Bookish tattoos

I'm just about to have a new tattoo done and it's inspired by one of my all time favourite series Cut&Run. Looking at at, you can never say it has something to do with a book because it features orchids, an eternity symbol, an anchor and a compass rose. Anyone who's read Cut&Run knows why I combined these symbols, but to the unsuspecting passer-by it may seem like a bunch of pretty flowers.
Anyway, that's not my point. Before I had my tattoo design done, I looked at many book inspired tattoos and they are so gorgeous! Here's some that I found very inspiring.
How about you? Do you have any book tattoos? Comment with a picture!

Indie Hour - Jay Aheer

 I met Jay on Facebook a while ago, and we became friends, chatting about favourite books and authors. When I first saw her art I was drawn to it, to her passion and talent. I asked her to do two covers for me and she did, despite my MANY requirements. She never once said I was too demanding or no more changes were allowed, making sure I was happy with my cover, however long it took.

Since then, Jay has designed many covers for wonderful authors, earning her a reputation of a talented, reliable and hard-working cover artist. She's also opened her art shop in Society6 and Nuvango, making her beautiful art come to life in the shape of anything a person might want, from t-shirts, cushions and mugs to canvas prints and duvet cover sets.
It's my absolute pleasure to have Jay as my first guest in my new feature - Indie Hour.

Hi, Jay! Tell me - and my readers -  a little about yourself.

I am a 35 year-old married mother of 3 (or 4 if you count my husband). I could be classed as reserved, quiet until you get to know me. Then I'm a whole different person.

 How did you get into graphic design? 

I got into it originally about 12 years ago, as a hobby, and it's been a constant for the past 12 years as a hobby.

 How did it feel when you saw your art on a book cover for the first time? 

I did a squeeee high pitched noise.  I felt really proud, something I did is on a book cover. That feeling hasn’t stopped, though. Every book cover I'm proud of, and get all squeeely and jumpy when they turn up in the mail.

How do you get inspired?

 I do what feels right for me. What I would want to see,  but I always try to take on board what every author wants, however crazy. I get a lot of inspiration from fellow graphic artists too.  The biggest ones being Jessica Allain, Alexandra V Bach and Wesley Souza.

What gave you courage to pursue your passion and turn your designs into something more than a hobby? 

I have always loved graphic design, as it happened I was approached by Kathleen Kerridge to do her first book cover after she saw a piece of fan art. It just literally sky rocketed from there.

Did you ever think about giving up? If so, when and why?   

With success there is always going to be people who want to drag you down. In my case it was in the form of an author not too long ago. I did question if I was really doing the right thing, maybe this wasn’t for me, but the kind and loving response of so many helped me stay focused on the path forward.

If you had to think of a single moment that makes all the hard work worth it what would it be?

This would be the time an author held their book in their hands for the first time and the emotion was so real. Their  hard work bound into a book. 

Jay's Deviantart Gallery

Jay's website

I *heart* indie

Do you? 

Naturally, as an independent writer, I'm a huge supporter of indie writers. I know how hard it is to do everything yourself, but at the same time it's absolutely amazing when your efforts are rewarded. 

I'd never have achieved anything if it weren't for the support of the wonderful community - bloggers, other writers, readers - everyone who goes out of their way to support the indie community. 

So, to add my little stamp of support, I've decided to start a regular feature on my blog, showcasing the work of independent artists, called The Indie Hour. 

If you're an indie writer, musician, artist, anything - drop me a line at t.t.kostova at gmail dot com, telling me a little bit about yourself and your work. 

Looking forward to hearing from, what I'm sure will be, very talented people!

xxx

How my cover was created - step by step guide.

I decided to write a post about how my book cover came to life. As you can imagine, I'm very proud of the cover and love it to bits. It was hand-drawn by a very talented artist called Olga. She thought of the whole concept on her own but kept me in the loop with regular updates.
So this is the first picture she sent me for approval:

I didn't like the fact that the guy was sitting at the next table reading a newspaper - I don't know exactly why. Maybe because I had a similar scene in the book and the man reading the newspaper was not the main male character and I thought this may cause confusion. So she changed it:

That was more like it. This time I didn't like the huge letters on the window and she had misspelled Cafe (she's German so she was forgiven). In a few weeks, long Christmas break, illness and a broken computer later, she sent me another picture to look at and she had added colours:

That was the point when I could really imagine the finished product. I loved it.
Next, she sent me another picture, almost fully finished:

Olga had added all those details and I couldn't believe how talented she was. All that was left to add were the eyes at the top and the title:

I didn't feel the blue was right for the cover, I definitely preferred green, so that it corresponded with the eye colour. (Fun fact - the eyes are really Olga's - she cut them out of a photo of herself and made them green)
So, in the end, she made all letters green and I fell in love with the finished product - it was exactly what I wanted!

Taaa-daaaa!

The cover creation may seem like an easy, straightforward process but it wasn't. It was stretched along 3 months, with many ups and downs. But at the end of the day, what matters is that it turned out amazingly well. And it feels very personal to me because it is my very first cover for my very first published novel, I was involved in it every step of the way and, let's face it, my cover artist has her eyes integrated as an irreplaceable part of my book. I wouldn't change a thing.