Unsung Heroes
Before I do the big reveal of my cover for my soon to be published book, Deadly Captive (don't skip to the bottom and cheat now) I want to say a few words about unsung heroes.
You know, the word 'hero' always makes me think of someone who dodges bullets or breaks down doors to rush into a burning building. It's the men and women with medals and badges awarded to recognize some great achievement. Wonderful people, almost larger than life.
No one would deny they deserve the recognition. But what about the heroes of a lesser scale? The ones that will never see themselves as a hero at all?
For example, in my journey to becoming an author and putting my books in the hands of all you wonderful readers, who would be my heroes? My script teacher in college who told me I could make it as a script writer, but I would make it as a novelist? Or my High School Math teacher (who was also my English teacher) who pretended not to see me penning fantasies behind my textbooks? The list goes on and on as I sit here and think of all the people I should thank, as I try to consider who out of all my 'heroes' who I should dedicate my next book to.
Am I forgetting anyone?
Not this time 
One of the first people you build a relationship with when you publish a book is your editor. She/he is the person who will push you to produce something better than what you've got. How much better depends on both the vision of the editor and your own abilities, but by the time you're done—sorry to be cliché—but you've found your diamond in the rough.
Thing is, that 'diamond' doesn't look like much. This is where that pretty metaphor ends because what you've really got is a heap of words. Might be formatted a bit different than how you originally typed it, but so what? Would you buy that?
Time for a pretty cover. In my opinion, this is the moment that could make or break you. As an artist yourself, you've no doubt got an image of what you'd like your cover to look like. So you fill out that Cover Art Request Form with every detail you've envisioned.
And now the poor cover artist has to make sense of what you've just written and come up with something appealing that you won't hate. Which means picking apart your words to get an idea of what you really want, because no matter how hard you try, you haven't really told them.
Then they send you the mockup of the cover. Maybe you love it right away. If so, great! If not, you're probably not shy about saying so—but if you're smart, you'll say so real nice.
Okay, I'm not going to go on about the process any longer, I really am getting to a point. In this industry, the greatest unsung heroes, in my opinion, are the cover artists. If you really think about it, they are on the front line of your books success. They can make your book stand out among the masses or fade into the background. They can make you look professional or…well, not.
So today I would like to thank, first of all, the cover artist for Rosemary Entwined, Lyn Taylor. Most of all for ignoring my crazy suggestions for the cover and coming up with the perfect way to showcase Rosemary and her men.
And now for the moment you've all been waiting for…
To my new cover artist, Fiona Jayde, I have no words to tell you how much I appreciate your hard work and your patience. This book is one of my special babies, and you took very good care of it. And I shall show you my appreciation by letting this be the last time I say that–until the next cover you design for me
Oh, and for all of you who haven't checked my new schedule, I'm blogging at the Noble Author's Blog today. Come say hi! 
