Merry Christmas!

Geez it's been some time since I've posted. Here it is. Christmas already. Wow! Didn't see that coming ;) I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to an equally fantastic New Year.

What an interesting year it's been. A new publisher, old hobbies and interests re-awakened and sadly a passing of a beloved Aunt.

I've been keeping myself busy. Been loving my vegetable garden and as a result of my bountiful produce my love of cooking has re-emerged. Tomatoes! Loving the Tomatoes and Zucchinis and the herbs *sigh*. It's been such a nice balance to the amount of time I spend sitting at this computer.

Also, it will be the end of an era for me as my youngest will be heading off to big school next year. I'm not sure if I will need to go and get myself a job or if I will be lucky enough to expand my cover artwork business. I'll no doubt be spending a few more days at our family business so this might fit in well with my cover work.

But anyway, enough of me :D Here's a swag of my latest covers that I've been saving up to post in one big lot.




All the very best for the New Year!

Latest Covers for September

Here are my latest covers.

Stand and Deliver by Scarlet Blackwell is a gay historical. I had a bit of fun trying to find the right guy's to put together but I think it came out quite well.

Seduced by Moonlight by Lexie Davis is a the first book in a contemporary paranormal werewolf series - Exotic Wolves. It's not often that I actually find out the names of the models that I use on my covers. But I am very pleased to introduce you to the very sexy Jimmy Thomas and modelling partner (sorry .. didn't find out her name LOL!). Anyway, keep your eyes peeled for more Jimmy!!

Finding Love by Simone Anderson, another gay contemporary novel. Love the dramatic lighting on those bods! AVAILABLE NOW!!!

Imperial Topaz by Kim Dare is book 2 of the Collared series. This is quite a striking cover and worked really well towards this novel. AVAILABLE NOW!!!

Last but not least is Bastards and Pretty Boys by K.Z. Snow which is another of the popular gay contemporary novels. You'll see a different E-Publisher this time - Liquid Silver Books! AVAILABLE NOW!!!

Peeved!

Today I'm a little peeved.

I went into Istock to purchase an image that has been floating around there for ages. It was only a matter of time until it suited a cover I was working on.

However it seems Istock have added a brand new feature to their site. Vetta images. This is where certain images are selected for their artistic quality and are awareded the little gold camera icon. So images that once cost the buyer 4-6 credits now cost 40 credits and higher!!! I kid you not.

Just to give you an idea of what this means in real $$$. To purchase 26 credits it costs me $51.50 AUS (give or take a few $ depending on the price of the dollar at the time). So to purchase enough for just ONE of these images I'd have to buy 50 credits at a total of $95AUD.

Now for someone who can use up to 4 images in a cover. I'd have to hope like hell that none of these images have that little gold camera next to them.

So coming back to my peeved state. Do I have a right to be peeved? I mean I don't deny the photographers their lot. In fact the images selected ARE the better ones on the site. However, the small time freelancer like myself just can't afford to purchase these images. It just happens that 90% of the images that I've earmarked in my lightboxes now have these damn little gold camera icons next to them :(

So, I've opted NOT to include Vetta images in my searches. I just hope that I can still provide you with good quality, attractive images. I'm not sure if these images are exclusive to Istock only. It wouldn't surprise me if I could go to Dreamstime or Shutterstock and get them at the normal rate. I must go and have a squiz.

Anyway, that's my peeve for the day. Hope to add some more covers very soon.

Covers and Bits and Bobs ...

COMING SOON TO TEB!!!!



Geez! How long has it been since I've posted anything here. Here are the latest covers. There are a couple waiting to be put up on the publishers websites, so I'll wait till they are up before I post them here. Silk & Shadows would be my favourite cover in this group. Oh and the guy's hair is actually my daughters hair LOL!

Things have slowed down a bit unfortunately. I really need to approach a few more publishers. The few I have approached have not responded to my emails, so I guess I just keep plugging away. Sending emails and hoping for a response.

Anyway, to fill in my spare time, I've gotten back into my gardening which is a fantastic excuse to get away from the clutches of the computer. I'm thoroughly enjoying the experience although with it being winter here in AUS things are a bit slow to get going.

I've just put in a big order with Diggers Seeds (passionfruit, comfrey, Beneficial Insect Attracting collection, blueberries, zucchini, pyrethrum, cucumber, capsicum, beans, spring onions, nasturtium, bortolli beans and an heirloom lettuce mix). I'm so excited I can't wait till they arrive. I'm also considering getting a few layer hens for the yard. A couple of Sussex and Wyandotte's would suit us nicely. I like the idea of the pure breed hens. While they don't lay as prolifically as the hybrids they do lay over a longer time span (6-7 years instead of 3-4).



Now I just have to build a coop and run for the girls which will be an interesting experience LOL.

Latest Covers for May

Coming Soon to TEB!!

Here are my latest covers that are coming soon/released with Total-E-Bound.

Latest Covers

COMING SOON TO TEB!!!

All these covers were pretty straight forward. If you want to know how any one particular cover was created, just let me know.

