IN THE LIGHT OF LOVE

To say that I'm having some issues with my book covers is putting it mildly. I'm having some serious issues with my book covers. Here's the newest for my book, In The Light Of Love, which drops February 2007. Now for starters, my heroine is only 25-years old. Maybe it's me, but this model doesn't embody the image of the 25-year old I had in mind. I mean, she's a beautiful woman but she don't look no 25 in this picture! And the hero I wrote about is bi-racial with blue eyes and shoulder-length hair. Do you see my problem?

This isn't the first time I've had an issue with my covers. With the cover for Love In The Lineup, BET had commissioned some incredible artwork. The images were dead on. They couldn't have been more perfect if I'd done them myself. However with the transition to Harlequin, the new powers in charge changed the cover to a photographic image. Neither one of the models came close to looking like my characters. It absolutely broke my heart when they made that change and to add insult to injury no one bothered to tell me. I found out when the book cover was posted on Amazon.com.

All in all, out of my seven books only two covers actually looked like the couple on the inside. For some reason I'm not getting any warm and fuzzy feelings with these odds. But what can a writer do? I write. That's all I'm allowed to do. That and rewrite. I do a lot of rewriting. The publisher has full and complete control over cover selections. Sometimes you have to wonder if the publisher has actually read what's on the inside of the book. I've been reading a few of my fellow romance authors lately and I'm not the only one having this problem. None of their covers look like the folks they're describing on the inside either. It makes for some interesting questions when readers want to know what the deal is and readers do ask.

But I'm looking forward to this book. It's a great story if I may say so myself. And I'm saying so. It's the story of Talisa London, a young woman with a big heart and even bigger spirit who finds love in Uganda with Dr. Jericho Becton. It's got some drama, a little intrigue, and of course some really good romance stuff. In fact, what's on the inside will make you forget the outside all together!