Pictures for Falling Angel Cover

Scarlett Rugers, the graphic designer I've hired, sent me a bunch of links to photos we could use for the cover of "Falling Angel." So many great pictures, each conveying a different mood. Some are light and carefree, others more charged with tension. Some show the characters in silhouette, and in others you can see their faces. I have to think carefully about the mood I want to convey. Do I want it to look like the cover of a Harlequin romance, or should it look more like a stand-alone single title contemporary romance? Decisions, decisions. . .

Cover Art

I wanted to take this post-Valentine's Day opportunity to give a shout out to my wonderful husband, John Kannin, a criminal defense attorney who practices in the Seattle area. John's expertise in the area of criminal law was invaluable to me during the writing of my most recent book, Primogenitor, a murder mystery set in Seattle with a fiesty young female protagonist who is also one of the prime suspects in the murder of her boyfriend, multi-millionaire Harry Hunt. Sara, the heroine, becomes emotionally entangled with the lead detective assigned to the case. John, with his knowledge of the law and the intricacies of court proceedings, as well as his first-hand experience with the criminal justice system in the Seattle area, helped give an authentic sound to my work. Over the years John has represented many clients with civil rights claims against the Seattle Police Department for excessive force and violation of Constitutional rights. I was able to use some of the things I learned from him to add depth and complexity to my characterizations of the two main detectives who worked on the case.

This week I got in touch with Scarlett Rugers, a graphic designer who will be designing a hopefully fantastic cover for Fallen Angel. I've decided to change the title of the book slightly, to Falling Angel, as I feel that gives the work more of a sense of immediacy, something happening now rather than in the past. I am excited to work with Scarlett on a cover and have already filled out her questionnaire and sent in some pictures of covers that have a similar look or feel to the one I want for this book. As Falling Angel was originally targeted for publication by Harlequin, that is the look I want on the cover, kind of clean, wholesome, sweet, a couple in a landscape setting that makes one think of the Pacific Northwest.

Writer's Progress

Marsha Zinberg, editor of the Harlequin Heartwarming series.


Today I sent out my weekly quota of five queries to agents for my most recently completed manuscript, a murder-mystery titled "Primogenitor."

I also researched the Harlequin Heartwarming series a little further and found, to my dismay, that at the moment it doesn't consist of new manuscripts, but rather previously published books that are already in the Harlequin archives. These books are being modernized, freshened up with new covers and re-released. Depending on the reception they receive from readers, Harlequin may consider opening this line up to new writers. But at the moment it looks as though my plans to send Fallen Angel to HQ for consideration for this line have been thwarted.

No matter. After six years, I am used to setbacks. And I try to see the glass as half full. In fact, this may give me the push I need to return to my original plan of self-publishing Fallen Angel. I think I'll start by looking into acquiring some cover art. Thanks to the advice of friend and fellow writer, Kristine Cayne, who has already gone the self-publishing route, I have some good references for a cover artist and document formatting service.

Kristine Cayne's romantic suspense novel is available for sale at amazon.com.

The Path to Publication

Dear Readers,

My name is Clare Tisdale (actually, that's my pen name), and I write sweet contemporary romances. I've been writing semi-seriously since 2006, and have to date completed five books. Sadly, none of these have been published yet, either in print or online :(

But that's about to change.

In this blog, I will chronicle my path to publication, beginning with my first novel, Fallen Angel.

Fallen Angel is a 60,000-word contemporary romance novel set in Seattle, WA.

My heroine, Cara Walker, recently moved to Seattle to start a new life after a traumatic experience with an alcoholic musician boyfriend. With her, she brought a huge amount of baggage - of the emotional kind. Abandoned by her own father at age seven, Cara grew up being told by her mother that most men, especially those with idealistic dreams, are unreliable drifters. Cara has vowed to date only stable, financially secure men, and to find someone who is not afraid of commitment.

When she meets handsome artist Ben Kilpatrick by literally falling through a door into his apartment, Cara is mortified. When she accidentally falls in love with him, she is even more upset. Ben is Mr. Wrong - freedom-loving, wildly creative, unconventional and impulsive - all the things she intended to avoid. Torn between her heart and her head, Cara goes back and forth between wanting Ben and pushing him away. It takes an unexpected reunion with her father to make Cara realize that if she isn't careful, she may lose the one thing she's been looking for her entire life; a good man to love and be loved by.

I am in the final stages of editing Fallen Angel, after which I intend to send it out to Harlequin Heartwarming, a new line featuring sweet contemporary romances with low sexual tension. While Fallen Angel in its current state does have quite a bit of sexual tension (not to mention some steamy action on a windswept beach!), I figure this would be easy enough to tone down should an editor express interest.

If the HQ query meets with rejection, I plan to move on to Plan B, namely, to publish the work online.

Stay tuned for more details!