I'm finding it hard to comment on every cover atm.

Turquoise & Leather

COMING SOON TO TOTAL-E-BOUND!!!

Turquoise and Leather is the first book of the Collared Series by Kim Dare. This is a gay/BDSM novella.

I started off by trying to find a guy in leather looking pants. This image fit the bill nicely and it had a nice dark quality to it which appealed to me. The Author requested that the model be wearing a turquoise collar as mentioned in the book.

It was simple enough to create the collar. I tracked down a rough chunk of turquoise and simply popped it over the leather looking cord. I think this guy may have been wearing a necklace so I just shortened it and then painted over the chain to give it a leather look.

I usually up the contrast on all my images which can add a more dramatic effect.

As you can see I used three different fonts. Two is always preferrable but the 'AND' looked better in a lower case, which the Trajan Pro didn't allow. I also added a turquoise glow around the fonts to tie in with the title.

Fire Update

What a week it's been here in Australia. Disasterous bushfires in Victoria (181 confirmed dead with hundreds still missing) and at the other end of the spectrum, major flooding in Northern Queensland. Add that to the big freeze over in the UK and the tornados in the US I think we've almost covered all the elements!

It's amazing to think that there can be any 'feel good' moments coming out of the Victorian Bushfires. But I thought I would share with you the story of Sam the Koala.

Sam a wild female Koala, was found wandering amongst the charred remains of her bushland home. Scared, bewildered, burned and dehydrated. Check out this rough video footage:



And here she is a few days later. Looking much happier and she's even found herself a boyfriend!! You can't keep an Aussie woman down for long!



Support our wildlife by donating to RSPCAVIC

Victorian Bushfires

I just can't believe the devistation from the Victorian Bushfires.

108 people DEAD with 100 unaccounted for! Some of those dead were children.

Over 700 homes lost.

Whole communities burnt to the ground.

See here for more info.

Please if there are any Aussies out there reading this blog, send off a donation.

There are a few options you can take:

* Visit www.redcross.org.au for an online donation.
* Phone 1800 811 700
* Visit any NAB, ANZ, Westpac or Commonwealth Bank branch
* Visit any Bunnings store
* Make a direct deposit to the Victorian Bushfire Relief Fund - BSB 082-001, Account number 860-046-797

Myer Bushfire Appeal
* All proceeds to the Salvation Army. Donate at any Victorian Myer store
* or visit the Salvation Army online.

And of course where would we be without the CFA volunteers (Country Fire Authority). These guys and gals are heros! Don't forget to support your local Volunteer Fire fighters. Who knows when you will need them.

Lonely Hearts

COMING SOON TO TOTAL-E-BOUND!!!

Lonely Hearts by Aurora Rose Lynn.

There were two main requirements for this cover. Firstly the Author didn't want a dark cover and secondly they wanted a snowy road scene.

So the background of the snowy road set the scene for the rest of the cover. I came across a couple that I liked and felt were sexy enough for the book.

I desaturated the image of the couple and played with the contrast/brightness to lighten them up a bit. I also had to brighten the snow scene to blend in with the couple at the top.

I went for a font colour to compliment the rest of the cover and used a lower case to give it a contemporary feel.

All in all I think it came together nicely and does stand out from the other darker covers it is displayed with.

Cover Award!

Woohoo!! What a start to '09!

I'm very excited to announce that Conjuring Cal won the Best Ebook Cover in the Fantasy/Futuristic/Off World Erotic Ebook Cover category of the Night Owl Romance Awards 2008.

Yay Cal!!

I must say it's a thrill to see a cover acknowledged. There's a lot of blood, sweat and tears that go into a cover, although sometimes it may not appear so. I've always felt that Cover artists hold the Bridesmaid roll in the publishing industry. It's our job to make the Author stand out amongst the crowd by providing them with the most eyecatching cover we can.

Many Authors can rely on their name alone to sell books but for the remainder the cover can be their greatest asset. It is what catches the readers eye. Piques their interest enough to pick up the book and read the blurb on the back (or in this electronic age, click on the cover to read an excerpt).

If we can achieve that then we've done our job. The rest is up to the Author.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Hooray!! 2009 is upon us. I thought 2008 would never end. What a crappy year that was. BUT a new year means a new start and I'm all for new starts.

So to wrap up 2008 and move into 2009 I'm going to load up the final covers from 2008.



So my computer is on it's last legs. I think it may have a bug in it somewhere. I don't know. It's just SOOOOOOO slow these days. I know I need to get a new hard drive as mine is VERY small apparently. Still I don't think this should be affecting my working speed. Again. I don't know. All I do know is that people can seem to run a plethora of programmes at once and I'm lucky to run Photoshop and Outlook without the thing grinding to a halt.

I have the option to upgrade it (again) but I'm thinking it might be time to replace this old beast. I'm also considering changing over to an Apple Mac. I believe I can run my PC programmes on a MAC with a bridge programme. I'll have to suss this out with my Computer guy first though. I hope I can do that. I can't afford to be buying Creative Suite again!