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A few months ago, I wrote a Ready Room post on resources to create a book aesthetic. At the bottom of the page I dropped a note for readers to send me their aesthetics so I could share them on this blog.
I received some fantastic responses to my shout out and made a few new writer friends. Today I want to share their magic.
Kickass Aesthetics
 ELEMENTS by C. M. Fick When Ember wakes after a millennium, she’s missing the elemental power that not only created her, but defines her whole identity. With her nemesis plotting genocide, Ember must mend her broken connection & sense of self, or watch 2 worlds fall to ruin. |
 IT’S PROBABLY FINE by Jessica Lewis Artwork by C. M. Fick “Boy with anxiety meets magical girl from another world. Hijinks (including attempted murder) ensue.” |
 WITCHES PROTECTION PROGRAM by Melody Haaf Harmony’s a witch whose memories were stolen to protect her. With a coven of evil mages hot on her trail, she must trust her fake boyfriend and a ninja princess to elude the coven and find her memories before they destroy them all. |
 ASHARA, DEATHBRINGER by Megan Van Dyke Ashara’s healing magic is considered a curse by her people. Zuriel is a half-blooded accidental bastard known for granting death. Falling in love would be simpler if his brother didn’t want her dead and a rebellion wasn’t threatening to pit them on opposite sides of a looming civil war. |
 A BARGAIN OF FEAR AND DESIRE by Megan Van Dyke Lia will do anything to save her missing sister, even travel to Faery and strike a bargain with the powerful Fae Lord who haunts her dreams. He’ll find her sister in exchange for what he wants: Lia as his consort. But when she’s given cause to question her faith in the Fae she’s falling for, deciding who to trust could cost her heart, but the wrong choice may demand her life—and her sister’s. |
 TWO TIDES by Jen Davenport 12 yo Kit planned on spending her summer drawing, but when a self-portrait as a mermaid becomes reality she’s caught in a war btwn the 1-tails & 2-tails. Trapped, Kit must choose life on land or in the sea, bc having the best of both worlds isn’t an option. |
Aesthetics Don’t Distract
When I first got involved with the writing community, I saw a lot of Twitter posts about writer distractions, namely when it came to aesthetics. They were making pretty collages, but they weren’t writing.
Oh yes, they are.
Words may not flow during those Google searches, but something else happens. Writers find character faces similar to what they imagine in their heads. They find landscapes and animals and wild things they can see in tangible form. Then they pull those elements together side-by-side in aesthetics, on pinterest boards, or if they’re graphic nerds like me they’ll combine them all into a blended single image defining their fantastical world.
With those elements together in a single view, writers can look deeper to the refined edges of a face, the way the single tresses of hair lift on a breeze, or how blue fire burns within a dragon’s bones. It helps writers refine those tiny world-building details to flesh out the feel and tone of their novels. So for fun, here’s a few extra aesthetic images from the wonderful authors above and you can see how each one sets a unique tone for their world. Enjoy!
 TWO TIDES by Jen Davenport |
 A BARGAIN OF FEAR AND DESIRE by Megan Van Dyke |
 TWO TIDES by Jen Davenport |
 ASHARA, DEATHBRINGER by Megan Van Dyke |
 A BARGAIN OF FEAR AND DESIRE by Megan Van Dyke |
Want to see more aesthetics? Be sure to check out the #ThursdayAesthetic hashtag on Twitter every Thursday. 🙂
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