An open letter to my as of yet unknown cover artist...

Dear future cover artist whose name I do not yet know,

My former cover artist is moving and unavailable for this project, but I'm so glad you are willing to tackle book three. I've put more work into this one than the first two, my editor says it's the best book of the three (yess!), so I want to nail it when it comes to cover art. I decided to make this an open letter than an email because it's a pretty good teaser for what is to come. 


Refresher #1...
Here's what I had in mind for book three. (Minor drum roll). I want to keep the same color scheme (heavy on pastels), but for this one, I'd like a bit more action and detail. A reminder of where we were the last time we worked together...

Refresher #2...
Okay, here we go. 
IDEA 1: For the cover image, we have Tully in his jeans and a NASA t-shirt. He's holding Little Bacon, his hand-sized Android with the floppy hat. They are falling through a glowing portal. They are basically skydivers without parachutes. Below them is a giant lily pad. It operates like a floating albeit impoverished city on this moon. Think sealskin tents and lean-to's, not skyscrapers. However, in the distance, in the fog, are the ruins of two large pillars suggestive of the city of Rathmore on The Rathmore Chaos cover. So this is a world whose city has crumbled and inhabitants now live on these lily pads. Tully is going to hopefully save them...and save himself from the curse of the Lord Ascendant. 
Imagine the lily pad and ocean below, the pillars in the distance. 
Some color inspiration. 
Color inspiration for the lily pad. 

IDEA 2:  We can see the top of a tower. On it is a fiery disk spewing lightning (see eye of Sauron picture). Tully (brown hair) has taken a tall, wispy, beautiful girl by the hand. Her hair is white, clothing is violet-colored. Both of them are diving INTO the disk of fire. Sort of like diving into the eye of Sauron, if you follow me, or like this dude trying to head a soccer ball. We could view them from the back, as with the first two book covers. 
Imagine two charcters diving into this, but need lightning bursting from the edges. 
Another perspective.  Dude diving with purpose. 

IDEA 3: This combines IDEA 2 with another image. I really like this idea but not sure if we can pull it off or if it's too busy. So the book cover is cut into two diagonal halves. IDEA 2 is the top left half image. The bottom right half is a person diving off a bridge. Specifically, it's the Locks of Love Bridge in Paris, where one of the major turning points in the story occurs. Tabitha loses something vital to defeating the Ascendant on this bridge. The guy who is diving into the water is a thief, and he has that thing. He's wearing an overcoat and black fedora. There are Ascendant warriors standing on the rail of the bridge. They're seven feet tall, wearing tunics, and holding glowing black staffs. From the staffs come purple balls of flames. They're licking at his heels but he's going to make it to the water before being hit. It's winter. He's going to freeze to death in the water unless he's got some magic up his sleeve. He has magic up his sleeve.
This might work for perspective. Tully diving into the disk of fire in the top left. Bottom right is the thief diving into the river.

IDEA 4: Well, let's stop at three. 
Okay, that's what I've got. Hopefully I haven't scared you away from this project quite yet, brave graphic design guru. Let me know what you think, and thank for working with me on this series.Love and rockets,Adam