Cover Artist Stephen Youll

Today our cover artist Stephen Youll called to ask questions about the details of costumes and characters for his painting. His descriptions of how he envisions the scene really hit the mark, and some of his ideas were excellent additions that we'll be including in the next draft of that chapter. Does the Chapterhouse Keep have large windows? What color are the stone tiles on the floor of the grand audience chamber? He proposed some designs for the uniforms of Guildsmen and the Honored Matres, which we'll be including in the text.

This almost always happens with Stephen -- during the development of his cover paintings, he offers plenty of inspiration that ends up in the final draft of the book. That's why I make such a point of working with him during an early stage. Several details from the covers of my "Seven Suns" novels made their way back into the story. His design for the Imperial inspection ship had a great impact on how Brian and I described that scene in "Spice Planet" for THE ROAD TO DUNE.

I will post sketches of the HUNTERS cover as soon as he sends them to me.

--KJA

Next Entry (November 24, 2005)