My First Book Cover -- Where are my tissues??

All writers imagine what their first book cover will look like. We make suggestions to the graphic artists or the publishers. We wait. We wonder. Then when the finished product wiggles into our mailbox like a cocoon about to burst, we take a deep breath and click on the attachment, eager to see the book cover butterfly that bursts forth on our screens. Smiles bloom. A whoosh of air escapes and we realize we've been holding our breath in anticipation...or fear. Our eyes drink in every aspect, every artistic nuance of the cover and then it lands on our names. A long-held dream come true: my name on the cover of a book. And the tears start. This was my experience last night.

Rae Monet, a talented graphic artist at The Wild Rose Press and the one I'd requested because of her beautiful cover for Beth Trissels's Enemy of the King, did a super job on my cover as well. She'd taken my garbled "wants" and turned them into a cover that is perfect for my contemporary romance set in the Hill Country of Texas. Did I cry when I first saw it? Does chocolate melt in your mouth?

Here's a blurb about Storm's Interlude:

Nurse Rachel Dennison comes to Texas determined to prepare her new patient for a second round of chemo. What she isn’t counting on is her patient’s twin brother, Storm Masterson.

Half Native American with the ability to have “vision dreams,” Storm dreams about Rachel for three nights before her arrival. Both are unprepared for the firestorm of emotions their first chance encounter ignites. Even so, Storm has two things Rachel won’t abide: a domineering personality and a fiancée.


Yet, ultimately, it is Rachel’s past—an abusive, maniacal ex-boyfriend—that threatens to keep them apart…and Storm’s dreams that bring them together again.


Thank you, Rae, for a job well-done. Doing the happy dance here in Lynchburg, Virginia. Hugs to you and your fabulous talent, Rae Monet.

BETH TRISSEL --

My guest on Vintage Vonnie today is Beth Trissel. Beth and I have struck up a friendship through VA Romance Writers and other online romance writers groups. She is a warm, supportive and interesting person. Her novels are rich with history, well researched and full of her beloved herbs and flowers. Welcome, Beth.    (Photo of Beth and her novels by Nikki Fox at The Daily News Record.)
Greetings and thanks for having me on Vintage Vonnie.  I'm a Virginia author of historical and light paranormal romance with the Wild Rose Press. I also write creative non-fiction pieces about rural life. The beauty of the Shenandoah Valley and surrounding mountains are my inspiration.  For more on me, my blog is the happening place: https://bethtrissel.wordpress.com/

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Today, I thought I’d discuss the real first Thanksgiving in the New World. When doing research for the sequel to Enemy of the King (postponed after the idea for Somewhere My Love came to me) my mother and I toured several of the lovely James River plantations. Two of these, Berkeley and Shirley, most influenced the home in Somewhere My Love, ‘Foxleigh.’

While visiting Berkeley originally called Berkeley Hundred and named after one of its founders, I was especially impressed by the wealth of history behind this beautiful old home and grounds. The magnificent terraced boxwood gardens and lawn extend a quarter-mile from the front door to the James River. The mansion itself wasn’t built until 1726, but the plantation’s history reaches much farther back into America‘s roots. I didn’t know that Berkeley was the actual site of the first Thanksgiving in America on Dec. 4th, 1619.

On December 4, 1619, a group of 38 English settlers arrived at Berkeley Hundred about 8,000 acres on the north bank of the James River near Herring Creek in an area then known as Charles Cittie. It was about 20 miles upstream from Jamestown, where the first permanent settlement of the Colony of Virginia was established on May 14, 1607. The group’s charter required that the day of arrival be observed yearly as a “day of thanksgiving” to God. On that first day, Captain John Woodleaf held the service of thanksgiving.

During the Indian Massacre of 1622 nine of the settlers at Berkeley Hundred were killed, as well as about a third of the entire population of the Virginia Colony. The Berkeley Hundred site and other outlying locations were abandoned as the colonists withdrew to Jamestown and other more secure points. After several years, the site became Berkeley Plantation and was long the traditional home of the Harrison family, one of the First Families of Virginia.

Benjamin Harrison, son of the builder of Berkeley and the plantation’s second owner, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and three-time Governor of Virginia. William Henry Harrison, Benjamin‘s third son, born at Berkeley, was the famous Indian fighter known as “Tippecanoe,” who later became the ninth President of the United States, in 1841. His grandson, Benjamin Harrison, was the 23rd President.

Many famous founding fathers and mothers were guests at this gracious and elegant estate. For more on Berkeley Plantation and a fascinating glimpse into early America visit:

http://www.berkeleyplantation.com/

http://www.jamesriverplantations.org/Berkeley.html