Jim C. Hines - Mock Cover Contest

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Mock Cover Contest

Nov. 16th, 2009 at 8:30 AM

Windycon was a great deal of fun, as always. Got to meet some new folks and catch up with friends … I didn’t have much programming, so in a lot of ways this one turned into a social con for me. Many hugs, lots of hanging out chatting in the lobby and elsewhere. Met some new fans, but managed to keep the ego from getting too swollen (despite certain people’s best efforts). All in all, a good way to spend a weekend.

I learned that the steampunk theme brings out a lot of costumers, which was fun to see. Got to hear Tom Smith in concert, ate way too much food, and made it to one and a quarter of my two panels. (DAW vs. Baen was cross-scheduled with the Writing Workshop, so sadly I only caught the last 10 minutes of the panel.)

One of the most entertaining moments was when author Kelly Swails donned a Jig the goblin tattoo and decided to pose urban fantasy style, complete with a knife she swiped from the restaurant. Naturally, this called for the full cover art treatment. I’m obviously not a professional graphic designer, but I’m pretty amused by what I was able to put together last night*.

Every good goblin-themed urban fantasy requires an equally good title, right? “Goblin Killer Blues” was suggested by archivist Lynne Thomas. Think you can do better? Suggest a title in the comments, and I’ll put the best ideas up for a vote. The winner gets an autographed copy of The Mermaid’s Madness [Amazon | Mysterious Galaxy].

Have fun!

—
*Because this is the Internet and I know someone will ask, the answer is no, I am not writing a goblin-themed urban fantasy book.

Mirrored from Jim C. Hines.

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brownkitty wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 01:35 pm (UTC)

So a cyberpunk or steampunk goblin is also out? Drat.

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 01:37 pm (UTC)

I did toy with the idea of a steampunk goblin short story at one point. I don't think I know steampunk well enough to do it right, though.

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threeoutside wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 01:38 pm (UTC)

"Because this is the Internet and I know someone will ask, the answer is no, I am not writing a goblin-themed urban fantasy book."

--But WHY NOT????? *whine*

Dang it, I wish I was good at captions. That cover is brilliant! I'm looking forward to seeing the entries.

BTW, Jim the three books of yours I bought have arrived, and taken their place very close to the top of my To Read pile, right after the library books. Can't wait!

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:20 pm (UTC)

I do have an idea for the next series, after the princesses. I don't want to say anything publicly until that's been pitched and approved by DAW, but if it sells, I think you'll be pleased :-)

And thank you! I hope you enjoy 'em!

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shsilver wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 01:45 pm (UTC)

Goblin Killer Blues: Soon to be a major television event starring Kristen Bell!

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:14 pm (UTC)

Hey, if you know someone in Hollywood who wants to do an urban goblin series, I'd be willing to reconsider writing the thing :-)

How are you recovering, post-con? I know you're always crazy-busy at these things, but I hope you and the family had a good time!

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shsilver - Nov. 16th, 2009 03:47 pm (UTC) - Expand

mela_lyn wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:14 pm (UTC)

I have so much love for that non-cover... you have no idea. That is genius!!

And just so you know, I would totally read it. ;)

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:21 pm (UTC)

Thanks! This was all Kelly's idea, but I loved it! I provided the tattoo and the Photoshopping, but she was the one who came up with the pose, swiped the knife, and struck a pose right there in the hotel lobby :-)

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margaret_y - Nov. 16th, 2009 06:16 pm (UTC) - Expand

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kelly_swails - Nov. 16th, 2009 10:53 pm (UTC) - Expand

cloudshaper2k wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:26 pm (UTC)

Okay, two possible alternate title suggestions:

Hot Buttered Goblins

and

Bluejeans and Butter Knives

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:45 pm (UTC)

Ha! I like 'em. Thanks!

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celestineangel wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:26 pm (UTC)

As much as I want a signed copy of The Mermaid's Madness (and I do, you have no idea), I honestly can't think of anything better than Goblin Killer Blues.

It's very urban fantasy, that non-cover. All it really needs is to be literally tinted blue all over.

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:43 pm (UTC)

Thanks! Hm ... I may have to play around with the lighting effects some more to see what happens with a blue overlay.

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crazywritergirl wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:35 pm (UTC)

Now if that knife had been a spork....

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:45 pm (UTC)

Ooh, yes! One more thing to Photoshop into the final cover!

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dynastic_queen wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:48 pm (UTC)

Jig's quote has me freaking doubled over. LMAO!

Glad you got to do more social, more fun.

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:57 pm (UTC)

Good! I wanted to have as much fun with it as possible :-)

And thanks. The con was great, though it's always a bit of a letdown coming back to the mundanity of the day job...

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mtlawson wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 02:57 pm (UTC)

Nice, um, tattoo. Yeah, there was a tattoo there, right?

(Hey, I could have said 'nice knife'...)

So there wasn't complete chaos at the Baen v. DAW panel? You never know what's going to happen at potentially explosive topics.

