KANSAS CITY, HERE I COME!

"WHAT I DON’T LIKE ABOUT MY “BACK-TO-BACK” MOCK UP: The man is all wrong. He's small and he's in a kilt, but his expression is perfect. I don't like this background. It looks too much like a state capitol building. And then people who don't know what the "White City" is will misinterpret. So I think my background is all wrong. 
 
WHAT I DO LIKE ABOUT MY “BACK-TO-BACK” MOCK UP: I like that it incorporates all the elements: 1) White City  2) Proud, distrustful guy  3) Beautiful woman in a beautiful dress who is a doctor.
 
GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT MY “BACK-TO-BACK” MOCK UP: I tried a stethoscope around the girl's neck, but it got lost amidst her dress and the background. So I found a doctor's bag with a stethoscope wrapped around it. That would avert any confusion there--but we'd need to change the bottom of the stethoscope to a more antique type and it should be black instead of red.
 

 
I love this girl's expression. It conveys lots of fun. But it makes it look like she’s chasing the guy, which doesn't happen at all in the story. Plus her dress is completely inappropriate. The concept I was shooting for here was humor or fun. 
 

 
I like this background of the Woman's Building A LOT. And I think the woman is pretty and her dress is yummy. She really pops. The problem is, it doesn't tell us anything about the story."
 
 
Now this is where it gets fascinating. The art department takes all my ideas along with suggestions from their team and they come back with this:
 

 
As you can see, Bruce (Art Director) used the background photo of the Woman’s Building which I provided (my favorite) along with the woman in the gorgeous dress. Love that.
 
As for the doctor’s bag, they added a medical symbol. So clever and so much less complicated than a stethoscope.
 
Her hands look weird since she isn’t actually holding the bag—they just Photoshopped that in. But I knew they’d fix that once the mock-up was given a green light from all the decision makers.
 
Last, they incorporated the same color scheme, fonts and swirls that are used on It Happened at the Fair (my full-length Chicago World’s Fair book).
 
I don’t know about you, but I loved it. I gave it a thumbs up along with one minor request: “Can we make her bust line just a little more inspiring? Right now, it looks like a lot of lace and ruffles without much substance.”
 
Now, they knuckle down to fine tune the final product. First order of business: Fix her hands.
 
In order to do this, Bruce buzzes Jessica (an editor at my publishing house) and asks if he can borrow her hands. Since Bruce is the Art Director, this request isn’t out of the norm for him. She knew exactly what he was asking. So, she walks down the hall and does a photo shoot with Bruce right there in his office. You’ll note he had Jessica tilt her hands in several different ways.
 

 
And this is the photo that they actually used:
 

 
Next, Bruce superimposes Jessica’s hands onto the cover, “plumps up” the cover model’s bust line, finalizes the colors, shadows, and highlights, then sends the final cover to me—which is the one you see posted on all the online retailer sites that carry Tempest.
 

 
So, what do you think? Do you like how it turned out? What surprised you most about the process?

Leave a comment here on my blog for a chance to win a FREE, AUTOGRAPHED Advanced Readers Copy of It Happened at the Fair. To qualify, your comment must be posted by midnight CDT on Sunday, April 7, 2013.

** No purchase necessary. Click here for the OFFICIAL CONTEST RULES. 

ELIGIBILITY: Contest is open to residents of the United States that are 18 years or older, except residents of Florida or anywhere that contests such as this one are prohibited, taxed, or otherwise restricted by law. Entrants must have a valid mailing address within the continental USA.
 

To make it up to you, how about we give away an Advance Reader's Copy of It Happened at the Fair? To enter, leave a comment here on my blog before midnight CST on Saturday, March 16, 2013.

ELIGIBILITY: Contest is open to residents of the United States that are 18 years or older, except residents of Florida or anywhere that contests such as this one are prohibited, taxed, or otherwise restricted by law. Entrants must have a valid mailing address within the continental USA.

It Happened at the Fair has been typeset.  I am so excited.  It will be on the shelves on April 30, just a few weeks away.

Now I can share Chapter One with you!

Click on the cover of the book to get a glimpse of Chapter One.

When you've read the chapter, be sure to post a comment on facebook by clicking the button below. As a bonus, we'll randomly choose one lucky facebook commenter to receive a FREE autographed copy of any one of my previous titles.

(Giveaway starts March 7, 2013 and ends on March 10, 2013 at midnight CST. Winner must have a continental USA mailing address to qualify and must respond within 10 days of notification via Facebook message.)

Enjoy!

Would you like FREE ADMISSION to RomCon? Would you like some BEHIND THE SCENES contact with some of your favorite authors? Then apply to be a RomCon Team Volunteer! 

Below are a few positions RomCon has open. Some might take a couple hours a month, some a few hours a week.

• Book Club Helpers (Inspirational and General Romance)

• Reviewers (experienced, all genres - new reviews or shared from your blog)

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• Reader Judges (all fiction genres including Thriller, Horror, Fantasy, etc...)

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• RomCon Ambassadors - first line of contact

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If you're interested in any of them, email admin@romconinc.com with your thoughts, comments, suggestions, or skill set and they will give you a better idea of what would be involved in each area.  

