Behind My 2026 Covers

Like the previous covers of Necessary Sins, the 2026 version features Joseph Lazare because most of the novel is close third-person from his point-of-view. The earliest drafts of this cover featured the man peering through a quatrefoil confessional screen, which looked awesome. However, too many PickFu respondents mistook that version for a thriller and assumed the priest was evil.

We needed the priest to appear benign and to indicate the story’s romantic elements, so we went with roses for the screen between the man and the viewer. Joseph and his star-crossed beloved are both gardeners who cultivate roses in their Charleston gardens. More on the roses’ color in a bit. I think their illustration style recalls 19th-century engravings.

The butterfly at the top isn’t a blue Morpho, but it’s symbolic of one that appears in Necessary Sins. The “old handwriting” background helps to communicate the 1800s setting.

I also like that the man representing Joseph has “big hair.” This was popular even for White men in the 1800s (check out portraits of a young Charles Dickens or Mathew Brady). Yet it’s also a hint to Joseph’s African ancestry. A real-life example whom I mention in my work: the French author Alexandre Dumas père, whose grandmother was African.

All four of my 2026 covers went through about ten rounds of drafts, but Lost Saints had the most variations within those rounds. How did we communicate that Ésh wasn’t “playing Indian” but biologically (mostly) White yet culturally Cheyenne? I attempted to get feedback in a Facebook writers’ group on an early draft, and the comments quickly became a “This is racist” pile-on. I was even accused of being a troll because I couldn’t possibly be serious about such a story. I couldn’t possibly know whereof I wrote. Therefore, the Plains Indian elements are more subtle here: Ésh wears no visible Cheyenne attire, only his hair in two braids.

The feather style gave us the most trouble. The colors don’t “pop” like they do on Necessary Sins because there isn’t as much contrast between the “screen” and the man’s face. But more stylized feathers or feathers in a contrasting color weren’t evoking the American West. People mistook the cover for fantasy. I love the colors we ended up with. I think the cover looks earthy, lived-in, and authentic instead of fake. I think it successfully evokes the Great Plains and Cheyenne culture. Specifically, these feathers symbolize raptors like hawks and eagles, whom the Cheyenne revere for their hunting skills and their nearness to the heavens—as well as owls, whom the Cheyenne fear as harbingers of death.

That map in the background? It isn’t just any 19th-century map. It’s a real 1859 map of the American West that I found in the Library of Congress’s digital collections. Along the top is the route of the Overland Trail, where the Lazares’ lives intersect with the Cheyenne Nation. Zoom in to see the Platte River, Ft. Laramie, and the Sweet Water River, all important locations in Ésh’s life.

Now for my favorite of the new set! With this cover concept, the main focal point of each design is the character’s visible eye. I think this worked out particularly well on Native Stranger because of the two moles beneath Clare’s left eye, which are part of the story. In this design, they really say “Look here!” and then the amber color of Clare’s eye draws you in.

Clare wears her mother’s pearl drop earrings, which appear in the novels. The glimpse of her dress is based on this 1860 ball gown held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The blossoms are Carolina jasmine a.k.a. yellow jessamine, a vine native to South Carolina and the state flower. I think it gives the cover a lush, tropical feel—perfect for semi-tropical Charleston.

The jessamine camouflages two “Easter eggs,” details you’ll notice if you look closer. In the bottom right corner is a Monarch chrysalis. In the top left corner is an adult Monarch butterfly. Clare is a “wild child” who raises Monarchs. They symbolize not only her love of nature but also her longing for freedom and unconventional pursuits—as well as her resurrection in Sweet Medicine.

The musical score background represents Clare’s love of music and her “feminine accomplishments” as a Southern belle.

For the first draft of Sweet Medicine with this cover concept, my designer used a red background and dark green leaves still attached to branches. The man’s clothing was dark too. He literally looked like a serial killer hiding in a bush, spying on his next victim! I was horrified. I needed the cover to look romantic, not creepy!

I sent the designer a YouTube clip of the climax of the 2005 Pride & Prejudice film adaptation. I told them I needed “Mr. Darcy striding over the fields to declare himself to Elizabeth Bennet, who gasps in anticipation because she aches for him too” energy. I didn’t specifically ask for an open shirt like Darcy wears in that scene, though I like the way it makes him look not only sexy but also vulnerable.

Can you spot the Easter egg on this cover? Look closely inside the man’s shirt collar. I had the designer include the silver chain of David’s Cosmas and Damian medal, a gift from Clare that symbolizes his devotion to her more than to the saints.

While not all the leaves are the right shape, they represent the falling leaves of quaking aspens and David’s sojourn in the Colorado mountains. I lived in Colorado during middle school and high school, and jewelry made from golden aspen leaves is popular there. I still have two pairs of aspen earrings.

The background with its decorative scrollwork frame represents one of the journals David keeps of his Western travels.