I received my final book proof last week, and set about planning the sketch that I promised I would do of the cover once the print process was complete. Well, since I showed an image of the front cover in my last post, I decided I would sketch the back cover instead. I was already late with my usual Thursday post, but thought; never mind I’ll do it tomorrow, thinking the task of sketching six family members (as on back cover) a relative doddle. Last night I drafted the sketch in pencil, planning on doing the ink and watercolour the following day. Well, I can’t show you the that sketch, as I managed to muck up the image of myself as a six year old, and I couldn’t have that. So, back to sketching the front cover, which shows my father and his dog. I am relatively happy with how that’s turned out and have shown you that instead. I used waterproof ink and watercolour pencil with a light water wash for this one, as the water-soluble ink I used for the family group was the downfall of that sketch. Well, more my heavy-handed-ness, I guess.

The different things I refer to above are the list of other things I must wait for in regards to my book, The (almost) true story of a man called Jack, the printing of the ordered number of books and the conversion from print to digital format. And, as I am having a coming-out party for the book in a few weeks, I have had to organise a venue, make invitations and advertising brochures etc. In addition I have been contacting other agencies, as in bookshops and libraries, who just might wish to host an author talk or similar, or even agree to sell the book.

So far, I’ve had a positive response to my requests, and I am not someone who is used to pushing myself, or my achievements, into the public eye. But the main reason I am doing all this is that I believe in this book and, as it tells of a particular place at a particular point in time, it just may well be of interest to others beyond my family who might recognise their own lives. Perhaps they too lived in a small town post-war, when times were tough, waiting for different things.