The Cover Story

Do you judge a book by its cover?

Covertype /pattern by Kate Forrester and Cover Illustration by Paul Young.

A lot of people have commented on how lucky I am to have such lovely covers for my first two books. When I visit schools one of the questions I ask young people is 'Do you judge a book by its cover?' and the overwhelming answer is 'yes, it can make or break if we read a book in the first place'.

My character Mira is a 'doodler and a daydreamer' hence the lovely borders of the cover, but there is also a lot of  beautiful carving in Jasmine Skies, and these borders designed by Kate Forrester resemble some of these wonderful carved wood patterns.

I am amazed at the extraordinary creativity that goes into creating a cover. As a starting point my editor Sam Swinnerton asked me to send over some photos  that I felt would be interesting to use in the design.

If you look closely you may see how these influences ended up on the cover of Jasmine Skies. Other photos have siimply been an inspiration to my story.

Colour

New Market, Kolkata - a significant place on Mira's journey

Transport

These lovely photos were taken by Shelley King In Kolkata. Shelley's late father Kelly King was an extraordinary photographer. I think she's inherited his eye.

I'll post up a  few photos a day... they may even give you some teaser clues into the story!