Judy Kentrus~ Making Dreams Come True on Last Chance Beach

Please welcome Judy today, who has come to share the story of her beautiful cover for WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE, Last Chance Beach Romance #14. Let's see what she has to say...

When an author thinks about her story, having a cover that reflects the storyline is important. When I thought about “Where Dreams Come True,” I knew I had to have a single person on the cover. Since Chelsea’s profession was dancing and her dream to become a prima ballerina, I started looking for cover images of dancers. It can be a long, frustrating process, but when the right image appears, you can feel it and know it’s right. I actually got goosebumps when I found the dancer on the beach. The dancer on the cover epitomizes Chelsea, but more importantly it depicts the storyline to a “T”.

Blurb ~

Chelsea Townsend runs a local dancing school in Last Chance Beach. Five years ago, her partner dropped her during a performance. The resulting injury killed her chance of becoming a Prima Ballerina. Her dancing career always took precedence, but she regrets giving up a chance to have a life with the only man she’s ever loved.

She’s worked hard to reopen the historic Gershwin Theater. When someone breaks into her dancing school, it sets off a chain of events that reveals the untold secrets surrounding the old theater, including a twenty-five-year-old murder.

It will take a police detective, the father of one of her students, to find out who is working against her.



Zachary MacFarland, a decorated NYC police detective, returned to Last Chance Beach eight months ago. He and his partner were ambushed, and the bullet that killed his partner came from Zach’s gun. He’s determined to find the real killer and clear his name.

Coming home also meant being close to Chelsea Townsend. She chose her career over the happily-ever-after he offered. It will take all of his detective skills to reveal who is determined to destroy her hopes and dreams.

Last Chance Beach meant second chances. Would they find the love and happiness they once lost? This is a page-turning romantic suspense.

YOU CAN PURCHASE WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE HERE:

https://amzn.to/3VGKObq

Bio ~

Judy Kentrus, Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense, Seasoned Romance, Historical Romance

I’ve always been a romantic at heart and I married my high school sweetheart. I make my home in the Poconos of Pennsylvania. Before I let the dog out, I make sure there aren’t any bears around. I’m a mom with two grown children who have given me six grandchildren.

We love to travel. Many of the places we’ve visited have inspired me to use as a storyline. I never know what will give me an inspiration, but my mind is always working.

When I’m not giving couples their happily-ever-after, you can find me in the kitchen, baking, especially cookies. I’ve been dubbed the cookie queen by my family and friends. You’ll find a new recipe every month on my website.

Want to find out more about my books and what’s coming? Be sure to sign up for my newsletter, via my website. My stories are fun, sexy, romances that will make you laugh, cry, and fall in love.


YOU CAN FIND JUDY HERE:

Website: https://www.judykentrus.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judykentrusauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JudyKentrus

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/judykentrus/?hl=en

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/judy-kentrus

Pinterest https://www.pinterest.com/jkentrus/_saved/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard?ref=nav_profile_authordash

Amazon Author Central: https://author.amazon.com/claim/join?query=Judy+Kentrus

Tiktok: lolababy687


Thank you, Judy, for sharing your cover story!

~ Time to Update Covers, Part 2 ~

Here are a few more new covers. I liked both of my old covers, just felt I needed a fresh look.

OLDER COVER

NEW COVER

OLD VERSION

NEW VERSION

Any thoughts?

What Happens When You Design a Book Cover UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR? Brilliance!

My last post showed what can happen when a cover artist and the author are on the same page. Like my cover for TAKEN BY STORM. I told Steven what I want and he sent it. I thought it was gorgeous! No changes needed to be made. That's got to be kind of rare.


However, Steven and I don't always start on the same page. But, with a lot of patience on his part, we eventually get there. Today we're going to be looking at the cover creation for my romantic suspense, UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR. Let's start off with a blurb to give you an idea of what we're trying to capture.

Blurb ~

Dylan Fisher is a paramedic & part-time mall Santa Claus. But he never heard anyone ask for what Delaney asked for, a dad. When Dylan’s eyes land on her mother, Keira Kelly, he almost finds himself in need of CPR. She was stunning.

Keira is still grieving the loss of her husband, but a reckless driver has her thinking about nothing but survival. When she wakes in the hospital to find a hunky paramedic at her bedside she begins having thoughts that would put her on the Naughty List for sure.

Okay. So it needs to say hot paramedic, Christmas, and romantic suspense. That's a lot to encompass in one cover. Here's the first cover I got from Steven. 

I've got to admit, as this picture slowly came up on my computer I was like, wow! I love it. Only problem was Dylan's a paramedic, not a doc.

