Coffee cups: a tool for writers

As you probably know, authors tend to drink coffee.  Here is a present I received from my daughter, Catriona.  Four coffee cups like this:


I was slightly nonplussed when I opened the box.  Yes, they are very lovely coffee cups.  They are also rather black.

Until you add hot coffee.  Then the black disappears to reveal the picture hidden beneath...



It's a Pericles Commission coffee cup!  I now have a cup for each cover.  Note the coffee within.  My devious daughters and wife took the high-res bitmaps used for the covers to have these made.

Here is The Ionia Sanction cooling down.  It reverts to black.



The entire family!  Apparently I have to write more books if I want more coffee cups.


And the latest release, complete with cappuccino:


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is absolutely fantastic. What a great gift idea for a coffee-drinking published writer.

I'd love to do this for two writer friends. Where would I look to find out how to get this done?

Gary Corby said...

Hi Kathy,

You'd have to google "heat sensitive mugs" to find a nearby store, I think. In Sydney, Australia, they can be ordered from local shops.

You supply the bitmap and they print it onto a film that goes underneath the heat sensitive layer.


PT said...

This is so cool.

And extra cool that your family come up with the idea.

Inquiring minds etc, so:

You tell that after receiving the mugs you were "slightly nonplussed". How much your family had to prompt you before you got the idea what you really got as a gift?

And how much more coffee are you drinking now, just to see the covers?

/PT

Gary Corby said...

Hi PT,

I thought at first it must be a mug for each of us.

I will modestly confess to being very good at making coffee. We have a home espresso machine and I make cappuccinos every morning. So no prompting was required. I was duly astounded when the covers appeared, bottom up! Of course, having seen the first, I guessed the others.

I don't drink more than two cups a day, because I make it strong, but whenever we have a visitor the first thing I say is, "Would you like some coffee?"

Stephanie Thornton said...

Those are absolutely awesome! I have one with the disappearing wives of Henry VIII, but these are even better!

Gary Corby said...

Hi Stephanie,

May I say congratulations on the success of your books?

I'm intrigued by the disappearing wives. I guess the heat sensitive film is working in reverse?