MICHAEL DI GESU' PRESENTS ...

WELCOME ....

How may I help you?

Is it a new cover illustration, photograph, or complete cover design you need? ...

Is it an exciting, original introduction for your cover reveal or novel? ...

Or, perhaps you need to create a blurb with some punch? ...

I would be more than happy to help you with any of these projects ...

Maybe your novel isn't quite ready to send to prospective agents or publishers. Do you have a hard time creating an exciting setting? Are your scenes or dialogue flat? Do you have a problem with overly wordy sentences? Let me help you with flow, how to economize your words, and create an atmosphere where your readers will pinch themselves to see if they have left the room.

Let's work together to make your novel shine. Sometimes all it takes is a bit of tweaking. Editing your first few chapters may give you the insight you need to continue through your complete ms. We all know the opening chapters are the most important in a novel.

Many of you have read my intros during the A-Z challenge. Each of my authors were very pleased with the exposure their books received. Many suggested I provide this service for all bloggers. So here I am waiting to help you.

Below are actual client blurbs, illustrations and book cover designs, as well as links to all the A-Z posts, so please take a look. Many of these would make great blurbs! I can work in a variety of genres, styles, an voices, as you will see in my samples.

I have also added links to my illustrations, so if you plan on self publishing, you may want an original image instead of one another author may have used. Different and interesting is what sells books. Covers seduce a potential reader to pick up the book they grace.

Rates will depend on the individual job. But you can ask me all the questions you'd like and I can tailor any job to your budget.

Thank you so much for visiting. And remember me for any projects you may have in the future.

Here is my latest book cover design and blurb for author, Julie Flanders … To be published in December…

Blurb reads …

A brilliant flash of light transcends through time.

Another freezes a cloaked figure within a frame of salty mist as waves crash against a rocky shore. Her harrowing expression shadows the beacon to a pinprick. 

By the next blaze, she is gone. Only the lighthouse remains.

Hannah’s eyes blink in step with each heart beat. Images of her deceased parents and Martha’s Vineyard explode like firecrackers inside her mind.

She shakes her head. 

For weeks this eerie woman dressed in nineteenth century garb has been haunting my webcam, but tonight she stared into my soul. 

Why? ...

Who is she? ...

Casting aside months of research on historic lighthouses, Hannah drives to the coast and boards a ferry. 

What is the strange connection she has to this mysterious woman suspended in time?

Hannah finds out. 

But, it’s not at all what she expects ...

Hannah unravels a century old murder.

Author, Yolanda Renee, hired me to create a blurb ... now for her first book, Murder, Madness, and Love .... here is her new blurb ...

Sunlight blazes on an empty canvas.

Arctic winds gather snowflakes on a frosty window ledge as a statuesque form appears. She moves past a table littered with papers. Headlines splash news of murder, but it's the photo of another young woman with features mirroring her own that draws her attention.

A different headline peeks from underneath the Anchorage Times.

Wealthy Businessman Dies in Car Crash ... BLACK WIDOW SUSPECTED!

Graphic images swirl through her head and a tear rolls down her cheek. She drifts toward an easel and a trembling hand dips a sable brush into a palette of paint.

The Westminster doorbell chimes. The brush slips and blood-red paint stains the floor. 

Detective Steven Quaid waits. His Tlingit, Indian features carved from granite, mask his Irish passion ...

Will he arrest her this time? 

All fingers point to her guilt. 

But, is she guilty of this cunning plot? Or, just a victim of circumstantial evidence?

The door opens ...

His eyes lock on hers ... 

His heart races ...

Hers skips a beat.

My first blurb and tagline client, Yolanda Renee's before and after blurb...

Yolanda's original blurb:

After transferring to Seattle to repair his professional reputation, Detective Steven Quaid is unexpectedly demoted to the cold case squad. While helping a fellow officer he stumbles upon an unusual case–and an even more extraordinary foe. 

