Sometimes, a book’s cover doesn’t make it into production. This happened to me with my debut novella, Out On A Limb.
I commissioned an EC Comics style illustration from the talented Josh Maikis very early in the book’s life cycle.
The final draft of the book wasn’t even ready when Josh finished this amazing piece!
It features Out On A Limb’s protagonists, Rebecca Suarez and Peyton Marx along with portraits of Captain Wyatt, Radish, and Nily Ann Liu.
A few human feet and legs are seen growing from the tree in the background and a cloud of purple haze that readers will recognize as the mist from the Goddess Hecate.
Josh captured the look, feel, and vibe of the book perfectly and I love the crime scene in the foreground. I’ll hopefully include this illustration in future releases of the Hecate’s Touch series.
As some of you know, I didn’t go with this version of the cover. By the time the book was finally ready for publication, I wanted to focus on one core element of the story—feet growing out of trees!
Kristina Osborn of Truborn Press is the genius behind that version of the book.
I highly recommend Kristina and Josh to my author friends looking for cover artists.
In the mean time, I’ll print out a few copies for a giveaway timed with Out On A Limb’s two-year anniversary in March!