The HEA Cafe

Archive for 2009

There are many things an author can control in her book. How long it is (more or less), whether there’s a HEA ending (of course!), what color hair her hero and heroine have.

One thing beyond her control? Cover art.

I hear readers say, “Why does such a wonderful book have a cover like that?” I think people not involved in the industry think the art department and publishers actually listen to what authors suggest! That’s seldom the case.

I’ve been fortunate in that my covers have all been outstanding, though not always what I envisioned. For example, Pirate’s Price featured a red rose, and my second book, Smuggler’s Bride, had orange blossoms as a theme. So when the publisher asked me what I wanted for Smuggler’s Bride, I said, “Why not put orange blossoms on the cover, keeping with the flowers motif?”

What I got was an orange blossom–an orange rose. It’s a lovely orange rose, and I like the cover a lot, but something got lost in the translation there. Incidentally, my third book, Captain Sinister’s Lady, was done by the same artist and this time had a passionately purple rose.

I wondered where the artist would go with my upcoming release, The Bride and the Buccaneer. I dutifully filled out the author form, describing the hero and heroine, the setting, the year, and some of the themes. I got back an absolutely lovely cover, which you can see here. It’s not at all what I envisioned, but that’s why I’m the author and not the artist. It’s the artist’s job to know what will sell books. It’s my job to write said books.

When I look at my cover it says “Romance! Pirates! Bride!” That’s selling my story even before the cover’s opened. I’m optimistic that when the book is released in December, it will appeal to readers who won’t even know how good the story is (and it is good), but will be attracted first by the cover.

So if you see a good book with a horrific cover, have a moment’s pity for the author. And if you’re attracted to a book by its cover, have a kind thought for the artist, whose job it is to attract you to the books like bees are attracted to roses. Even the orange ones.

Any spy worth her secret decoder ring must have a fabulous trench coat in her closet.  I personally have several and love them all, but in writing my Super Agent Series, I had yet to put one of my lady spies in a trench.

 

Until now. Brigit Kent, the no nonsense psychologist who moonlights for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service in my latest novel, Proof of Life (Super Agent Series, Book 3), is perfect in a trench. She isn’t a fashionista by any means, but she has deep, dark family secrets and is playing with fire when it comes to blackmailing the deputy director of the CIA, Michael Stone. While I didn’t want her hung up on clothing labels, she was part 007 and part traditional ingénue, and I wanted her to have a signature piece.

 

Enter the trench. With Brigit’s dark looks, I imagined her as a modern day Audrey Hepburn, using her trench to its fullest. It was sexy and classic, just like Brigit’s character, and both the coat and the woman held the perfect combination to attract Michael.

 

Moving to the window next to Brigit, Michael tried not to stare at her peaches-and-cream skin, or her thick, dark hair, free of its ponytail and brushing her shoulders. He tried not to examine the way her trench coat molded to her waist and flared out at her hips, emphasizing both. Her body hummed with energy and his happily tightened in response.

 

The trench worked as a symbol of Brigit’s growth in the story as well as a handy accessory. In the opening, she uses the trench to hide her gun and her generous curves. Internally, she’s also hiding her insecurities and family secrets. As the story goes on, the trench and Brigit take a beating when Brigit is shot at and nearly blown up in an airplane. The coat gets mended and cleaned, and so does Brigit when she divulges her secrets to Michael and saves her sister from a terrorist group.  After all that, she was ready to take more chances, and at one point, I had fun letting her pull a classic Marilyn Monroe when she attends a meeting with the President of the United States.

 

The trench coat still had the plastic bag over it from the cleaners. She ripped it off and shrugged the coat over her shoulders. The silk lining brushed against her skin, and she wondered if she really had the courage to go to the White House in such a Marilyn Monroe style.

Hell, what did she care? No one would know unless the Secret Service felt her up.

 

Through the whole story, the trench helped me keep Brigit mysterious and desirable. She needed to be a puzzle Michael had to figure out, or if not completely figure out, at least enjoy trying.

 

Without a knock, she burst through the door with Helena on her heels and a set look on her face. A look Michael had seen repeatedly from Ruth’s house to Ireland. The soldier was ready to take on the world.

His heart stuttered and then stopped in wonder for a split-second as he took her in from head to toe. The wavy dark curls, the baby doll eyes, the bright lipstick. The gaudy earrings, the expensive trench, the moderate heels. She was still a conundrum. Still beautiful.

 

The trench coat seduction works and Michael finally understands Brigit and what a future with her holds.

 

The future stretched out in front of him with endless possibilities. Brigit understood who he was, what he did for a living, what he had survived. She could relate and love him for all his faults, for all his regrets. She gave him hope, and most of all, she gave him back his desire to live again. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, let her go. “Call me as soon as you can get away.”

“Is that an order?”

“Yes,” he said, grinning again so hard his cheeks hurt. “And wear the trench. I like it.”

She squeezed his hand before pulling her own away and saluting him. “Yes, sir.”

 

I was thrilled when the cover artist for Proof of Life found a dark-haired model wearing a trench for the cover. What makes it even better is the way the woman is lifting the collar to partially hide her face.  While trench coats are often associated with spies, Brigit’s trench coat showcases her personality and symbolizes her internal struggles rather than turning her into a clichéd stock character, and that made her all the more fun to write!

