Margaret and the Awesome Covers of Awesomeness

The model, the myth, the legend!

The first rule of cover art is: Don’t overcomplicate things.

I overcomplicate things out of reflex.

A couple of years ago, when I’d been freed from my evil contract with the evil publisher Evil Maya (cue the ominous lightning and thunder) I immediately set about recovering the disaster that she’d insisted was a work of art. My new publisher, Johnathon Clayborn at Clayborn Press was thrilled and very supportive.

I started sifting through models that never quite met what I was looking for. There’s a lot that a good artist can do to make a mediocre model work for a cover. Still, it’s better to start from a position of strength and reinforce it.

That’s when it hit me. I have a friend who models on the side. She’s even into science fiction and geekdom, and has done some geeky/nerdy model work.

What has made my writing fun has been the involvement of my friends and family. I have beta readers I’ve known since junior high school, and my genius brother has provided all kinds of assistance from a historical standpoint. Friends have served as the inspiration for characters, events, and entire plots.

What better way to celebrate the re-release of my first two books—TEARS OF HEAVEN and HELL BECOMES HER—and the release of my third book—COMPANY OF THE DAMNED—than to do so with a friend?

I reached out to Margaret and asked if she had any shots that might meet my needs. Margaret did me one better. She said she’d get with her photographer, Jess Middlebrook, and shoot the shots that I needed.

And she did.

Well . . . she's half-angel!

The artwork was great, just super-strong and covered in awesomeness. My cover artist, Julie, took off from there and returned outstanding artwork. Everything came together incredibly fast. We spent only a day or three on each cover, and BAM we were done. I had to wait longer for Amazon to actually populate the new covers than I did working with Julie to build them.

It couldn’t have worked out better. I have friends who have helped me, and continue to help me, at every aspect of my “writing career”. Champions and cheerleaders who promote my work, rush to congratulate my victories, and mourn my defeats.

Thank you John, Jess, Julie, and Margaret.

And of course, thank you to all my friends and family. I can’t thank everyone enough!