Indie authors are the lifeblood of what I do, creating illustrated character art, author portraits for their marketing and even full book covers. I work with authors who match my values and it’s time to shine a light on these wonderful people!
Please welcome Lowri Charles!
Author of ‘Call it Fete’ and ‘This Is Going to ruin the Tour’ coming in 2026.
Hello Lowri! Please introduce us to yourself and your books.
Hello! I’m Lowri Charles — Civil Servant by day, indie author by night. I’m a roller skating, crocheting writer of queer, fat-positive books.
What will make people fall in love with your main characters?
My characters are as real as they can get. Even if they’re working in high-profile jobs, they still have the same worries and concerns as me and you. From Alex, the single gay dad who’s desperately trying to prove he can be a member of the Perfect Parent Club in Call it Fete, to Rhys, who thinks his new co-worker Lucy is trying to steal his best friend from him in This Is Going To Ruin the Tour. It just so happens his best friend is one of the world’s most famous pop stars (at least in this universe), but that doesn’t stop those feelings from being real and relatable.
What tropes can people find in your books?
Forcing idiots together and making them fall in love is my speciality, so you’ll always find some elements of forced proximity. Otherwise, I love writing about grumpy / sunshine and enemies to lovers vibes, difficult families, small towns/cities, very British places.
“Forcing idiots together and making them fall in love is my speciality” – Lowri Charles Author
What will surprise people most about your book/s?
They’re still a bit spicy. I write comfort food in a book form – cosy stories you can stretch out on a sun lounger, or curl up in front of a fire with – but that doesn’t mean they’re not just the little bit spicy.
What is your favourite thing about being an indie, self-published author?
That I control it all. Like some evil overlord… No, only kidding. I could never be evil. But I do control what’s in my books, what my books look like, who gets to read them (or at least I can steer the right crowd towards my books), when they get put out in the world. I wouldn’t trust my babies with anyone else.
What has been your biggest challenge or barrier to publishing your books?
Money! God, I hate that it comes down to that but being self-published is expensive, especially if you have no skills other than writing. Some authors are great at putting covers together, or can draw the most beautiful character art, but not me. And time. I’m a senior manager in my profession, belong to a roller derby team, care for my nan. Doesn’t leave a lot of time left for writing.
What has been your biggest challenge commissioning artwork in the past?
Finding trustworthy artists. Call it Fete is marred by bad experiences – an artist who I learned traced a lot of the art she sold, and I can no longer get hold of my cover artist. AI is rife in our industry (yuk) so it’s important to me to find artists who believe in the same things I do, including not using AI in our works.
How did you discover my work?
Either someone recommended you, or you reached out. Either way, it was in response to a plea I put on Threads for a good artist who doesn’t use AI and was reasonably priced. I checked you out, adored your style and we are currently enjoying our HEA after you ticked all two boxes!
Lottie: (I love that we got our happily ever after Lowri!)
Artwork by Lottie Thomson, commissioned by Lowri Charles for the upcoming romance novel ‘This Is Going To Ruin The Tour’.
What appealed to you most about working with me and how was your overall experience?
Your style is gorgeous and it fits in with the aesthetic I’m trying to create with my books. On top of that, you came across as good people on social media, and that’s something I value a lot. Working with you was a dream. No change was too big and I felt it was a collaborative effort to create my beautiful art.
“I felt it was a collaborative effort to create my beautiful art.” – Lowri Charles Author
What does having appealing character art mean to your marketing and to your readers?
Everything! Indie authors still have a reputation of looking unprofessional, and it’s something I’m desperate to dispel. Having art available for my books means I can provide something extra to my readers, something to frame or admire.
Are there any other professionals that you’ve worked with that you’d like to recommend to other authors?
The only other artist I recommend nowadays aside from you is @a.loveunlaced
Lottie : (What beautiful work! Go check them out folks!)
Where can people buy your books and follow you on social media?
Call it Fete is available now. This is Going to Ruin the Tour is out in 2026.
Lottie Thomson (Charlotte Thomson-Morley – she/her) brings character art, portraits and book covers to life for indie authors. Based in the UK and with over 20 years experience as a freelance illustrator, she specialises in consciously inclusive and playful art, supplied ready for use for print marketing and on social media alike.
After creating a few pieces of Andy and the Odd Socks art for my son (who is a huge fan of their TV series Andy & the Band, and their live music), I was approached by their management to create a poster to be sold as merchandise during their 2023 ‘Dial it up to 11’ live tour.
The poster features cartoon versions of all of the band members, headed by children’s TV royalty Andy Day! It was designed to be sold as merchandise online and at their live gigs, as a fun and colourful poster for children to display on their bedroom walls. It was designed with the fact that the band would hand-sign/autograph the poster in mind, so features a clear section for each band member in their individual brand/costume colours.
From loose layout sketch, to neat sketch (shown to client) to final poster!
Andy and the Odd Socks are aimed at ages 3 – 9 (although lets face it, the parents love them as much as the kids!), so I had children’s literacy and early readers in mind when adding the text to the poster. I wanted to include introductory text for each of the band members, so their stage introductions were used and when hand-lettering the wording I used upper and lowercase writing in a style designed to be read by children just starting to read their first words.
The original sketch comic based on my sons first gig that caught the eye of the band and their management.
It was an absolute pleasure to create this poster for the Odd Socks, their message of celebrating uniqueness and individuality, plus them being ambassadors for the Anti-Bullying Alliance (and my son being a superfan) has made this a project that is very close to my heart.
Feedback on the poster has been great, with it being sold and given away as a signed VIP meet & greet gift at every date of the 2023 Dial it up to 11 UK tour, which was extensive as you can see!
Bunny’s Burrow is an app being produced by developer Jed Merrington with the aim to close the gender learning gap at Key Stage 2. I designed the lead Bunny character and produced 22 illustrations showing his full range of moods and emotions, and the character partaking in several activities. These will be shown as static images or lightly animated within the app.
The designs are specifically aimed to encourage boys, with dyslexia and other learning disabilities to engage with short narrative story creation using the app with a phone or tablet. The illustrations being full vector based and editable by the app developers was an important aspect of the brief, as was consistency of the character design.
Literacy, dyslexia support and encouraging children to engage with creative writing and creating stories is something really close to my heart, I was thrilled to work on this project.
