Glorious, glorious cover art for The Reluctant Berserker

To say I’m pleased with this one would be an understatement. Particularly as I know how hard the artist worked to get something that was in-period, when I kept sending the mockups back. “It’s lovely, but they didn’t wear plate armour in those days.” “I love it, but I’m sorry, we can’t have a castle because they didn’t build them yet.” “It’s gorgeous, but the heater-shield didn’t come in until the 13th Century and has to go.”

I felt like a real diva. All the more so because I know exactly how hard it is to get stockphotos which are right for any historical period. I was trying not to nitpick, but on the other hand, I also knew that anyone who knew anything about the 8th Century would look at that shield and immediately think “Whoa, 500 years out of date, I bet that author doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Either that or they have no respect for their history/readers/own work.” So I just couldn’t let it go.

However, they put up with me. They changed the shield, they changed the helmet to make it look more like a spectacle helm, and eala! I am overjoyed.

All the kudos and praise to the artist, Kanaxa

Mirrored from Alex Beecroft - Author of Gay Historical and Fantasy Fiction.