Aza was an artist from day one.

Aza was an artist from day one -- a rendingly sensitive baby. Once she had a crayon in her hand, the world was hers. She started drawing complex rooms, dancing women, women in wild outfits, then there was a long interlude of girls kissing boys or holding hands. I mean, she worked everything interior out through her drawings. Finally, she was in high school and started serious art study. From there it just kept going and now one of the very best things about my publishing life is that Aza does my book covers.

We always talk about the book covers before she goes into them. I never know what she'll come up with though. As HarperCollins reissues my backlist books, she does the covers.

Aza started with Tales of Burning Love, and made it strongly graphic, and I loved it. Then she made the new Perennial Editions (finely made paperback books with beautiful paper and heavy French flaps) of Love Medicine and Plague of Doves. The letters on Love Medicine are made of bundles of sweetgrass, and raised on the cover. Very simple and warm. The cover of Plague of Doves has movement on the page -- the leaves of the tree turn to feathers and shimmer. For The Round House (paperback available late Sept) she draped a woman in sacred red cloth -- a moving knockout image.

She is the baby in The Bluejay's Dance who was so super sensitive she needed to be bundled onto me at all times. Sometimes when exhausted I would think -- hey, but I get it, she's an artist! That this has come true is utterly cosmic.