I didn’t mention this last month, but I commissioned a bust sketch of Tanis, heroine of my bawdy sword & sorcery heist “He Who Sows”, back in October. Well, the finalized version arrived late last week!

Isn’t she gorgeous? From the bare-breasted dress taken from Minoan fashion to the ornate emerald necklace to features heavily influenced by Maria Callas, the artist (@BonSquiggle over on Twitter) did an awesome job weaving all my influences together to construct this bust. She even included the steel hair sticks; if you’ve read the story, you know those come in handy at the climax

In fact, Siobhan worked in a lot more detail that I expected, given this was just a bust sketch in black and white. If you’re ever in need of character art, definitely give her a look on Twitter (@BonSquiggle), Instagram (@bondraws), tumblr (Bonsquiggle) or Blue Sky (@bonsquiggle.bsky.social). Her rates are very reasonable for this kind of quality, especially if you aren’t asking for limited commercial rights or intricate detail like I did on this one!

This won’t be the last you see of Tanis. Now seems as good a time as any to mention I intend to reprint “He Who Sows” as a standalone novelette in 2026!