Who doesn’t love a good map when reading a fantasy book?
I am sure there are folks who don’t care, but I am not one of them.
When I first started writing the In Blood and Fire Series in 2008ish I needed a map for myself. A visual representation of the world that I could navigate as I wrote. I never planned for that map to see the light of day.
In 2020 when I decided to peruse indie publishing (a post for another time) I realized that it would be up to me to get the map made. I knew that I didn’t have the skills to make a digital map but an artist would need framework to turn my vision into reality, so I got to work.
I got a 24X18 artist sketch book, sharpened my pencils… and drew.
It took most of a week and by the time I was done I could barely hold my teacup, much less a pencil, but it was worth it. The first map was full of detail but when it came time to work on the Southlands my arthritis had progressed, so it was a lot less detailed.
I eventually found an artist to work with. That process was chaotic but in the end I had not one, but many beautiful maps.
I’ll be sharing some highlights of each of the individual maps soon.