Book Covers and Book Titles-Hooking Readers

By Linda Lovely

On Sunday, I was delighted to have Dru’s Book Musings schedule a cover reveal for Bones To Pick, my new Brie Hooker Mystery from Henery Press. In response, I received a variety of comments. Most—but not all people—really liked the cover. (I love it.) A couple of people also advised me to change the title of my book because other authors had already published book with the same (or similar) titles, e.g. A Bone to Pick by Charlaine Harris and Bones to Pick by Carolyn Haines.  So it seemed a good time to talk about how the publishing world deals with book cover creation and the selection of book titles.

Book Titles

The folks who pointed out that other books carry the same or similar titles to my Bones To Pick are absolutely right. Is this a problem? No. For starters, book titles can’t be copyrighted.  Searching for Bones To Pick on Amazon calls up a list of 11 novels with the same/similar title, and mine hadn’t yet joined the list. This isn’t unusual. I searched for Fatal Flaw and found about 40 books with that title or a similar one before I stopped counting.

Why is there so much overlap? Book titles need to be short, easy-to-remember and relate to the story. Bones To Pick was a no-brainer for my book since (a) a skull is dug up early in the book, and (b) many of the potential villains have “bones to pick” with the victim and/or the person accused of murder.

There’s really no danger of confusing readers as long as the cover of the book and the back cover description don’t mimic other books that carry the same title. The cover created by Henery Press certainly fills the bill here. There’s no chance of it being confused with another book when doing an online search. The fact that my name appears in large print on the cover also ensures that anyone buying my book won’t mistake it for another.

Book Covers

I’ve heard authors complain about their covers. Understandable, given that cover design decisions are ultimately made by publishers, not authors. However, most publishers do seek input from their authors to guide cover design and ensure they’re satisfied.

That was certainly the case with Henery Press, and it’s why I’m delighted with my cover. Before the cover artist, Stephanie Savage, started design, I completed a form that allowed me to share key information about the characters and plot, the book’s tone, and location. I also was able to list covers I liked as reference points as well as the types of covers I disliked.

The Bones To Pick cover is eye-catching, uses bright colors, and communicates setting (a goat dairy). It also suggests the reader can expect a light-hearted read with a side of humor. I hope people who pick up the book based on the delightful cover won’t be disappointed.

Pigs Don't Sweat, Authors Do!

By Linda Lovely

My Brie Hooker Mysteries are set on a Udderly Kidding Dairy in Upstate South Carolina. The farm's 400 goats and animal menagerie often figure in the plot. In BONES TO PICK, the first book in the series (debuting Oct. 24), Tammy the Pig roots up a buried skull and with it lots of deadly secrets.

In BONES TO PICK, Tammy is a pot-bellied pig adopted by Aunt Eva after her original owners abandoned her. As Udderly's veterinarian laments, too many people buy pot-bellied pigs as pets when they're cute babies but lose interest when they grow.

So what is a pot-bellied pig and how big do they get? While the breed is considered "small," the average adult weighs about 150 pounds. Yet because it's so dense, a pig of this size would be much smaller than an 80-pound German Shepherd. And Tammy would be a dwarf compared to her farm hog cousins that can weigh in at 900 pounds. Long prized in Vietnam as a symbol of happiness, satiety and wealth, the once plentiful breed was put on an "endangered" list in the 1970s in its native habitat. It was marketed as a pet in the US during the 1980s. Purebred potbellies were black and heavily wrinkled with sway backs sagging bellies.

What's Tammy's temperament?

She's very smart. Pigs are considered  earth’s fourth smartest animal group just behind apes and chimps, whales and dolphins, and humans. Sorry, dogs. Potbellied pigs are not only intelligent, they're curious and have distinct, charming personalities. They can be taught tricks but they have an independent streak. While they can be housebroken, Tammy is an outdoor pig. (They will not soil their water source.) Affectionate creatures, they usually get along well with dogs and cats. 

