Colder Wind

"Colder Wind" by Wylie Beckert.

A few months ago I did a post about all the different art of "Cold Wind," my short story about snow, and sex, and shape-changing. It was full of pictures of the various pieces that inspired it—a print of Terri Windling's Deer Woman; Riva Lehrer's marvellous multi-media, multi-dimensional portrait of me as a snow leopard; Hedningarna's haunting "Viima"*—and my discovery of some art, by Rovina Cai, inspired by it. All art, I concluded, influences all other art.

And then yesterday I got a message from the inestimable Henry Lien, the new art director of Lightspeed Magazine, wondering if I'd seen the long and interesting process post on how Wylie Beckert put together Colder Wind, her illustration based on my story.

It's radically different in mood and tone from Rovina's piece, though it's interesting that both use flowing/floating clothing accessories to add interest and fill space, quite unlike Sam Worthington's original illustration for Tor. I loved seeing different artists' take on Hild, too (there's more I haven't got around to posting). It tells me so much about the different approaches readers must take to a text.

I'm curious, though, about which of the three pieces—Sam Wolfe Connelly's cover illustration, Wylie Beckert's painting (above), Rovina Cai's interpretation—comes closest to matching the pictures "Cold Wind" put in your head (if it did). Or which you think enhances the story in some way. I'd love to hear your thoughts, any thoughts on the subject, really.

* I played that song on repeat for hours and find it has snuck into the playlist for Menewood...

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