2019 has been a very busy year. I have created more book covers than any other year before. I can only be humbled and grateful for the opportunity to work with such talented authors.
Since I haven’t had time to post many cover reveals, I thought I’d share them all here in this post. They are in random order and size…no favoritism is shown. LOL
One of the joys I receive by working with Mantle Rock Publishing is the continuing relationships I have with the authors. I always love getting to create second and third covers for books in their series. This one is a delight as well, because the author is just delightful!
I created Suzanne Bratcher’s first cover for The Copper Box a few year ago. First covers can be intemidating because you are just building a releationship with an author who is asking you to put a face on their “baby.” I remember it took us a few rounds to get just the perfect cover.
I’ve since had the privilege of meeting Suzanne in person at a couple of retreats. She is just the sweetest! So when it came to creating the cover for her second book, it was truly a joy. Luckily the photo of the mine shaft came up early in my search and it captured the mood.
Next, it was on to find the perfect guy. This guy was a little challenging because he fell in the late 30’s age group. In case you haven’t perused the stock photography sites, guys are either young, muscle-bound 20 somethings or middle aged with graying temples. That late 30’s group is hard to find. Her book is a romantic suspense and would have loved a more somber facial expression. We ended up going with the semi-smile because well, who wouldn’t wants to read his story?
Here is the blurb for The Silver Lode which will be available for ebook preorder on Amazon soon.
Beneath the ghost town that clings to Cleopatra Hill, a maze of abandoned mine tunnels conceals a vein of silver ore mixed with pure gold. Seventy years ago, the discovery of that silver lode caused a murder. Are more coming?
Historian Paul Russell is about to lose his job and the woman he loves, he doesn’t have time to search for the legendary silver lode. But when a student drops a seventy-year-old cold case on his desk, a murder connected to the silver lode, the mystery offers Paul the perfect opportunity to work with Marty Greenlaw and win her back.
As Paul and Marty search for the silver lode, suspicious deaths begin to happen. When Paul’s son disappears, the stakes become personal.
Last night I nailed down the final touches on this wonderful cover for Regina Merrick. I was so happy to get to work with Regina. I met her last year at the KenTen Writers Retreat and she is such a sweet person. She is a librarian by day and an author in her spare time.
I had fun creating a dreamy image of a southern mansion at the end of a drive lined with live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss. Regina really wanted a beachy feel as well, so we blended a beachscape on the lower portion of the cover. Together the two images create the prefect first glimpse of this Carolina Dream.
Carolina Dream is being published by Mantle Rock Publishing. It will go on presale March 15th and will be released around the first of April! Keep your eyes open for more information closer to the release date!
Last week I revealed the cover for Mary Kay Tuberty’s book, Keeper of the Flame. It’s a lovely little book and you can read more about it in my previous post by clicking here.
Today, I want to walk you through some of the stock photos I used to create this cover. I typically use stock photos to create my covers. They are readily available, copyright free so I don’t have to worry about infringing on anyone, and I can any season, location or style that I need. However, finding that perfect picture may require a little “tweaking”.
It’s always a blessing when I search through the stock photo sites and land upon the perfect picture…the perfect location, season, and overall look that I’m going for. I’ve only had that happen with a couple of covers. For the rest of them, I’ve pulled several photos together to create the perfect scene to convey the message the story tells. That was the case with Keeper of the Flame. Here’s a peek at the photos on my art board for this project.
For each cover in this series, I started with the tan background that looks like a collage of cracked plaster and brush strokes. This was largely based on Mary Kay’s wishes to have a old sepia looking background for her book series. It really turned out to be a great foundation for this series of books. On Keeper of Coin and Keeper of Trust, I was able to blend in some sepia photos of the house and family in Ireland. It gave a wonderful hint to the storyline without being overpowering.
However for Keeper of the Flame, I decided that I wanted to elude to our main character Kate’s seamstress abilities. After searching through the stock archives for photos relating to seamstress or sewing, I found this wonderful photo with an old sewing mannequin and a lovely tan damask wallpaper. Our story is set in post civil war St. Louis and I thought this carried the charm of that period extremely well. I was able to lighten the foundation background a bit and blend it seamlessly into the damask wallpaper for a cohesive look.
For this series, I have used the same sweet street scene to anchor the bottom of the page. The sky has been removed and the buildings are processed through a blending setting that ages them and allows a bit of the background to show giving them texture and cracks.
Lastly, there is our main character, Kate. She was quite elusive. As I go through stock art sites, I bookmark any period clothing that looks interesting. Because there are fewer photos of period clothing, it’s a bit harder to find a character that has not been overused. Our Kate started as a combination of a few pictures, but then I ran across this renaissance lady. While that hat was totally wrong, she had all the qualities I was looking for in Kate. She had dark hair, a strong determined look, and most importantly, a natural look not marred by overdone makeup – another issue that sometimes crops up in stock photography, especially among period costumed models. I tried everything to avoid using this photo but ultimately, she kept nagging at me to be used. So, I extracted her from the background and started work on that hat. I decided my best option would be to try and trim it down to a hat that might have been more period appropriate and avoid having to find a whole new head of hair for her. Also, I removed the large dangly earrings that would not have been appropriate for a seamstress working in a shop. Lastly I positioned her behind the title art so as to hide the corset over the shirt, which also would not have been true to the period. Our Kate was complete!
I was so thankful that I went back to this Kate and transformed her into the perfect seamstress for our cover.
If you have a book, longing for a cover, drop me a line and let’s work together to create it!
Diane Turpin Designs 