Books4Art

by Lynda Williams

Books4A (2026) - 01

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Founding post by Lynda Williams

How to Earn ORU Books with Your Art

Author Lynda Williams contemplating a smattering of ORU art over the years. Upper left to bottom, clockwise: CGI take on Alivda by Alison; child Alivda by Richard Bartrop, featured in onine novella D'iff the Dragon by Angela Lott; button featuring Ranar chibi by Mel produced for con by supporter Kathy Plett; and commissioned cover art for Lonie's Career by Elisha Betts.

The gift of art, revealing a reader’s own experience of the Okal Rel Universe (ORU),

was spontaneous during the first edition years.

I was always delighted, often impressed and just occasionally disconcerted (no

slash involving Horth, please!) by what people portrayed. It came from friends of my

teenage daughters and from people I met at events or through work connections, and

was accepted and enjoyed in a flurry of busy life as a mother, breadwinner, community volunteer and SF author. (One of those friends of the family, Michelle Milburn, became the artist who is doing the covers for the third edition of the Okal Rel Saga.)

Collage of examples from the 1st edition period. Left to right: birthday card for Lynda from Mel; hearths of fountain court by Catherine; young Amel from scene in House of Em by Brianna; map of the orphanage on the palace plain by David Lott; and woodwork plaque by Lisa O.

The gift of art in the choppy years of the second edition came, especially, from Yukari

Yamamoto, cover artist for the 3-book 2nd edition, and Richard Bartrop, who did commissioned illustrations for a small honorarium of $10 CND per sketch. Richard Bartrop illustrated a number of

works for serial presentation on blogs which have, in too many cases, dissolved into

digital dust. Jeff Doten also made art available both for free (e.g. his draft of the cover Edge

was exploring with him, for the cover of Throne Price) and on commission (e.g. the

cover and interior work in The Megan Anthology ).

Sample art from the 2nd edition period: left to right, Ann in a Sevolite style cockpit by Jeff Doten; scene by Richard Bartrop; and Anne and Amel floating in his cockpit from a scene in Book 1, art by Yukari Yamamoto.

What all examples have in common is the gift of a reader’s vision of what they

saw in the Okal Rel Universe. There is no more impactful, instant way to bring it

to life for a new explorer in its depths than a picture reflecting what someone

else saw in their mind’s eye and had the artistic talent to bring to life. Which, sadly, I

lack.

Visions of this kind may differ. Like light split into colours by a prism. But they are all

gifts.

So if you venture far enough into the ORU to get inspired, and are willing to add your

visual impressions to the growing collection, watch this space for examples and send

yours to lynda@realityskimming.com cc’ing info@realityskimming.com. Feel free to add anything you’d like say about it, and let us know how you want to be referenced (bio?) when your work is posted.

If we use your art on the blog, we'll say "thank you" by mailing you an artifact, book or other token of our enthusiastic thanks!

Ack rel.

And carry on believing in heroes who find a way.

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Lynda Williams has been many things in her life: daughter and sister, student, wife and mother, reporter, manager, instructor, librarian, researcher -- but through it all the author of the Okal Rel Saga, and these days publisher at Reality Skimming Press. The world of imagination was always her safe place from which to reflect on an unsafe world.

• Lynda Williams on LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndajwilliams/

• Google Search for Lynda Williams, author, Okal Rel. SEARCH LINK

• Reality Skimming on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/relskim