Friends, Iām deep in revisions of Broken Bloodlines and the expansion of Wraith into a book series, and I have a draft of the cover for Wraith that Iād love your feedback on!
Most fantasy romance authors choose object covers or art covers, and I leaned heavily into that art camp. While I LOVE object covers (crowns, roses, snakes, weaponsā¦give me ALL the fantasy objects!), for me, there is just something about SEEING the character. Even if the character looks different in mind, somehow seeing character art on the cover makes the book feel more human to me. NO SHADE to my object cover friends! When I decided to publish, I had a LOT of choices, and custom artwork for me was a āmust have.ā
Of course the amazing and brilliant artist Iām fortunate to work with does a great job bringing my characters to life, so when I gave him a creative brief for Wraith, it was a littleā¦wonkyā¦to be honest. (Check out the influencer who was the inspiration for Rueā¦ I meanā¦š š„µ)
Influencer Toni Mahfud (Inspiration for Rue!)
In fact, I am a Pinterest addict and create boards for everything I write. I sometimes put too much in them and I donāt like to promote AI art, so I start all my boards as private and then add more to my Callie account when I settle on images that really speak to me. Check out the character inspiration board for Rue and Kiya here!
The main male character in Wraith is Rurik Baynne, Rue for short. Rue is the oldest of three sons. His father, Baer Baynne, runs a massive criminal enterprise. In the opening scene of Wraith, Baer is observed in bed with Rueās wife! Yes, his daughter-in-law! Later that same morning, a mysterious fire in Baynne manor strikes and tragedy befalls the familyā¦ If you havenāt read the Vella eps yet, you can read Episode One totally free on Amazon. Iāll link to it below if you want to see what happens!
So this is a ton of romance despite the dark opening. I promise! All three of the Baynne brothers have wild adventures and get their HEAs, but the journeys are very twisty.
Hereās a brief introduction to the Baynne brothers:
Rue Baynne, the oldest: Rueās wife Gala was promised to him in a marriage arranged by their families. Rue tried to love his wife, but as he learns, her love came with limitationsā¦ His true love is a woman his father purchased from an orphanage years ago after searching the realm for a child with special healing powers. That woman is Kiya, and sheās been forced to live her entire life under the Baynneās control, serving Rueās mother and watching the only man sheās ever loved marry someone else. Until nowā¦
Weylin Baynne is straight-up bonkers. Inspired in my mind by Jason Momoa, (if Jason Momoa was a vicious criminal with an insatiable sexual appetite) Weylin never gets the respect Rue has. Heās the middle child, Rueās half-brother whose mother (the offspring of one of his fatherās many extramarital affairs) passed away in childbirth. Heās raised as one of Baerās own, but only because Baer Baynne believes there is something about the Baynne blood that is tied to their fortuneā¦ So of course he has mommy issues galore. Wey has two children with a mistress who works on his fatherās property, but that doesnāt stop him from from finding love wherever itās available. Until a woman comes along who changes everything about how he sees himselfā¦and his familyā¦
Ender Baynne is the youngest. Also the product of an affair, Enderās mother also works for Baer Baynne. But the identity of his true mother is known to many. Sheās part of Lord Baynneās special guard, charged with protecting the grove that is the source of the Baynneās familyās incredible wealth. Ender has always wanted his father to love him, but he doesnāt believe in his fatherās intense passion for their business. When heās recalled home after his father is killed, Ender sees an opportunity to have a real impact on the family criminal enterpriseā¦with help from some unlikely sourcesā¦
Wraith is book one of the Shadows of Sins series and I have a draft of the cover of book one to share!!! The art is complete, so I canāt change that, but Iām still having my cover artist play with the fonts and design. What do you think of this?
Iād love to hear your thoughts!!!
Iām going to put this one up for pre-order soon, and Iām planning a release later in 2024, like maybe early Fall. I want to have enough time to get Broken Bloodlines out and get some more character art ready. I need more time, LOL!!
Thanks for reading! Iād love your feedback on the cover for Wraith before the pre-order goes live, so feel free to drop a comment and let me know what you think!
Happy reading, friends!!!
I like this picture for book 1. It gives us a good visual of the character.