Happy Friday, y’all!
We’re so stoked to be revealing the cover of Michael R. Fletcher’s latest-and-greatest: a DELUXE EDITION hardcover of Black Stone Heart, the book that put him on so many of our radars.
Micheal’s got a few words to say before we get to the good stuff:
“I have wanted to do a Kickstarter for this series for years. Unfortunately, I am me and there are things I am good at and things I am really bad at.
Interacting with humans in a normal, sane, and professional manner freaks me out. Anyone I’ve dealt with (artists and editors) knows they’re more likely to get a ranted email hurling thoughts at them than a cohesive requestion. My art briefs look like: ARGH! Death and mayhem! Sorcery! Demons! Just make it awesome!
Worse, though, was the thought of fulfilling the Kickstarter. I (grudgingly) sell signed copies of my books. It will often take a week or more just to get to the post office to mail a single book. Mailing out (potentially) hundreds of books…yeah, it was never going to happen.
And so, I’d given up on the idea. Until several friends shouted abuse at me and introduced me to Andrew Cobble and Merrick Books. I send my insane ranty emails, and Andrew (and the team) turn them into reality.
On to the book…
Black Stone Heart is a tale of self-discovery. A broken man, Khraen awakens alone and lost, with no memory. His stone heart has been shattered, littered across the world. With each piece, he regains some small shard of the man he once was. He follows the trail, fragment by fragment, remembering his terrible past.
My goal is to make the Insanity Edition a gorgeous piece of art, capturing the essence of the story in every way. This was the first story I ever tried to tell, and I had to write and publish several other novels before I was ready. Simply put, this is my baby. I am all in on this project. I’ve hired amazing artists from around the world to bring this story to life including a hand-drawn map from Italian artist Moreno Paissan. There will be black and white interior illustrations of the cast as well as full-color scenes.
After hunting through Instagram and Artstation, I stumbled across Lu Peng, an unbelievably talented artist from Shanghai. His detail work is second to none, and I knew he was perfect for the dust jacket I envisioned. For the dust jacket, a combination of a silky matte finish and glossy foil typography, he recreated a scene from the novel, perfectly capturing the scale and madness of a demonologist at war.”
And boy, did it come out AMAZING!
But wait, there’s MORE!
“For the hardcase hidden beneath the jacket I wanted something symbolic capturing the essence of demonology. No one could be more perfect for this than Rachel St. Clair from Canada’s west coast. The hardcase, as all dark tomes must be, is finished in black faux leather with the designs worked in black foil. With the black sprayed edges, this is going to look stunning.”
Stunning is an UNDERSTATEMENT!
Just…WOW!
The Kickstarter launches July 23rd, but you can already head over to the pre-launch page and follow now. I know I have!
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