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

Piece by Piece pre-order is LIVE!

Piece by Piece pre-order links are live on Amazon! Official release date is 23 April.

I'm organising a party on Facebook on release day and it's going to be awesome! There will be lots of games, chats and giveaways, as well as special appearances by amazing authors like N.R.Walker, Tyler May, Felice Stevens, AE Via and many more! CLICK HERE to join the event.

Also, there's still time to sign up for the blog tour. Use this form if you'd like to take part. Sign ups will close on Monday, 26 March.

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

Is it March already?

Happy March, everyone! Spring is nearly here and I'm desperate for some sunshine and warmer weather. 

I've been missing from the social networks entirely over the past month. I'm writing and trying to not get distracted so I don't even switch the WiFi on my laptop. But, I have some news, so I'm opening the door of my writing cave and sneaking out outside to share.

Firstly, I'm so happy to say that Piece by Piece is nearly finished. It should have been done by now, but real life can be a bitch, so I had a few setbacks in February and lost a lot of writing time. But I managed to make up for it somewhat and I'm really hoping to wrap the book up this weekend and send it off to betas and the editor on Monday. Which means, I might even make the initial release date that was set for early April.
Fingers crossed!!