Later they argue over whether Uma should stay on serving the queen at Pendragon Castle or make a run for it. At first they don’t agree about who’s behind the crimes. 'The artist did a brilliant job of capturing the tension between Uma and Jackrun.

So instead of requesting artwork changes, I went back to the manuscript, used Find/Replace and changed the sections describing Jackrun’s arm scales to match the ones on the cover. Tony’s were masculine and powerful and it didn’t take long for me to realize I liked his version better. Tony drew them larger and slightly more diamond shaped. 'I also noticed the dragon scales on Jackrun’s arm were not like the small scalloped scales I’d described in the book. Tony Sahara did a brilliant job with the changes. And I requested a few changes to the dragon to make him appear more powerful and a little more menacing. 'My editor and I asked for a few small things, mostly color tone changes. When I opened the attachment, I was thrilled! 'I knew my publisher had been working hard, trying and rejecting a number of cover ideas to get just the right strong fantasy feel for the book, so I was excited to see what the talented artist, Tony Sahara, had finally come up with. Kathy kept the photos and also asked me to describe Jackrun’s arm scales in detail. She’s half English half Euit, so I found some beautiful images of mixed raced girls. 'I also sent Kathy a few photos of what I imagined Uma to look like. Early on we both agreed we wanted a dragon on the cover, something that alluded to the powerful dragon on the cover of book 1 in the Wilde Island series (see all three covers above). 'My editor, Kathy Dawson, was kind enough to ask for my ideas. (Excellent example of why I was meant to be a writer and not a cover designer!)

The trouble with that image is, it simply repeats the title and doesn’t show conflict or, more importantly the central characters. 'Early on I thought the cover would show a dragon circling an eerie full moon. She's here to tell the tale of her latest cover (my favorite part is a the glorious sunspot at the top!): Janet Lee Carey's new book, In the Time of Dragon Moon, has a tagline that is irresistible: Beware the dark moon time when love and murder intertwine.

Dragonswood by janet lee carey