The Magical Invitation of Cover ArtJust for your Big Cat shiny eyes from the Kougar...
One of the best things about walking into a bookstore for me, besides all of those fantastic books just begging to be read, is the magical invitation of cover art. Yes, there’s also the wonderful smell of all those books, tempting and teasing all of us bookaholics. There they sit on their shelves and endcaps, in the bargain bins, waiting to find their right homes, ready to be ensconced in our shopping bags.
But before I choose which ones to buy, whether it’s an adventurous escape into romance or my eclectic appetite for non-fiction, anything from travel to building that next deck, I look at the pictures, those amazing displays of graphic art.
I saunter around the shrine of reading and indulge in all those rows of cover art. Today, more than ever, it’s a kaleidoscopic feast of styles, meant to tempt you to pick up that book and buy, buy, buy. Usually, I don’t unless the accompanying blurb and a quick peek inside convince me...yep, this read is for me. Once in awhile, I’ll succumb and purchase just for the cover art, if it resonates at such a deep level I can’t resist.
Yup, even as a kidlet before kindergarten I wanted the irresistible eye candy of those big picture books as much as I wanted to hear my mom or dad read the story. What could be better than living the tale and seeing it unfold as the artist imagined the story? All at the same time? That has never changed or me. Growing up, I was usually as excited over the cover art and pictures as I was eager to read the story waiting for me, the one that would wisk me away to another time, another place.
Now, in the age of cyber cover art, I’m in a beautiful-color paradise of images designed to catch my eye and lure me to the click-buy button. From the lovely sensual romance cover art of our Friday guest blogger, Sarah Mallory – to the exquisite sizzling beauty of the vampire slayer on Colleen Gleason’s cover art – or the more traditional oh-be-still-my-beating-heart covers on Anna Campbell’s novels (I always feel like swooning into the hero’s hard, but tender embrace) – to our Helen’s cover art for The Magic Knot. Which, I swear, grabs me more each time I look at it. Perhaps, it’s the celtic lyrical magic of the images combined with the realism of the entwined couple. That feel of mythos brought forward into modern times, which has an enchantment-appeal all its own to our psyches, where archetypes live and constantly weave their spells inside us. Hey, think Xena, Warrior Princess or Hercules with Kevin Sorbo, where the gods and goddesses were on their worst behavior and their best behavior.
Okay, why a blog about cover art? Gee, I dunno...could it be? Could it?
Yeah, big surprise, I’m showing off my cover art for When a Good Angel Falls, coming from Siren-BookStrand late in 2008, and currently featured on the new BookStrand site. Jinger Heaston is the cover artist and I think she beautifully captured my story. I couldn’t be happier. Kudos, Jinger!
Blurb for When a Good Angel Falls ~ 2012 futuristic ~
A world-weary, worn-out, incarnated angel who believes she is merely human has three choices: let the Nazerazzi of the North American Union capture her, walk out into the desert night and let the wildlife have a meal, or trust a mysterious stranger on a black motorcycle...More ~ http://www.bookstrand.com/comingsoon/
One of the best things about walking into a bookstore for me, besides all of those fantastic books just begging to be read, is the magical invitation of cover art. Yes, there’s also the wonderful smell of all those books, tempting and teasing all of us bookaholics. There they sit on their shelves and endcaps, in the bargain bins, waiting to find their right homes, ready to be ensconced in our shopping bags.
But before I choose which ones to buy, whether it’s an adventurous escape into romance or my eclectic appetite for non-fiction, anything from travel to building that next deck, I look at the pictures, those amazing displays of graphic art.
I saunter around the shrine of reading and indulge in all those rows of cover art. Today, more than ever, it’s a kaleidoscopic feast of styles, meant to tempt you to pick up that book and buy, buy, buy. Usually, I don’t unless the accompanying blurb and a quick peek inside convince me...yep, this read is for me. Once in awhile, I’ll succumb and purchase just for the cover art, if it resonates at such a deep level I can’t resist.
Yup, even as a kidlet before kindergarten I wanted the irresistible eye candy of those big picture books as much as I wanted to hear my mom or dad read the story. What could be better than living the tale and seeing it unfold as the artist imagined the story? All at the same time? That has never changed or me. Growing up, I was usually as excited over the cover art and pictures as I was eager to read the story waiting for me, the one that would wisk me away to another time, another place.
Now, in the age of cyber cover art, I’m in a beautiful-color paradise of images designed to catch my eye and lure me to the click-buy button. From the lovely sensual romance cover art of our Friday guest blogger, Sarah Mallory – to the exquisite sizzling beauty of the vampire slayer on Colleen Gleason’s cover art – or the more traditional oh-be-still-my-beating-heart covers on Anna Campbell’s novels (I always feel like swooning into the hero’s hard, but tender embrace) – to our Helen’s cover art for The Magic Knot. Which, I swear, grabs me more each time I look at it. Perhaps, it’s the celtic lyrical magic of the images combined with the realism of the entwined couple. That feel of mythos brought forward into modern times, which has an enchantment-appeal all its own to our psyches, where archetypes live and constantly weave their spells inside us. Hey, think Xena, Warrior Princess or Hercules with Kevin Sorbo, where the gods and goddesses were on their worst behavior and their best behavior.
Okay, why a blog about cover art? Gee, I dunno...could it be? Could it?
Yeah, big surprise, I’m showing off my cover art for When a Good Angel Falls, coming from Siren-BookStrand late in 2008, and currently featured on the new BookStrand site. Jinger Heaston is the cover artist and I think she beautifully captured my story. I couldn’t be happier. Kudos, Jinger!
Blurb for When a Good Angel Falls ~ 2012 futuristic ~
A world-weary, worn-out, incarnated angel who believes she is merely human has three choices: let the Nazerazzi of the North American Union capture her, walk out into the desert night and let the wildlife have a meal, or trust a mysterious stranger on a black motorcycle...More ~ http://www.bookstrand.com/comingsoon/
Good angel kisses from the Kougar...
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