There’s really nothing better than collaborating with a talented artist to bring a vision to life, is there? Well, I’ve had the great good fortune of working with dovartkiin (look him up by that handle on Instagram) to make my cover art dreams come true!

Now, before I reveal the absolutely stunning piece he made for me, a word about covers in general…

I love a good cover. I know, I know, I’m not supposed to judge a book by it blah blah blah. And I’m certainly not saying the cover is the ONLY thing or even the most important thing I pay attention to when I’m thinking about reading a book. Many of my favorite books have covers that are completely ordinary (or no covers at all if I read them in e-book form). But I’m not gonna lie: a beautiful cover catching my eye makes my dragon brain go “HOARD!” Just a couple of weeks ago I bought the special editions of Rachel Gillig’s The Shepherd King series because they were just SO pretty (of course, I read a few pages first to make sure I liked the actual writing before I shelled out the dough).

I love covers that make me associate particular authors and their stories with unique images/designs. Not everyone prioritizes their cover (which, again, is TOTALLY fine because it shouldn’t fucking matter, but I digress). Yesterday, I was following a post where people were making recommendations for romantasy books, and I noticed a definite cover trend. Here are some examples:

Are these covers beautiful? Absolutely. But they’re not really distinct from each other in a way that would make any of them stand out to me in a bookstore. If the purpose is to convey “Hey, this is romantasy,” they’re definitely doing the job! But if the purpose is to convey “Hey, this book is more interesting than all the other romantasy books”? Well, not so much. N.B. I have not read any of these books. They’re probably wonderful, so I certainly don’t mean to be tearing down these authors who have worked hard to create stories that many people enjoy (remember, I got these images from a post where people were recommending great books!)

But one thing about self-publishing is that, if I want to go above and beyond with my cover, I can. And so I found a brilliant artist (who also happens to be one of my students and an all-around awesome human being) to help me. Again, look up dovartkiin on Instagram. You won’t regret it!

OK, time for the big reveal. Here’s the cover art for Her Undying Thirst (actual cover design TBD). Obviously, please do not use, repost, or reproduce without permission.

OK, excuse me while I go hyperventilate now…

In Proximum, Regina Vestra