Favorite Cover: Yellow Moon by Ginger Simpson

Juliet Waldron asked for this to be posted for her.

My favorite cover by Michelle Lee is that of "Yellow Moon" by Ginger Simpson. Here is the scene and the setting and beautiful Indian maiden whose story we'll definitely want to read. It's period correct and yet mysterious and beautiful, too.

I'm jealous of this cover.

It was a tough pick, tough, and "The Barbers" by Katherine Pym and Kathy Fischer-Brown's "The Partisan's Wife" would be my runners-up!

    

Jude Pittman's Favorite Covers

My favorite covers are twofold, one that everyone might not have seen yet, is Ron Crouch’s The Weatherman  and the other my all-time favorite is Witch Resurrected. 

 

The Weatherman cover absolutely speaks the story. This guy’s deadly. He’s also Native American and not “old time” this is a contemporary hard edge thriller. Coming Soon!

 

 

And Witch Resurrected. What’s there to say. This is fun and magic, sexy and dangerous.  Wow, witches, black cats, and a sexy hunk with a big gun, this is going to be a rollicking good read – and it delivers as promised.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NSY9NZ8

Jude Pittman

http://bookswelove.net/authors/jude-pittman/#

 

Favorite Cover--Here Today Zombie Tomorrow by Connie Vines

 

Michelle Lee's covers are all so good that it was a hard task to pick just one favorite. But this one stands out for me and in my opinion contains every element required to sell a book.

The cover expresses the storyline perfectly—it’ s sassy, fun and you just know this is going to be a crazy ride. Meredith is certainly not what I would expect a zombie to look like. Zombie stories are not usually my choice of read but this cover urges me to give it a try.

Here's the buy link:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OA25GJY

Posted by Tricia McGill, proud Books We Love author

 

Favorite Cover

Michelle’s Covers

Ten Past Midnight by Jane Toombs  

http://amzn.com/B004FGMWM4

I like this cover very much. First, because it fits the material perfectly. I love the simplicity of the cover too, and the muted shades of grey and black, the gothic-type font. The book itself contains six stories and three poems on the dark side of paranormal. As it states in the writeup:  ‘Everything from ghouls to the heart-eating Egyptian beast who decides one's fate. Even the touches of romance are definitely different. But what traveler can expect the norm when on the wrong side of midnight? Ten past midnight All's not well. Every road leads right To hell...’

The cover is somewhat reminiscent of cover art of the thirties and forties, and even farther back.  It makes you think of the stories of horror writer  Edgar Allan Poe,  and the likes and times of Jack the Ripper. It has that dark, sinister feel.  Just looking at that cover sends a subtle chill to creep over your skin – in a frighteningly delicious way.  

Read the book.

http://amzn.com/B004FGMWM4

Review of cover by Joan Hall Hovey

Favorite Covers by Michelle Lee

Jamie Hill's two cents:

BWL's Art Director has asked us to share our favorite cover and why. I had a horrible time narrowing it down to two. In fact, I could easily choose one favorite for each BWL author! But since we're supposed to choose one, I took the liberty of choosing two.

Heart Throb by Janet Lane Walters

Cover by Michelle Lee

http://amzn.com/B0057AGQ4W

Without reading the blurb, this cover gives you a good idea what this story is about. Romance, with a medical twist. I love the graphics Michelle has weaved through the text including the the heart between the words Heart and Throb. To me, this is a beautiful, sexy romance cover.

Jack Shadow by Graeme Smith

Cover by Michelle Lee

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00904HKQE/

This is a quirky mystery story and again, without reading a blurb you can tell that from this cover. I love the man, the rain, the font choices and of course the tagline. Now go read the blurb. It'll definitely make you want to read the book!

I could go on and on about my favorite BWL covers but there are simply too many to choose from. My own included! But don't take my word for it...check it out!

Jamie Hill

http://bookswelove.net/authors/jamie-hill/#

Favorite Covers Challenge

To start off the new year, I decided to do something a little different with my post - I issued a challenge to the BWL authors.  The rules are really very simple - and I am looking forward to seeing the results.

1. Authors are to post a BWL cover that is one of their favorites that is NOT THEIR OWN.  Obviously, they have their favorites among their own covers - but I am curious what they like about some of the other covers.

2. All of the posts today should be labeled as follows - Favorite Cover: book title by author

3. I instructed them to tell us what they like about the cover.  Be creative and descriptive.  "I like it because it is pretty" isn't enough. :)

4. And finally because I don't want repeats - if someone posts their favorite cover before they get a chance to - they are supposed to just respond in the comments section what they like about it.

