Books We Love's Tantalizing Talent ~ Author Betty Jo Schuler

ABOUT BETTY JO. Hmm . . . what can I tell you? I do what I love and love what I do, and for me, that would be? Write, of course.  I started out by self-publishing a diet book and became a very busy and happy freelance writer for magazines. There were many exciting moments, a Star photographer coming to photograph me and the food from one of the diets I wrote for them, TV interviews. I loved it but meanwhile I’d married and earned my degrees to become an elementary teacher. So, it was natural for me to write for children’s magazines and my first published book was Ice Cream for Breakfast.  That’s when I started writing YA books and my favorite genre yet, contemporary romance. And that’s when I took early retirement from teaching to pursue a career. And we moved from Indiana to sunny Florida.I’m happy to have found a “home” at Books We Love and its’ wonderful publishers and authors. I invite you to visit me there. http://bookswelove.net/authors/schuler-betty-jo/

Contemporary Romance Novels:   Male Wanted, Love in a Small Town, Finding Freedom, Impossible Dreams, Betty Jo Schuler Special Edition

Young Adult and Tweens:   Heart Strings; No Rain, No Rainbows; Mystic Mansion, Dare to Dream, How Not to Date a Hollywood Star, Take My Family, Please.

I love romantic comedy. Hence, Male Wanted 

Amazon

Taylor Gayle advertises in The Town Crier for a male to date, but Max Stuart misprints her ad to indicate she’s looking for a “sadomasochistic male to mate” and includes her address. To atone for his mistakes, Max becomes her live-in protector. Now, who’s going to protect this high school librarian from the unbelievably sexy newspaper editor? And who’s going to save Max from this feisty Plain Jane’s charms?

Take My Family Please 

Amazon

Lacy Gingham’s family members are middle class eccentrics and Eric Vanderhorst’s are staid upper crust. Read “crazy” opposite “snooty” and add that Lacy and Ric get together under false pretenses, and get set for a bumpy ride to love when the truth comes out.

  

http://bookswelove.net/authors/schuler-betty-jo/

Christmas Traditions Warm the Heart by Betty Jo Schuler

     Christmas Eve, late at night, my husband Paul and I pour a glass of

wine, sit on the floor by our fragrant long-needled pine, the room lit

only by the tree's soft lights, and exchange gift-wrapped boxes

containing ornaments we bought one another.  This tradition began

twenty-five years ago, the year we met, when he gave me a breathtaking

bauble—a clear glass pear-shaped ornament containing a partridge and a

pear tree.  Every Christmas Eve since, we've exchanged ornaments in a

special moment of quiet, peace, and love.  A Candlelight Service at our

church, early in the evening, followed by family gift-giving at my

mother's, sets the tone for this special night.

     Our Christmas tree, cut from the forest days earlier, is decked

with love and memories, and on this particular night, we reminisce.

There's a tiny red-and-white striped stocking, yellowed over the years,

that I bought the year my first son was born.  (Paul wasn't a part of my

life then; we married when my youngest son was in high school, but they

are like his own and he's a beloved stepfather.)  A "God's Eye" made of

Popsicle sticks woven with yarn nestles in the branches, a gift made by

our first grandson, his initials on the back, written in crayon.

Picture-frame ornaments with photos of other grandchildren, when they

were small, evoke tender memories.  A smiling ice cream cone, a gift

from my daughter and her husband, marks the sale of my first published

children's book, Ice Cream for Breakfast.  A china bell with shamrocks,

brought from Ireland, and a gold cross from Rome, are mementos from my

youngest son and his wife's travels.  Paul's and my trips are noted too,

and there are decorations given to us by his brother and sister, and

mine, and my favorite cousin.  Beaded candy canes and wreaths were made

by an aunt that's deceased.     And the lights that bubble around the

bottom of our Christmas tree were purchased only a few years ago, but

reminders of Paul's childhood, they still intrigue little ones. The

quilted tree skirt, hidden by piles of gifts before our family opening,

bears a large green S on a background of red and white—a treasured gift

made by our daughter-in-law.  Our middle son and his wife gave us

appropriate ornaments for our interests, a golf club for my husband and

a book for me.

     The day we take our ornaments, some shimmering, some dulled by the

years, from their boxes, is a special one at our house.  Most of the

boxes are labeled with the date, and a description, but others are

labeled in our minds.  And each year on the night before Christmas, we

reminisce.   

Merriest Christmas Ever by Betty Jo Schuler  

 http://bookswelove.net/bettyjoschuler.php

Behind the Cover Artist's Curtain: Cover Branding

By Michelle Lee

BWL Art Director

When it comes to branding, there are many different schools of thought for each form of branding.

INDIVIDUAL COVER ARTISTS:

Some artists might suggest always using the same fonts for all of an author’s covers.  Others might want to keep the same style of images, colors, and so on.  Some could prefer just keeping series the same, and letting the rest of the covers have their own unique style.

PUBLISHER:

Each publisher might also have their own methods of branding.  That can vary from a logo on all covers, to a band along the top, bottom, or side of covers.

MY STYLE:

As a cover artist, I focus on making sure series books match each other (see my post on the subject).  Other than that, I tend to follow the authors lead on branding.

Some authors have requested a logo, image, or certain style to link all of their books.

As you can see here ... Rita has several different logo styles, depending upon the genre.  But for all her books, there is a logo with her initials in it.

Other authors have requested the same general style of fonts, or image layout.  

With Geeta's books, the first three are part of one series, but the last one is from another series.  Yet they all share similar styles with image layout.

 Still others have expressed no preference whatsoever, and so each cover is different from the others.

It does get more challenging the more genres an author writes in to help 'brand' the author's books with their covers … but as an author myself, I know sometimes I specific genre just calls to you.

As for how to brand yourself as an author, well, I am still trying to figure that out myself.  So if anyone has an ideas - please share them.

Now … this brings my original Cover Art series of posts to an end.  From here, I will be posting about whatever comes to mind, or addressing a specific topic I have been asked my opinion on.  So feel free to leave a comment if you want me to give my personal take on a cover topic.  I am certainly not lacking in opinions.

A Few Lines from. . . Betty Jo Schuler

This week, a few lines from Finding Freedom by Betty Jo Schuler

                CELESTE HARTE GLARED at the twenty-nine candles on her birthday cake. She'd squandered her last fourteen birthday wishes asking for a fairy tale romance, and her life still read like an instruction manual. The frog she'd hoped would turn into a prince—God rest his soul—had been a cheating toad. Leaning her hands on her glass-topped kitchen table, she puffed out her cheeks and blew. I wish I'd meet a man who would turn my life into a sizzling romance novel.

            "Easy." Marianne Joest raised an auburn brow as she swiped cream frosting from her blouse with a manicured nail. Closing her eyes, she sucked her fingertip. "Mm. Next best thing to an orgasm."
     "My life is half over, I haven't made love in I-can't-remember-when, and you talk about orgasm?"

       "Half over?" Marianne snorted. "And I thought Susan was the drama queen." She cut two slices of cake and handed Celeste one. 

  

      Celeste shook her head. "It's loaded with fat."

        "Dammit, Cee. This is carrot cake, a vegetable with frosting. You're thin enough no matter what Harry said, and twenty-nine isn't the beginning of menopause."

http://bettyjowrites.com

http://bookswelove.net/bettyjoschuler.php

Come back next week for a few lines from Janet Lane Walters.