Spoiler alert. I’m going to do my best to avoid pre-publication spoilers. I’ll give up minor details, as below, that don’t directly impact any of the main plot lines but will stay away from things like Yoda flying. If you’re a purist, you may want to skip to some of the other posts.

Here’s the first sketch from artist Piere d’Arterie of Solar Prime’s female protagonist, ShaChri Patel.

I always wonder how well my words translate into an image for others.

Piere needed something to work with, so I sent him this:

Shachri Patel is the female lead. Fifteen, petite, slender, and beautiful. Raven hair and flashing dark eyes. She will be a lethal woman. For now, she is simply a very dangerous girl. Mentally quick but physically still a girl. She lost both parents in the terrorist attack on Mall of America. After living briefly with her aunt’s family, she ran away to Spark (Solar Prime Augmented Reality Park) and found a way to live within the park. She guides tourists to make money, and quests whenever she can. A consummate fighter, ShaChri wears a high-tech ninja avatar she calls Feral Daughter.

Kinda think he nailed it. I found Piere through 99designs.com – I’ve used them before but always for business purposes. This came out nicely. Piere’s portfolio (@piere_d_arterie on Instagram) led me to contact him through 99designs. Pretty seamless process.

He also did something I didn’t expect, but completely loved when I saw it. But that’s for another post.