Tuesday 6 November 2012

The Unexpected Consequences of Iron Overload

I was recently contacted by James Minter – who I've worked with before, producing the cover for his first novel, The Hole Opportunity – asking me to create a cover for his latest book, The Unexpected Consequences of Iron Overload.

The story follows the adventures of Jimmy Kavanagh a young man who has Haemochromatosis (sometimes referred to as Iron Overload), a condition whereby the body absorbs excess amounts of iron from a person's diet.

James was diagnosed with Haemochromatosis in 2004, but rather than being a factual account of living with the condition, he's instead crafted a humorous story about what happens when Jimmy's Haemochromoatosis results in some rather unexpected consequences, including magnetic abilities which allow him to save the life of Barbara, the woman of his dreams. The cast of characters gets larger with the arrival of a pair of Russian spies, two CIA agents, and a local cafe owner who finds herself unexpectedly caught in the middle of it all.

After reading through a draft of the book, I worked at coming up with something which reflected the tone of the story, and showed some of the main characters and scenes from the novel. Two things immediately sprang to mind: James Bond and this Jim Steranko cover to Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD from Marvel Comics...



Taking these two things as a starting point, and with some suggestions from James about which elements to include on the cover, I produced this rough sketch to show what I was thinking...



James was happy with my initial layout, although he thought that Jimmy looked a bit too suave and sophisticated in his tuxedo. After a bit of thinking I suggested that we get rid of his trousers, keeping the Bond-esque visual at first glance, but as you pan down the image it becomes more farcical. James was in agreement, so I went ahead and produced the final illustrations for the front and back cover...



The Unexpected Consequences of Iron Overload is available to buy through Amazon in both paperback and ebook editions.

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