Contest Trivia
Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 12:14PM Did you know...
...there are secret ways to create bloody scenes for thriller book covers?
The front of the dust jacket of House Call [hardcover (2005), paperback, ebook], the first novel by Darden North, MD, depicts a blood-filled bathtub with eerie candles dripping wax at the front corners.
To make the most dramatic scene possible with the realistic appearance of human blood, Craig West, the graphic design artist with the Gibbes Company, then filled the tub with blue-colored water, lacing it with a small amount soap suds to give the "blood" the correct consistency.
Then West later converted the blue hue to red via Photoshop techniques. Since there was no other use of the color blue in the photograph, the conversion process selected only the water to convert to blood red, heightening the detail of the fluid and preserving the richness of the other colors in the picture.
The actual bathtub still rests in the author's pool house where it was photographed for the cover of House Call.
The photographer stood overhead on a ladder to take the photograph ... the ladder resting on thick wooden slats braced only by the sides of the "blood-filled" tub.
Darden's novels are available through any bricks-and-mortar bookstore via the major book distributors as well as online through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, AtlasBooks.com, Lemuriabooks.com, and others.
Also, his website www.dardennorth.com offers a BUY IT link for each book that lists bookstores carrying signed copies, some with online access as well.
The eBook versions are available on Kindle, iPad, Nook, Sony eReader, Kobo,and Smashwords. Information about upcoming book signings, book trailers, media interviews as well as his blog are found on his website www.dardennorth.com.
To help me celenbrate the August 2011 release of my first book "SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT" Darden kindly supplied this trivia. As well, he is donating TWO books to our contest prize pool: a signed paperback copy of House Call and a signed hardcover first edition of his second novel Points of Origin.
Thank you, Darden!
Click on the green "comment" below and leave a comment with your name to be entered to win. Visit Darden's blog and mention this contest, to double your chances! Draw date to be announced.
Contact info: darden@dardennorth.com
Author Darden North MD
Reader Comments (5)
Very interesting and effective way of getting a blood scene without the murder. Another case of "Did You Know?" That I, in fact, did Not know until know...
The books sound like just my type of read.
Thanks for visiting, Sarah! Your name is again in the hat.
I like the part of just the right amount of soap bubbles to get the correct blood consistency..lol.
I love medical thrillers so this is right up my alley!
Cover designs sound like a lot of fun. I wouldn't have guessed that is how that cover was done!
This post was very interesting. Makes one want to read the book. Perhaps Sarah, Renita, or Gabriella will win it