Hellooo!!

One of the series I’ve really enjoyed watching developed is G M White’s The Royal Champion series. (with the main tale The Swordsman's Lament and the prequel The Swordsman's Intent out now) they’re Inventive, fun and action packed. While we await the next instalment two brand new rather dashing covers have been added. I couldn’t resist an opportunity to ask a few questions.

Hello hello Womble! Thank you for having me back.

So what led to the choice of these amazing covers?

Well, my original covers, while good, didn’t quite fit the book. They were grimdark in tone and while my books have their serious moments they are fun adventure stories. I wanted something that better reflected their Princess Bride meets The Three Musketeers meets The Greatcoats energy. Also, looking at the charts in my genre and sub genres a lot of people are moving away from the sorts of deigns I had and into a more figurative style. So I wanted to capture a little something of that too.

Who helped you create them and what was the process for design like?

I went to the team at 100 Covers and they have been absolutely brilliant. When you book your covers they get you to fill in a form with a lot of information about your book. Asking the genre, for examples of similar books, about the tone of the book, the characters, and lots more. It’s a pretty exhaustive list! Then you get a first idea through within a week or so, and if you think that’s wide of the mark then they’re happy to fire off more ideas and an unlimited number of revisions until you get just what you’re after. There’s been a bit of back and forth and a little bit of finessing to get things just as I wanted, but I can’t fault them at all. They’ve been brilliant.

Why are covers important to an author?

Whoever first said “don’t judge a book by its cover” wouldn’t get far in publishing, let me tell you! They’re so important. It’s almost always the first thing a reader sees, either online or in a book shop, and it should be able to get across to them the genre, tone, and style of the book in an instant. Then, when it’s grabbed their attention, might they pick it up, scroll a little further, and see the blurb. The cover is your book’s calling card and you want it to make a good first impression.

What are your three favourite book covers?

Ooh, tricky question. First I’ll say the original cover of Tad Williams’ The Stone of Farewell, the one with the beautiful Michael Whelan illustration. That’s the book cover that first snared my interest as a young reader and led me onto the path of fantasy fiction. Next up… I love the covers for RJ Barker’s Tide Child books, so let’s go with the cover for The Bone Ships. Last but not least, the cover for Guards, Guards! by Terry Pratchett. I’m a massive Pratchett fan and I love those Josh Kirby illustrations that adorn my battered paperbacks, and later hardbacks when I caught up with the great man’s publishing output. I also think Paul Kidby’s later covers and character art are simply stunning.

So what is next for everyone’s favourite swordsman?

Book two in the Royal Champion series, The Swordsman’s Descent, takes place four years after the events of The Swordsman’s Lament. Belasko is a little older, a little achier, and a little grumpier. He has distanced himself from court, and from his friends, and retreated into himself a little too much. Which all has to change when a new house ascends the throne in the rival Baskan kingdom. The new king wants to seal a permanent peace with Villan and so asks Queen Lilliana to come and negotiate new accords, bringing with her significant figures from the Last War to indicate that both parties are serious about a lasting peace. Belasko goes along, as well as some familiar faces from both The Swordsman’s Lament and The Swordsman’s Intent, and hijinks ensue… There will be the sort of swashbuckling fun you’ve come to expect, dazzling sword fights, stunning betrayals, and desperate last stands to save the day.

Hopefully you’ll all enjoy reading it as much as I am writing it. (The ebook is also up on preorder on all the big retailers. Plug, plug, plug!)

Where can we find out more from you?

I’m pretty active on twitter, @gmwhitewrites, and my website is www.gmwhite.co.uk. There’s some info about me there, links to all my books, and of course people can always sign up to my email newsletter if they fancy some free short stories and keeping up to date on what I’m up to.