The HEA Cafe

Archive for the ‘Craft’ Category

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 tweeted earlier that I was going to shower to figure out what I’d be blogging today. Yes, Twitter can be that lame. But it worked. While I was showering I realized I could blog about…showering.

I’ll spare you the damp details of my shower. It’s not about my fabulous remodeled bathroom with its two shower heads, it’s about why showering boosts your creativity. Yes, being clean and smelling sweet is wonderful, even when you’re the only one in your house staring at your screen and keyboard, but it’s not about that either. It’s about how boring, repetitive tasks can free up your mind.

I hear this all the time from other writers–”I get my best ideas in the shower.” Think about it: You’re in a box without anything exciting catching your eye. You probably wash yourself using the same pattern of movements almost every day. This repetitive mindless activity may be just what your muse needs to wake up and give you that plot breakthrough you’ve needed. It’s happened to me more times than I can count. I used to think I needed a waterproof board and crayon with me to write things down, but fortunately that hasn’t been necessary. I do, however, keep a notepad and pen in my bathroom drawer, just in case.

The other place where my muse comes awake is on my daily dog walk. I very purposefully do not take a phone or music player with me. Sure, it’s more boring that way, but that’s the point–the very boring nature of the task opens up parts of my mind that aren’t coming into play when I’m focusing on my driving or listening to a phone conversation.

However, there are times when music can do the trick. Ask any writer what she listens to while writing and you’ll get a range of responses about the playlist. For me, it’s epic movie soundtracks: Braveheart, Rob Roy, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings and of course, all of the Pirates of the Caribbean scores. When that music kicks in, it’s a signal to my brain that it’s time to write and I’m much more focused without being distracted.

So, if you’re doing something different but it works for you, what is it? I’m always looking for new ways to wake up my muse, and one of you may have just the thing that’s needed!

I didn’t do this deliberately, but having the 4th of each month as my regular blog day means every year I get to write a Fourth of July blog.  And I like that.[g]

I was listening Friday to Morning Edition on NPR, as I do most mornings.  They followed a long standing ritual of having their anchors and correspondents read the Declaration of Independence.  It was fun picking out the voices I knew–Daniel Shor, Nina Totenberg, Sylvia Poggioli and all the various anchors of Morning Edition and All Things Considered.  That was special fun for me because I used to be a news director/anchor on the radio, and even now, decades later, older residents of my town recognize my voice.  When I’m in the grocery people will hear me and say, “Didn’t you use to be so-and-so who did the news on WGGG?”, which is nice after all these years away from the microphone.

Anyway, something struck me as I listened to the NPR correspondents read the Declaration of Independence aloud.  The richness of the words contained in that document.  So many of us neglect to take the time to read our country’s historic documents, even though as writers words are our tools.  You’re missing something if you don’t.  Maybe it bored you in junior high civics class, but as an adult and as a writer you should have a greater appreciation for the clarity of the writing of our Founding Fathers, the care with which they chose the words they would pass down to us more than 200 years later.

For example, did you know that Section Eight of the US Constitution authorizes Congress to “… grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal…”?  This means Congress can authorize individuals to be privateers, and someday I may write that thriller  about Congress authorizing a post-9/11 privateer to hunt down terrorists.  Oh sure, there are now international treaties outlawing privateering (and incidentally, the US signed on very late to that–after the Civil War), but this is the constitution.  If I wanted to, I’m sure I could work out the details.

Anyway (again), the point of this rambling blog post is this:  It’s the Fourth of July.  If you’re an American, be proud!  Read your Declaration of Independence. Enjoy the shiver it sends down your spine when you think about these individuals pledging ” our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor” so that you can live today in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.  Had they lost, they would have been drawn-and-quartered or hanged as traitors to the Crown. They chose their words carefully.  Maybe they had a premonition that 200 years later we would be reading them, and saying “Thank you.”

“Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.” – Don Miguel Ruiz.

I recently read The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and am trying to apply them to my life, because, hey, like everyone else, I want to help change the world.  It begins with me, right?

Only, applying the four agreements to every area of my life feels like moving the proverbial mountain, so I decided to do a test drive with my writing career. So far, it’s working. Better than working, it’s actually providing what Miguel promised it would: freedom, happiness and yes, even beautiful art.

Agreement One is Be Impeccable With Your Word. In life, this translates to stop the negative voices in your head and quit gossiping about others. When it comes to writing, you can apply this agreement to the voice inside your head that tells you your writing sucks. You can also apply this to your characters. In the beginning of your story, they’re lying to themselves and lying to other folks as well, trying to keep some secret buried or their feelings under lock and key. As the story progresses, they should come to terms with their truth, internally and externally, in order for them to grow.  Make this particular agreement with your readers and deliver it faithfully and you’ll have fans forever. 

Agreement Two is Don’t Take Anything Personally. I struggle with this agreement a lot. I take everything personally. Once I came to terms with the idea behind this agreement, though, I fell like a weight fell off my shoulders. It’s NOT about me. The way others react to me is a projection of their reality, not mine.

With my writing, I’ve learned it’s not about me either. It’s about the story. As the insightful Stephen King tells us, we should serve the story, not our ego. When an agent or editor rejects what we write, it sucks, but remember the rejection is about their reality. They have markets to abide by, budgets to keep in mind, office politics to deal with. Yes, the story is our baby, but it’s also a marketable (or unmarketable) commodity. The book of your heart is not the book of everyone else’s heart.

Agreement Three is Don’t Make Assumptions. Personally, I spend a lot of time reliving the past and projecting into the future.  If I’d only said this, or did that, or stood up to so-and-so, I’d be happier. As writers, we make a lot of assumptions, too. My critique partner said I better drop my prologue or no agent will ever sign me. The hero and heroine must meet in the first chapter because Bestselling Author always writes her stories that way. I’m doomed because I’ve accumulated five rejection letters.

Can you feel the drama? The heartbreak? The despair? Save it for your characters. Channel it into them. And while you’re caught up in their story, pause for a moment to realize you’re living in the moment when you’re writing. Not the past and not future – well, at least not your past or your future. You’re in the present, no assumptions in sight. Live it to the fullest and I guarantee it will show in your story.

The final agreement is Do Your Best. Unlike life, we can redo and rewrite our stories ad infinitum; however, if you do your best with every draft, you’ll end up with a wonderful story you’ll feel proud to show the world.

Even if you’re not a writer, you’re an artist of your own dream, your own life. Check out the four agreements, take them for a test run in one area of your life, and see what comes of it. You might just make beautiful art.