{"id":1467,"date":"2021-09-01T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weirdsisterspublishing.com?p=1467"},"modified":"2025-11-05T02:56:35","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T08:56:35","slug":"the-story-of-a-bone-to-picks-cover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/weirdsisterspublishing.com\/index.php\/2021\/09\/01\/the-story-of-a-bone-to-picks-cover\/","title":{"rendered":"The story of A Bone to Pick\u2019s Cover"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jan S. Gephardt<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s way too late for this to be a \u201creveal,\u201d but the story of A Bone to Pick\u2019s<\/a><\/em><\/strong> Cover deserves telling. Because it was not an easy\u2014or short\u2014journey!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Artistry of Jody A. Lee<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For most of my adult life it has been my secret fantasy that someday my books would have <\/meta>Jody<\/a> A. Lee<\/a><\/strong> covers. She and I have a rather long history, and through it all, I\u2019ve cherished an abiding love and admiration for both her, and her artwork. From the very beginning, long before it seemed like even the remotest possibility, I harbored a fantasy. I dreamed that one day Jody could illustrate a book I had written. It seemed like a crazy pipe dream, back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jody and I met through ASFA<\/a><\/strong>, the Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Artists<\/a><\/strong>, back in the 1980s. For quite some time in the \u201880s and early \u201890s, my husband Pascal and I acted as her agent for sending her fine art prints to science fiction conventions all over North America. I also created a couple of printed promotional brochures for her, in an early effort to help market her work directly to fantasy art lovers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though those markets have changed, and changed, and changed again, We\u2019ve been friends since then. In recent years we\u2019d grown more distracted by family and career issues. But when I went to her and asked if she\u2019d ever be willing to paint a cover for me, she said yes! My crazy-pipe-dream-fantasy actually<\/em> came true. Twice, so far! How many people get to say that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Left
Jody has range and vision and amazing skill. All of these cover paintings are \u00a9Jody A. Lee<\/a><\/strong> (image source credits below).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Memorable Moment in the Book<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Jody reads the current draft of my book before she conceives the cover illustration. She builds it based on a memorable moment. In our first outing, for the cover for What\u2019s Bred in the Bone<\/a><\/em><\/strong> we considered several scenes. Jody\u2019s portrayal of Shiv and Rex in the Five-Ten worked best. But then came a bunch of those devilish details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jody doesn\u2019t normally read a lot of science fiction, especially not \u201chard\u201d sf. I\u2019d had several readers who were old hands at sf go through the work and have little reported trouble with the descriptions. But Jody was having a devil of a time visualizing some of them. We went round and round on the helmet and background and how to portray them. What did I mean by this or that term? What did one of those things look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But eventually we arrived at this characteristic moment for Rex and Shiv, a man who was at that point in the story his SBI \u201cfrenemy.\u201d And helping Jody visualize it helped me understand ways to (I hope) make the story more understandable and accessible. I like to think that others are intrigued by the idea of a sapient, talking police dog, even if they primarily read other genres. And maybe they will enjoy the stories more, thanks to my consciousness-raising from Jody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Left
Two highly characteristic moments from the novels. Artwork \u00a9 2020 and 2019 respectively, by Jody A. Lee<\/a><\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A Fantasy Painter Tackles Futuristic Tech. Twice.<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When you read A Bone to Pick<\/a><\/em><\/strong> you\u2019ll almost certainly recognize \u201cThe Scene\u201d that inspired the cover. That scene unfolded somewhat differently in the early (2019) draft Jody read, but it\u2019s definitely still in there. Many of those who\u2019ve read the manuscript as beta-readers or critique partners also pointed it out as a favorite moment. I was tickled by the idea that it would end up on the cover. And I think she has realized it beautifully.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that beautiful painting didn\u2019t happen without long, hard effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First problem: Jody knew she wanted to show Rex in the car. But what did a futuristic self-driving car on a space station look like? It needed to look sleek and science-fictional. The boring little auto-nav boxes that most people utilize on Rana wouldn\u2019t \u201cread\u201d well on a book cover at all! That\u2019s how the Citron Flash was born. In later drafts, it developed into something of a \u201ccharacter\u201d in its own right. If you enjoy that minor subplot when you read the book, chalk up another \u201cthank you\u201d to Jody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this wasn\u2019t the first time Jody had approached science fictional tech with initial trepidation. Remember Shiv\u2019s helmet and his weapon on the first cover? That gun-looking thing is an EStee. It\u2019s a dual-function service weapon used by law enforcement officers on Rana. But for a fantasy artist who specializes in painting swords, a futuristic firearm wasn\u2019t part of the normal toolkit. For the underlying EStee design, she and I owe a debt of gratitude to Jeff Porter<\/a><\/strong>. He helped me with some initial character development artwork, and he reportedly enjoyed designing an EStee for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"An
