My book cover is in

[NL Gassert]

I admit it: I was worried. What if I didn’t like my book cover? I was afraid of oversized nipples on pecs the size of watermelons and bulging prison-gym muscles. So when the cover came in, I was nervous. To appreciate my nervousness you need to know that authors don’t have a lot of say where their covers are concerned; that’s not in our realm of responsibility and thus we’re at the mercy of our publishers and cover artists.

I am happy to report I love my cover, and I totally didn’t notice the nipple :-)

I love the minimalism. Two men and a gun. Bam. I’d like to think that’s a visual expression of my writing style, but that’s reading too much into it. The blurred background is awesome, and I’m almost certain that’s a fan palm in the mid-to-upper left corner. You need to squint or look at a high res image to see it.

I love the guys. Are they fit, or what? I like how the eye just zeroes in on them (great use of highlights). I saw the cover before there was hair on the arms and chest; I like it so much better with this finishing touch (genius). I love the gun. And the bracelet and wristband (so much so I might add the accessory to the next novel). There’s no knife in the story, but I really like it strapped to Mason’s waist.

I think the touch of red in the windblown hair is great. I really only had one (unofficial) stipulation when it came to the cover: I wanted red hair. On the perfect cover, the hair would have been longer, but I’m certainly not losing any sleep over that; I’m too happy with the rest of it.

I wasn’t a fan of the yellow at first, but I think it does make the title and name pop right off the cover and after a week of staring at it (wearing a very goofy grin, I might add), I really like it. It works very well with the blue-green tint, and I think it will work well on a bookstore shelf.

I know I’m beginning to repeat myself, but I really, really like my cover. Publisher Ken Harrison and cover artist Aman Chaudhary did a great job.

What do you think?