Cover Me

Any writer will tell you—covers are always an occasion for stress. In my case, I never know exactly what to expect, but I usually have an idea of what I don’t want. Fortunately, the cover artists for my Konigsburg books, Natalie Winters and Valerie Tibbs, always come up with something that works.

Julie Ortolon did a nice rundown on the history of romance covers from clenches to objects to cartoons. She includes the “headless horsemen,” guys whose heads are missing but whose abs are prominent featured, but she didn’t include one more category that I know of—torso girls. These are the covers featuring nude or partially nude women clutching their breasts or crossing their arms across their bosoms to hide the nipples. I had a torso girl on the very first version of Venus In Blue Jeans and wasn’t happy with it. Neither was my editor. You can see the version we finally ended up with here. I love it, but it took a while to get there.

After we had this lovely picture of a smiling heroine, that seemed to set the pattern for the next three books about the Toleffson brothers. Two of them (Wedding Bell Blues and Long Time Gone) featured the heroines. One (Be My Baby) featured the hero. Of the three books with heroines, two have “headless horsemen” in the background, while one (Wedding Bell Blues) has a guy in a nice blue blazer since he’s heading for a wedding and can hardly show up semi-clothed (although that particular wedding might have been okay with it).

When the Toleffson stories were finished, we wanted the next covers to have a different feel to go along with the new storylines. So Brand New Me featured a couple looking at each other rather than a single character looking directly at the reader. There’s also a different color scheme and (love this part) a field of sunflowers to give the cover a sort of golden tone.



Which brings us to Don’t Forget Me, the latest Konigsburg book.

This is actually the first time I’ve gotten a cover where I looked at the people and said, “Yes! That’s Kit and Nando.” I frequently don’t have a firm picture of my hero or heroine in my mind as I write. I do the usual thing where you think of a movie star who’s sort of the same type and then associate your character with him/her (Kris Kristofferson for Cal, Steve McQueen for Tom Ames). But that was just a kind of mental crutch rather than a real picture of what my characters looked like. With the earlier covers, I came to believe that the people on the cover really looked like the people I wrote about (Docia in particular seemed true to life), but I didn’t start out feeling that way. This time, on the other hand the people on the cover were the people I’d envisioned—which is really sort of scary when you think about it.

So thanks, Valerie. It’s a beautiful cover. And it so looks like them!

Here’s the blurb:

Once they said goodbye forever. Now they want to walk it back.

Konigsburg, Texas, Book 6

Eighteen months ago, Kit Maldonado was so over Nando Avrogado, she left Konigsburg without a backward glance. With the family restaurant in San Antonio sold out from under her, though, she’s back to manage The Rose, an exclusive resort eatery outside town.Dealing with a stingy boss, an amorous head chef, an understaffed dining room and planning her aunt’s wedding should have kept her hands full. But she realizes she might not be as over Nando as she thought.As the town’s new assistant chief of police, Nando’s got enough trouble without sexy Kit fanning embers he thought had long ago turned to ashes. Every time he turns around, she’s there—and it doesn’t help that everyone in town wants to see them back together.One incendiary kiss, and there’s no denying the force of their attraction. But there’s a mysterious and oddly familiar burglar who’s been lurking around Konigsburg, someone who isn’t above a little mayhem—maybe even violence—to cover his tracks. 

And a buy link: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/dont-forget-p-6561.html

Meg Benjamin is the author of the Konigsburg series for Samhain Publishing. Book #3, Be My Baby, won a 2011 EPIC Award for Contemporary Romance. Book #4, Long Time Gone, received the Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Indie Press Romance. Book #5, Brand New Me, was a Long and Short Reviews Best Book. Meg lives in Colorado with her DH and two rather large Maine coon kitties (well, partly Maine Coon anyway). Her Web site is http://www.MegBenjamin.com.  You can follow her on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/meg.benjamin1), and Twitter (http://twitter.com/megbenj1). Meg loves to hear from readers—contact her at meg@megbenjamin.com.

13 Tips for Characterization and Conflict

In writing, as in life, it's often the similarities of things that bring about the most conflict. Familiarity breeds contempt. Here are some ideas to use those similarities as well as differences to enhance characterization and conflict.

1. Is there a particular type of feud that underlies part of your character's background? For example, is her brother in the Army, and her hero's brother is in the Navy, and she meets her hero at halftime during the Army-Navy game? Imagine they are both wearing sweatshirts with Army or Navy on them, and end up stepping forward at the same time in the concession stand. Turns out they have the same order (beer and hot dogs), and even both want only mustard on their dogs. How might the similarities as well as the differences fuel the conflicts, yet bring them closer together?

2. Write a backstory for each major character, so he has a reason for being the way he/she is. Did your hero become an outlaw because he broke the law while saving someone's life, but he hides this? Why? Does he have a dark secret about his past? Who else knows about it? Could this come out at a worse time than now? What will he do to prevent it?

3. Create a barrier between your main characters that keeps them from communicating at a critical moment. Suppose one is telepathic, and the other can't shield thoughts. If something suddenly hampered that flow of thought, what would happen to their usual smooth dynamic? Would the one with telepathy think the other was hiding something? Would this cause a misunderstanding that might fuel conflict?

4. Give your hero/ine an idiosyncrasy. For example, does your heroine tap her chin when she's deep in thought? Perhaps this is how the hero realizes she's hiding something later in the story, and clues him in to make a critical decision. Make the odd habit enough of a part of the character for readers to recognize it too.

