How do you approach cover design?
I work with Jo at Boruma Publishing and Moira Nelligar, a graphic artist who has many covers under her belt. They do a great job of making my vision a reality.
I give Jo and Moira a basic idea of what I am looking for, as well as one or two pictures I pull off of various websites, such as Bigstock Photo. Sometimes they use what I send them. Other times, Jo and Moira use my description of what I am looking for as a template for a more adventurous design. A great example of this is the cover for "The Snow Maid." Jo pushed the envelope to give me a beautiful, ethereal cover, where my Snow Maid is in the foreground, as well as having a scene from the book in the background. To this day it is my favorite cover.
What do you read for pleasure?
I love fantasy, which I think can be seen by my output. Some of my favorite authors are Jim Butcher, Jacqueline Carey (her prose is amazingly sensual) and Lois McMaster Bujold.
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