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.

Pleasing the Messenger

Oooh ... that was quick! Pleasing the Messenger cover has been released over at TEB.

Pleasing the Messenger by C.S. Chatterly is Book Three in the Uniform Behaviour series. Can you tell? LOL. I am hoping this is it for the series because I'm starting to have trouble finding suitable male faces. The hardest part of being a cover artist is finding stock. Then to add to my stock woes is my personal taste. All these guy's I find extremely attractive. Yes. There were other men in suitable poses but I just couldn't bring myself to use them because they didn't appeal to my taste. Sad really. But that is how the cookie crumbles. *sigh* One day I'll get myself a good camera and perhaps (perhaps) hire a couple of models to create my own personal stock. Stock that hasn't been used to death.

Anyway, back to the cover. Took a little while to find the male model. The first guy I had was a bit young but Claire and I managed to scrape up this handsome young fellow. Hmm .. nice jawline.

Then came the battle to find a suitable scene on the bottom. The story is set during an ice storm in Eastern Texas. I tried to keep the terrain as realistic as possible, hence a Texas mountain image (mind you I have no idea if there are mountains in Eastern Texas) Ah the joys of artistic license LOL!. Unfortunately no sign of ice/snow but I guess we can't have it all. Right? :D Anyway, I think it works well for the series. Two covers with the 'snow' effect would have been too much I think.

Well. I'm off to try and come up with a worthy Blog entry for Hitting the Hot Spot on Sunday. OMG! I have no idea what I'll blog about. Well, covers of course. Duh! But in what context, I'm not yet sure. Any ideas?

Melting the Minerals

Oh dear .. what a sad day it is for the Australian Film industry. Actor Health Ledger found dead in his NY apartment of an apparent drug overdose. Silly, silly boy *shakes head in disbelief*. He was 28! What a wasted life.

Well I'm not going to dwell on it. He was a bit of a strange one but that was probably the drugs. What a dreadful time it will be for his family and young daughter. It's hard enough dealing with these sorts of things in private, let alone having it all splashed across the world news.

Oh well. RIP Heath! May you have learnt your lessons in this life. Onwards and upwards and all that.

Okay on a lighter note here's the latest cover to grace the pages of TEB's out soon page.

Melting the Minerals by C.S. Chatterly (Book 3 in the Uniform Behaviour series). I really like the style of these covers and have been really happy with how they've all come together. Again this one was quite simple although I did have to add the guy's head to the woolly jacket LOL! I used a similar technique to create the snowy effect as I did for the fire in Daring the Underworld. I just removed the colour :D So there it is, a simple yet effective cover.

Now I also want to congratulate Total-E-Bound on getting 5th place in the P&E awards. 5th out of 107 publishers and they've only been up and running for approx. 6 months! The team at TEB are just so helpful and professional. It's a fantastic team to be involved with so why don't you head on over and check them out!

The TEB Chat over at Nightowl yesterday was fun and very encouraging. Everyone seems really happy with the standard of covers which is great. It's nice to know we're on the right track LOL!

So Dakota was thinking about taking a week off, however, seems her muse has other ideas http://vampsmut.blogspot.com/ and just why is Amarinda walking around the neighbourhood with her clothes on inside out, prey tell? http://amarindajones.blogspot.com/

Coming Soon

Hmm .. Prince of the three Mountains Daring the Underworld LOL! Sounds intriguing ;) Okay! These are the latest two covers that have been released over at Total-E-Bound :D

Daring the Underworld is second in the Uniform Behaviour series by C.S. Chatterly. I had great fun trying to create fire for this one! It's turned out pretty damn good too LOL! Is it just me or does the guy have a George Clooney look about him?

Prince of the Three Mountains by Ellie Tremayne was a bit more time consuming. The original stock photo was cropped off at the biceps and was off-centre. To even him up, I had to paint in his arms/elbows, only to crop them off again for the final cover! LOL. Still, it was a bit of a challenge ;) Don't you just love that background though?