This episode of Evolution of a Cover brought to you by LADY EVER AFTER (Fall 2016), the rewrite of my 1997 HarperCollins medieval time travel romance, UNFORGOTTEN, featuring 15th-century Lady Catherine Algernon and twenty-first-century Collier Morrow. From start to finish, the process took approximately one week.
PART I: FINDING LADY CATHERINE ALGERNON ~ After another day in stock photo land, I presented my cover designer with this. Not exactly what I wanted, but if any graphic artist can make it uniquely Lady Ever After, it’s mine. And thank goodness she’s a first-rate photo manipulator since this model is now appearing in various poses on one romance cover after another.
PART II: UNIQUELY LADY EVER AFTER ~ Now for the magic. My cover designer found this gorgeous model. So…a face replace, a 15th century wardrobe change, and away we go!
PART III: ALL THE RIGHT ELEMENTS ~ I love how the elements of the story are represented–the portrait over Catherine’s shoulder and the pocket watches pouring from her hand to represent time travel. And that gown–wow! So now let’s darken her hair (in the portrait as well). As for those amazing pocket watches, they need to be more prominent, perhaps falling out of her other hand since they’re hard to see behind the title.
PART IV: HAIRSTYLE, HAND PLACEMENT, GOWN, AND PORTRAIT ~ The beribboned tress over her shoulder is lovely, but the style doesn’t fit the rest of her hair. More locks? More length? A braid? The pocket watches look better on that side, but the hand is too high and hard to see against the skin of her chest. Her right sleeve doesn’t match the left, not only in style but color. Now the portrait–can you narrow it so the subject appears centered in the frame and darken the lady’s hair a bit more?
PART V: PERFECTING LADY EVER AFTER ~ Hair color and style looking good, but the beribboned tress still doesn’t blend well with the shorter hair on either side of her face. This hand is much better, as well as its placement, and the sleeves match beautifully. Love the magical dust in the lower right corner. Can you add sparkle to the glow around the pocket watches, like on Dreamspell’s cover?
PART VI: TA DA! ~ The finalized LADY EVER AFTER. Happy dance time! Thank you for joining Lady Catherine and me. Now back to the rewrite!
EXCERPT: www.tamaraleigh.com