I thought today as I’m having a relatively easy day (I hope) to unveil the cover for my forthcoming Secret Gardens of the City of London.

This is the Kindle formatted cover which ends up being very similar if not identical to the one on iBooks and many other electronic retailers.  A paperback cover is in the works too with different dimensions.

I knew of dozens and dozens of little gardens in the Square Mile but even I was surprised to find 124 of them and all with interesting histories and many of them looking starkly different from each other.

The background contains just a small section of John Rocque’s 1746 map of London.   I’ve always thought it to be the most amazing map I’ve ever seen and though I’ve chosen to use a version that is quite zoomed out, you can actually see the entirety of London and beyond, building by building, tree by tree and I have spent many an hour exploring it as well as admiring it as a work of art.

The original map is on white paper but I turned it Sepia as I thought it better fitted the theme.  I’m sure Mr. Rocque would be quite upset that I made his then most detailed map the world had ever seen to appear more quaint.  It is incredible though and I could still use it now to navigate many miles of Central London.

Originally I had plans inside the book to have a huge interactive map showing the location of every garden but given the number, that quickly became well beyond me and I’m sure the size of the file would have been huge.  So now every harden has its own map and there are lots of hyperlinks everywhere connecting nearby locations but I thought a variation on the theme would make for a good book cover so I have chosen 6 gardens which vaguely match their location on the map as well as giving and idea of the variety of the gardens and what it might all be about.

I’m hoping everything will be ready for August; it is a shame I haven’t been able to visit some of the locations one last time and it would have been a great opportunity to take some photos but from my blog you probably get the idea I go to places with not many people!

Incidentally I found out my Sacred Secret Sanctuary Gardens Walk is actually the number one recommended tourist experience for Secret or Authentic London which considering the countless thousands of things to do in London is nice to know!