An oil pastel piece of the wintry, white surface of a moon. Thin atmospheric clouds float above the undulating tundra. A gas giant peeks over the horizon. A smaller, dark moon hangs behind the planet. A distant, yellow sun glows in the black sky of space, with smaller pinpricks of other stars dotting the background.

I like to use oil pastels, pen and ink, or just a plain old pencil to help me envision aspects of my worlds. This was one of the first pieces I made for ARCTIC RIFT. It’s what I imagined Mye and company might’ve seen as they were skiing across the moon’s arctic surface. Nobody will be asking me to illustrate my own novels anytime soon haha! But there’s something about getting my hands involved–with oil pastels in this case–that makes it easier for my brain to describe visuals on the novel’s page.

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