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 03:03 pm (UTC)

I only caught the tail end, but it sounded pretty tame. I'm told it was about 10-15 minutes of discussing DAW and Baen, and then it moved into talking about publishing in general.

Still bummed that I missed it, though...

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mtlawson - Nov. 16th, 2009 03:13 pm (UTC) - Expand

asakiyume wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 03:07 pm (UTC)

"Goblin's Gonna Getcha"?

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sartorias wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 03:09 pm (UTC)

too bad . . . I would love with the loving lovingness Jig in our world. just think of Jig and fast food! Jig and movies! Jig and toilets!

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 03:19 pm (UTC)

That would be entertaining ... maybe I should e-mail Sheila a link to this post :-)

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keyla87 wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 03:43 pm (UTC)

Goblins and Goblets

The picture is great, it is an awesome pose.

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 03:57 pm (UTC)

Kelly gets full credit as the genius behind this one. As soon as I handed her the goblin tattoo, she was talking about doing an urban fantasy photo shoot :-)

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kelly_swails - Nov. 16th, 2009 10:56 pm (UTC) - Expand

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jimhines - Nov. 16th, 2009 11:21 pm (UTC) - Expand

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kelly_swails - Nov. 17th, 2009 01:33 am (UTC) - Expand

shsilver wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 03:49 pm (UTC)

Kelly, the Goblin Slayer
Dark Nights, Silent Goblins

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 25th, 2009 01:05 pm (UTC)

Just an FYI - "Kelly the Goblin Slayer" is one of the finalists in the contest.

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marycatelli wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 03:50 pm (UTC)

Silverware Secrets

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greenmtnboy18 wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 03:53 pm (UTC)

omg, that cracked me up... excellent way to start a monday

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 03:57 pm (UTC)

Thanks! Glad to hear it!

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merriehaskell wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 04:10 pm (UTC)

Look at the EXCELLENT application of that tattoo!

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 04:11 pm (UTC)

That is some QUALITY tattoo application there, I tell you!

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kelly_swails - Nov. 16th, 2009 11:01 pm (UTC) - Expand

jimvanpelt wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 04:23 pm (UTC)

The girls on those covers all have insanely narrow waists. When you take pictures of real women, they look . . . well . . . more real.

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 04:57 pm (UTC)

I had a much longer, rantier comment in mind, but I think I'm gonna go with a simple "Yes."

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jimvanpelt - Nov. 16th, 2009 05:07 pm (UTC) - Expand

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merriehaskell - Nov. 16th, 2009 10:32 pm (UTC) - Expand

tygerversionx wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 04:36 pm (UTC)

I have no good title ideas ...

... but I just envisioned a small paragraph from the not-really-being-written urban goblin series.

Jig knew the woman, despite the distraction, the woman could not be far behind him. He entered one of the larger structures and ran a random path between racks of clothing, seeking the darkest corner he could find. Jig had no idea what animals Nordstrom's was hunting to find such fur, but decided he most definitely did not ever want to meet such creatures. What in Shadowstar's name had a green striped pelt with pink whiskers?

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stormsdotter wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 05:33 pm (UTC)

Slain by Silverware (very urban fantasy, but this sounds a little too werewolf-themed)

Goblinslayer's Diary

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 25th, 2009 01:07 pm (UTC)

FYI, "Goblinslayer's Diary" is one of the finalists in the contest.

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mej101 wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 06:10 pm (UTC)

The Girl with the Goblin Tatoo

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mtlawson wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 07:14 pm (UTC)

It just occurred to me that if you went for more of a true Urban Fantasy look, you'd need a couple of the following:

-blood on the knife (ketchup will do in a pinch)
-a thong somewhere in evidence (the 'bad girl' look, presumably)
-strategically placed tears on the jeans and/or shirt for the cool effect
-some werewolf/vampire/mage in the background as a focus for the protagonist's attention

Since Jig is involved, you'd figure that he'd be cowering somewhere nearby, too. ;-)

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 11:24 pm (UTC)

There was only so much we could pull off in the hotel lobby :-) Though we could have set her up against Darth Vader or a Dalek...

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mtlawson - Nov. 17th, 2009 12:10 am (UTC) - Expand

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rarelylynne - Nov. 25th, 2009 04:01 pm (UTC) - Expand

snapes_angel wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 07:29 pm (UTC)

Goblin Wards.

When you know they're coming to get you.

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kelly_swails wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 11:00 pm (UTC)

Jim! You did such an awesome job on the cover! And I had so much fun posing for it.

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mercwriter wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 11:11 pm (UTC)

Note to self: do not read LJ while eating. One is prone to choke on sandwiches while laughing so hard. *cough* *pointed look at Certain LJs*

LOVE the non-cover. :D

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 11:13 pm (UTC)

Excellent! Then my work here is done.

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melissajm wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 11:14 pm (UTC)

"No fear: Jig's got your back."

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jimhines wrote:

Nov. 16th, 2009 11:20 pm (UTC)

That's a *wonderfully* punnish tag line (seriously--I wish I'd thought of it!), but I'm not sure how it would work as a title...

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