The Art Of Forgetting: Rider
By
Joanne Hall
Gifted and cursed with a unique memory, the foundling son of a notorious traitor, Rhodri joins an elite cavalry unit. There, struggling with his own memories of his father, he begins to discover a sense of belonging. That is, until a face from the past reveals a secret that will change not only Rhodri’s life but the fate of a nation.
About the Author
Joanne Hall lives in Bristol, England with her partner. She enjoys reading, writing, listening to music, gaming, watching movies, eating cake and failing to exercise.
A full-time author since 2003, Joanne’s “New Kingdom” fantasy trilogy was published by Epress Online, and was a finalist in both the PLUTO and EPPIE awards . Her short stories have appeared in many publications, both print and online, including Afterburn SF, Quantum Muse, and The Harrow.
She has had short stories published in several anthologies, including “Pirates of the Cumberland Basin” in Future Bristol, and “Corpse Flight” in Dark Spires. Her short story collection, “The Feline Queen” was published in March 2011 by Wolfsinger Publications.
For the last four years, Joanne has been the Chair of BristolCon, Bristol’s thriving science fiction and fantasy convention. She also runs the Bristol Fantasy and SF Society Facebook group, and occasionally works in an editing position for Dark Ocean Studios, a small comics company based in San Jose, as well as taking on freelance editing projects.
She is the co-editor with Roz Clarke of “Colinthology”, a tribute anthology to their friend Colin Harvey, which also includes her short story “Lukewarm in Lynhelm.” “Colinthology” was published as an ebook in October 2012 by Wizards Tower, and a print edition may be forthcoming.
Links
Buy from Amazon UK and Amazon US
Interview with the Artist
This time, instead of interviewing the author, I have interviewed the cover artist, Evelinn Enoksen. You may recognise that name from the Out of the Dark post, as she is one of the contributing artists for that.
How did you come up with the cover art for The Art of Forgetting?
Joanne was very good at explaining what she wanted as well as showing me some photos. I also got to read a little of the book, hehe, gotta love them job perks 😉
How does creating book cover artwork differ from straight-forward art pieces? Is it easier or harder?
Sometimes having themes and restrictions are a good thing, I’ve got so much stuff going on in my head I easily confuse myself or get lost. But creating without limits is usually easier, though mostly because only I know what it’s going to be when it’s finished.
Do you create the fonts used in the title yourself?
Ken Dawson made the font; he’s a fantastic artist and a lot more skilled at digital art than me. He’s made the font for my own book too, and it’s simply awesome.
A lot of book covers use at least a combination of photo manipulation and original artwork. Did you do this for The Art of Forgetting? Or do you prefer to create from scratch?
Most of “The Art of Forgetting” cover is sketched, and then manipulated in Photoshop. The water on the back cover is from a photo, but otherwise it’s out of my head. I started looking for the drawings now, but ‘organized’ and ‘order’ are just words to me, their meaning has been lost somewhere in my office… Don’t go in there; you might not come out again…
Is it fair to say that you are drawn, artistically, to gothic/gothic fantasy artwork? What is it that draws you to that?
I grew up with sci-fi fantasy loving parents, and also have lots of artistic family members. I’m not exactly sure why I paint, draw and write what I do, perhaps it’s because it’s the ultimate vacation. A vacation as far away from this world as possible, but also without completely losing my footing.
I can just about draw a convincing polar bear in blizzard scene. Is your artistic talent completely natural, or did it take a lot of hard work to develop it?
I have an unfinished art-school background, but most of what I do now comes from never giving up. If I’m crap at something that I really want to do, I practice until I can do it, but I have a lot of fun along the way too, of course, otherwise I probably couldn’t be bothered. Also my family background plays a role in my artistic developments. They used to critique me a lot, but they’ve stayed suspiciously silent the past ten years… I guess that’s a good thing 😉
You are working on a graphic novel at the moment. I can probably guess the answer, but if you absolutely had to choose, would you choose artistic ability or story-based creativity?
Wow, that was a difficult question; it’s like asking me which sense I’d rather choose, say between sight, or hearing. As a writer I can create colorful, magical, dreamy worlds, but the reader provides a lot of that themselves. Writing is like filling a canvas with a half-finished masterpiece where the reader will have to color it in. While painting is mostly a completed visual; but it can still stir up emotions and daydreaming in the watcher. I will choose not to choose, and be thankful that I have so many ways to express myself.
ROSS HARRISON 
Reblogged this on Joanne Hall and commented:
An interview with my wonderful cover artist Evelinn Enoksen on Ross Harrison’s blog today 🙂