Can't resist these new covers. Have you seen them yet? Most of the time you readers are way ahead of me in the cover spotting game. But I always like to try and beat you to it;) These two Susans are quite prolific and Captive Trail appeals to me as I've always wanted to write a captivity story. But I think they're all beautiful and unique. I must be getting used to heroines with their heads chopped off, thanks to my Roxanna;) These two lovely ladies on To Die For made me feel quite at home. If you're curious about these books, pop on over to Amazon as they're up for pre-order and you can read the blurbs.
Speaking of covers, I was delighted to find that one of mine is a finalist for the 2010 Cover Cafe Contest. Guess which one? Click on the link to find out and please vote for whichever cover tickles your fancy. When I received the email last week I was so surprised. I don't know who entered this particular one in the historical division but feel it's quite an honor for Revell's art team since this is a site outside the CBA. It's fun thinking my girl has some admirers in the general market:) Voting opens today and ends May 31.Have you seen any upcoming covers which just pop for you within or outside the CBA? In the cover contest over at Cover Cafe?
Congratulations on your nomination and final. Your gal got my vote. =)
ReplyDeleteThe Cover Cafe is pretty neat! I just stopped by and voted. CML is SOOOO beautiful! :-)
ReplyDeleteAll those covers are also gorgeous and eye-catching. I had seen some of them, but the last few were new to me. Thanks for sharing!
~ Katy
I'm headed over to vote in just a second. I think it's going to be Morrow. :)
ReplyDeleteOhhhh, love Susan's cover!! That one is lovely and I can't wait to see what the story is going to be about. :)
Laura I voted for Morrow! It was a tough choice since I really liked Karen's cover too but Morrow won out in the end LOL! Can't vote against the pink dress!
ReplyDeleteAs for other covers I actually was surprised which covers I liked best! One was for a Blaze novel (The Tutor, by Hope Tarr) and one was a Signet (Man of the West by Sadie Callahan). I don't read the Blaze novels but that cover really caught my eye! Usually they are very sensual but I thought Hope's was actually very romantic and one of the best covers I've ever seen period! And the other cover I voted for, Man of the West, speaks for itself! I'm a sucker for tall, dark, and handsome! ;-)
XOXO~ Renee C.
Keli, Thank you! It's a fun contest and I didn't know who else had finaled till today. Nice to see Karen and others there:) Speaking of covers, I've been thinking of yours and trying to imagine what it might look like. I'm sure you'll post when the time comes and you can share. I'll be there!
ReplyDeleteKaty, So happy to see you here and thank you for taking the time to support the cover contest:) It's neat to know there's a site out there devoted to covers. I peeked at the "worst" category. OUCH. Some are quite risque. You're right - so many of the historicals are gorgeous and it's nice to see the CBA represented. Bless you!
ReplyDeleteCasey,
ReplyDeleteYou might change your mind once you get over there ~ and that's okay:) After looking them over and reading last years comments, I do believe covers are as subjective as books themselves. Everyone has their own ideas of what works and is pretty! Bless you for stopping by and taking time as I know you're busy!
Renee,
ReplyDeleteOur thoughts run in the same lines;) Can't argue with tall, dark, and handsome. Try as I might, none of my heroes are blonde! The closest I come is russet/auburn in my Colonel McLinn. And the Hope cover is beautiful. Will be fun to read the comments June 1st and see who won and is runner-up. Quite the beauty contest!
Morrow's cover up for a vote is so appropriate. Hers is the very one who drew me in to your work as you know. I will always remember going to the Family Christian Store looking for a new book when an author I had never heard of before caught my eye! Laura, I am thankful that CML was on display that day!
ReplyDeleteStacie
Can August 1st come fast enough? I will be buying TCL book instead of downloading it on my Kindle. My head is swirling with card ideas already ;)
Congratulations! I voted...but was too embarrassed to vote for the worst category. Eeewwwwwww! LOL.
ReplyDeleteLove it when you show these covers because it gets me excited for new releases. I can't believe how prolific Susan Page Davis is! I just finished her Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island and here are two more books being released this year! That's exciting.
Stacie,
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you want TCL in book form! The only drawback with Kindle (well, the biggest one, IMHO), is that you're deprived of the lovely covers. And you're not the only one who is thrilled Morrow was turned face out and greeted you that day! I'm forever grateful. When you get this one, please take a pic of you with the book and send to me so I can post here. I hope to have as many pics of you readers as I can. Those remain my favorite pics so far - some of you are quite creative!
Oh, and my head is swimming just thinking your head is swimming:) Bless you!
Kav,
ReplyDeleteYour ewwwwwww says it all;)I'm so glad Morrow didn't make the worst. I actually like a historical cover posted over there as well as my own! But I remained true to my girl...
