Cover Reveal for Mythics 4

February 2024

Hi friends,

Happy Galentine’s Day!!! On February 13th, we celebrate our gal pals! And I have a two very special things planned for this day of friendship:

1) An interview with award-winning illustrator Mirelle Ortega, who does the cover illustrations and the interior illustrations of The Mythics books!!! (As well as her own phenomenal picture books, Magic and River of Mariposas!)

2) A first look at the stunning cover of The Mythics 4: Ember and the Phoenix! A girl gang for Galentine’s!

But first, I want to mention that Mirelle Ortega has a newsletter of her own, where she has talked about covers in great length. Getting a Mirelle newsletter in my inbox always makes me grin, so be sure to sign up here!

And now…

The Interview

Lauren: I'd love to know how you came up with the girls' original looks! How did you decide what outfits they should wear--and what they should look like?

Mirelle: This is a great question! The initial brief I got was very short because I was actually testing for the job, so they sent some general descriptions of the girls and a few lines explaining the overall story. I remember I emailed them back to ask where was the story set, because I needed to know that in order to figure out what the girls would wear! 

When I design characters I usually think about their personalities and the type of things they like doing or will be doing in the story.

Like I knew Hailey would have band-aids and a bit of a non-practical style as opposed to Marina, who is very sensibly layered to go on an adventure (because Marina would be the type of person to think about "what if I get too hot?"). 

I also wanted them to look like they're all from different places, because they all come from different places in their world and have different upbringings.

Lauren: Walk us through the process of illustrating a cover! Do you decide what goes on it, or are you told what to draw?

Mirelle: Generally speaking I get a few ideas from the book designer (wonderful Laura Mock) alongside with some book passages she thinks might make a good cover, and then it's up to me to pick and choose what ideas would look the coolest. If I have a strong idea of what might be cool to do I can also do that! (And I sometimes do.) The hardest cover of a series is always the first one, because it's the one setting the tone and the format for all the others. I knew that for Marina's cover I wanted to have the girls in action, and I thought it might be cool to frame the composition with the kraken! I thought it would be a fun thing to replicate in all of the other covers, and it would help bring a cohesive element to them all. 

Lauren: How many people work on a single cover?

Mirelle: I only speak to Laura Mock and Amy Ryan, who are both designers for HarperCollins! But I'm sure the book's editor (Ben Rosenthal) and the marketing team also have a say in it. Covers are important! Everyone wants to make sure the book is well represented and that it stands out amongst a sea of books that come out. 

Lauren: Do you read the book before you make the cover?

Mirelle: No, I usually don't get the books until I'm working on interiors! I do get a one page summary of the book, and some passages if it's relevant to what they're hoping for the cover. If there's a specific setting they'd like, they'd usually send me a passage where the setting is being described. 

Lauren: How long does it take to make a cover? How many drafts do you typically have?

Mirelle: It takes a while, because there is a lot of feedback involved! I usually send out 3 or 4 different sketches for a cover, and once we've picked our favorite we go from there, doing modifications or sometimes even morphing a couple of sketches together. Then there's color roughs and final art to deliver. It's a long process; it takes months! 

Lauren: Is it easier to do the interior illustrations or the cover illustrations? Which one is more fun?

Mirelle: I would say both are hard! They both have their unique challenges. I love color, so I think working on the covers is more fun to me because there is a color component to it. I think interior illustrations are fun in a challenging way, if that makes sense. I personally love a good artistic challenge, and there are plenty of those in the interiors! There's a bunch of angles, environments and space limitations to account for, and coming up with solutions for all of it can be very fun!

Lauren: The colors are magnificent for The Mythics covers: light blue and purple (book 1), yellow and dark blue (book 2), green and orange (book 3), purple and red (book 4).

So how do you decide on color palette?

Mirelle: I think the main inspiration for that is the girl's powers! Of course Marina's book would be blue. I think Hailey's book was the hardest because when you think of ice powers you think of white and that's very anticlimactic. I also get some help from Laura, because we definitely want all of the books to look cohesive but to have their own colors. 

Lauren: Are there any details in the character descriptions that make you curse the day the author was born?

Mirelle: Hahaha, no, though I do have to count and double count Vix's nine tails! I think the hardest thing for me is when there are methods of transportations involved! I don't want to spoil book 3 but there's a certain vehicle that is deceivingly hard to draw! 

Lauren: In general, which Mythie is your favorite to draw? And which Mythic?

Mirelle: My favorite Mythie to draw is Kraken because it's really easy to turn and draw angles for! And my favorite Mythic to draw is probably Ember, I think her silhouette is so strong it is really easy to stay in model (though I hate when I have to paint her shirt! It looks cool but painting patterns can be so tiring!)

Lauren: Which cover of The Mythics series was your favorite to illustrate? And why?

Mirelle: The fourth one!!! I think it's because I know the characters so well now, and we get to have all of the Mythies in the cover!!!

Lauren: The fourth one is my all-time favorite too!!! So without further ado, let’s see this epic cover!

The Cover Reveal

Coming December 3, 2024! ISN’T SHE GORGEOUS?!?! ISN’T SHE HEROIC?!?! ISN’T SHE EVERYTHING?!!!! Look at the fire! The elemental powers! The Mythies! The battle stance! The badassery! And… um… that ominous background…

Mirelle is so brilliant and talented!!! And this cover is a stunner!

Cover sketch:

Color drafts:

Preorders for The Mythics 4: Ember and the Phoenix are coming in March. For now, you can help support the series by ordering books 1 and 2—and by preordering The Mythics 3: Kit and the Nine-Tailed Fox, which releases on May 14th. Buy links are here:

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If you loved going behind-the-scenes as much as I did—and you want even MORE info on the cover illustrating process—I highly recommend reading Mirelle’s post about it here!

We can’t wait for you to have this beautiful book in your hands, with all the laughter, tears, and reveals that go with it! The conclusion to this grand adventure is coming…

But don’t worry: there’s still so much story to go. At the moment, we’re only halfway there. Between books 3 and 4 this year, get ready for a wild ride! Thanks for joining us, brave hero!

xoxo,
Lauren (and Mirelle)