So, I’ve worked with Juhaihai before as an artist for my books. Back in 2012 or 2013, I commissioned her to do Lily and Andresh in separate full-body character portraits…this was back when Andresh was full Romani and Lily half. Skin colors and hair colors were different. Then I had an epiphany about cultural appropriation and who gets to write marginalized characters, and I decided to drop all Romani presence and influences from the book and write things differently.

Lily and Andresh got completely reconstructed visually from the ground up. I was worried this might throw Juhaihai off but she was totally game for it. There are hints of who they used to be, but they are very much brand-new people.

But first, I need to show you the first commission: chibis!

I hired Juhaihai to do chibi commissions because I wanted to change the swag for The Name and the Key from Son of the Siren. I spent a lot of money on Son of the Siren and had three different character portraits made, but ordered way too many prints. I still have like 80 of them left. I bring them to conventions with me to give away, and also gave them to reviewers and influencers, but it’s been hard to get rid of them. I hope to someday I have my own book stall at a con where I will give these away with book purchases.

Anyway! This time, my strategy changed. I wanted something small and cute–so I decided to make stickers. That’s what the chibis are for. I printed 100 stickers each from Sticker App, a company I found randomly through Google. I’m super pleased with the quality.

Next, the BIG ART. I’m putting the watermarked version here, but there will be postcard prints of the art made without the watermark, just like I did for Son of the Siren. This commission was expensive because instead of doing individual character cards, I put them together in a single image. But it saved me money over time to do it this way, I think.

Look at them! So beautiful! I opted for a romantic image this time (for The Step and the Walk, it’ll be the demons) because Lily and Andresh’s romantic relationship is so important to the series. They were childhood friends and share secrets no one else knows, and their feelings have naturally bloomed into something greater.

I love working with Juhaihai. I hope to continue to do so for the rest of the trilogy and beyond.