Pigs Don't Sweat

At age three, Tammy is still a youngster. However, she can expect to reach a ripe old age of 15. Like my vegan heroine, Brie, she enjoys fresh fruits and vegetables and needs to have clean water always available. That's because Tammy, like all her pig relatives, doesn't sweat. So she needs the water to cool off. 

Rooting is a natural instinct and how pigs find food in nature. Tammy loves toys. Like her brethern, she's susceptible to Porcine Stress syndrome, e.g. "freaking" out. But Udderly's vet knows how to calm her down.

Authors Sweat

When I was a kid, I spent a great deal of time on my cousin's farm and helped feed the hogs. But I'm no expert on pigs in general or potbellied pigs in particular. That means that I may have made more than one mistake in my portrayal of Tammy. As an author, I do try to get the details right. But I hope Tammy will forgive me if I made a mistake.

Do you enjoy reading books that include animals?  

Write What You Fear?

 By Linda Lovely

We’ve all heard the old saw—write what you know. Oh, really?

Fortunately, most authors of mysteries, thrillers, and romantic suspense have never been shot, beaten, handcuffed, kidnapped, stalked or targeted by a relentless assassin. So does that mean we can’t write about heroines and heroes thrown into terrifying situations?

I couldn't do this!

Of course not. There is a way to write what we “know” when we place our heroines/heroes in dangerous situations we’ve never experienced. Method actors do it all the time. They draw on the real emotions that gripped them at some point in their lives.

I suffer from “moderate” vertigo and a fear of heights. Years ago, when I was a partner in a PR firm that prepared feature articles for corporate clients, I covered the Miss Universe contest for a computerized lighting equipment manufacturer. The client requested photos (I was both writer and photographer) taken from “above” its overhead lights to spotlight its equipment with the Miss Universe contestants on the stage below. To get the shots, I was allowed to climb the scaffolding during rehearsals. (Did I mention this contest was NOT held in the USA where OSHA standards might apply?)

As I scooted along the beam, the whole rickety structure seemed to sway. I was terrified. Sweat beaded on my forehead. My heart raced. My fingers were so sweaty I could barely focus the camera. I got dizzy. Closed my eyes. Tried to steady my breathing. I watched a sweat droplet plummet and wondered if the lady below thought there was a leak in the roof. The incongruous thought made me want to giggle. Edge of hysteria? Maybe.

I climbed to the top of this lighthouse to take
pix for a client. As high as I go & not thrilled. 

My seventh book, Bones To Pick, a humorous mystery, will debut in October. The plots are quite different. But—what a surprise—my heroines all suffer from vertigo and a fear of heights and often find themselves in situations where they must overcome those fears to survive.

In Dear Killer, Marley Clark climbs to the pinnacle of a lighthouse to flee a gunman. In No Wake Zone, the sequel to Dear Killer, Marley must leap from a rooftop to the scaffolding of a roller coaster to lure a killer away from her cousin. In Dead Line, the first of my Smart Women, Dumb Luck Romantic Thrillers, Nexi Ketts rappels into the depths of a cave that’s deeper than the Statue of Liberty is tall.

Do you take advantage of your fears and remembered emotions when you write? If so, do you have fears that resurface in different guises in your manuscripts?

   

Vegan Summer Fare-Blueberry Pie

By Linda Lovely

Here's another dessert that would my vegan chef heroine, Brie Hooker, would be pleased to serve to her friends. I'm posting vegan recipes every other Friday. Okay,  I'm on a dessert kick at the moment, but blueberries are in season. Still picking from my bushes.

