I was recently going through the piles of stuff on my bookshelves – spiral notebooks, magazines, actual books – and found a copy of Space & Time magazine from 2015. This was the issue that included my short story, “Sunwalker”.
As with all publications, I was proud to see my name in the table of contents and the story, in all its glory, flowing over several pages. Looking over it again brought back those feelings.
One of the things I had forgotten was that this was the first story of mine that had an accompanying illustration. I didn’t know the editor was going to do this, so it was an incredible surprise for me. The illustrator, Alan Bech, did a fantastic job and the illustration was a perfect fit.
I think there’s a unique bond between illustrators and writers. We compliment each other’s work. I know I’d like to see more illustrations and images sharing the page with the written word. It just feels right to me.
What do you think?
RB
I’ve think about this subject whenever I study the covers of paperback books. In particular, it’s interesting how many versions of time machines appear in various versions of H.G. Wells “The Time Machine”. Each iteration somehow works to convey the heart of the novel.
That’s a great example, Swabby. I fondly remember those old pulp paperback covers that often over exaggerated the content of the books. Great art, though!