The Vale Has New Covers: Why I Changed the Art
The Vale has never opened its gates gently. It offers a path through the thorns, then waits to see what you are willing to lose to follow it.
That is the promise I wanted the covers of Thorns of Ash, Hunter’s Mark, and Echoes of the Broken to make before you turn a page. Over the past few weeks, I have gone back through the art, the lettering, and the smallest details because the books needed to look as dangerous and intimate as they feel to me.
Why change them now?
Azara and Darian carry the first three books through a world of witches, wolves, old power, and choices that leave scars. Their story does not stand still. Thorns of Ash opens the hunt. Hunter’s Mark tightens it. Echoes of the Broken asks what remains when the truths beneath the Vale finally rise. Each cover needed its own pulse, while all three needed to belong to the same world.
I wanted each symbol to carry a piece of the story: the thorn-bound sword, the wolf and its broken chains, the dragon circling what has cracked open. I wanted the shadows to suggest danger without swallowing the fine gold details. I wanted the titles to stand strong beside one another, whether you see them on a shelf or in the palm of your hand. Getting there meant returning to the details more than once. A thorn out of place, a chain that felt too heavy, lettering that lost its power when the image grew small. Those details matter when they are the first invitation into a story.
And there is more to come
Vow of the Forsaken follows Gareth and Tamlin into the wreckage left behind. Their history refuses to stay buried, and their choices carry the Vale’s danger into a far more personal reckoning. I am giving its cover the same care. When it stands beside the first three, it must bear the marks of their story too.
If you are new to the Vale, begin with Thorns of Ash and follow Azara and Darian from their first dangerous choice. If you have been walking these roads with me, tell me which new cover caught your eye first. I would love to hear what it promised you.
