ETERNAL DREAD

I remember when I was asked to produce the cover artwork for ‘Harry Potter And The Order of The Phoenix’ I was very busy with a number of picture books. I’d holed myself up in the workroom, and wasn’t answering the phone. My agent, Eunice Mcmullen, left an urgent message on my answer-machine, telling me that I had an offer for a cover and that I should drop whatever I was doing, because: ‘YOU WILL WANT TO DO THIS!’ Now there’s plenty of very desirable jobs in children’s publishing, but when your agent tells you to drop everything and call her back immediately then you’ve got a pretty good idea what job she’s talking about. I think my first reaction was excitement. That lasted about thirty seconds. Then the fear kicked-in.
- JASON COCKCROFT
Jacket Illustrator, Harry Potter Books 5,6 & 7

Thanks again Zhi Wei.