Artwork is \u00a9 2020 and 2019 respectively by Jody A. Lee<\/a><\/strong>, and @2016 by Jeff Porter<\/a><\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Envisioning the Inside of Rana Station<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately for Jody, that was not<\/em> the most daunting science fictional aspect she\u2019d have to tackle. The story of A Bone to Pick\u2019s<\/a><\/em><\/strong> cover involves a particular, peculiar twist. Or should I say \u201cupward curve\u201d? The infernal perspective of the habitat wheel posed a far steeper challenge. This peculiarity of the toroidal space habitat landscape<\/a><\/strong> is so marked, it provided an opening for What\u2019s Bred in the Bone<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, where it bothered the newly-transplanted, planet-reared Rex:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\u201cA
Jan\u2019s novel What\u2019s Bred in the Bone<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, the first book in the XK9 \u201cBones\u201d Trilogy<\/a>,<\/strong> is available right now. Cover artwork \u00a9 2019 by Jody A. Lee<\/a><\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u201cDamn it, no horizon should bend upward<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cXK9 Rex Dieter-Nell flinched away from the \u201cscenic overlook.\u201d He clenched his jaws on a quiet whimper, but the shudder down his back made his hackles prickle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHis human partner, Charlie, met Rex\u2019s eyes. I\u2019m sorry. I know you don\u2019t like it.<\/strong> His words flowed through their brain link on a wave of empathy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRex lowered his head, wary of insulting his partner\u2019s beloved home. . . . I guess we\u2019ll see how things work out<\/strong><\/em>. He hazarded another look. Ugh<\/strong>. It was freaky-unnatural for a river to run down the wall at one end of the vista, as Wheel Two\u2019s Sirius River did. Even worse for it to run back up the wall at the other.\u201d<\/p>\n–Chapter One, “A Walk in the Park,” from What’s Bred in the Bone<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"Rex
Rex has since reconciled himself to the view. (background \u00a92020 by Jody A. Lee<\/a><\/strong>; Rex and Shady portrait heads \u00a92020 by Lucy A. Synk<\/a><\/strong>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The infernal perspective of a habitat wheel<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

God bless Don Davis<\/a><\/strong> and Rick Guidice<\/a><\/strong>. They were the first artists to grapple with the technical complexity of painting a landscape as it would appear inside something similar to a massive bicycle wheel in space. They were an essential part of the early NASA Ames Research Center project<\/a><\/strong>. In the summer of 1975, they helped a think-tank of genius scientists and engineers<\/strong> <\/a>develop detailed plans for a habitat in space based on a wheel-like structure, a basic plan first proposed by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1903<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drawing the thing from the outside was far easier than drawing or painting images of the inside. But Davis and Guidice brought it memorably to life. You\u2019ll notice that two of the three are cutaway views. As the middle image from 1975 demonstrates (below), it\u2019s really challenging to get such an image to \u201cread\u201d clearly. Bending their brains around the crazy view cannot have been easy. But ever since then we\u2019ve had something of a \u201ccheat sheet\u201d to go by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And also a challenge for their successors. If they could do it, then it can <\/em>be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Visualizations
Visions from the Ames Center in 1975: \u00a9 NASA<\/a><\/strong>; artwork left and center by Don Davis<\/a><\/strong>. Artwork at right by Rick Guidice<\/a><\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

