Above you can see the final version of the book cover for my forthcoming book, The Desert Dago, which I wrote about in previous posts. It’s really good, in my opinion. The cover, done so professionally by Meghan Allbright - a Solihull-based artist and graphic designer - took a few weeks to do considering all the times I went back and forth with her regarding ideas after initially giving her concepts myself. The face is that of Joseph Bonnano, head of the Bonnano crime family, one of the five mafia families in New York city that reigned supreme in the metropolis, as well as nationwide, from the 1930s up to the 1990s, when John Gotti, boss of the Gambino crime family, was imprisoned for life. After that Italian-American organised crime took a nosedive. The vacuum caused the void to be filled by the Russian, Albanian and other ethnic mafias from around the globe. I think the deep red and orange hues contrast wonderfully to the overall desert scene that gives it the kind of 'noir' feel I was searching for all along. If you look carefully, you may just about be able to make out the sandstone buttes, just as in Monument Valley, Utah, in the shape of bullets. Also, the ‘J’ in my name James is in the shape of a gun, as well as a bullet hole in the second 'A' of my surname. These are nice touches by the artist, and ones that fit the mood of the book perfectly.
Anyway, I’m in the final stages of publishing this piece. I will be putting it on pre-order for three months while I get it ready for final publication. During that time, I will be making available some galley copies which I will use to give to readers in an effort for them to check out for any small typographical, grammatical or content errors in the story - though I have to say it has been edited more times than I care to imagine! Once that is done, I will publish it in early November on all Amazon international sites in paperback and ebook, and at Apple, Barnes & Noble, WH Smith and many other online stores in electronic form.