Love your enthusiasm for posting these covers. It's one of my favorite things to blog about if you couldn't tell. I was just telling Lorna the other day that I wish I was as prolific a reader as you! You seem to have a gift for enjoying a book, bringing out its best, and then blogging about it on your wonderful site. Bless you for that, Kav.
Praying you have a good book in hand and some sunshine your way!
Thanks for the link Laura. That was fun! And congrats.
ReplyDeleteVoted for CML, love the cover and her dress, however I have to say the Frontierman's daugther is still my favorite so far. The frontierman's daugther in a way reminds me of a little bit of history and the early days of the Kentucky froniter. With the covers I am looking forward to the Captive Trail by Susan Page Davis the cover looks awsome.
ReplyDeleteI love the To Die For cover. It's beautiful. Now I want to find out about the book behind it. :^)
ReplyDeleteI happened to be on the Cover Cafe earlier today to vote for another book, and guess who's book cover popped up? That's right, yours. Well, I had to vote for it, but there were several other good ones and it was such a hard choice. Everything I voted for ended up being Baker. So between Bethany and Revell, they must have some awesome cover artists.
Carissa, So glad Lael is a favorite:) Quite a few readers say that, too. Bless you for voting. I'm so glad to see so many Christian covers over there.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you - Captive Trail sounds so intriguing and the cover is beautiful. Very different than anything out there right now. I bet it will be a favorite with readers. Thanks for sharing my excitement over such great covers!
Adrienne,
ReplyDeleteYou're so gracious - thank you righ back! It is fun. I always hope that a non-Christian reader will be drawn to those CBA covers and find the message inside of benefit. Thanks so much for your support and encouragement!
I voted! Thanks also for posting about the Boleyn/Wyatt book. If the genealogy is right, I am a Thomas Wyatt descendant.
ReplyDeleteYou know you got my vote!
ReplyDeleteI like The Lightkeeper's Ball cover by Colleen Coble - this is a fun historical mystery series.
http://www.christianbook.com/reader/?item_no=542687
And To Win Her Heart by Karen Witemeyer (all great covers).
http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product_slideshow?sku=207571&actual_sku=207571&slide=0
I love covers that showcase the period costumes...I just can't resist!
Love Susan Meissner's cover. What a gorgeous concept. Just makes me feel like making some tea and curling up on the couch for an amazing read.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laura
Kristen, I had the same impression/feeling:) Susan M. always has such a unique spin to her books, part-historical and part-contemp. The cover is truly beautiful and bright. Can't wait to curl up just like you said:) Thanks for sharing the cover excitement with me - I always love hearing from you!
ReplyDeleteCarla, Bless you! I'm a fan of Colleen and Karen's covers, too, esp. Colleen's first with that gorgeous dress and hat. I thought of you when I posted Susan PD here as I know you're good friends:) She is one prolific writer! And I bet these covers or the book concepts aren't new to you;) Thanks so much, dear friend.
ReplyDeleteCarrie, TO DIE FOR certainly caught my eye and I think you'd really like this one given your family history. Sandra has a beautiful website and this is the first in a series title Ladies In Waiting. She caught my eye as my fav, Liz Curtis Higgs, endorsed this book and gave it a glowing review. Howard is the publisher, the Christian division of Simon&Schuster, if I'm not mistaken. Bless you for taking time here as I know you have a lot cooking. Always a JOY hearing from you!
ReplyDeleteNaomi, Thanks for the cover coverage;) Baker does have outstanding art teams. I think Bethany and Revell are somewhat competitive - "as iron sharpens iron" and all that...
ReplyDeleteTo Die For really appeals to me, too. Please check out Sandra's website. Lots of insteresting things there:)
True, Laura! Susan Page Davis' Love Finds You in Prince Edward Island has another beautiful cover!
ReplyDeleteYES, Carla! I'm such a fan of Prince Edward Island because of LM Montgomery, The Blue Castle, and the Ann books:) Susan's cover for the one set there is just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI sent in my votes for book covers. There's also a place on there to send in your 2011 nominations for book covers in all those categories. You can nominate as many as you want. So far I have nominated The Colonel's Lady and Blue Skies Tomorrow in the historical category.
ReplyDeleteHere's something off topic, but I thought was interesting. A couple of weekends ago my sisters and I went to a Revolutionary War battlefield, King's Mountain, in South Carolina and the Billy Graham Library in NC. We hadn't been to either of them. A couple of things there stood out that reminded me of your books.
ReplyDelete1)Billy Graham's mother's name was Morrow!
2)There was an English Col. Patrick Ferguson that was quite intriguing to learn about. He was a life-long bachelor with red hair; was thirty-six when he died there; had a couple of young women who traveled around with him to do his laundry and stuff for him (probably mistresses; makes me sad); was a sharpshooter who invented his own rifle; learned to load his own rifle with one hand after getting his hand injured beyond use. One time Col. Ferguson had an opportunity to shoot George Washington, but didn't. Here's the quote.
