Behind the Cover – Get to know artist and author Melissa Lettis

Among my many projects, one of my favorites is the Daydreams on the Sherbet Shore. These whimsical short stories take place in the world of Draem and how this project started and what it’s become is why it’s so special.

The idea for the Daydreams came from a random chat and I wrote two or three of them before a friend of mine actually had to undergo surgery. When that happened, I wrote a Daydream as a get-well card and started inviting people I know from around the world to visit Draem. For the first volume of the Daydreams, I knew pretty much what I wanted for the cover but for the second installment, I was stuck. 

 

Enter Melissa Lettis. Talented, diligent, sharp as anything you can imagine, patient, and kind. These are just some keywords I can use to describe her and my experience working with her. Which is why I wanted to invite her to the blog, so you can get to know her, her work, and possibly help you connect with her if you need an artist for your cover.

 

 JD: So welcome to the blog, Melissa. So lovely to have you here. Care to tell people who you are, where you’re from, and all that jazz?

 

I like jazz! I’m an illustrator and author living in Pennsylvania. I grew up in Alaska and Seattle, studied music and English, and now I freelance with illustration and design. I also drink tea. Lots of tea!

 

JD: Blessed be the tea and jazz then! Talking a bit about your career, how long have you been designing and what would you say are some of your most notable works? (You know, besides a certain short story collection about daydreams.) 

 

I’ve been doing art for most of my life, but I only started working as a full-time freelance artist in 2021. I’ve worked on several picture books with self-published authors, but I don’t know how to choose which is most notable! You may have to check out my projects on my website, www.MelissaLettisArt.com , and decide for yourself! (Yes, shameless marketing - it’s part of the freelance life).

 

JD: We encourage the shameless marketing! :) Here’s a tricky question, what would you say is the specialty that sets you apart from other designers?

That is tricky, as there’re so many amazing artists and designers out there! One thing I like to focus on is how everything comes together. From the very beginning of the project, I’m already thinking about how all the pieces will fit into place. It’s not just the illustration. It’s not just the title and the font. It’s not just the text. It’s not even just the page for the interior of a book. It’s how they all relate to each other, and I think keeping that in mind from the start can really help shape the project and help everything click together in a really natural way.

 

JD: Daydreams on the Sherbet Shore 2 was a project that was challenging for me. Can you walk us through the process on your side of this creative equation?

Sure! I started by reading the text (which is always a pleasure!) and jotting down some of the more dynamic visuals that I thought might work for the cover - and there were a lot! Daydreams is such a visually rich world. Once we chose which direction to go, I did a few thumbnail sketches for the layout and planned out where to place all of the elements on the cover. I knew we wanted a similar color palette to the first book’s cover (and I love that peachy-coral color so much), but we still went through a number of color options. As the different stages of the artwork were approved, I kept refining and adding details, and then finally we settled on the title fonts and laid in the text.

 

JD: I can attest to the exploration process and although each artist is unique in their approach., I really enjoyed how you went about it. How about the biggest challenge for the Daydreams?

 

Haha, probably the dragon scales! I never know how much detail to add to textures like that, so it definitely went through a few different versions there. I’m quite happy with how they turned out though. I can’t say I ever expected to draw a dragon-train-teapot!

 

JD: Well the Falkori will invite you to imagine and draw some pretty interesting things. I also really loved the detail in the scales and all the tidbits hidden. Going back to your process, what are some things people who work with you could do to help the process?

 

So much of it is about communication (isn’t everything?). It will always be easier to make changes in the early stages of a project than once the art is close to finished. So, if you really like the direction something is going, or if there’s something that isn’t working out as well, definitely say something!

 

 

JD: Communication was definitely key in our process and I’m so thankful for you and your patience. You really were pivotal in helping me find my way and helping identify the soul of the book to get it the covered it needed. Now to throw you a random question, if someone designed a font in your honor, what would it be called and how would you describe it?

Enchanted Tea Time - magical, legible, and swirly. It would pair well with cozy little hand-writing serif fonts.

 

JD: What sort of projects really call out to you and you’re interested in working on?

I love drawing fantasy characters and nature. Give me something with cozy magic, and I’m 100% there for it. On a more technical end, I mostly do picture books and illustrated book covers, but I’m also branching out into comics.

 

JD: Your fav restaurant called and they’ve noticed all the times you’ve had a meal there. They want to do a Lettis Special as a small thanks. What would that special include and how would it taste?

It’s a brunch special. It has a fancy bacon-egg-cheese biscuit with your choice of mushrooms or avocado, a side of breakfast potatoes (crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside), and a mini pastry that rotates daily (today’s pastry is a cinnamon roll, but the gooey pecan rolls are popular, so come back on the weekend!). Served with a tea latte.

You’re asking the important questions here, I see.

 

JD: ALWAYS ask the important questions lol. But swinging back to work: How would an ideal project roll out for you?

The short answer is good communication and no bugs in my art programs. And both parties walk away happy with the product.

 

JD: Succinct and so well said. Now to wrap things up and roll out the blogs red carpet, tell us: how can people get in touch with you if they have cover, character, or other design needs?

