Every book has a face before it has a reader. For Riftguard: The Lost Order, that face belongs to Saiya, and the hand that drew her belongs to Hailey Puent.
Hailey is a multi-award-winning freelance artist who has run her own business since she was 13. She's 21 now and still at it, which tells you most of what you need to know about her. Books have been a constant in her life, from paranormal mysteries and psychological thrillers to the romantasy worlds that sit closest to my own heart.
How it started
I found Hailey's work the way most of us find anything good these days: scrolling late at night when I should have been asleep. I followed her for months before I worked up the nerve to message her. In June 2025 I finally did, asking whether she would paint a family portrait for me. With dragons. I had fallen hard for a certain series about a war college for dragon riders (if you know, you know), and I wanted my own little family placed inside that world by her hand. The finished piece is incredible. It hangs on my office wall, and I still catch myself smiling at it like the fan I am.
What first stopped me in my tracks, months before that message, was a black and white piece she had painted of the world of A Court of Thorns and Roses. Sarah J. Maas built a place I've returned to more times than I can count, and Hailey had captured it in nothing but light and shadow. I was entranced, and I knew that if I ever wrote a book, I wanted that style on its cover.
I'd already started writing Riftguard by then, and I told her that one day I wanted her to create my cover.
Why hand-drawn matters to me
I spent over twenty years as a graphic designer, and I still freelance alongside being a stay-at-home mom, before I decided to get serious about my writing and set out to write and self-publish Riftguard. I know what a well-made digital cover looks like, and I respect the craft. But a piece made by hand carries something a screen can't fake. You can see the skill in it, and the hours it takes to bring a concept to life with pencil and paper.
I believe artists should be credited, loudly and by name. When someone has spent years training their hand to do what most of us can't, that talent deserves to be seen. So I made a decision early on: every Riftguard cover, from this debut to the last book in the series, would be built on Hailey's hand-drawn art. I have twelve or thirteen stories planned already, and if I had my way I'd never stop writing. Hailey may be stuck with me for a while.
From brief to final cover
We began the cover commission in April 2026. Most of it happened over text, sketches pinging back and forth. Mine were rough, and far too embarrassing to show on here. Hailey would send back something on another level entirely. Her people have weight and breath to them, and the way she works with light and shadow is stunning.
I gave her a brief and she gave me Saiya. Somewhere between my words and her vision, my heroine stopped being a description in a manuscript and became someone I could see. The Vaerngard followed, and the image was complete.
From there I worked with Cameron-Rose Neil (Cameo to me), my editor, on the layout of the front and back cover. The aim was to place the title and key information where they needed to be without taking anything away from Hailey's artwork. I'm thankful I still remember my way around Illustrator and InDesign, otherwise I'd have been completely lost.
Hailey delivered, and I can't put into words how happy and grateful I am.
In her words
I asked Hailey a few questions about her process, the genre, and what goes into a cover that has to carry a whole series on its back.
What is it about fantasy romance that makes you want to create the artwork you have over the years?
The Romantasy worlds have always felt like an escape from real life. This has inspired me to try and bring them to life through my artwork.
Do you prefer working in a hands-on medium like pen, pencil or paint, or working digitally, and what draws you to that choice?
I have always worked in pencils, but every once in a while I'll dabble in another medium as well. Pencils will always be my go-to though, as I have grown up inspired by artists like Heather Rooney.
Do you enjoy designing a cover to match a specific scene from a book, or do you like capturing a feeling that isn't tied to any one moment?
Truly whatever the author wants me to do. My biggest joy is bringing to life what they envision in their heads, and making them happy.
A cover has about two seconds to make a stranger stop scrolling. What is the first decision you make on a fantasy romance cover to earn that stop?
Contrast is the biggest thing when making people interested in my artwork. Heavy on the dark shades, but also heavy on the light shades. The next biggest thing is emotion. People love to feel things through artwork, music, film, etc.
Walk us through a detail on the Riftguard cover that took the longest to get right and why it mattered so much.
Highlighting the smoke around her face. I felt it was important for her to glow, and to give readers and viewers a sense of her powerful presence.
What is something you wish more indie authors understood about cover design before they came to you with a brief?
Be honest and up front with what you want. While I am an artist, I am not a mind reader. Telling me things you dislike along the way is also helpful, because the last thing I want is for you to hate your artwork.
Series branding is a big ask this early. Book one has to work alone and still promise more. How do you think about that as a designer?
I take it as a huge honour. You never know what will skyrocket and what won't, so treat every piece of work like it is your best award-winning piece.
Riftguard: The Lost Order releases on 18th November 2026, and Saiya will be the first thing you see. You can find more of Hailey's work at @haileypuent.art. Go and look at the pencil work up close, then tell her I sent you.
