u/AdvanceMindless9871

As part of my efforts to detoxification from my use of AI from the past couples years, I've been looking for a cover designer for my book. "Reckoning of Sand & Frost: A Love Forged in Sacrifice" (The title is a bit long I think? But what do you think of it?) and am concerened with differenciating between real, genuine, artists, and ones that just decieve you and use AI. A friend of mine who has the same interest in writing as I do, just in a different genre, was scammed by someone who just gave him an AI Created cover after he paid good money for it. I don't want this to happen to me. So where and how would I PROPERLY find genuine, and skillful artists that don't use AI? Also, how should I brief them? I have a finished 1st Draft of about 80,000 words, and I heard that its good to let them read the whole thing so they can get a sense of how the cover should come across to the reader.

I am shameful for myself because I have AI Generated covers that I'm trying to pull out of the internet since my amatuer ass made the mistake of trying post AI art in the writing community. So I shouldn't give them my images of my fake covers made of AI right? Even though I crafted them using the sense and lore of my own story?

Anyways, I am by no means of the imagination, an artist. I don't think you could put me any lower on how much of "NOT an artists" I am. (That's one of the reasons why I resorted to AI at first. Because it was just easier for me). One of the main concerns and confusions I have about trying to make/comission covers is how to make them unique and stand out compared to everything else. Like, how many differing elements and hidden details should the cover have? How do I make it unique and memorable? Or how should I tell the commissioned artists?

Thanks to anyone that helps!
Please don't be to harsh about my PREVIOUS (But no longer) use of AI. I know its a hot topic rn 😭

I'm working on a character for my epic dark romantasy series, and I could use some advice on her narrative voice and whether I'm falling into cliché tropes—specifically regarding her humor, interests, and her extensive list of negative traits.

Her name is Solana Khasari. Her sense of humor is extremely dark and selfish; she actively jokes about other people's suffering and embarrassment. On the surface, she barely has any hobbies. In fact, to everyone around her, the only things she genuinely seems to enjoy are killing and coitus. However, there is a much deeper internal conflict driving this behavior that neither she nor anyone else fully understands yet (which I want to keep under wraps for spoiler reasons).

Because of this underlying turmoil, Solana is fiercely aggressive, self-centered, and violent. My main concern is that I'm not giving her enough redeeming qualities to balance out the bad in her life. Since I am writing her from a deep 1st person point of view, I'm worried this constant aggression is affecting her narrative voice and might make her exhausting or undesirable to read.

Does anyone have advice on how to balance a highly abrasive, violent character without losing reader engagement, or how to hint at deeper layers so her voice doesn't feel one-note?

https://preview.redd.it/f3u0fnocm5nh1.jpg?width=8192&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76d327d45cb067b090331fbec6df6855cd138dec

Hey everyone,

I’m finalizing the world map of Arthelia for my dark fantasy project.

Context for the geography: The magic system in this world requires casters to have 75% of their skin exposed to the air/sun to survive drawing power. Because of this, the geography itself is incredibly lethal to them. I need to make sure the extreme biomes (the blistering deserts and the freezing mountain passes) are placed logically, as traversing them is a major plot point.

Do the mountain ranges, river placements, and biome transitions (especially the desert and frost regions) make logical geographical sense?

Does the scale feel appropriate for a sweeping epic fantasy journey? Do the distances between major cities and borders feel realistic?

Are there any glaring empty zones that feel unnatural, or is the negative space balanced well?

I'm working on a character for my epic dark romantasy series, and I could use some advice on her narrative voice and whether I'm falling into cliche tropes, specifically regarding her humor, interests, and her long list of negative traits.

Her name is Sahara (Suh-Har-Uh) Blaze. Her sense of humor is very dark and very selfish; she openly and actievly jokes about other people's suffering and embarrassment. On the surface, she barely has any hobbies (Most likely none since the deeper truth is burying everything). In fact, to everyone around her, the only things she genuinely seems to enjoy are killing and coitus. However, there is a much deeper internal conflict driving this behavior that neither she nor anyone else fully understands yet (which I want to keep under wraps for spoiler reasons).

Because of this underlying turmoil, Sahara is fiercely aggressive, self-centered, and violent. My main concern is that I'm not giving her enough good qualities to balance out the bad in her life. Since I am writing her from a deep 1st person point of view, I'm worried this constant aggression is affecting her narrative voice and might make her exhausting or undesirable to read. I have tried softening her internal thoughts and monologue, but I feel like it veers from her fierce need for invulnerability.

Because this is a romantasy, her need for invulnerability constantly clashes with a love interest who thinks love equals control. My goal is for her aggression to build heavy romantic tension, rather than just exhausting the reader.

Does anyone have advice on how to balance a highly abrasive, violent character within a central romance arc, or how to hint at emotional vulnerability so her voice doesn't feel one-note?

I'm working on a character for my epic dark romantasy series, and I could use some advice on her narrative voice and whether I'm falling into cliché tropes—specifically regarding her humor, interests, and her extensive list of negative traits.

Her name is Sahara (Suh-Har-Uh) Blaze. Her sense of humor is extremely dark and selfish; she actively jokes about other people's suffering and embarrassment. On the surface, she barely has any hobbies. In fact, to everyone around her, the only things she genuinely seems to enjoy are killing and coitus. However, there is a much deeper internal conflict driving this behavior that neither she nor anyone else fully understands yet (which I want to keep under wraps for spoiler reasons).

Because of this underlying turmoil, Sahara is fiercely aggressive, self-centered, and violent. My main concern is that I'm not giving her enough redeeming qualities to balance out the bad in her life. Since I am writing her from a deep 1st person point of view, I'm worried this constant aggression is affecting her narrative voice and might make her exhausting or undesirable to read. I have tried softening her internal monologue, but it feels inauthentic to her fierce need for invulnerability.

Does anyone have advice on how to balance a highly abrasive, violent character without losing reader engagement, or how to hint at deeper layers so her voice doesn't feel one-note?