Prince Ruby’s guitars. The brown one is a 1971 Gibson SG, and the white is an Epiphone Les Paul. The off-white is a mystery axe.

When I was arranging my book Night Gem into Vellum, it offered a quote page. Instantly, I knew which quote belonged there - the most important one in the book.

'This Boundary Will Not Bind Us' is the first installment in the Night Gem series. I was fortunate enough to have the cover illustrated by my favorite artist, @kittrose - who captured Aera so perfectly it moved me to tears. Every nuance of her posture and expression is exactly how I envisioned her. I wanted the cover to introduce not only Aera, but also some major themes in the series. Check out all of the elements: - A second portrait by @kittrose of the young protagonist, Aera - The magic orb that gives Aera access to an ethereal starry plane where she encounters other entities - The archetype symbols that represent the Angels who created the world - The white forest from Aera's dreams, where the fog forms into faces that screech in alien tongues And last but not least, - My first physical copy of the book, next to the crystal ball that originally inspired my vision of the series and its slightly larger sister

and now the sweetest violence sentenced to silence on the loudest winter afternoons when the sun shines in through my window and laughs upon my sleeve… ii step into the shadow and wait for you to return… past the point of forgiveness or forgotten stains… ii don’t care anymore, ii am secluded, the solitary eye in the darkest corner of the universe waiting waiting this is not death death cannot die without being forgotten do you remember me ii know you’re laughing somewhere far away like a child in the woods hiding being hunted helpless and secretly wishing you could be devoured… ii would eat you up ravenous and drooling, dropping your bones into my thighs and cutting my teeth out with the impact of your sizzling screaming blood sing child sing what am ii and why when there is nothing left, this is the playground of the without, the stars falling and crashing into black holes somewhere in a place ii could never understand or touch so bare ii can’t make love anymore wasted

Do you consider yourself an artist? What’s your chosen art form?

This album is available here and here

My protagonist, Aera, transforms herself. She takes on a persona called Ivory to block her thoughts from mind-readers. Will Ivory take over her psyche and destroy Aera? Find out in Book 1 of my fantasy series, Night Gem.

@kittrose is my #1 favorite artist. I'm obsessed with her work.. I can't believe she agreed to do my cover. It's unreal to me. A dream come true. Her work makes me fall in love with the characters, and also feel what they're about on an archetypal level. There's a union between man and nature, where the elements and colors in the work describe the character's personality just as much as the character herself. It's animistic and emotive. And that's the exact theme of Night Gem. Elliott Lash and I have worked together on the mythology for decades - and there is a strong relationship between nature and man. In the cover artwork, you can see a circle of symbols. Each symbol represents an archetype, related to one of the Angels who created the world. Each Angel is an embodiment of a natural element, and each character must discover which Angel reflects her personal essence. This is why @kittrose‘s style is so ideal. She naturally taps into the archetypal energy of each character, while keeping the emotion personal and raw.