An Alien Landscape<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Early in the story of A Bone to Pick\u2019s<\/a><\/em><\/strong> cover, I sent Jody these images from 1975 (she\u2019d already found them for herself, too, I believe). When she sent her first developmental color study, she accounted for the \u201cbent\u201d horizon. Other aspects of Orangeboro\u2019s topography, though? Unfortunately, not so much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was my bad. As a writer, it\u2019s easy to airily refer to \u201cthe verdant terraces of the Sirius Valley\u201d and go on with whatever is happening in the scene. But an artist has to show it. <\/em>In considerably<\/em> more detail than the writer must devote to the subject. No matter how<\/em> \u201cimpressionistic\u201d the artist’s technique may be. And you\u2019ll have noticed already that Jody has a beautiful style, but it\u2019s not notably \u201cimpressionistic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, okay, Jan. What do you mean by \u201cthe verdant terraces of the Sirius Valley\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rana Station<\/a><\/strong> is supposed to be a self-sufficient space habitat that is home to more than eight million souls. Those are eight million souls who need not only room to live and work, but who also need to eat. Self-sufficient<\/em> means they need to grow it all on-Station. And that means they need to maximize their food-growing space<\/a><\/strong>. Don Davis<\/a><\/strong> gave us a rolling, but basically single-level landscape that didn\u2019t include nearly enough growing space for what I had in mind. Rana Station<\/a><\/strong> needed something different. This led me to agricultural terraces<\/a><\/strong> and river meanders<\/strong>.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"At
Rice terraces in the Philippines create crop land on a steep hillside (photo \u00a9 by Allyson Tachiki)<\/a><\/strong>, and rivers naturally meander (photo by Google via Robert Hodgin<\/a><\/strong>).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Terraces of the Sirius River Valley<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I needed a \u201chorizontal space multiplier,\u201d if I was going to feed all those hungry fictional mouths<\/a><\/strong>. I also needed to account for some of the natural patterns we know will develop over time, because: physics. Humans have been \u201cmaking more arable land\u201d for centuries, using agricultural terraces<\/a><\/strong> in naturally-steep terrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And even from early on, it was pretty clear that there\u2019d be a river running through the torus. If you water the plants in gravity, where does the water go? Check the Don Davis<\/a><\/strong> landscape above from 1975.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moreover, if water flows, it naturally meanders<\/a><\/strong>. My Rana Stationers would have to allow for that, too. I also realized that an undulating valley structure, winding in and out, rather than running arrow-straight along the insides of the torus also would be a \u201chorizontal surface multiplier.\u201d For an unscientific example of this, fold a paper fan. Your fan has the same surface as a flat piece of paper, but the flat paper is much longer. The folds condense the surface area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, I told Jody not only were \u201cThe verdant terraces of the Sirius Valley\u201d built like giant stair steps. They also rippled in and out. <\/em>So, is that clear enough?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say, what???<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The story of A Bone to Pick\u2019s<\/a><\/em><\/strong> cover grew kind of complex at this point. The superb horticulturalists of Rana Station<\/a><\/strong> don\u2019t tolerate unproductive weeds in any precious cubic centimeter of Ranan soil. But at this point Jody and I wandered off into the tall, jungle-thick, metaphorical<\/em> weeds of trying to communicate with each other. No. it was not clear enough. Not at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frustrated, I resorted to the same expedient Davis and Guidice had, back in 1975: I started making pictures. More accurately, I started making models. I created what I thought were interesting simulations of the perspective. But my models still didn\u2019t communicate what Jody needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Left-to-right,
At left is Jody\u2019s first color study. Center and right are Jan\u2019s attempts to use 3-D paper maquettes to describe the terraces, switchbacks, and a model of Corona Tower cut-and-pasted behind the sketch of Rex in the car. No, they didn\u2019t make sense to Jody, either. (artwork \u00a9 2020 by Jody<\/a> <\/a>A. Lee<\/a><\/strong> and Jan S. Gephardt,<\/a><\/strong> respectively).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Something Like Wavy Layer Cakes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a good thing we had started working on this project well before I needed it, or the story of A Bone to Pick\u2019s<\/a><\/em><\/strong> cover might have turned tragic at this point. It took me a long time to produce a drawing that more clearly communicated what I needed to convey to Jody (see below left). It\u2019s not great art, and since my studio was mostly in boxes while we put in a new floor, I wasn\u2019t able to develop any kind of perspective for the buildings beyond \u201ceyeballing\u201d the angles. It was crude. It was stiff. Frankly, it was an embarrassing drawing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But once I sent it, we were finally on ever-more-synchronized wavelengths. I had begun to fear we\u2019d never get there. That she\u2019d tell me to take my stupid job and shove it. But Jody is a pro, and she stuck to it. And when it comes to visualizing something that is purely hypothetical and may never exist in real life, I guess you can\u2019t beat a fantasy artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was startled and distracted by how much my terraced hills looked like layer cakes, but by now Jody had a firm vision and a much less meandering route to the finish line. She took things masterfully from there. We exchanged a series of sketches, and she got to work on the final painting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Left
