From Ian Tregillis website:
It turns out that, unbeknownst to Ian Tregillis (Poor guy, he's never in the loop for anything, it seems. . .), John Jude Palencar had created a painting after reading the manuscript for The Coldest War.
Problem is, this was done before the decision to change the marketing strategy for Tregillis' books was finalized. Hence, Tor Books' art department never used that Palencar painting.
Here's what happened next:
So, in essence, Tor commissioned an anthology of stories written by top-flight writers inspired by a Palencar painting that was, itself, inspired by my book. (But to be absolutely clear, it's not an anthology of stories set in the Milkweed universe.)
Tor commissioned the painting, and they weren't using it for anything else, so it's a great idea. And the image is their own to use, after all. But I admit to feeling a little strangely about this. I'm not for one nanosecond implying that I belong in the anthology—I would never claim I belong in an anthology populated by the likes of Gene Wolfe and Michael Swanwick. And as I pointed out, this is an anthology of stories inspired by a painting that was itself inspired by the book—in other words, it's NOT an anthology of stories set in the Milkweed universe.
Follow this link to learn more about The Palencar Project.