I’m Off Having New Tires Put on My Mother-in-Law’s Car, So Here’s the Cover for the Italian Version of The Ghost Brigades for You to Look At
Posted on December 12, 2012 Posted by John Scalzi 18 Comments
I’m getting the tires put on because a) I am the sole adult in the extended family whose job lets him wander around aimlessly during daylight hours, and b) because, you know, I try to be a good son-in-law.
I think this cover looks nice in any event. Gaze into it and mediate on your life. I’ll be back later.
That is a gorgeous cover – thanks for sharing. And being a good son-in-law :-)
Now, if the payment you received for the Italian version of Ghost Brigades paid for the tires on your mother-in-law’s car, then the Karmic circle would really be closed.
I like my life unmediated.
These occasions are why we have tablets and smartphones.
Another instance where your name is in a bigger typeface than the title.
Yes. It’s become standard practice at this point. Hi, I’m a big name author. No, I’m not sure how it happened either.
I don’t know if you’ve ever done something like this, but taking all the covers of one of your books (easily done by cutting dust jackets) and framing them as a big collage…..that would be awesome. Musicians put their Grammys up on the wall, authors should have book covers. Especially when most of the covers are really cool space scenes of one kind or another.
I’m glad you translated or us. I thought you made a over just for getting tires on your car. Loosely translated “Bridgestones are Fantastic” by John Scalzi.
Driving your mother in law’s car is a scary thing. If you total the car you don’t tell her you wrecked her car. Then you are a bad son. Instead say how upset you are that she is driving this old car and she needs a new car. She has a choice between a Jaguar or a Mercedes and you are paying for this new car today. Then you are a good son.
First – Ozzie’s comment… snorted my coffee right through my nose… thanks….
Second – I hope I have a good son-in-law like you one day (in very remote future because my oldest is just 11 and I want her to, you know, grow up!)
At first glance I thought this was an obligatory sunset photo.
Do you get a lot of this? “Oh, you’re a writer? Come help me move because you’re not really doing anything today.” Or do you limit yourself to family for that?
I shall meditate with the goal of discovering the cosmic connection between having tires put on a car and an Italian book cover.
If you really were a good son-in-law as a guy whos name is consistently above the title you’d have the dear lady driven around in a town car. So don’t expect me to swoon because you are getting tires on her car! ;-{D
Nice artwork. You have mentioned here before that you don’t get a say in that. Do publishers have in house studios or do they contract it out or what? Sometimes the art work does a great job of introducing the story & other times its like they just grabbed some random .bmp & slapped it on.
I was so busy being a smart@ that I may not have made the point that I really like that cover.
Which raises another art cover question – I assume there is an original drawing some place, what do they do with those? Signed copies would be a great fund raiser. Not that I could afford to play in that field but I know you are always looking for ways to leverage your position for a good cause.
I always thought “The Ghost Brigades” was a cool title. However, I think that “Le Brigate Fantasma” may sound even cooler.
This… actually fits a scene in the book. Pleasantly astounding.
I’ll just spend the rest of my day at work here, muttering “Le Brigate Fantasma” to myself. Not that the title is bad in English but its soooo cool in Italian.