Blueberry Pie Filling

For baked single-crust 9-inch pie

5 cups fresh BLUEBERRIES

4 tablespoons of cornstarch

3/4 cup sugar

Pinch salt

½ + Tsp. Lemon zest (grated lemon peel)

1 Tblsp + Lemon juice

½ Cup Water

In a 1 quart pan, thoroughly stir/mix the sugar & cornstarch. This ensures no lumps. Then add 2 cups of blueberries, the lemon peel, lemon juice and water. Cook over medium high heat. You need to stir constantly after it starts bubbling. It will come to a full boil and thicken rapidly after it does. It’ll be almost like paste when it’s ready. Take the pan off the heat and fold in the 3 cups of uncooked blueberries. Then spoon the combined mixture into your baked pie crust. Let cool, then refrigerate.

Not a vegan? You can serve with ice cream or whipped cream. A vegan? The pie’s good solo or with one of the nondairy ice creams.

Hints: Buy a real, fresh lemon. Use a grater to zest the skin, then squeeze the lemon and remove the seeds. I use half the lemon zest and half the lemon juice for one pie. You can refrigerate the rest of the lemon juice/zest for your next pie, which will be baked tomorrow if your family eats blueberry pie like mine does.

The uncooked berries are what makes this pie so delicious. You can make the pie with frozen/defrosted berries but it won’t have the same texture and will tend to be more watery. But in the winter, it’s still a treat.

Critique Partners & Beta Readers with Unlike Minds

By Linda Lovely

I love to write (and read) mysteries and romantic suspense/thrillers tailored to an adult audience. That’s why I initially sought critique partners who focused on the same genres and shared my sense of humor and fondness for snark.

They “got” me—and my writing style.

Me (center) with critique partners Howard Lewis & Robin Weaver 

However, mostly by happenstance, I’ve widened my critique/Beta reader circle. I belong to a five-person local critique group (three women and two very secure men). We meet one afternoon each month for an intensive critique session. We’ve been at this for several years.  We limit the size of the group to five so we have the time to provide in-depth critiques.

Group members include a man working on a young adult fantasy, an author who focuses on Southern-flavor, character-rich short stories, a published memoir author, and a former Air Force co-pilot writing about his experiences in Vietnam. Our backgrounds are as different as our writing styles and reading tastes. Our birthplaces include Algeria, two Southern states and two Midwestern states. Our former professions include English teacher and labor union representative, engineer, translator and manager, college professor, and me handling all types of public relations and advertising.    

To prepare for monthly in-person sessions, we each email five+ pages from a work in progress. These submissions may or may not be sequential. For example, I may choose a love scene I’m insecure about, pages with troublesome dialogue where I’m trying to surreptitiously shoehorn in some backstory, or a section where I want to see if my attempts at humor are actually funny.  We also read completed manuscripts for each other once we’ve polished them and feel we are nearing the finish line.

While I’d never give up the invaluable feedback I receive from fellow hard-core mystery/romantic suspense authors, I find the questions, suggestions, and comments from authors who don’t share my mindset to be equally valuable. (Long-distance critique partners Maryanne Romano and Robin Weaver have been lifesavers for YEARS.) 

A male critiquer—no matter what genre he writes—is priceless, because he can warn when a hero’s dialogue is pure nonsense—“No man would ever say that.”  Having critique partners from different parts of the country helps you discover which regional sayings are fun versus ones that prove so puzzling they cause a “huh?” reaction that takes readers out of the story. I firmly believe the more diverse your critique circle the more likely you are to appeal to a broader audience—plus you become a more nuanced writer and reader. I didn’t know how much I could enjoy fantasy, short stories, and memoirs until I joined this group.

Members of my local group are—Donna Campbell, Danielle Dahl, Howard Lewis, and Charles Duke.

I also have recruited members of my book club as Beta readers. The more (and more diverse) the merrier.  Who critiques your manuscripts? Who are your Beta readers?

Great Pyrenees-Meet Udderly Kidding's Animal Cast

By Linda Lovely

My new light-hearted Brie Hooker Mystery series is set on a goat farm, Udderly Kidding Dairy, in Upstate South Carolina. Naturally, the farm boasts lots of four-legged residents, who often play important roles in the plots.  So, every other Friday, I’ll be introducing readers to my animal cast. Today’s spotlight is on the Great Pyrenees dogs that guard Udderly’s 400 goats.

