Many of my fans (and other people I meet at Sci-Fi Cons) have been asking me about my latest cover art image which features a solar sail freighter underway in the vast reaches of interplanetary space. These vessels are a major part of my AlCent Sagas series. I figured I’d show you my early ideas, and then let you follow the development of the concept to the image on the cover. My cover artist is the wonderfully talented Wojtek Kapusta. You can check out his work here – https://www.artstation.com/kapucha76

Before I can write a scene, I must first be able to see what’s happening in my mind, whether a vista, a vessel or machine, a conversation, a creature, or whatever. I knew that these solar sail freighters would play a big role in the story so I had to get it right. In the novel series, these vessels travel between the planetary systems of the binary stars Alpha Centauri A and B, using the push of the solar sails to accelerate away from one star and then decelerate as they approach the second star. (Astronomical fact – Alpha Centauri is a true binary star system with periodicity of about 80 years.) Once at their destination, the masts and sails would have to fold down out of the way so that the ship could dock at a space station to offload passengers and cargo.

I made these drawings while my wife and I were traveling through north Texas (she was driving). The biggest engineering problem for me (as it is for NASA scientists) was furling and unfurling the sails. Being a sailor myself, I understand the difficulty, but for a solar sail freighter the task would be enormous. To accelerate a large vessel the sails would have to be huge! I had to figure out a way to not only extend the masts, but also deploy and recover the sails. But I did my research, and with advanced materials and procedures, the concept is plausible.

After settling on telescoping masts that could pivot down parallel to the hull, I decided that the sails themselves would have to be rolled up on a reel. As the masts extended, the sails would unroll from the reel while the masts were still parallel to the hull. Then as the masts were raised to perpendicular from the hull, the sails would unfold and spread out, catching the solar wind and providing forward motion. So far, so good.

But then came the problem of furling the sails back onto the reels as the masts are lowered and retracted. Without help, they would become a bunched up, unusable mess! I thought it out and decided on pleated sails with spring-loaded battens on the end. As the masts were lowered, the spring-loaded battens would assist in folding the sails along their pleats. Then as the masts were retracted, the reels would gather the sails back in. Because of the battens, the entire sail would not be able to be rolled back up, so the view from the passenger cabins would be obscured whenever the ship was near a station. (I describe all of this in the early books of the series, though a little at a time so that the pace of the story doesn’t have to suffer.)

As seen in the first two drawings, the cargo bay door is on the forward end of the ship. This allows the freighter to dock to a space station with the masts pointing back out of the way. The passengers disembark riding in the ship’s elevator which becomes a transit tube car that travels throughout the station. This procedure is explained in detail (as the story moves along) in Book 2 of the AlCent Sagas series as the SSF Kerkouros docks at AlCent B’s Central Port Facility.

My next step was to send my drawings to Wojtek Kapusta and pray that he could make something out of it. Here are his first renderings of the hull structure. He’s amazing, isn’t he?

Next we had to work out the sails. This would prove to be more difficult to get right. He gave me some ideas, but I needed the image to at least approximate what I had already described in the story. He is great to work with and we kept at it until he captured what I had been seeing in my mind. (A difficult trick for an artist dealing with an artistically challenged novelist!)

Finally, I think we nailed it. Some of the details of the reels and battens were omitted, but the overall effect was so eye-catching and beautiful that I went with it. I am very happy with the final result. As it happened, shortly after I released AlCent Sagas Book2: Revelation, NASA launched a rocket with a solar sail spacecraft aboard! They are testing the concept to possibly develop future space probes that will use solar sail propulsion to navigate between the planets. Go NASA! (The NASA representative at the AtomaCon was most interested in my books, and is now a bona fide James Crawford reader! Whoo-hoo!) But we shouldn’t wonder at the similarity between science and science fiction. The two have been inspiring each other for decades, (centuries, even). After all, science fiction is also referred to as “speculative fiction.”

Here are the final versions, including the actual cover art for the soon-to-be-released audio version, which will be available on Audible and Apple. (I’m proofing the audio files this week!) You can find Book 2 on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/AlCent-Sagas-Book-Two-Revelation/dp/B0D2L9W763 . Each book in the series can be read as a standalone, but read them all in order to get the best effect. My editor is currently doing the final proofing and edits for Book 3, and I’m working on interior layout and edits on Book 5. I can’t wait for you to read them all. I’ve been writing for over 30 years, but am now retired so I’m able to throw myself completely into my passion for storytelling. Be on the lookout for my free Kindle download weekends so you can sample before you buy. I believe you won’t be disappointed.

That’s all for now. Until next time, I wish you good health and happy reading! – James

Novels by James Crawford –

Mariner Valley – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0141N9UXO

Seed of Aldebaran – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SHXTRMP

AlCent Sagas Book One: Formation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ5C3TQT

AlCent Sagas Book Two: Revelation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2FRH6Q8

A Noble Paradise – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QG6LZ10

Cover artist – https://www.artstation.com/kapucha76