Closing Closed

This morning, I started layout on Closed. I've been working on it since then, pausing only to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer. Right now, I'm taking a break from layout work to do my weekly grocery shopping. Exciting life, right?

I ended up going with John Picot's rendition of Moonshot for the cover. I was debating between this picture and Alejandro Garcia Palomares images of Life Tank and Comstock for the cover art. This one won out, narrowly- the metallic purple of her armor really pops, and the cover text looks great against the arctic sunrise background.

As I left the manuscript, I was just about to start laying out the section on the Neverborn. You know how Paizo and Wizards of the Coast have these huge sections of their monster books dedicated to either dragons or golems? Well, Closed is the same way, except the big mega-chapter of the monster book deals with Neverborn.

It's going to be a very well illustrated book. I'm using pretty much all the art I'd collected for the Lifers to date, plus new art comissioned specifically for this book, and some well chosen stock. In terms of stock, I'm using a lot of Anthony Cournoyer's Shaman Stock Art; his most recent series of post-apoc warriors perfectly fits the Otherverse look and ethos, and I actually built a few new threats specifically around some of his single character illustrations: the Nanofeaster Gunner and Terminus Rescue are specifically inspired by his art.

Anyway, expect Closed to go up for sale in another few days, with Heavy Future's Trans Galactic Bestiary hitting soon after.

CHRIS