Ferguson wrote "As I was with the distance, at which in the quickest firing, I could have lodged a half dozen balls in or about him before he was out of my reach, I had only to determine, but it was not pleasant to fire at the back of an unoffending individual who was acquitting himself coolly of his duty, and so I let him alone."
Col. Ferguson's portrait
http://www.rawlins.org/origins/kimo/KIMO2002/Images/ferguson.jpg
OK. Enough history lessons. Back to the topic! :)
Oh Sylvia:) I wish you could see me sitting here SMILING at your history lesson here. I am soaking up every single word! So much so that I had read everything twice and I haven't even gotten to look at his picture yet.
ReplyDeleteThis is just the kind of history I love and write about! Your red-haired Colonel Ferguson sounds very much like my Colonel McLinn;) I do believe those camp followers/laundresses were his mistresses. Sigh. That was quite common then. I make use of that in TCL as you will see...
And you're right on again. Guess where I got the name Morrow? From Billy Graham's family. He has a granddaughter by that name also and it always stayed with me. So glad you met the real Morrow!
Off to look at the link - thanks so much for providing. Any time you want to give a history lesson, I'm all ears and promise you a rapt audience. Plus you just might see some of your info appear in a book;)!
Sylvia,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for covering all the bases! And YES, we can nominate covers for next year. Bless you for doing TLC. I am off to look at YT, too!
Oh, our colonel was a Scot! He sounds so fascinating - quite gallant and intelligent, with a bit of wit to top it off:) My kind of guy...
Forgive that typo, dear Sylvia. BST, is what I meant. Beautiful cover!
ReplyDeleteThose covers are beautiful! All of the books are on my wishlist, especially Captive Trail. It sounds like a great book.
ReplyDeleteI was wandering around in the library last night, and found a book on Quannah Parker. It's called "Empire of the Summer Moon: Quannah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History." It's been on my wishlist for awhile. I'll let you know how it is.
I went over to Cover Cafe and voted yesterday. My favorite non-CBA covers from the list came from the Series category. It was hard to choose, but I ended up choosing The Best Maid Plans by Sarah Mayberry. Two of my favorite non-CBA covers from this year are "The Second Duchess" by Elizabeth Loupas (great book too) and "Vienna Waltz" by Teresa Grant.
I thought I was going to need brain bleach after look at the worst cover category. Yikes!
The apartment is definitely shaping up nicely. I believe my mom and stepdad are coming this weekend to hang curtains and pictures. :) Then it will completely look like home. Of course it already feels like home.
I already voted for CML, Laura. I couldn't pass it by! The quality of the story definitely effects the way I see a cover. I guess my backwards axiom is, "I judge a cover by its book"? . . . I'm always amazed at how beautiful the covers are for the Christian market. I'm especially drawn to two covers of upcoming releases: the Joan Wolf book about Esther called A Reluctant Queen and the new Elizabeth Musser book The Sweetest Thing. Both captured my imagination.
ReplyDeleteOh, Laura, congratulations, my friend!! I went over and nominated Morrow but I think it said that the 2010 nominations are over and now they're doing the 2011. So I nominated TCL!!! They're both beautiful and I pray Morrow gets it for 2010 and Roxanna for 2011!!!
ReplyDeleteI love the covers you posted here! I haven't seen any of them yet, so thank you for introducing me :) I'm really intrigued by Captive Trail and I'm sure you can guess why ;) Thanks again for posting these, my friend! A very sweet way to end my day :)
Blessings,
Amanda
Hey Laura,
ReplyDeleteI saw this cover that I thought was beautiful! Thought I would share.
Stacie
http://www.familyfiction.com/authors/tamera-alexander/books/a-lasting-impression/
I've never read anything by Susan Meissner, but just looking at that cover makes me want to read the book! Do her books usually have happy endings?
ReplyDeleteRenee Ann, Thanks so much for taking time to vote:) It was fun voting in 3 categories but hard to do! You're right about the 2 covers you mentioned, both beautiful and intriguing - and I just love the title of The Sweetest Thing! Shows the impact/power a title has...
ReplyDeleteAs I get older I, too, judge a book more by its contents than the cover far more than I used to. Beauty is only skin deep applies to books, too! I just finished a Revolutionary War novel in the general market (historical suspense) and the cover is just so so but the writing is incredible. Sadly, I can't tout it here as it contains some questionable content. But one never knows till one dives in. Sometimes I think books should have ratings like movies do.
So glad you mentioned the 2 you did here. These cover posts usually have a lot of lookers and it's great to share book ideas. Bless you for that!
Amanda, So glad you ended your day blessing this post! You give it a sort of benediction:) Like you, I'm drawn to CT, and I think you know why, too! You're about to meet someone in TCL that is intriguing, or so I hope! He looks like Red Shirt but he's a bit more unpredictable;)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for voting for next year, too! I forget about that part. It's great to have the CBA take part as they have some inspired cover artists, that's for sure.
