In this picture, you can see how Jan Sovak blends reality and fantasy. Note how the unicorn’s mane is translucent and the jewelry on the unicorn matches mine-or, I should say, I match the unicorn!

Vampire Diaries. Elena is the ice princess of her high school-all the boys want her; all the girls want to be her. But she thinks of boys as toys and nothing moves her heart until she sees Stefan. Then she swears that he will be hers, even if it kills them both.

The Secret Circle. Adam and Cassie are star-crossed lovers. The entire trilogy is a little homage to the Camelot scenario, with Diana, the leader of the witches, Cassie her faithful follower and (sort of knight) and Diana’s beloved, Adam. The point is that the sexes are all switched! In this picture, Cassie and Adam share their first illicit embrace, knowing that they will never again betray Diana. They almost look as if they’ve been carved in alabaster in the soft, foggy, New England light.

Vampire Diaries. Damon is Stefan’s older brother. He has a dark past, and worst of all, he wants to take Elena away from Stefan, by fair means or foul. His soul is encased by the hardest rock, but in times of stress he always comes through for his little brother.

Night World: Daughters of Darkness. Mary-Lynnette Carter only occasionally lives in the Circle Daybreak enclaves, so she’s changed quite a bit from her high school self. She’s in Harvard now majoring in physics, with stargazing still her beloved hobby. She often wonders about Ash, the vampire she turned away, and wonders if he truly meant to atone for the wrongs he’d done in the past.

Night World: Witchlight & Strange Fate. Keller is a Night World operative whose favorite phrase is “Don’t ask me. I’m just a grunt.” But as Jan Sovak has so beautifully depicted, Keller is also a shapeshifter; a wild panther who longs to run free.

Brionwy from Lullaby, my new adult book that is finally finished. Brionwy is the virgin courtesan who frets under the Lord Overseer Rajan Adani and his nobles. She determines to rebel against him and against the wyverns who rule through him, when she meets the child called Crispy one day while playing her lute and singing a sad song in the harem gardens. Together, she and Crispy, along with the canny and voluptuous Nefer, shy and child like Lydia, and the nine sisters who practice The Phoenix Way of Fighting, she will shake the foundations of the world they live in, but only at the cost of some great sacrifices.

Vampire Diaries. Matt is your typical All American gorgeous guy. He’s Elena’s ex-boyfriend, and although he often regrets the “ex,” he is Stefan’s first human friend. Throughout all of the gore and supernatural horrors he’s experienced, Matt remains a firm idealist. Jan Sovak has captured Matt’s inner soul perfectly

The Forbidden Game Trilogy. What to say about this pair? Julian started out as the youngest of all the Shadow Men, from an evil world that watches our world with hatred and jealousy. But Julian, as evil as any bad boy I’ve ever written, fell in love with Jenny when she was a child and has watched over her ever since. Only-once she grew up into a beautiful young woman he was unable to restrain himself from trying to seduce her.

Night World. Iliana looks innocent and fragile, like a Christmas Angel, but she’s one of the four Wild Powers destined to stop the Apocalypse when the dragons rise to take over the world. She is also Mistress of Wind and the Witch Child. She has her final-and strangest-task to complete in Strange Fate

Vampire Diaries. Meredith is one of Elena’s best friends. It takes a lot to get the cool, level-headed girl this upset, but realizing that vampires are, literally, higher than humans on the food chain can do

Vampire Diaries. Stefan comes to the small town of Fell’s church and can’t believe what he finds: a girl, Elena, who looks just like the girl who made him a vampire so many years ago. He falls in love with her at once, but so does his older, more powerful, and more evil older brother, Damon.

Night World: The Chosen & Strange Fate. Rashel Jordan lost her mother at an early age to a vampire. She grew up with one ambition: to become the most skilled of vampire hunters. At seventeen, she has realized this dream. But then she meets Quinn, a vampire with a long and dark past. Somehow these two deadly enemies find themselves in each other’s arms.

Vampire Diaries. Bonnie, one of Elena’s best friends, is wearing a crown of oak leaves. The oak tree was sacred to the Druids, one of Bonnie’s many fads and fancies. This fiery-haired little pixie is no pushover, though. Although Bonnie may get frightened easily, her psychic powers have often saved the day.