Thursday, December 6, 2012

The news I've been dying to share. . . .


I have so much wonderful news to share today, I scarcely know where to start. First, since you are here, you see I have a gorgeous new website, but before I talk about that, my book cover for EVIDENCE OF LIFE is out!!! And I’m dying for you to see it! Feast your eyes! I think it’s stunning, one of the most compelling book covers in the entire world of books. Okay, so maybe I’m a bit prejudiced, but, truly, if you saw these eyes peering at you on-line or, better yet, if you saw them peering at you from a shelf in a bookstore, could you walk on by? Wouldn’t you just have to pick this book up? I don’t know how I got so lucky, but this cover captures the story that is EVIDENCE OF LIFE to a tee. Eerie and intriguing, yet lovely. I love the story in this novel; I loved writing it, and I hope you will love reading it, too. Look for it in March of 2013 or pre-order it now at Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

And I’m sorry to continue gushing, but none of this would be happening without the village filled with fantastic people that opened its doors to me and extended me their faith and support, among them my fabulous agent Barbara Poelle and my equally fabulous editor, Erika Imranyi, and the whole fantastic team at MIRA. First they made this novel’s debut possible, then they framed it in this stunning, cannot-leave-it-on-the-shelf way!! It’s hard to put into words how grateful I am to them and to readers everywhere for this opportunity to put my work into your hands. Special thanks, too, to NYT bestselling authors Sophie Littlefield and Joni Rodgers for reading EVIDENCE OF LIFE and then providing their lovely endorsements. 

Now for the website. Isn’t it beautiful? To me this is one of the very best things about doing virtual business, the fact that you can build and design a virtual storefront with relative ease when compared to real world building and designing. This is noteworthy, I think, because the one thing that has been constant since I published by first indie book in August, 2010, is change. When I entered the world of virtual publishing then, my view was very different than it is now. A little over two years later, the landscape of my goals has widened considerably. Since then my opportunities have become as endless and deep as the sky. Looking back, I see that in opening that door, in allowing myself to take that leap, things, people, the right circumstances, all came together to achieve something much greater than what I originally conceived.

Imagine that the very thing you wanted to achieve is a beautiful jewel. It’s like that for me, and of course, a beautiful jewel needs an equally beautiful setting. Not one that would overwhelm the message, but one that visually, and in this case, virtually, enhances it. My website is a visual synthesis of the premise that launches each novel I’ve written and the others that are living now within the walls of my brain: At the heart of every crime, there’s a family, someone you love…  Whether it is a legally criminal act or more a breach of morality, there is collateral damage. Other people are affected, other lives devastated. The words, sentences, paragraphs in a novel spin out through the pages to unfold the story, but an image can capture a story in an instant. It can pull you through its doors in a heartbeat, or in this case, its virtual cover. Browsing websites and book covers is similar to walking along a row of shops. Why do you choose to go inside one and not another, if not for the window display, the setting for the jewel?

This particular setting, which so perfectly depicts the mood and ambience of the novels I write, was designed by Maddee James of www.xuni.com. She is a true artist with a fantastic and intuitive gift for finding out your vision for your virtual storefront and then translating it into images that capture the very essence of your idea. I loved and thoroughly enjoyed every moment of collaborating with her. She not only designed the site, she also redesigned the covers for my three indie novels.

I didn’t really intend to change those covers, but in what seems an almost universal experience in design, once one thing is done, it’s nearly impossible to stop there. While I love the old covers, I also wanted to create a cohesive look among them that would reflect the site and the nature of what I write, my brand, in other words. The gorgeous covers Maddee has designed, I think, perfectly reflect the idea of normalcy, of ordinary life … except things are a bit skewed, a bit off kilter. There’s the suggestion of impending calamity.

I am so fortunate to have found Maddee and www.xuni.com and I can’t thank her enough. Her artistry with my site and with the covers just has exceeded my every expectation. Thank you, Maddee!

   

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