5. Create a list of things that your main character wants. Write down three conflicts for each one, and then figure out an unexpected solution. For example: WANT #1: to be a mom more than anything in the world. CONFLICT #1: She can't conceive because _____. CONFLICT #2: Because _____ happened in her past she doesn't trust men. CONFLICT #3: Because she works as a ________ she travels all over the world, so how can she even think about adopting? She's pretty much given up her dream, but it's still there, taunting her. UNEXPECTED SOLUTION: Her work puts her in a war torn area where an orphaned street kid's savvy enables him to save her life. How might saving this child lead to the loss of other things in her life? Career opportunities? Travel? Freedom of movement? How can she reconcile her desires against the child's very real needs, and the fact that she owes him her life? Now, throw in a hero who risks his life to help them both. How might this change her conflicts?

6. What event from your hero and/or heroine's lives changed them the most? How did it come about? What would they do if they could change it? How can you adapt that concept to the current story?

7. Don't be too kind. Let your favorite character suffer. Conflict is the lifeblood of a story. Readers want to see a happy ending that is well earned, so don't go easy on your character. Help them overcome it.

8. Don't be afraid to make your villain truly evil. No one fears a wimp. It's okay to be bad (at least in this case).

9. Consider what your main characters don't want. Is there something they would never do even under penalty of death? What is it, and why?

10. A character was forced into a compromising situation in which a lie seemed the best way out. Over the years, that lie became second nature, and almost seems like the truth. Now, the lie has been exposed. What will happen if the truth comes out? How does your character react? Will he/she try to cover it up? To what extent is he/she willing to go? What emotions go through the character's heart?

11. Create doubt for your character. Yes, we know that the good guy will win, and the bad guy will be defeated, at least for now. But at what point does your hero/ine look at a situation and think "How can I keep doing this? How can I go on?" No action movie is complete without a final showdown in which the hero/ine is so beat up and so close to defeat that you start to hold your breath and wonder "will he make it?"

Surrender Love
2010 EPIC Award Winner
Erotic SciFi Romance

12. Foreshadow conflict for your characters. In the book Surrender Love, the two heroes are generations apart. When a cousin points out the large age difference, the younger hero says, "The age of someone isn't something I think about." Later, it's discovered the younger hero isn't as old as he lets others think he is, and the older one isn't just older -- he's immortal. Each has a reason to hide his age, and part of that reason is a character flaw as well as a strength.

13. Make a list of ways your characters handle conflict, and stick to them -- until there's a reason to change. Does your heroine head for the bar, or chocolate? Does your hero stalk off in a huff, or go practice yoga? Does they both go to the shooting range and blow stuff up? At what point does your character talk to a friend and hash out the details? Is he too much of a loner to talk about emotional things? How might he handle conflict if there is no one to talk to but he is a talker? Does he pace? Does she keep a journal? What if that journal is found by the villain, who uses it against the hero? At what point does your character's usual handling of conflict backfire or fail to work? That can be the crux of a conflict all on its own.

Conflict and characterization go hand-in-hand. How your characters react to conflict is what makes them who they are. Write them with depth by knowing how they deal with life. Ask them questions, be willing to listen, and then use those reactions to beef up the story.

Cover Love

Never judge a book by its cover – that’s the old saying but I must admit, I for one will definitely take notice of a gorgeous cover, whereas one that doesn’t appeal to me, I might well not even pick up. Covers are so important, and authors on the whole don’t usually have a lot of input, although I have to say Penguin/Berkley were absolutely fabulous in taking my suggestions into consideration.

FORBIDDEN, book 1 in my ancient historical series, is set during the first century AD during the invasion of the Roman Legions into Cymru ~

Between a warrior and a princess comes an erotic passion as all-consuming as the hatred between their warring worlds…

The image I had in my mind for FORBIDDEN was deeply romantic, with the hero holding onto his heroine and with them both looking away from the “camera”. I had visions of them in a forest glade with a waterfall in the background. One thing I really wanted was for the hero to be dressed in his Roman regalia so it gave an instant visual of when the book was set and what it was about.

My editor loved my ideas but suggested it might have to be a bit sexier. So I thought I would end up with a half naked guy on the cover. Now don’t get me wrong – I love half naked heroes on covers! But I had this burning desire for the cover to show exactly what the book was about – and it’s about a Roman centurion, a Druid princess and a lot of the story takes place in the forests of ancient Wales. And yes, the waterfall has great significance!

When I saw the cover the art department came up with I just about fell off my chair. It was perfect. Just as I had imagined, but even better! I’m still in lust with Maximus’s biceps and Carys even has bi-colored eyes.

Trained in sensuality, a Druid priestess finds herself falling for the wrong man—the warrior who’s taken her prisoner… 

When we were discussing the cover for CAPTIVE, book 2 in the Forbidden series, I assumed it would be similar in design as the first book in the series. But Marketing wanted to go for a darker look and when I saw the cover for the first time I was completely blown away. Without even reading the book they had managed to convey Bren’s deeply ingrained sense of protectiveness and the overall feel was one of danger looming.

I showed a few writer friends and was amazed at the reaction. Several who write dark paranormal/fantasy said they would definitely pick CAPTIVE off the shelf – based entirely on the cover – whereas the FORBIDDEN cover didn’t appeal to them in the same way.

This really intrigued me because when I look at the FORBIDDEN cover I see the mist swirling around the forest and to me that gives a mysterious, mystical atmosphere. But the CAPTIVE cover does give a much stronger indication of the light fantasy element threaded throughout the book.

What is it about a cover that really grabs your attention? Do you prefer to see a gorgeous half naked hero on the cover of erotic romance? And what elements about either FORBIDDEN or CAPTIVE appeals (or doesn’t appeal) to you?

FORBIDDEN http://www.christinaphillips.com/forbidden_blurb.html

CAPTIVE   http://www.christinaphillips.com/captive_blurb.html

My Website: http://www.christinaphillips.com

My Blog:      http://christinaphillips.blogspot.com

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