The Birth Pangs Project

When A.R. Horvath first published his novel Fidelis, he asked Luke Thompson (then a graphic designer, now a founder and artist for sojourner) to design the cover for the soft cover publication. One year later, Horvath published a new hardcover edition, and he again asked Thompson to design the covers. This time, though, Luke teamed up with his wife, Christine (also one of the artists and founders of sojourner), to first build a genuine leather cover edition that the hard covers would be based on. What transpired was a truly unique project that brought author and artisan together for a project that just doesn’t take place in today’s corporate world. Two novels later, the leather artistry of Sojourner Leatherwork now illustrates the covers of Horvath’s two novels, Fidelis and Spero.

First, like any of Luke and Christine’s leather projects, they built a leather cover from scratch, first hand picking the leather side, cutting it to size, working with Anthony on the design, and then tediously tooling the design into the hide. A large ring, combining Luke’s Argentine hand cut stamps with U.S. machine cut stamps, was placed on the front cover, and a smaller ring stamped on the back cover. Finally, an ornate spine was stamped, and the leatherwork signed in the inside back flap. The construction of Fidelis followed every guideline as a normal leather cover from sojourner.

Christine then dyed the now-tooled leather using layers of eco-friendly dyes and stains to both bring out the natural tones of the hide as well as create faux weathering to highlight the toolwork. Last, Luke shaped the leather and Christine sewed it into a cover using waxed threads.

Luke then took the cover, turned it into a digital format, and began the task of adding shading and the bells and whistles of a commercial hard cover book jacket. The result was a stunning book cover that was based on the original leatherwork of Christine and Luke, the design of the final product bringing out the unique cincelado toolwork of Sojourner Leatherwork.

Both the commercial hard cover book as well as genuine leather covers (made exactly like the original and created by the same artisans) were made available. The commercial hard-cover book was available through Horvath’s website as well as Amazon and Barnes&Noble. The genuine tooled leather jacket were special limited gift editions that were made available through Sojourner Leatherwork’s Etsy sight.

Fidelis was the first novel in A.R. Horvath’s Birth Pangs series. Two years later, during the holiday season of 2008, Horvath released his second novel in the series, Spero. Again, Sojourner Leatherwork designed the initial leather cover, and Luke Thompson turned the leatherwork into the commercial book cover, making a companion to the first design.

The Birth Pangs series are fantasy novels. Spero has been described as “intellingent as well as inspiring.” For more information regarding the novel, including reviews, sample reads, and even an online RPG based on the Birth Pangs world, visit the series home page at www.birthpangs.com.