Kay Barrett and Coke

Udderly has five Great Pyrenees, just like Split Creek Farm, a real goat dairy located in the Upstate. While I’ve seen Split Creek’s guard dogs, I’m better acquainted with Coke, a relatively new addition to my friend Kay Barrett’s.household. A few months back, Kay went to an animal shelter to adopt a much smaller dog. However, she quickly fell under Coke’s spell. When we play tennis at Kay’s house, she sometimes lets Coke out to greet her tennis buddies at the end of our matches. Coke is a BIG delightful, friendly bundle of energy.

Appearance: Pyrenees are large—85 to 115 pounds when full grown—with luxurious white coats, chocolate eyes, and a plumed tail.

Work History:  Once France’s “royal” dog, he was bred to guard flocks in the Pyrenees mountains. His French nickname is Patou—shepherd. He’s a descendant of mastiff-type dogs. He isn’t a herder, he’s a protector. The Marquis de Lafayette brought the first Pyrs to America. At Udderly Kidding Dairy, these brave dogs protect the goats from coyotes—and poachers.

Traits: Gentle with children and all kinds of young animals. (Kay’s grandchildren adore Coke, who also puts up with a new kitten’s attentions.) A good hiking companion, but as an avid explorer or territory, he isn’t the best candidate for off-the-leash walks. .He’s great in cold weather, but sensitive to heat and he drools. The breed is naturally nocturnal.

Hope you’ll want to meet Udderly’s Pyrs when Henery Press releases BONES TO PICK, the first Brie Hooker Mystery in October. 

Always Ask-Research The Fun Way

By Linda Lovely

The Internet has given authors tremendous new research tools. We can Google almost any topic and find a wealth of materials and information, though it pays to do some vetting to make sure the sources we’re tapping are reliable.

YouTube gives authors a visual/audio window that lets us witness everything from Billy goats in rut to lessons for beginners who want to fly drones. These are actual examples of how YouTube helped me craft scenes in my second Brie Hooker Mystery, my current work in progress.

However, there’s still no substitute for speaking directly with experts. I was journalism major in college and have spent the bulk of my career interviewing individuals for (nonfiction) feature articles. So I’m quite comfortable asking folks questions about their work and themselves. I realize some authors are shy and feel they may be imposing if they ask strangers to spend time answering their questions. Yet most people are flattered rather than annoyed and enjoy talking about their work and themselves. In fact, I can’t ever recall being rebuffed by a single information “source.” Of course, that’s also because I make it clear why I want the information and how I plan to use it. Now that I’m writing fiction, that simply means I’ll be using their experiences and insights to help build more interesting, well-rounded characters and more credible plots.

For BONES TO PICK, my first Brie Hooker Mystery, my interviews included in-person visits to goat farms and breweries (what a hardship). This gave me an opportunity to ask the owners a variety of questions. I also got to taste goat cheese and fudge, and, of course, sample moonshine. Visiting locations helps you visualize potential scenes and also provides ideas about situations and activities for your characters.  Joining a goat yoga class was a true adventure!

So how do you find experts if you want information related to law enforcement topic? 

Even authors of cozy mysteries should try to be as accurate as possible in describing law enforcement and legal procedures, forensics, investigative techniques, etc. I’ve found attending my local Sisters in Crime chapter’s monthly meetings and the phenomenal annual Writers’ Police Academy have been treasure troves of information—and contacts. 

Through these organizations I’ve met everyone from FBI, ATF and Treasury agents to paramedics, coroners, detectives and defense attorneys. What’s more, since we've met, I’m not a stranger calling \out of the blue. We have a prior connection and they know my request is legitimate.

If you don’t know an answer, ask! Not only may you be surprised by the answer, you may find answers to questions you didn’t even know you should ask. Conversations can be a wonderful adventure.