Thank you!

Hache Pueyo's Cabaret in Flames Absolutely Whips - Reactor Jenny Hamilton reviews "a quietly astonishing book, one of those books that improves in your estimation the more you think about it"

"It’s gory and generous, wry and expansive, a monster story that asks the reader to live with multiple conflicting truths, consenting to cut ourselves on their ragged edges."

If you ask @readingtheend.bsky.social, everyone should read Hache Pueyo's Cabaret in Flames:

A cutaway map of a palace/temple.

A map of a cozy fantasy town.

A map of a contemporary small town.

A map of a fantasy world.

Happy #PortfolioDay! My name is Sarah, and I'm an illustrator specializing in maps. I work primarily with authors and publishers, and my maps span contemporary small towns to fantasy worlds.

🌐: theillustratedpage.net/design/portf...
✉️: sarahwaitestx @ gmail

📖 Magus of the Library 📖
Painted for Magic: The Gathering - Secrets of Strixhaven
AD: Sarah Wassel

Yay, I have finally new art to show. This certainly was an usual card for me to paint. Loved the challenge tho!❤️

Guest Review: Empathizing with the Abuser: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao <blockquote>Please welcome our anonymous reviewer!</blockquote><br /><br /><em>The Poet Empress</em> by Shen Tao is a debut Chinese-inspired fantasy centered on a poor village girl who rises from a co...

a frustrated review of a book (not a romance, despite what the design choices and jacket copy might suggest!) that I also found really frustrating:

ladybusiness.dreamwidth.org/2026/04/06/e...

Thank you! And I love your books. 😄

A portrait depicting a white woman wearing glasses. It's illustrated in a flat color style.

I made a new profile picture for myself to use on various social media sites!

I wanted something in the same flat color style that I've been using the last few years. This is actually the same method across both my maps and the oracle card deck I'm working on -- the maps just have line art!

"Earthsea was better" sure, but if Ursula Le Guin was alive and funding Nazis then you would need to boycott her too, whether they're good books is beside the point

I’m glad you like it! You’re also welcome to pass along my email. I’m sarahwaitestx at gmail

That’s exactly the type of work I do!

theillustratedpage.net/design/fanta...

I don’t usually campaign for awards, but this year I’ve decided to go for broke for a Fan Writer Hugo Award. Yay me!
1/

I love when creative people boost others in their field, so I’ll pick up the baton and note that Sarah is also eligible in Best Pro Artist. Check out the fabulous cover she did for my story collection (released 2025).

books2read.com/u/bMMqp8

Thank you!

My other take away from researching eligible pieces...

1. Update your portfolio.
2. Think about putting year of publication in your portfolio (Have I done this? No, but I might go do it now).

Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon

Erion Makuo has done book covers and art for Magic the Gathering!

erionmakuo.com

Fate's Bane by C.L. Clark

The OwlCrate Limited Edition Emily Wilde Set, book three endpaper.

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang hardcover illustration and edge design for Illumicrate.

Mary Metzger's illustrations are so enchanting and have such a wondrous fairy tale feel to them! @marymetzgr.bsky.social

www.marymetzger.com

Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff

A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim

Fourthwing, Fablelistik Editions.

I love fantasy book maps, and one of my all time favorite mapmakers is Virginia Allyn! She does such gorgeous, detailed work.

www.virginiaallyn.com

Hugo noms are open, and I want to talk about Best Pro Artist!

I was making a thread of some never-before-nominated artists... but I quit after three because it's taking an eon to research which pieces were published in 2025.

So maybe just share eligible artists here?

Here's the three I found!

Are there any threads going around of artists eligible for the Hugo's Best Professional artist? Or should I make one?

(if I make one, it will not be today... I've got my own art pieces I've got deadlines for)

An isometric city map titled "Embervale Realm."

A map I created for the Dungeons & Donuts Kickstarter campaign! Embervale is a city a bit obsessed with dragons... I lost track of how many dragons I drew in here. Some are pretty easy to spot, but I also did little dragon roof gargoyles and wall murals!

Anatomy of a Sex Scene: Heated Rivalry Edition - Reading the End Heated Rivalry, AKA the gay hockey show, has been getting a lot of buzz for its explicit(-ish) sex scenes, and a lot of that buzz has been coming from viewers and critics whose experience with the rom...

good morning, I have noticed that some of the critical responses to the Crave show Heated Rivalry have been, let's say, incomplete

sex scenes are craft! goddammit!

Convincing you to read my novel by the first sentence. Share yours if you want.

(Here's the opening of "God's War". Still my most iconic)

Yesssss! That was my goal lol.

Thank you!

A map of a fantasy town titled "Briarhaven." It has colorful buildings, cottages, a market, and surrounding farms.

Here's a town map I did for Luna Ryder's current cozy fantasy Kickstarter, The Wheel Deal!

The "Old Briarhaven" area is inhabited by centaurs, hence the ramps instead of stairs.

I changed my settings!

Sure, send a DM!

Sure! Could you tell me more about what you’re looking for? Illustrations vs photo based, book genre, general budget range?

I used to. I have switched to focusing on interior art — maps mostly, but sometimes chapter headers too.

I still know a lot of book cover artists though and would be happy to refer you!

ICYMI: I wrote about the corporate-IP-ification of fanfic, and how heavily normative biases inflect what's being plucked out of fandom for big fancy book deals.