This cover, though not ch0sen by the author, deserves its own space. Maybe it didn’t quite fit the tone of the story so she went with this instead. But this cover is so cold and bleak that I can’t help but love it. Does that say something about me? Did I just reveal too much?
For this series, “The Child of the Erinyes”, the characters in the story have been represented by statues from antiquity. The cover photos were all taken from the public domain and I manipulated the lighting and color to add just the right amount of drama appropriate for each book. Book 1, The Year-God’s Daughter by Rebecca Lochlann. Book 2, The Thinara King by Rebecca Lochlann. Book 3, In the Moon of Asterion by Rebecca Lochlann.
“Sultana” by Lisa Yarde. I enjoy title design very much and this is another one in which I focused a lot on it. I sampled lots of scripts relevant to the time period and and came up with something that felt just right for the story. The front covers of “Sultana” and “Sultana’s Legacy” were made by compositing 19th century Orientalist paintings. The front cover of the Omnibus is all me doing the illustration thing. Fabricating the textures, architectural elements, reflections, and leaves blowing in the wind on this one was really fun.
“The Burning Candle” by Lisa Yarde.
The King Must Die by N. Gemini Sasson. I did quite a bit of photo manipulation on this cover. This guy’s cheek was covered in sand and I had to create a velvet texture to match his cape. We needed just a bit more room for Gemini’s name down there.
“Hang On” by Nell Gavin. Though this story is set in an energetic world of Rock and Roll, it’s a rather introspective tale of a young girl’s struggle with her own mental health. The goal in designing this cover was to capture all of the energy of a rock concert without detracting from that. This was accomplished by showing the anticipatory moments before the show, subduing it with that cool blue tone and having it shot through with an electric shock of pink to direct attention at the source of the real action.
This is a variant cover for “Artemis Rising” by Cheri Lasota. We really wanted the moonstone pendant to feel powerful, as though it were filling up with moonlight. This effect is further magnified by placing it in a position where it takes the place of and eclipses the moon. Then, just so there’s no doubting its power, I set it on fire with that mystic, blue aura.
This was a fun one. I got to paint everything you see here. And just as an internet bonus, here’s a version that I enjoyed, but didn’t make the final cut…