Coming Soon. This fall, I’ll be releasing the next three books in the Byways series, one for each brother. Between now and then, I thought I’d give you a peek at some of the details that are falling into place. Story snippets. Character introductions. Cover reveals. Today, I’m sharing a preview of Hannah Christenson’s cover art. Her illustrations are what make my books look amazing.

Aboard the Train is Book #2, which contains Ewan‘s first solo adventure. The eldest Johns brother chose the northern road so he could take advantage of Liberty’s continental railway.

Book #2 • Aboard the Train • A Ewan Johns Adventure
On the first leg of his journey, Ewan Johns takes the train north into the snowy woodlands. He’s sure he has a great head start, but when Ewan discovers two stowaways, they force him to change his plans.

Whenever it’s time to tackle a book cover, Hannah and I go through the same basic process. I give her a written description—characters, personalities, setting, and details. She comes back with a series of thumbnails, quick sketches to help us narrow down the best composition. Here’s the one I settled on for Aboard the Train…

Next, Hannah will refine everything, and I’m given lines. After than she’ll throw paint around so I can choose the color scheme. Not until all this preliminary work is done does she do the actual painting. The finishing touches are adding the Byways header (which she does) and the title (which I do). Here are the final lines for Byways, Book #2…

Next week, I’ll introduce you to those girls. ~CJ