In mid-December, 2023, I had to make my very first graphic design: the front and back cover for the trade paperback edition of Ancilla.

I had never used Canva before. 

Three hours, several ibuprofen for the screaming headache I'd given myself, and much swearing later, I was done. I swore I'd never make another book cover again, at least not until it was time to publish Soror Mystica.

Then I read that there was no way to promote a self-published indie book without Bookstagram, and Bookstagram is all about the pretty graphics, especially if you don't want to go on video, or can't video yourself because you don't have a smartphone. (It's true. I don't. I've never owned one and I have no idea how to even use one. I've only got a landline for communication, and I do all my writing and artwork on a desktop PC... You can stop laughing now). 

The same week that I opened my first Instagram account, I also logged back into Wattpad for the first time since 2018, because I wanted to make a free edition of Ancilla available to people who couldn't afford to buy it. Wattpad, as I found out, is an incredibly visual platform. It is not exceptional for books to have "aesthetics," themes, moodboards, character sketches, etc; it's the norm. 

Fine, I muttered. Back to Canva I go. I can't afford a professional artist or designer. I can do this, if I keep it simple. 

After several months of experimenting, playing around, grabbing public domain fine art and clip art images from Google, upgrading to Canva Pro, grabbing more public domain images directly from Canva, and experimenting some more, I realized I had a new hobby. Nay, passion. 

I make collages.

Whether they are art or just graphic design is anybody's guess. Don't ask me. I just make the stuff. 

The collages I make to promote and illustrate Ancilla have their own book, Wild Is the Wind: The Art of Ancilla. art? graphics? is a portfolio for things I make that do not directly pertain to my books. (Excavations, my book of poetry, is also illustrated; I consider it an art book as much it is a book of my poetry. The illustrations from Excavations don't need to be in here).

It's been an interesting journey.