Judging a book by its cover…

For the past half an hour I have been sitting here browsing through the Advanced Reading Copies (ARCs) And I suddenly noticed something that I was doing without even realising it. I was refusing to look at books whose covers didn’t catch my eye.

Now, I don’t think I am necessarily judging a book by its cover… no – it more that I refuse to even read into the book unless the cover stimulates my mind. So for the past few minutes I have been pondering the notion of why that is. Why is it that I am not interested unless it catches my eye?

Because I am a visual person.

My mind needs visual stimulation to engage. (Go figure that one!) But the fact of the matter is – about a third of the world’s population are ‘visual’ people. And if a third of the world’s population are visual, and if they are anything like me and refuse to look at a book unless it engages my visual mind – then the authors who wrote those books are missing out on a massive readership. The books could be bloody fantastic for all I know. But since they aren’t capturing my attention, then I’m not looking at them. No… I’m off looking at some other book with a pretty cover – maybe even a book that could possibly be the crappiest read I have ever picked up.

I wrote a post back in January on Sexy Designer Covers. And I still stand by my thoughts and opinions in that post. But in that post – I showed everyone gorgeous covers that all had ‘cover girls’. (Possibly because the majority market the authors are aiming at are female.) But there are many more covers out there that are different and unusual that will capture my eye.

I don’t care what market you are aiming for, as long as you show me something I like. Give me something smart… something different… something that tells me a little about the book without me even having to make the effort of picking it up. If you can do that, then you have halfway sold me the book before I even read the back cover blurb.

Be ‘cover-smart’.

So – I’m going to show you some more covers of books I have read that have most definitely caught my attention. These books are a few series that come as highly recommended reads from me as well. If they ‘look’ like your cup of tea – then pick them up for a read.

THE GRAVEYARD QUEEN series: Not only are the covers unusual and engaging – these books are thrilling and compelling reads from an extremely talented writer – Amanda Stevens. If you like ghost stories, anything paranormal, or just a damn good read that you seriously can’t put down – then pick these books up. They will keep you up through the night reading, and you won’t regret the experience.

THE MATCHED TRILOGY: I know that YA dystopian fiction is a really hot topic at the moment, but this is a fantastic series. (I must admit – I haven’t read the third book yet – but I can’t wait to get my hands on it.) I would never ever have bothered to pick these books up if it weren’t for the covers. There was just something that drew me to the girl who was trapped in a glass bubble.

THE BLACK MAGICIAN TRILOGY: How amazing are these covers? They are so different from anything else in the fantasy genre at the moment, yet they are also very balanced.  If you enjoy fantasy books – then definitely pick up this series as a nice introduction to how Trudi Canavan writes.

 

Back on the wagon

Yes, you all read that correctly. I am officially back on the writing wagon – that same wagon I have been trying to climb back on for the past two months. However – introducing my new daughter to the world was a much more important job. But now that she is ‘sleeping like a baby’, it means that I can get a little writing work done!

So – this is a little update for you all since the last post I wrote on my writing stuff – Having a little faith…

Last week I rewrote the opening scenes for The Mediterranean Source. I’d had some feedback from one of my critique partners that I needed to bolster up the main character motivations. This was some seriously good feedback as the main character only really became the main character when I re-edited the book last November. So to give her more motivation for doing what she does was something that I really needed to work on. And – I am happy to say that my critique partner had a read of it, and thought that it was a much stronger opening for the book. It was excellent to have that feedback as I’ve been feeling a little rusty on the writing front lately. I need to re-sharpen my writing claws!

Needless to say, after rewriting the opening scene, I dived into editing again. Man, it felt amazing. It felt so damn good to be immersing myself back into my own world and story. I had to drag myself out of it whenever Abby woke, but it was just so damn good to be back.

So – that’s what I am doing right at the moment. Editing. Yippeee! And it’s a lovely way to ease myself back into the game as well.

Tijuana Nights is really sitting at the forefront of my mind, and I really want to get back into writing it once I finish editing The Mediterranean Source. So while I edit, I will be thinking about that story, and what I think it needs. I think that I will redo some of the planning on it, but structurly – the storyline remains the same. There are some characters that need a little work done on them to round them out a bit better, so I will probably start with that before I continue writing the book.

The Second book of the Talent Trilogy needs to be finished. Gack. I know. Honestly, I only have a couple of thousand words to write on it, and it’s finished, but something has been holding me back with it. That book had a number of alternative endings – any of which I could use. However, I’m going to go with the one that seriously ramps up some emotions I think. Once I complete it – I need to throw myself into some serious planning for the third book, and that’s gonna mean re-reading the first and second book for me to do it. (Thank god I have a Kindle!) When I originally planned this trilogy years ago – it was a good plan – it just wasn’t robust enough for the world I was creating. I never expected the Talent world to get so big. Now it needs to be broken down and sorted out before I continue.

In other news, I have been reading books like a fricking machine. My goodness, I can’t quite believe how many I am cranking through! It’s all this downtime while I am feeding Abby that is allowing me to read so much. It’s amazing. Once again – thank god I have a Kindle (or else it would be a real pain in the backside trying to turn the pages.)

Abby is growing like a wee mushroom. Every day is different. Some days are challenging, others are a breeze. She’s sleeping well through the night now, and it’s a hell of a relief for us. Every day we thank our lucky stars that she sleeps for decent periods through the night. This week she is transitioning into her own room. It’s a scary thing for me! When she finally has her first night in her own room, I know that I’m going to feel a bit off-key about it. I guess any new mother would be the same – even if it is only across the hall! Last night I had a chair delivered that is now in Abby’s room so I can sit in there with her to feed and settle her when needed. It’s a relief knowing that I can stay in there when I need to. When she’s older and she has her own bed – I’ll put the chair in my library.

She smiles loads now, and every now and then she even has a giggle. When I sing to her (off key, might I add!) she smiles, coos, and tries to sing along with me. It’s rather gorgeous. These are moments that I never want to miss… and ones that I’m afraid I will once I go back to work at the end of July. However – if I win Lotto, I guess I won’t miss a thing. *fingers crossed* It’s just so lovely seeing her grow and develop.

Life is very busy being a mother, wife, and writer. Every moment is worth it though.