For twenty years – ever since my first book, An Image of
You, was published — I’ve been obsessing about cover art. That first cover was
so pleasing that it would have been difficult for any of those that followed to
match it.
The hero was suitably mature, the heroine had the right
colour hair and the African backdrop was perfect.
Since then, covers have been a bit of a roller-coaster. One
or two have brought tears to my eyes — and not of joy.
Now, with three of my early books reverted to me, I’ve been
on a cover image hunt of my own and suddenly I’m feeling a lot more sympathetic
for those guys in Toronto who have to produce 50+ every month. It’s a bit like
a car assembly line; you don’t want to be the last one of the day.
The three books I’m working on were a mixed bag. Old Desires
was pretty enough, although the hero was too young. Dangerous Flirtation was
cute and got everything right. A Stranger’s Kiss was a disaster with a heroine so hard-faced that any man would have run a mile and the hero wasn't wearing one of those ridiculous collars and I was really looking forward to giving that one a makeover.
Replacing
them with something that truly appeals to me has not, however, been the piece of cake I
fondly imagined it would be. Flirting and kissing are just about nailed, but
Old Desires? How on earth can I demonstrate that in a cover appealing enough,
sexy enough to have the reader hitting the one-click!
