This is a follow-up to my post to the front cover of my book where I pointed out little details and how it related to my novel. There be major spoilers ahead for my novel On Earth, As It Is if you pursue your reckless reading of this post! Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Earlier this year, I published my second book, On Earth, As It Is, and collaborated with artist Daniel Johnson on the front and back cover. Dan did both in full color and the book displays nearly all of his original work, but not quite all of the back cover. I decided to display just enough of the illustration on the back cover to entice the reader to purchase the book, but it represents less than half of the final result. Inside is the entire art but without color and reduced to the size of a page. It’s small enough that it’s difficult to discern details. Below is the original in all its glory and following it is a description of a number of Easter eggs in the illustration that I hope you enjoy.

The first aspect of the illustration I hope you notice is the frame. This represents the frame of the mirror the ladies-disguised-as-queens are looking at hanging on the castle walls. From left to right, you have Sondra Saturn, Helga Helvys, Snow White Whisper, Penta Emily Corden, Valencia Arkenson, and Cinderella Jolly. All are fairytale queens except Sondra (from l-to-r, The Marsh King’s Daughter, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Penta, The Little Match Girl, Cinderella). In the book, the queens on earth are disguised as five “ordinary” women, but here, they’ve removed their disguises and appear as themselves but in earth clothing.

In this depiction, the queens are observing the women they’ve “replaced” on earth for the first time. They’ve seen pictures but have not met their counterparts yet. Dan and I spent a lot of time on what the women would wear in this illustration, how they’d hold themselves as well as their expressions. Cinderella is “dressed like something a nun would wear” according to her counterpart. Her smile reflects her happiness at seeing her husband on the other side of the mirror—someone she was afraid she might never see again. Valencia whose clothes are a little too big for her, stares curiously at the five women on the other side. Snow White, hand over the bullet hole in her chest, hides her wound to keep others from worrying about her. Desperately trying to convince her counterpart’s friend she is her counterpart, Helga mimics her duplicate’s stance after she sees her on the other side.

And there’s Sondra Saturn standing to the far left in full NBC peacock color! This is the first time we have an illustration of Ms. Saturn though we’ve seen her parallel before. If you look closely at the front cover, you’ll see an unfinished statue of Planet, Sondra’s “twin” in Kingdom, and her “duplicate” in the mirror. Basically, six figures exist on either side of the mirror, their mirror images.

Notice how the bricks match the front cover of the book. The front cover has a similar frame with the wallpaper of the apartment. Both front and back covers are from each set of characters point-of-view while looking at each other through a mirror. Dan’s detail on the frame is nicely done.

In the first book, each queen held a pennant of an item that represented their past. All the items reappear in Harold’s apartment. On the kitchen ledge behind Sondra is Snow White’s apple, Helga’s frog is on her shirt, Penta’s gloves are on her hands, Valencia’s match is in a picture behind Cinderella, and Cinderella is wearing her golden slippers.

If you can’t read the “motivational” poster behind Cinderella, it says “Magic. When in doubt, throw an exploding snake spell.” At the end of the novel is a significant magic battle. Have you wondered where Sondra got her inspiration when fighting Cinderella’s stepmother on top of Hartstone’s Keep? Look no further.

Sondra’s tee is of a beaker, representing her degree / profession as a chemist.

And on the floor is the book Harold wrote. If you look really close, you may notice the front and back cover of Kingdom Come, my first book.

Many thanks to Daniel Johnson for bringing this image alive and contributing to many of the ideas in this illustration. It truly was a collaborative effort and he exceeded my expectations in this final depiction .