On the cover of my debut novel, Infernal Fall, I included a simple tag with a simple message, “never lose hope”. Those familiar with Dante’s Divine Comedy would likely remember the words “abandon all hope all ye who enter” etched on the gates to the Inferno. But what if someone didn’t abandon hope? If we’re in a living hell we shouldn’t give up. That’s one reason why I wanted to write this story, and it is the reason why I have this three-word phrase shown on the cover. So, while this message is a wink to Dante’s work, there is a deeper reason for having it displayed for everyone to see.
It’s a message that we can forget in the darkest points in our lives, and I was on the cusp of cutting it from the cover at one point. My thought was that it gave away the ending. Surely, the protagonist wouldn’t give up hope in the story if the cover states that you shouldn’t. Dante’s titled work, The Divine Comedy, gives away the ending as well (another clever nod, sort of), but the reason why I chose to keep it on the cover was that if someone chose not to read the story, they’d still get a very important message that I wanted to deliver through the story.
This cover won a Realm Award at Realm Makers 2023 in St Louis Missouri. I wanted the publisher to accept the award because I believe they contributed so much to the design. They hired an amazing artist (Damon Freeman) and had a really good understanding of what works for readers. My original idea showed a view of Daniel falling into the Inferno from above the pit (shared below). Their concept won me over. I contributed the title, my name, and this tagline. They even encouraged me to think about keeping the tag when I wasn’t sure about it.
This message is very important for all of us because life isn’t easy. When things aren’t working, we can slip into a defeated state of mind and give up on important things like goals, ideals, friendships and family, even LIFE! Maybe this small reminder is all someone needs to keep persevering through whatever storm they’re going through.
One could push back with the idea that sometimes it’s better to let go of the things that aren’t working. If your business is failing and you’re going bankrupt, maybe you should lose hope in getting it turned around and move on. While that certainly may be the case, the hope of things to come should still be strong in your mind. Change can be difficult, but we shouldn’t let that deter us. Nor should we allow fear to overwhelm us. We were meant to do great things. We can save ourselves and each other by persevering through hardships and remaining hopeful.
What comes to mind when you think about hope? Do you think about desires and goals? An ailing loved one? Do you think about prayer? Do you believe it’s all for naught? If so, I hope you consider the possibilities of what might happen should you challenge yourself to change your mind.
Thanks for reading. On my next blog post, I’ll chat about the tagline for my second book, Almost Paradise: harder to fly than to fall. Subscribe to stay tuned.
