Cover Reveal - Hatchling's Vengeance

How time flies. It seems like only yesterday that the Dragshi Chronicles was just a short story written to help a coma victim relearn to read. Then later, the novel was used as a reward for completing their physical therapy. Each day after they therapy, they got a new chapter or scene. Now it is years later and the story expanded beyond the original tale of the trader girl Anastasia and the dragon shifter Lord Branin Llewlyn to include the next generation.

But this post is about covers. It was supposed to be a reveal, but if you paid careful attention you'll see the cover for Hatchling's Vengeance was already added to the blog banner and is on my twitter feed. So I chose to discuss what went into the cover design.

A point to remember when dealing with a series, is how they relate to each other. Hatchling's Vengeance is the 4th book in the Dragshi Chronicles which meand that there are three other covers already in existence to relate to. If you look at cover banner at the top of the blog, you'll see how the colors for the series are coordinated. 
 
Another major consideration when designing a cover is whether or not to include a person. That leads to the characteristics, such as hair color, wardrobe, and pose. For fantasy, an additional item might be the choice of weapon. Long bow, short bow, sword, or halberd. 

Although a traditional seating arrangement is boy-girl, boy-girl. A different approach was taken with the Dragshi Chronicles. The first book was Dragon Destiny and the character featured was Anastasia. For Hatchlings Curse, instead of reprising the same character, the other main character, Lord Brannin Llewlyn allowed himself to be pictured.

If I went with the traditional approach, the next book in the series would feature a woman.  The character Glyn, bodyguard to the shifter Lady Lexii Beylnea, was introduced in Hatchling's Mate and could have been used. However, Hatchling's Mate was more Talann's story rather than Glyn's. Which left Glyn to be pictured on Hatchling's Vengeance. Several models were looked at before the one finally chosen. 

The back image carried the same color from the front. However, without the character to pull the eye, the back presents  a major tone of the story. The clouds lay across the land like the evil influence of the cult leader, the Parant. 

A special thank you to Fantasia Frog Designs for their skill in selecting and blending images to create the fantasy world of the dragshi.

Now that you've been introduced to Glyn and the rest of the dragon shifters, click on the covers in the banner for excerpts and a read of the first chapter.

Hatchling's Vengeance - Ebook available for pre-order at  Amazon Barnes&Noble   iTunes  Kobo. Stay tuned for news about the print version.

~Till next time, Helen