Unraveling the mystery gives him the case he is sure will right his stalled career, and brings him face to face with Luke Williams, aka Lucifer. An insidious man who delivers Quaid the ultimate choice: save his fiancée from an assassin’s bullet or stop the sacrifice of a young girl. Suddenly the effort to salvage his reputation pales in comparison to the loss of a future with the girl of his dreams.

My rendition:

Decades ago, the seeds were planted …

Today, dark, fathomless eyes rake the image before him. One final task and the transformation is complete. Steady fingers screw intricately carved horns on each side of a stiff brow, and a gargoyle suitable for Notre Dame scowls from the smokey mirror in satisfaction. 

A jagged smile rips through his smooth, hairless face, and inked, reptilian scales caress his naked body. 

A laugh of hideous resonance emanates from his gut as the demons of hell welcome Lucifer into their fold.

In a dungeon-like chamber, his Lilith awaits. The kidnapped daughter of a nun, groomed to fit the final piece in the complex puzzle for world domination. Will Lucifer marry his bride, on the summer solstice?

Only two things stand in his way ...

His greed ...

And ...

Steven Quaid. 

We purposely left out who Steven was because this book is a sequel. So many readers know who it is.

My most recent work: Cover and back illustration/ Intro ...

SECRETS OF THE ASH TREE  ... INTRO

A delicate hand rests on a table. Fingers tap lightly as a young woman stares at an urn, gracing a fireplace mantle.

Of father. I've tried. The rune eludes me. What can I do? 

A tear rolls down her face and splashes onto her hand next to a birthmark. It somehow mocks her in her dispare. It was the mirror image of the rune Kenaz. Memories flood her mind as the kind words of her father explained its existence. "You must be protected by the gods."

"Sure. My life has been one thrill after another. Hasn't it?"

She wipes the next tear away and steps over to the fireplace. A small script of paper scribbled with the Rune alphabet rests next to her father's urn. She sweeps it up into her hands and studies the parchment for any clue. "Nothing."

The burning log crackles, and the light diminishes to a dim flicker. Dropping to her knees, she pokes the glowing embers.

A spark ignites.

An unexpected breeze catches it in flight.

It brightens, reflecting gold an vivid red within the depths of the young woman's crystal blue eyes.

Her heart beats faster.

Between beats, the spark grows and transforms into a beautiful woman no larger than the young woman's hand. The fire spirit began to sing in a foreign language that the young woman instinctively knew.

Glowing brighter, she glides through the front door and down the path toward an ancient Ash tree. With a swift moment, the young woman follows with shovel in hand ...

Swirling clouds shade the moon as they approach the Ash tree. Tingles rushes up her spine as a chilly autumn breeze whisks the fire spirit directly toward the center of the tree.

Sparks fly.

The fire spirit brands herself into the Ash tree.

An acrid smell of burning wood assaults the young woman's nostrils, and her eyes tear from the billowing smoke.

As the brightness waivers, a lopsided F glows in the darkness.

The young woman gasps. The rune Ansuz ....

Her wait is finally over ...

What will she find?

Will the family secrets be buried under this ancient Ash?

Or ...

Will it be clues to who she really is?

THE SECRETS OF THE ASH TREE

By

Siv Maria Ottem

Here is my latest logo/illustration I created for BookFish Books... 

This was the original sketch before the colorization.... It's a amazing what a little magic will do for this cure little reader...

A-Z Intros: 
The color reveal....

another fun version...

As you can see, there are many ways to create a different feel from the same image. So please let me create something fun for you... weather it cover, logo, badge, or add...

This is the second illustration created for BookFish Books .... used specifically for the spine of each one of their published books .....

  

.... Link A        .... Link H        .... Link O        .... Link V 

.... Link B        .... Link I         .... Link P         .... Link W                   

.... Link C        .... Link J         .... Link Q         .... Link X

.... Link D        .... Link K       .... Link R          .... Link Y

.... Link E        .... Link L        .... Link S          .... Link Z

.... Link F        .... Link M       .... Link T

.... Link G       .... Link N        .... Link U
                   

Covers and Illustrations ... Link.


Other samples... Links