Concept Art for Matching Miss Moon

Many, many... many years ago, I eagerly poured over the illustrations in my latest Nancy Drew to see what Nancy, Ned and the gang were getting up to.

While I've always been an avid reader, there's something oh-so-satisfying about that additional peek into the author's imagination and seeing the visual translation of all those lovely words.

As a writer, it works wonders in reverse; nothing jiggles the words loose from my brain better than a great image. I create Pinterest boards for all my books, but lately I've been playing with artificial intelligence (or "AI") tools to create some pretty nifty concept art.

There must be magic involved. Or elves, I dunno.

Basically, you give the tool a prompt like "19th century stone carver's workshop." Wait a sec or three and... dang if it doesn't spit out a 19th century stone carver's workshop. Or something close to it. There must be magic involved. Or elves, I dunno.

Below are just a few images I used to visualize Gryffyn Kimbrell, Keren Moon and some of the scenes in Matching Miss Moon. What do you think? Are you a visual person too?

TOP: The village of Newford, Gryffyn's workshop, Picnic at Oak Hill MIDDLE: Gryffyn Kimbrell, Miss Keren Moon BOTTOM: Copper Cove, The Fin and Feather Inn, Sketching Miss Moon