A \u201cconversation\u201d between artists: evolving views of the \u201cverdant terraces of the Sirius Valley.\u201d Artwork \u00a9 2020 by Jan S. Gephardt<\/a><\/strong>, Jody A.<\/a> <\/a>Lee,<\/a><\/strong> and <\/meta>Jan S. Gephardt<\/a><\/strong>,, respectively.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The story of A Bone to Pick\u2019s<\/a> Cover<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So that\u2019s the story of A Bone to Pick\u2019s<\/a><\/em><\/strong> cover. I hope that this collaboration has not only produced a cover to make you smile (and buy my book<\/a><\/strong>???). I hope that the whole process of working through questions of \u201cexactly what do you mean by that?\u201d and \u201cwhat does that look like?\u201d has made A Bone to Pick<\/a> <\/em><\/strong>a better book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find out for yourself it it did, on (or after) the release date, September 15, 2021<\/a><\/strong>. If you\u2019re interested, you can pre-order a Kindle version <\/a><\/strong>in either the USA<\/a><\/strong> or the UK<\/a><\/strong>. After release, it\u2019ll be available from a variety of booksellers in a variety of formats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\u201cA
Release day is September 15, 2021!<\/em><\/strong> Pre-orders available<\/a><\/strong>. Cover artwork is \u00a9 2020 by Jody A. Lee<\/a><\/strong>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

IMAGE AND OTHER CREDITS:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The excerpt from What\u2019s Bred in the Bone<\/a> <\/em>is \u00a9 2019 by Jan S. Gephardt,<\/a> published by Weird Sisters Publishing LLC. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the vast majority of the artwork in this post is \u00a9 by Jody<\/a> A. Lee<\/a>. The EStee sketch is \u00a9 2016 by Jeff Porter<\/a>. There also are some sketches that are \u00a9 2020 by Jan S. Gephardt<\/a>. And the \u201chead shot\u201d portraits of Rex and Shady are \u00a9 2020 by Lucy A. Synk.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book covers at the beginning come from a variety of sources. That first cover, for The Black Gryphon<\/a><\/em>, is courtesy of Amazon. The covers for A Study in Sable<\/a> <\/em>and By the Sword<\/a><\/em> are courtesy of Goodreads. And the cover for The Hills Have Spies<\/a><\/em> is from Penguin Random House.<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagery and all kinds of rich information from the NASA Ames Research Center<\/a> makes my life as a science fiction writer infinitely easier, and continues to yield more treasure each time I explore it. And I can\u2019t begin to express the impact the artwork of Don Davis<\/a> and Rick Guidice<\/a> has had, both on my work, and on the conception of Rana Station.<\/a> Seriously, guys. It\u2019s a debt I can\u2019t ever repay.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Farther down, the photo of the Batad Rice Terraces in Banaue, Philippines is \u00a9 by Allyson Tachiki via Flickr.<\/a> It offers a great example of how humans have learned to \u201cmake more land\u201d out of very steep terrain. The satellite photo of an unidentified river meander originated from Google. But I found it on Robert Hodgin\u2019s fascinating exploration of river meanders<\/a>. Do yourself a favor and check out that web page when you have a minute. It\u2019s pretty amazing.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jan S. Gephardt It\u2019s way too late for this to be a \u201creveal,\u201d but the story of A Bone to Pick\u2019s Cover deserves telling. Because it was not an easy\u2014or short\u2014journey! The Artistry of Jody A. Lee For most of my adult life it has been my secret fantasy that someday my books would have Jody A. Lee covers. She and I have a rather long history, and through it all, I\u2019ve cherished an abiding love and admiration for…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[190,7,31,64,886,52,48],"tags":[964,1177,1183,1172,1180,56,24,1173,538,1179,1171,192,1169,1176,1181,61,1174,1178,1182,1170,1175,545],"class_list":["post-1467","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cover-and-related-artwork","category-founders-of-weird-sisters-publishing","category-our-fiction","category-personal-stories","category-plants-and-gardens","category-science-fiction","category-story-related-background","tag-a-bone-to-pick","tag-agricultural-terraces","tag-allyson-tachiki","tag-asfa","tag-book-cover","tag-don-davis","tag-jan-s-gephardt","tag-jeff-porter","tag-jody-a-lee","tag-konstantin-tsiolkovsky","tag-larry-dixon","tag-lucy-a-synk","tag-mercedes-lackey","tag-nasa-ames-research-center","tag-pre-order-a-bone-to-pick","tag-rana-station","tag-rick-guidice","tag-river-meanders","tag-robert-hodgin","tag-the-story-of-a-bone-to-picks-cover","tag-toroidal-space-station-habitat","tag-whats-bred-in-the-bone-2"],"yoast_head":"\nThe story of A Bone to Pick\u2019s Cover ⋆ Weird Sisters Publishing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Author Jan S. 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