Central Louisiana author, artist collaborate to create painting for book cover

• Author Tracy A. Daigrepont collaborated with artist Chastity Sayer Smith on a painted cover for her novel “Relentless.”
• The cover features Louisiana imagery, including a blue iris and heron, and a porch swing significant to the story.
• The original painting was raffled off for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, with prints also available.

Everyone who has seen the book cover of “Relentless” tells author Tracy A. Daigrepont that it looks amazing — just like a painting.  

And she tells them that it’s, “Because it is painted.” The artist Chastity Sayer Smith, whose work she’s always admired, was the one who painted it. 

“She definitely gets all the credit for designing it,” Daigrepont said. 

Nowadays, nearly everyone creates book covers digitally, Smith and Daigrepont said. 

Sitting in Smith’s studio in the Bolton House at River Oaks Square Arts Center in downtown Alexandria where Smith is a resident artist, Daigrepont and Smith discuss how their collaboration came about. 

Daigrepont wanted the cover of her fourth book to “speak Louisiana” and, because she loves Smith’s art, she turned to her. 

She met with Smith over lunch one day to see if she’d be interested in creating the book cover. Smith definitely was. 

“I was super excited that she said yes,” Daigrepont said. 

“This was my first book cover,” said Smith, who was excited when Daigrepont asked her. She had read Daigrepont’s previous works, the young adult fiction Sedipar Trilogy. 

Daigrepont started filling Smith in on tidbits of what the story was about, but Smith told her to stop because she didn’t want to know any spoilers. 

“I was like, ‘No! No! No!,’” she said. “’Just tell me the things you need to. Don’t ruin it for me.’ Because I love to read.” 

“It’s a spicy romantic suspense,” Daigrepont said. Like the rest of her books, the setting is in Louisiana.

It’s about a rich family with a father who is ego-centric and driven. He wants his daughter who just graduated from Tulane Law School to work in his law firm. She meets someone from out of state, and he isn’t the kind of guy her father wants her to be with. 

There are other character stories going on as well. 

It’s a romance but with some twists, especially in the last 50 pages, Daigrepont added. 

Daigrepont already had an idea of how she wanted her latest book cover to look, and the painting Smith created was the taste of Louisiana she was looking for. 

What Smith painted is exactly what Daigrepont wanted, almost like she read her mind. 

The cover depicts a white house with a porch swing against a green sky. This is where one of the characters lives, she said. The porch swing is the setting for a moment between two characters.  

“She added the swing,” Smith said. “So, it just kind of evolved.” 

“The swing was just added because I had actually just written that chapter,” said Daigrepont, who thought it would be a good touch for the story. 

In the lower left corner is the Louisiana blue iris and in the lower right corner is a blue heron. 

“The blue iris is a key point because of its relentless nature to withstand, like hurricanes that come in,” Daigrepont said. 

Smith never told Daigrepont until the other day that she started the painting over twice. 

“I painted it, and it just didn’t feel right,” Smith said. She would then text Daigrepont about what she thought about adding a bird or another element. 

The story was inspired by the Lafitte and Bayou Lafourche areas. 

“I kind of combined all those areas — and the preserve — the Barataria Preserve,” Daigrepont said. While researching those areas, that’s where she found the blue iris and knew she wanted it on the cover. 

Smith has gotten all kinds of accolades for the painting on TikTok, Daigrepont said. Smith isn’t on TikTok, but Daigrepont posted a screenshot of the painting to TikTok and Instagram. 

The original painting was raffled off, with all the money donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hosptial, Smith said. But prints of the cover are available for purchase at River Oaks. 

“The proceeds of that will go to St. Jude as well,” Smith said. 

“The day we had lunch and we talked about it, we talked about what we would do with the painting,” Smith said. It was Daigrepont who suggested raffling it off. 

The writer and artist are really pleased with the success of their collaboration and excited they could use their talents on a mutual project. Daigrepont already asked Smith to design the cover of her fifth book. 

“The cover has what’s drawn a lot of people to buy it,” Daigrepont said. “I buy books a lot because of the cover, and I want her to share in that because it’s a testament to her work for sure.” 

The books are sold locally at Sweet Delta Bakery & Coffee Shop in Woodworth, where Daigrepont has had book signings. “Relentless” and the Sedipar Trilogy also can be purchased through her website tracyadaigrepontnovels.com or directly from Amazon. She can be found on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and she also has an Etsy shop and a TikTok shop. 

Smith has a solo exhibit at River Oaks, “Facing the Phases,” from April 10 through May 25. 

Daigrepont and Smith will be at Melrose Festival Arts & Crafts Festival at Melrose On The Cane Saturday, May 3. 

On May 15, Daigrepont will be at CENLA’S Adult Book Fair in Glenmora at Caffeinated/Brew + Fizz coffee shop starting at 4:30 p.m. Her books will be sold at the shop afterwards. 

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