Before I began designing this cover, I met with author Jason Yamas to hear more about his story. Tweakerworld is a memoir documenting Jason’s plunge into the ParTy n’ ‘Play (PnP) subculture in the gay community and his subsequent rise as a meth lord in the Bay area. While this book is about heavy topics like addiction, abuse and shame, Jason covers them with humanity and humor. After another discussion with the team, I knew that this cover needed to be fun at first glance, but when you look further you notice something is “off.” There’s darkness in the Tweakerworld, but no one sees it right away. That’s how you get sucked in. Jason offered to take photos of himself so I could use his face on the cover if I wanted. While he shot them, I worked on some other options.

An exploration of class and tradition in contemporary India, Mirror Made of Rain shows how society encourages us to see ourselves through the eyes of others. Its main character Noomi travels through Kamalpur high society but is loath to change her hard-partying ways. Ultimately though she finds herself trapped within the same familial cycle of self-destructiveness and traditional expectations that she tried so hard to avoid.