Artwork: Harvest Moon

I'm sorry that everything is digital art lately, but I made this the other day.

It's inspired by Centuries because, aside from the silly thing I made, I have wanted to work on some art inspired by this book for a while. It's one of those pieces which has a lot of meaning, even though it just looks like a chaotic mess (I guess 'chaotic mess' is my style no matter what medium I am working in).

Harvest Moon

The image started with a golden moon - a Harvest Moon - which has an enormous amount of symbolism in a number of cultures.

It represents the time when families reunite and, traditionally, work together; for many people it is also time to remember and honour their ancestors.

The Harvest Moon is worshipped (particularly by women) and gifts, sacrifices, or prayers are made to ask for the things people want the most in life.

It is a time to celebrate and to come together, and to hope for a better future.

The moon is obscured by clouds, and smoke, and perhaps most noticeably by abrasions.

They are visually like scars blocking the moon - scars like the ones I have, the ones many of my characters have, and that I think we all have on some level whether they are physical or emotional. Above all of that is a bird - a creature that can be a sign of peace and hope, or an omen of death and tragedy; a creature that is considered an overseer. Their flight brings with it an element of freedom, and the ability to leave behind the past. But it is not clear in this image whether the bird is taking off to go somewhere new, or landing in a place it feels comfortable and secure.

It could be leaving behind the Harvest Moon and accepting that it is unattainable, trying to find a way through the darkness and hostility, or guarding the moon and preventing anybody from reaching it.

There were countless other things behind this composition that I could mention - the position of the abrasions an shadows make the Harvest Moon look like a nest from a distance, for example. Everything in this has thought behind it, even though it's just a stupid picture of a bird over a golden disk. The same is true of my writing, I think; I put an enormous amount of thought into everything. I'm sorry to anyone who has read things I have written in a similar vein to this before, but I am extremely passionate about this and I need to say it. I have laid the groundwork for the ending of this particular book for a very long time, and things I wrote way back in the very first book were there for a reason. Things that I have written about in Morrigan, and in Courtesan, help to build up this world in a way that some people have seen and appreciate, and others don't need to see to enjoy it as it is. The things Marlene told Elizabeth so very long ago hit a little differently if you read the prequel. The things she doesn't know about herself, the life she could have led if her father hadn't made a stupid mistake, the fact there was a chance that they might meet and he might play a role in her life, and the revelation that it was just not meant to happen. If you read that you know who she is, who her father was, where she gets certain abilities. You know that there would have been a place where she did fit in, and that she could have had a relationship with her father, and that he would absolutely have been proud of her for the person she became. You don't have to read Morrigan to know that white wolves are a part of that family, or that they are special, but if you read it you will understand a lot more. It also makes the way the family became something so corrupt and overpowered rather sad. It was never meant to end that way and their origins were not like they have been depicted. Tobias had a tattoo of one of his ancestors - Elizabeth was told that he considered himself comparable to the man who founded their pack. Tobias has no idea who that man really was, and if you have read all my work you will probably find it kind of funny that the guy has a tattoo of Ares on his arm. He's not even remotely similar to Tobias, and he would probably be confused at why his descendant has a picture of him on his arm but has no brand across his back to prove he is strong and loyal to his pack.

There is a lot of ambiguity and chaos in my work, and in this picture; but behind it all is that glorious golden moon and everything it represents, and it is trying to break through the darkness that has enveloped it so that everything becomes clear.