RomCon 2012 General Fun Pass

Get yours today!  

 General Admission and Author Registration open!

 Alexandra Ivy, Deeanne Gist, Elizabeth Hoyt, Holly Jacobs, Jill Shalvis, Julia Quinn, Kat Martin, Patricia Rosemoor, Rebecca Forster, Teresa Medeiros, and many, many more!

Of course, I don't teach anymore. But, I still manage to do my share of dressing up at my Getaway With Dee events each summer. As part of my fascination with dress up clothes, I comb through all kinds of vintage clothing sites. Pinterest has offered a plethora of new places to explore.

Here are some of my favorites from my recent finds:

On the left is a two-piece tan silk shantung dress. The two pieces are a skirt and cuaisse bodice with brown faille trim. It is from the trousseau of Della Miles Bertch, 1887.  On the right is the matching coat with hood and matching parasol. I found this on Rhonda Gibson's Pinterest page.

I found this cotton Civil War dress (circa 1865) on Kelly Cochran Davis' Pinterest page. This, too, would be two pieces--a skirt and a bodice (with a bazillion kinds of undergarments underneath). I particularly love the circles and dots along the skirt. The sleeves are super fun also.

Last is this bathing suit ensemble (also from Rhonda Gibson's page). The embroidered red-orange wool serge suit by LY and J Nathan has wool braid trim. It was worn by Emily Tinne in 1910 during her honeymoon in Ireland. Her orange cotton sateen bathing cap has waterproof rubber backing.

My favorite part of the outfit, however, are her linen espadrilles (aka shoes). An orange anchor is embroidered on the linen. They have cotton jute soles and cotton laces.

Do you still play dress up?

Then, I got the green-light for converting one of our rooms into an official Scrapbook Room. It doesn't have a bed, nor a chest of drawers, nor a clothes closet. Just scrapbook paraphenailia around a giant four-person desk. Ah ... heaven on earth. :)

When I first began to put the room together, the biggest challenge was finding a piece of furniture deep enough (and wide enough) to hold my 12x12 scrapbook paper and my scrapbook albums. About that time, Michaels Craft Store began to carry Jetmax Modulars.

They are cubes specifically designed to hold scrapbook paper & albums and they fit together using dowels. So, every Birthday, Christmas, Mother's Day, and Valentines, I would get one or two more cubicles. And when Michaels had their 40% off sale, I'd stock up on a couple more.

Now, I have a whole wall full of them. And guess what? Michaels is having their 40% off sale this week! (Sunday, Jan 22 - Saturday Jan 28). AND if you go to their website, you can find a 25% Off Your Entire Purchase coupon. So, if you've been wanting to build one, now would be a great time to get started.

I will warn you, though, the dowels don't hold the vertical columns together very well. So, I went to Home Depot and had a piece of wood cut to the dimension of my cabinet, then I used it as a base to stack everything on. You will find that much more secure than carpet.

Even if you don't have a specific room to scrapbook in, this modular is nice looking and can fit against any wall. I really love mine! Happy shopping!

 If you use this idea, be sure to come to my facebook page and post a picture! I'd love to see it.

And what about you? Do you have any good table decorating ideas?

Part of that rearranging is trying to consolidate the places I go online. I know you visit my blog often because I have a behind-the-scenes tabulator that shows me the great number of you who stop by on a daily and weekly basis. But more and more I find myself zipping over to Facebook. I guess I go there because it's so quick and I hear back from you--which I love.

I guess what I'm leading up to is, I'm going to quit blogging every Monday. I'm not saying I won't ever post something. I'm sure I will. It just won't be on a regular basis.

In order to keep from having to check back to see if I've written anything, you can click on the orange RSS Feed at the bottom of this post. That way, it will send you a little alert if I post something. Also, you can sign up for my eNewsletter. I only use it for very special announcements, so you won't be inundated with emails. That's another way to keep up.

Of course, we have the Chat Room. The girls visit over there all the time and I stop by every couple of weeks--sometimes more, sometimes less. But something is always going on.

Now, if you are a Facebook user, I am on FB every single day--even if I don't post something. So, that's the best place to find me.

In the meanwhile, feel free to leave a comment here. I receive an alert every time someone writes a comment. So, I'll be sure to read yours.

Thanks for being so flexible!  

Hugs,

On New Year's Eve our 23 yo daughter got engaged. Her boyfriend originally planned to propose after dinner, but was so nervous he was afraid he might throw up and not enjoy their expensive dinner. So, he took her to an affluent neighborhood in Dallas known for their Christmas lights. There was a park with a gazebo decked out in lights. He led her to it. Right as he bent a knee and opened the ring box, a horse-and-carriage with a group of people inside passed by. They all started applauding. :)

After the proposal, they had a lovely dinner. The chef made our daughter a complimentary creme brulee and decorated her plate with a chocolate diamond ring and a "Congratulations."

Meanwhile, their friends and family gathered at the home of her boyfriend's parents. Greg and I were there, along with our other daughter, Greg's sister & husband, and Granddad. The kids arrived after dinner and we all celebrated. I haven't stayed up until 3:30 a.m. in a loooooong time!!

It was great fun and we are thrilled with the young man she has chosen to spend the rest of her life with.