I’m excited to show you the cover of my new novel!

It was created by Owen Gent, a talented artist who I asked to use one of Paul Klee’s paintings in the design. I’ve always been a fan of Klee’s colorful paintings and playful style. I thought his cubist designs that look like pieces of a puzzle would be a natural backdrop for my novel. The lively style would fit this novel about a dysfunctional family better than the more pastoral one I’d been leaning toward originally.

When Things Go Missing is about a family trying to put together the missing pieces of a puzzle when the mother at the center of their lives mysteriously disappears. What goes missing are the sense of home, comfort, safety, and belonging that she represented. This is alluded to on the cover in the missing (whited-out) puzzle pieces of the home and figure gazing longingly at it. The novel is about the journeys of self-discovery that the daughter, son, and husband embark upon to find those missing pieces in themselves and each other, as well as in new romantic relationships.

I also wanted to use Klee’s painting because art is an important element in the novel, just like it is here on this blog. Not only is the “missing” mother sending her son her own artwork (strange and disturbing photographs), but art-making itself (metal sculptures) becomes his saving grace in the end.

The playfulness of Klee’s artwork that speaks to deeper things, including spirituality, also makes his work a good fit. While the topic of my novel and some of its themes (addiction, loss, homelessness) are intense, humor and a sense of child-like play leaven the chapters. A sense of spirituality also is lightly sprinkled throughout.

I decided to add the tagline “a novel about everything that matters” on the cover because that’s what my agent told editors when she sent my novel to publishers during the submission process. I included praise from early readers as well. I want potential readers to know this novel has been vetted by professionals in the book industry: agents, authors, and editors.

In the coming weeks I’ll be looking for more people who might be interested in reading and reviewing When Things Go Missing during this pre-publication process. Reader reviews are extremely important for the success of books. Excerpts from enthusiastic reviews can be used in promotional material to encourage readers to buy the book. But even mixed reviews can be helpful feedback for the author. And any review, even those with only two or three stars, still helps to boost the algorithms on sites where books are sold to draw readers to the page.

If you would be interested in reading and reviewing When Things Go Missing, please contact me at dbrasket51 at gmail dot com.

I’d also love to hear what you think of the cover. Do you think it will draw readers? Does it convey a sense of what the novel is all about? How do you think it compares with the covers of literary novels advertised by the big publishers? There’s still time to tweak it if needed. I’m looking at an early September release.