Now, because turn about it fair play - at the end of the day, I will post five of my favorites and why.

Let the games begin ...

Fireworks, yum cha and vodka by Sheila Claydon

I'm living in Sydney, Australia for a few months. The deal is a winter in the sun in exchange for caring for my nine month old baby granddaughter on the days when both her parents are working. 

So what is it like living in a small city apartment instead of a sprawling house in a village on the northwest coast of England? Well on a daily basis it's not so different. There are still chores to be done and meals to be prepared. True the garden has shrunk to a few pots and a raised bed on the balcony, but there is still greenery, and the wind that whistles up from the harbour is every bit as blustery as the wind back home. The view is very different though. Instead of trees and fields I have a bird's eye view of the city skyline. I also have the added benefit of a pool and a spa and, of course,  the endless warmth that is Australia. No jackets needed, nor shoes really except to be polite. Instead, suncream, dark glasses, a hat and bottled water are de rigueur when leaving the apartment.

The other differences are more interesting though. My daughter-in-law is Chinese and my son has a Russian boss. This means that as well as Australians and Tasmanians they have many friends in the immigrant community, so over Christmas and the New Year I met American lawyers and chemical engineers, a Chinese tea importer and a Russian who owns several diamond mines, Chinese, South American and English bankers, a Phillipino nurse, accountants and financial analysts from China, property investors from Japan, China and Tasmania, an Australian clothes importer, a retired Australian TV producer,  IT specialists from India, the UK and Japan, and other immigrants from Singapore, France, Vietnam and Spain as well as a whole lot of children with the blood of two nations in their genes. It was an eclectic and fascinating mix and everyone of them without exception was friendly, outgoing and full of confidence. Inevitably this rainbow nation has given me a whole lot of ideas for future books, so many in fact that it's unlikely I'll ever be able to use them all.

More importantly, I've learned a lot about the traditions of other cultures. Although it's obviously a generalisation, I've discovered that many Asian parents co-sleep with their children in the early years. The mothers also follow their toddlers from room to room with a bowl of food or a drink in order to spoon a morsel into their mouths whenever they can. Despite having a well paid and successful career some of the brightest women succumb to their ancestral traditions, another of which includes being confined to bed for a month after giving birth while their mother takes care of the baby. Fortunately, from my perspective, my highly educated daughter-in-law refused to comply when her own daughter was born and my granddaughter is fast becoming a robust Australian who sits happily in her high chair, eats everything offered and  sleeps 7 - 7, alone, in her own bed. 

I've learned that manners vary enormously too and so do eating habits. On the whole the Chinese eschew anything sweet, never drink wine with rice, eat enormous amounts of vegetables and are very health conscious, whereas Europeans, Australians and Americans prefer BBQs with large quantities of meat and fish, rarely refuse the fries, and are happy to drink wine or beer with everything. 

Dress is very casual too. Shorts, t-shirts and thongs are the order of the day whether it's a BBQ, a shopping trip, or a day at the beach, and every Friday is 'Dress Down Friday' at work. The only exception is a party and even then it's mostly the women who turn on the glamour. And how the people of Sydney party. Celebrations started at the beginning of December and carried on until well after the New Year. Now they are enjoying a short hiatus before Australia Day and then it will be the Chinese New Year. 

The thing I've noticed more than anything though, is how young the population is. Everywhere I go there are young people enjoying themselves and pregnant women and babies of all nationalities, shapes and sizes. In the city as well as at the tourist spots there are fathers pushing strollers, tiny babies in carriers, toddlers tripping over their own feet, and older children, brown as berries, dancing along in thongs and shorts. Of course with all this youth comes technology and on the train the other day my husband and I were amused to discover we were the only people actually conversing. Everyone else in the very crowded carriage was plugged into a device be it an iPod, a cell phone or an electronic reader. 

Best of of all, however, was my meeting with an Anglo Indian from London who is married to an American lawyer and lives in New York. She was visiting her brother and his Chinese wife for the festive season - the ethic mix in Australia is truly mind blowing. Discovering that I am a writer  she not only downloaded Mending Jodie's Heart, the first book of my When Paths Meet trilogy, while she was talking to me, she also told me she was taking it to her book club as soon as she returned to the States. She did, however, check with me first that the heroine was feisty and independent. If not then the book was an absolute no no! As if I would ever write anything else.....

And lastly and most intriguingly I met Lady Sippington but you'll have to wait until next month's post to discover her story.

Many of my books can be found on the Books We Love website at  http://bookswelove.net/authors/sheila-claydon/