Kurt Miller

 The second art I’m contributing is Ghost by John Ringo, the first of Paladin of Shadows. This cover job was the first time I spoke to Jim by phone and I was amazed by his soft tone of voice. His vocal tone was nothing like what I’d imagined and nothing like his dramatic emails. This cover art was many of the ones I managed to do for Jim in just a few days and this cover concept was all Jim’s idea. At the first stage of the concept I had a problem with the cover idea: I was afraid that I might have spelled something offensive in Arabic. I know how sensitive the Muslim world can be, so Jim later allowed me to mix the calligraphies under “Ala,” just to be sure nothing crazy would happen over this cover.

I have many thanks for Jim, and the time we worked together were some the most interesting and enjoyable moments for me. Thanks to Jim I’m now receiving a new batch of fan letters stating that they never heard of me until I came on board with Baen Books. Jim, you will be deeply missed. Thanks for making Baen Books the way it is and I personally thank you for all you did for me.