebook, free ebook, nostalgia, props & costumes, sci-fi, science fiction, TV tie-in 2 Comments

The Art of a Changed World – Illustrating the novels of Alice Sabo

I’m pleased to announce a new, free digital publication, The Art of a Changed World – a detailed retrospective of the cover art I have produced with writer Alice Sabo, since 2014.

The Art of a Changed World brings together all my concept art, final cover illustrations and designs for Alice’s thirteen books to date – spanning science fiction, fantasy and thriller genres. It contains the stories behind each cover, as well as insights into the creative process alongside contributions from Alice, plus a wonderful foreword by Richard Hayes.

This project celebrates creative collaboration in the world of independent publishing – whether you are an aspiring or established writer, artist, publisher, fan or reader, I hope you enjoy The Art of a Changed World.

Click the button below or the image above to download in PDF format.

Download

January 15, 2020January 15, 2020 by thelightdreams Categories: Blog, cover art, NewsTags: #BookCoverArtist, #WritingCommunity, Alice Sabo, art, books, concept art, cover art, digital art, fantasy, illustration, independent publishing, indie authors, publishing, science fiction, science fiction books, self publishing, The Art of A Changed World, writing community 2 Comments

Alice Sabo: Dilemma cover reveal

Dilemma is the third book in Alice Sabo’s space fantasy series, Transmutation, and will be published as an ebook on January 23. Here is my cover art, which we’re both very pleased with!

There’s another project in the pipeline, which I’ll be posting details about in the coming days, so stay tuned!

January 10, 2020 by thelightdreams Categories: Blog, cover art, cover reveal, NewsTags: books, ebooks, fantasy, new books, publishing, science fiction, space fantasy Leave a comment

The Call of the Aïdin Planet – in print!

Today I received copies of the hardback and paperback versions of L.Z. Dàin’s novel, The Call of the Aïdin Planet – book one of The Legacy Saga – to which I had the pleasure of illustrating and designing the cover.

I’m delighted with just how good they look in print, and as always, it is a genuine pleasure to see an author’s dream become a reality. To find out more, visit: https://www.theaidinhorizon.net

August 8, 2019 by thelightdreams Categories: Blog, NewsTags: books, cover art, publishing, reading, science fiction, SF Leave a comment

Cover art: The Call of the Aïdin Planet

I’m delighted to reveal my cover art for The Call of the Aïdin Planet, by L.Z.Dàin – book one of The Legacy Saga from Seattle-based publisher, Tales of the Horizon.

“Nine-hundred thousand years ago, seven Galactic Humans discover a mysterious Time singularity on planet Earth. But, obscure powers beyond the many worlds of the Galactic Union will not stop until they control it. Thus, the seven must make a choice, a choice that will not only affect their evolutionary future but the destiny of Earth itself.”

As much as I love the opportunity to come up with initial ideas for a cover, I really like it when the author or publisher have a clear vision of what they’d like on the cover. It is their book after all! Sometimes this process can be flexible, depending on what ideas I may have or that I feel could add impact, and on other occasions, simply my own interpretation of the initial brief does the job. It is important to me that the finished work is typical of my style and approach to a distinctive cover but more importantly, what I come up with has to match their vision – and good collaboration and communication is key to that. The cover for this book is a fine example of a project perfectly coming together, despite us being on opposite sides of the globe!

Even when there’s a clear brief, I’ll always work up a quick black & white sketch, to make sure the composition and my interpretation are correct.

Finally, I took the various elements of the illustration and created an animated reveal for the cover art:

The Call of the Aïdin Planet is available in paperback and ebook via Amazon. Further details about Tales of the Horizon can be found on their website.

June 19, 2019June 19, 2019 by thelightdreams Categories: Blog, cover art, cover reveal, NewsTags: Blog, books, cover art, cover reveal, creative process, digital art, illustration, new books, publishing, science fiction, Tales of the Horizon Leave a comment