Tuesday, August 09, 2022

Character Art for "My Rock and My Refuge"

I commissioned Skye Hoffert to create character art for the "Beauty" and "Beast" characters in my new book, My Rock and My Refuge.  It's the first time I've ever done this for one of my books, and I was kind of nervous about the idea, to be honest.  Which is why Skye was the first person I approached, because I already know I like her artwork, but better yet, I like HER.  I knew I could trust her to listen to my descriptions of the characters, really look at the inspiration photos I sent, and craft something beautiful.

And she did.  Today, I'm unveiling the character art everywhere, so here it is!  Feast thine eyes!


Marta Beckmann is a twenty-seven-year-old German immigrant who came to America with her older brother Jakob to earn money to help save her family's bakery back home.  When they need to leave their jobs in Denver due to personal reasons, they take new work as servants in the home of a wealthy recluse they've never met, high in the Colorado mountains in the world of gold and silver mining.


Arthur Wendell is, you guessed it, the wealthy recluse who hires them.  Scarred inside and out after a grizzly bear attack years ago, he hides in his home and only interacts with a few close friends.  But when Marta and Jakob come to work for him, his life slowly begins to change.

I also decided to pair these beautiful portraits with some of my favorite lines from these characters, so you get to enjoy those today too!



Tell me what you think!

12 comments:

  1. Love this!!! Oh, can't wait to read it. 🤩

    (Also, when I first saw the sketch on FB for some reason I immediately thought "Jane Eyre". 😅 Is that crazy or happy coincidence? 🫣)

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    1. Heidi, that's totally valid because there's quite a bit of Jane Eyre entangled in this book too. Just like there was Hamlet in One Bad Apple...

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  2. What beautiful portraits!!!

    Commissioning character art is SO MUCH FUN! I have several character portraits which my friend Beka Gremikova drew for me--they occupy a place of honor on my closet doors, where I see them every day. <3

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    1. Thank you, Katie! I definitely plan to print these up and hang them in my writing corner for inspiration :-D

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  3. I love Marta's braid. This is so neat! The artwork is beautiful.

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    1. DKoren, me too! Her braid turned out so perfectly :-) All of both of them did!

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  4. Those are beautiful! I love how she did Marta's braid.

    Is there a way I can purchase all the books that you've written? I've been wanting to read them for ages.

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    1. Thanks, Ivy! I really love her braid too.

      If you want to buy the three I have out so far directly from me, send me an email at rachelkovaciny at gmail dot com and I will be happy to oblige -- they'll come autographed and everything! Otherwise, they're all available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Book Depository. (Book Depository charges more for them, but if you're overseas, the free shipping can make that cheaper sometimes.)

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  5. Oh, I love these! They look beautiful!

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  6. I imagine it must be insanely cool to see your characters 'come to life' like this! So excited to see the cover art too. <333

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    1. Eva, it really is. Much more enjoyable even than I had expected!

      My cover artist says she'll probably have a rough draft of my cover for me by the 20th, and that is not far away now!

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