I interviewed yesterday.

We are looking for a designer to help liven up some of the covers and chapter heading pages.  Simple line drawings are good.  I put together a short job ad and placed it in some local papers.  I could have gone more national with it, but I don’t really want any London types - at London prices!  Maybe someone short-term who could work freelance.

To be honest, the novels in the series so far all have a very local feel.  All but one are set in England, and the fifth in the series has a strong Welsh element.  They are all rural in nature, with Leila being a case in point.  Much of that is set around the woods and the hidden house.  The trees and the bushes.  There is very little reference to her school.  Or her home.  She’s adrift in a sea of her own confused thoughts and the beauty of the countryside.

So I made my mind up to try to hire someone from round here.  Apart from anything else I’m all for boosting the rural economy and keeping things local.  In my mind there’ll be someone out there, perhaps a late-career designer or illustrator with time on his hands, and a degree of talent.  All I want are some basic line drawings and maybe a front cover or two.  Something that would make the next editions look more like a set, and perhaps would give the reader some clues as to what the characters might look like.

I know what I want. 

It is clear in my mind’s eye.  But almost impossible to explain! 

Maybe someone will be able to figure out what I am thinking.