 

Misty Evans is an award-winning, multi-published author of CIA thrillers and paranormal comedy. Visit her at www.readMistyEvans.com or join her Yahoo! Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MistyEvansSuspense where you’ll find free reads and all the latest news!

I’ve been published in ebook form since 2001. I can’t read my original works because they were sold on a format that’s no longer supported by my computer, floppy disks. I did, of course, keep paper backups of my work but that’s a different article–the need for back-up.

Today I want to talk about moving into the 21st century of ereading. I finally broke down and bought a dedicated ereader, the Sony PRS 300, their new “Pocket Reader”. Three things led me to this point: 1. the price came down to a place that was more affordable for an ereader, $199. 2. Some of my favorite authors were releasing novellas and back list works only as ebooks. 3. I’ve been doing more ebook reading at my notebook and not finding it especially comfortable.

The feedback I’ve been getting from my own readers shows a rising curve of ebook sales, and I’m now an ebook consumer as well. My little Pocket is the same size as a mass market paperback, though thinner. It can hold 350 books. I automatically slip it into my purse each day, and don’t worry that I’m leaving the house without something to read. Most importantly, the next time I go on a trip I’ll have more room in my carry-on because it won’t be full of books.

I’m still buying books in paper, but now I’m restricting it to hardcovers and paper copies of books I know I’m likely to want to keep. Much of what I’ve been buying gets recycled to the library book sale as soon as I’m done with it, and while the library will lose a bit with this purchase, it’s certainly better for the trees and the environment.

If you’ve been thinking of getting an ebook reader, this may be the right time. More models are scheduled for release later in 2010, and there’s still talk of an Apple Tablet that may make Mac users happy. My wish now is that publishers would figure out a good pricing scheme for ebooks. Some of them are releasing ebooks for twice the cost of mass market paperbacks, which makes no sense to me at all and I refuse to buy them that way. Eventually, however, I believe the market will drive them to a standard, reasonable pricing scheme.

In the meantime, I’m still getting used to my little device, but I think I’m going to like it. Maybe I’ll report back in six months on how this new love affair is progressing.

What could be better than bringing romance readers and writers together? Just like ComicCon and other fan conventions, the upcoming RomCon in Denver next year will be an exciting venue for readers and industry professionals alike.

 

According to Tiffany James, one of the founders of RomCon 2010, the convention’s focus will be on readers. To draw them in, all workshops and events will be geared toward educating and entertaining them. “One of the big events we’ll be hosting at RomCon is the announcement of winners of our new contest–the Readers’ Crown,” says Tiffany. “We have a vetting process in place to ensure, to the fullest extent possible, that our contest judges are readers.  And, we’ve partnered with Borders to bring a true market impact to our entrants with things like end-cap placements, invitations to be interviewed on Sue Grimshaw’s True Romance program, listing of winners on her site, and much more.  Plus, winners will get airfare, hotel (2 nights), and RomCon registration paid for the next year’s RomCon event.”

 

How will RomCon bring authors and their readers together before and after the convention? Check out the new website Tiffany and her partners have built www.romconinc.com (the site goes live this month, so if it’s not up yet today, please keep checking.) They’re pulling together the huge amount of information that is available on the internet about the industry to really connect authors with readers. 

 

What’s there for authors?

·         Authors with syndicated blogs can repost headlines and/or excerpts of them with links back to their blogs. 

·         A shared calendar of literary events capturing author book signings, lectures, blog tours, charity events, etc. 

·         Forums where live chats and on-going discussions can take place. 

·         Twitter ticker tape feed that updates continually with tweets from subscribed authors

 

What’s there for readers?

Registered users can rate author sites, romance friendly bookstores (where are the friendly stores, do they pass out author promo items, etc.) and review sites.  That will build a knowledgebase of information that authors can use to target book tours, submit books for reviews to the highest regarded review sites, and know better what readers like in an author web site when they go to build or overhaul their own site.  And readers get to know where they should shop, what sites have the best reviews and what author sites are fun and should be in their hotlinks.

 

A win-win situation in my book (pun intended) and I can’t wait to join in and participate. I love to meet new readers and this website and the romance convention will provide great opportunities to for me to find new authors to read as well as new fans!

 

Please stop by on Thursday, October 29^th for my debut guest blog on www.romconinc.com. I’ll be talking about my super agent series and giving away a free copy of one of my books to a lucky commenter. The whole kick-off month of October will be filled with guest bloggers, like me, so visit often and enjoy!!

A few helpful (I hope) notes.
If you missed the Shades of Romance, free online writing conference, drop by http://www.sormag.blogspot.com and read through the archived conference. It’s a wealth of information.

Also this month on my blog, I’m celebrating Sentimental September. Authors and readers are posting about strong women in their lives and the advice they gave and if they took the advice or not! My blog is http://strongwomenbravestories.blogspot.com

Also I have another Love Inspired Classic out this month. I can’t believe that I’ve written long enough to have books being reissued!

So that’s my story for September!
Hope you’re having a great start to autumn!