I’m pretty good at keeping secrets when I have to–But I don’t really like to. Especially when it involves new book covers.  I’ve been really good at keeping  these covers secret–but now that my publisher, Henery Press, has made them public, I get to show them off as well!

A couple of months ago, I signed a contract with Henery Press for my Bodies of Art series. They’re releasing the first two books in a few months, and they’ve contracted for three more books to come out in the next few years.

The last Friday in July, my lovely editor, Erin, sent me a request from the art department, asking if I had anything in particular I’d like to see incorporated into the covers. Well, let me tell you–I may write art mysteries, but I know my creativity is firmly with words–not creating pictures. So I have no problem letting design people work their graphic magic without a lot of my interference.

However, I didn’t want to sound like I wasn’t a team play and wanted to check out completely, so I sent in some ideas that rattled around in my brain. Things like:

• An empty frame or an empty art case could be used to tie together the books in the series.
• I really wanted something that gave readers a clue that this was a caper-type-mystery, fast and fun.
• I mentioned the different settings for each book, in case landmarks could be incorporated somehow into the cover designs.

Then I reiterated that I didn’t want to really direct them in anything, because I knew a design artist could do something a million times better than anything I could dream up in a cover, so not to feel they had to use my ideas if better inspiration came along. Then I hurriedly hit the SEND button so I wouldn’t write anything more.

And I was amazed by what came back!

From the funky font Kendel used for the second line to give the caper vibe, to incorporating specific landmark shots into the frames of the pictures in the display, to the empty frame idea that I almost didn’t mention–Truly, I couldn’t have asked for anything I would ever have liked better. She took my tiny idea sparks and made something outstanding. As soon as I saw the first cover I knew she’d nailed it! When I saw the second cover, I was positive!

Now, I can’t wait to finish writing the third book so I can see the next book cover masterpiece 🙂