S. J. Saunders is a Science Fiction and Fantasy author who has written many books in both genres, all published through Riverbank Publishing. He is a passionate writer with many grand stories, some of which actually make it on paper. He also happens to be the love of my life.

When S. J. Saunders came to me with this series, he wanted an awe-inspiring, high fantasy feel that not only showcased that it was a hero’s journey, but that this story was also a very real and personal look at these heroes’ journeys from the perspective of three young protagonists. This was going to be more than a trilogy, and the project would need to scale to at least 6+ books. Since then, we’ve landed on 9 total expected novels.

From the beginning, I knew that these books needed to look like great fantasy tomes; leather bound, gold leaf letters, embossed artwork and stitching. Well, as much as they can be when they are perfect bound books… I set out to create a layout that would at once be unique and adjustable. The main artwork “embossed” on each cover is inspired by the pages it covers, and the symbols in the corners represent each character.

I always believe that the cover should inspire the interior layout elements, such as chapter starts and section breaks. This series is no different. The chapter numbers are surrounded with the character symbols that echo the cover, giving the insides as much fantasy feel as the exterior. Throughout each chapter, the perspective shifts from hero to hero are denoted with hero-specific symbols.

​This series is very near and dear to me; it’s been exciting to work on and I cannot wait to see where it goes!