 

My website, www.MelissaLettisArt.com , has a contact page and links to my social media platforms (I’m currently on Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and LinkedIn). Feel free to reach out if you have any questions or are looking for a freelance illustrator and designer!

 

* * * *

 

And there you have it folks. Once again, my thanks to Melissa for visiting the blog and taking from her busy schedule to chat it up with us. Ever thankful to have crossed paths with her and a perfect example of how the writer community sticks together. I had not one, not two, but three artists that weren’t able to take this project on when fellow author Mike Jack Stoumbos was kind enough to recommend Melissa and not only was she able to do the project, she was a perfect fit. Here’s to connecting creatives so we can all thrive and bring our dreams to Raelity

 

Peace, love, and maki rolls

 

Are you content?

There is no shortage of quirks in regard to the English language. Among the many fascinating details we have to manage while we do our best to communicate, there’s a term called heteronyms. That’s what happens when you have two words written exactly the same way but not only does the pronunciation vary, so does their meaning.

 

When you read the title of this post, do you read content as in “a state of peaceful happiness or satisfaction” or do you read “the material discussed within a book, speech, or stuff we share on social media”? It’s easy to confuse the two, especially in these times since so often the production of one should lead to the production of the other.

 

So often, people seem to post content instead of enjoying the experience. Some insist they’re capturing memories, though too often it feels as if there's an ulterior motive, as if it's performative to a large degree. It’s not to share, for sharing’s sake. It’s because you want your experiences to resonate, to inspire, or even to compete and win against those of others.

 

Social media is an odd beast in so many ways, but among its most dangerous aspects is how deep it seeps into our reality and behavior. Even if you don’t post, the odds are still heavily in favor that you consume content, scroll, like, share, and comment until you’re kind of content.

 

I’ve shared thousands of posts on social media. Pictures, screenshots, memes, videos, songs, text, poems, silly pictures, jokes, and the occasional scream into the void. I try to be mindful, but FOMO (fear of missing out) can be very real, even if what causes that sentiment is probably manufactured.

 

So often, people share things and you can feel the underlying competitive aspect of what they share as if saying things like:

• My selfie has more likes than yours.
• My video from my trip has more views than yours.

But sometimes this behavior backfires, because the person doesn't get the response they want. No likes or loves. No comments. No shares. Nothing. The algorithm swallows the chance at a shot of dopamine that comes in the shape of validation. Or maybe people honestly don’t care what you do, share, or have to say…which clearly shows the risk you run by putting your joy in the hands of other people.

 

Content by itself doesn’t make us content…maybe it can be the means to get there from time to time, because like it or not, many people often hunger for that reaction and to feel relevant. But what you share by itself is actually pretty harmless. This changes when you tie social media to your passion or means of income. In short, the risk further escalates. Creators question the worth of their output, whether music, writing, art, or anything. They sometimes stop listening to the voice that is telling them what they should create. They forget how to play in the sandbox of their soul. All of this in favor of switching things up to get results.

 

And results come from content…even if it doesn’t leave you feeling content. The Internet is flooded by how-to’s, step-by-steps, guides to success, and professionals who focus on the generation of material to get the results you need. By the way, a word to the wise: careful with whom you trust your time, energy, and money, because some people are just interested in their bank accounts and agendas.

 

A brief scan of social media and you’ll see people who have their style down to a science…and too often it feels as if people lean on formulas to feed the algorithm instead of feeding their souls and doing what brings them joy and fulfillment. They need to “win” either by increasing their sales, their engagement, or their views, even if it costs them their enjoyment.

 

Then there are those who say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…which isn’t the whole quote, but let's start there and go over a possible scenario which could be something like this: someone sees a page that has a lot of views, they see what the other person is doing, then they either do their version of it, or basically do a carbon copy of what other people do…just to get results. It reminds me of bands that aren’t paying tribute to other bands, but basically ripping them off if only to get a quick way to gain success. By the way, the full quote from the line that starts this paragraph comes from Oscar Wilde and goes thusly: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness. And alas, some people are too happy to engage in mediocrity if it gives them the results and validation they crave.

 

However, it’s not just mediocrity, some people also adopt personas that are engaging to others and that people respond to, even if they’re a far cry from how the person is in real life or even if they wear a smile even if inside they feel horrible. This happens all the time on social media and with famous people who could be sponsored by their preferred brand of artificial sweetener.

 

But what happens when you’re not famous? What happens when you don’t get the likes and engagement you want? There’s a real risk with your emotional state and general mental health.

 

I am old enough to remember doing stuff with friends or by myself just for the fun of it and to a great extent it felt as if we were consistently doing our best to create memories or dare I say, just having fun. If there was an algorithm it was internal and although the fear of missing out was still there, there was no fear of missing out on sharing every bit of what we experienced to demonstrate that our lives were awesome.

 

SEO has geared people to do all sorts of things thinking about their perceived audience. Alas, too often we forget that we are more than content and we should strive to feel more than just content.

 

Peace, love, and maki rolls.