I’ve been asked many times how I met John Blumen, who so beautifully illustrated Ten Fingers Touching and brought the characters to life. John is a master illustrator and I located him on the website of the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators.  John’s magnificent digital art work combines realism, imagination and attention to details, along with the dramatic use of light and color.  The elegant illustration on the left has a fairy tale quality and it is the one that inspired me to contact him.

John and I worked closely on the illustrations in my book. He would initially draft an image and then we discussed it in great depth. After sharing ideas, he revised the image to incorporate my suggestions for changes. We went through this process multiple times for the cover and the pictures. But there were two instances when I loved his images so much that I tweaked the text to conform to the illustrations! It was a wonderful collaborative process and I am so grateful for his talent.

As one blogger wrote, “Come for the illustrations, stay for the story, and leave with another couple of which to remark upon the next time you think of ‘great loves.’”