January 13, 2012

First Look: Isn't She Lovely?

Let me say this. I get soooo excited in the period leading up to release of a new book, like a kid on the last day of school before summer vacation. For one, there's that undeniable sense of accomplishment. There's also the joy of crossing off yet another To Be Written on the rather long list of books I want to do before my time is up.

Since I've been indie publishing, the excitement of seeing a new cover has often spurred me to put the pedal to the metal and get the thing finished (I often write my final scenes and polish with a printed color picture of the cover propped up nearby for incentive).

When it came to my upcoming eBook, Isn't She Lovely?, I told my cover designer, author Sean D. Young, that I wanted the picture of my heroine to be the most prominent, since she's the "She" of the title. I also wanted the hero's picture to be prominent (I chose individual pictures rather than one photo of them together because I could find no pictures of couples that matched the appearance of both characters), with a smaller picture of a damaged front bumper, as a car accident plays a significant role in the story).

Here is what she came up with:

I was thrilled; it was perfect.

A little about the book: Isn't She Lovely? is my first mainstream romance. It's a romance at heart about two single parents (he is widowed, she is a divorceé), but there are enough other things going on, including the hero and heroine's difficult relationships with other people (in his case a foundering one with a feminine companion, in her case a strained one with her former husband, who is the father of her children), that make it a little different from a standard contemporary romance, even a single title...for as any romance reader knows that romantic and/or sexual involvement with other people is a no-no in the genre.

The hero of the story is the attorney general of Illinois who is in the midst of a gubernatorial campaign. I deliberately timed this story to come out in a Presidential election year, when so many of us are absorbed in politics, to make it especially relevant.

The complexity of their lives makes for richly drawn characters, which I love to create and expand upon...just yesterday I decided that I need to add a dog to the story, since most city children who move from an apartment into a house want a puppy. I do want to caution readers that this is not a story of instant romance between the hero and heroine, or even instant attraction; they meet under circumstances that would make this both unbelievable and a rather unfulfilling reading experience. I have written sexy stories before (The Heat of Heat comes to mind), but since I'm indie publishing I'm not restricted to writing only one type of story. Still, I hate to think I might disappoint readers, so I can't say this loudly enough: Readers who want the hero and heroine to engage in sexual activity shortly after they meet will most likely want to skip this eBook. As with my most recent eBook, A Kiss of A Different Color, the relationship develops gradually. Most readers who reviewed A Kiss of A Different Color appreciated that, and once you read the excerpt of Isn't She Lovely?, you'll see why a rush to sleep together won't work.

The excerpt can be read at the Bunderful Books website. Read it, and enjoy!

It's impossible for me to predict an exact publication date...it depends on my editor's schedule, and she has a life outside of editing my books! But I'm striving for sometime next month, February. Valentine's Day would be nice...