Hoping you have a good day today - and a good book in hand!
Stacie,
ReplyDeleteYES, the new Tamera cover is stunning - that dress! It will be fun to read a series set in Nashville as I've always loved that city and had family there. She's moving out of the west, I guess, and going south. Thanks for the mention!
Sylvia, I'm glad you asked. Yesterday I was just emailing with another reading friend about our need to have a happy ending. Susan's books are very interesting as each has a historical heroine and contemp heroine. In The Shape of Mercy, her historical heroine meets a bitter end but at the same time her contemp heroine has more of an upbeat ending. I finished Lady in Waiting recently and it was the same - the historical element ended sadly but there was hope on the contemporary end of things (a saved marraige).
ReplyDeleteThat said, her writing is excellent IMHO and her storylines unusual. I haven't read any of her other books so don't know about those. She's an excellent writing teacher, too, as I took a class from her last fall. And I'm with you, this new one here looks so intriguing!
LOL, Michelle! Brain bleach is right;)! I think some of those covers should come with a rating! R or otherwise... I will say the CBA covers tend to be pretty classy and are, thankfully, G rated!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear an apartment update:) I've been wondering how you're settling in. The fact that it feels like home is a good sign. If I have my books around me and a comfy chair, I usually feel the same. I keep thinking of you and your books curled up beside that fireplace this coming fall and winter!
I hope you like the QP book. He and the Comanche have always fascinated me, especially his captive mother, Cynthia. Such a sad tale in many respects. Of all the tribes, the Comanche were certainly powerful and probably the most brutal. I can't remember but I think Susan's book may have to do with them in Captive Trail. Can't remember the blurb or if it alluded to that.
I always follow up on the books you mention outside the CBA so thanks for that. Our reading tastes run along the same lines, esp. in the historical category!
Hope your weekend with your folks is a great one and they love your place s much as you do.
Thanks Laura, but I didn't bless this post, it and it's author blessed me, as usual :) And someone who looks like Red Shirt???!!! I didn't think I could anticipate TCL anymore than I already am but I guess I was wrong!!! Thanks for that little gem, it made my day :D
ReplyDeletePraying your day is beautiful and whatever your reading or writing will bring you lots of JOY!!
Blessings,
Amanda
You have a fabulous cover artist. Did the same person do all your covers?
ReplyDeleteI suspect I'm getting some "book funds" for Mother's Day. This summer shows to be a killer book summer beginning with Lynette Eason, Mary DeMuth, Karen Witemeyer, etc and ending with you and Julie :)
Julia, I'm so glad you asked about the designer. I sent the info to Cover Cafe and it was unfortunately left out. Dan Thornberg is the artist and he designs many covers for both Revell and Bethany House. The art team switched gears for TCL and contracted with a Colorado designer who did Liz Curtis Higgs Mine is the Night and the prequel. I'm so anxious to see the cover for the first book in my new series which they'll begin working on shortly. I think it will be very different than my first 3.
ReplyDeleteHoping you and the littles have a blessed Mother's Day! Book funds sound heavenly:)
Oooh, these are pretty! I sorta want to write a book so I can have a cover. Is that a bad reason? lol!
ReplyDeleteCaptivity stories are really interesting, and so harrowing. I remember when I was young reading one that was set in the French Indian Wars and was about a young woman (named kitty?) who was kidnapped and marched to Canada. I think it was written in the 50s. Since then I cant think of what it was called and it drives me crazy!
I love the dusty earth tones of these covers. Covers these days do so much to evoke a sense of time and place, its amazing! I want to jump in them!~
Heather, I was excited for you to see these as I imagine an artist like yourself looks at them through a different lens, so to speak. Kind of like a writer does when reading a book;) You can probably see all kinds of thinks you would change and then admire things you wouldn't have thought of yourself.
ReplyDeleteAnd YES! I can see why you want to pub a book just from the cover art standpoint alone. I bet you'd give the design team all kinds of ideas;)
Bless you, Amanda! My writing does bring me JOY as do your welcome words here! Can't wait to get back to that next edit in the series;)
ReplyDeleteMy mom and I had a "date" last night to see Jane Eyre and I thought of you and Renee and all the discussions here.
ReplyDeleteJulia, I hope you and your mom liked JE! I've heard good things. I think it's the perfect movie to do with your mom as my hubby doesn't like that sort of film. He's more a Braveheart and action man:) Hope you and yours have a blessed Mother's Day!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Laura!
ReplyDeleteYour covers are beautiful!
Thanks, Eileen! Nothing like a pretty cover! I just can't ever get enough of them. Now to get the elusive time to read! Bless you today, this Mother's Day:)
ReplyDelete