Every so often I get the compunction to review my previous work. Sometimes this means going through the manuscript, usually looking for typographical errors or examples of poor writing. Occasionally, as in this case, I look at the covers of my books. When I first started writing I decided to design my own covers, not because I was being cheap, but rather because I believed that I could do them myself. I have always enjoyed painting and drawing and a few years I got into digital art. It has some advantages over conventional painting and drawing, it is not as messy and I don’t have to put everything away when I’ve finished for a session.

Creating the covers for my books was very much a learning process. I made mistakes, many of them, but I sincerely believe that you learn more from getting things wrong than from getting them right. My first cover, for The War Wolf, was striking, I thought. The second, For Rapture of Ravens, worked very well too. By the time I got to The Blade’s Fell Blow, I felt that the three books needed to have a design that linked all three together. They are each a part of the Sorrow Song Trilogy after all.

Despite being hard at work writing my seventh novel I took the time to distract myself with producing these new covers for my Saxon books. I really enjoyed the exercise and I am very happy with the end results.