So we get cover 2.  And, yowza!Again, I love it, but I'm a little concerned that this isn't right for my book. Maybe it's me, but bare-chested men make me think the book's going to be really racy. Now I think my writing is hot, but not verging on erotica by any means. I also feel like we're missing the suspense element. I suggest adding siren lights to give it that urgency and the tagline, "When Christmas magic turns to murder." I show the cover around and several people comment that they aren't getting a Christmas feel, so I suggest adding some holly. About now I'm definitely kicked off Steven's Christmas card list and probably well on my way to being an ex-client. 

Cover three. Whoa! Too much going on here. I meant the ambulance lights instead of the guy. And now the guy's all funky colored...

Cover four. Now we've got urgency all right, but no romance. Sigh. I ask Steven to bring the guy back, but put a shirt on him. I'm also moving the holly around to get it in just the right spot. Steven's replies are getting shorter. "Take a look at this one." He no doubt is imagining a special place for me in the fiery pit.

Cover, gulp, five. I really, really like this one. 

...but is there too much white now? Could we make his shirt red to bring out the Christmassy feels?

Cover six. Okay. Really

digging this! We've got Christmas going on. The tagline gives us the suspense. The dude is fully clothed, but still hot. This is working!

But, although I liked the banner being purple before, now it doesn't work. I ask Steven to change the banner to red, and the font on the tagline to black, and the exclamation point to a period. I'm always getting carried away with exclamation points. I'm excitable. 

At this point Steven is either a). rethinking his choice of careers, or b). figuring out a way to do away with me that involves hemlock. Cover 7. Now it's really coming together. It's 

Christmasy, we've got the hot guy, and suspense with the tagline, and we're all color coordinated. Or are we? I had one last change to make. 

Steven?! (In my best whiny voice.) Can you make the banner red closer to the red on his shirt? And change the REAL ROMANCE COLLECTION to green? Our final cover--->

I'm sure Steven was breathing a sigh of relief!

So whatcha think? Better than where we started?

~ NO DAMAGE DONE TO THIS COVER! ~

I may have to rename this segment "The Steven Novak Worship Corner" because I just love my cover artist's work! Today I'm going to share with you the development of the cover for my newest release DAMAGE DONE.


Okay, so this one is set in Ireland...I'll give you a blurb ~


When an unhappy youth leaves him damaged, will Teddy Mckee be able to find love?

“Teddy Passmore McKee was born in Cork, Ireland, with a limp and a chip on his shoulder that threw his balance off all the more.” When he falls in love with the dark haired beauty born of an Irish father and a Spanish mother, will Gabrielle Quinn be able to restore his balance? And what about the charming Sean Hennessey? When Gabby catches his eye, too, will Teddy’s playboy best friend cause his own damage?


Fourteen years later, will Teddy and Gabrielle’s son be able to overcome the damage done to him in his childhood?

“Even through bloodshot eyes he could see she was different.” But can Michael leave behind the bottle, and his womanizing ways, to win over the lovely Tess Flanagan? Tess has sustained some damage of her own. Can she and Michael overcome the terrors of the past and learn how to love each other?


And if they do, will they be able to elude those after them who want to create their own damage?

On the run after an altercation leaves their boss in a pool of blood, will Michael and Tess be able to stay one step ahead of their pursuers? Or is it simply too late to correct the damage that has been done?




I sent this blurb to Steven along with this, copied and pasted from my email:


So, a lot going on here! A book told in two parts. The love triangle of Sean (good looking blond), Gabrielle (dark-haired, dark eyed), Teddy (brown hair, plain features, but handsome) in the first part. And the love story of Tess (long,red hair, green eyes) and Michael (looks a little like Johnboy Walton).


What I see: I like the covers we've been creating lately! The REAL ROMANCE COLLECTION generally has that banner with my name, some handsome hunk or couple or something, and the setting at the bottom. Setting is Ireland so you could go with green fields, thatch roofed cottage, sheep, or cliffs and sea (there's an important scene that takes place there). We've also got barns, bars, and churches as major scene settings. Color wise I'm thinking maybe mostly white, with a splash of green for font and/or banner. But as always, I'm open to your brilliance. I attached some images that I got off of BigStock to make my teasers with. Oh, yeah, and I'll be wanting a couple of your fab, teasers, too. I'll send some quotes in a separate email when I get the MS back from my first editor in a couple of weeks.

In short, the cover needs to say Irish romantic suspense and be consistent with my branding. I'll show you the first two covers from the collection.

THE HEART TEACHES BEST is FREE for the month of August to celebrate my release of DAMAGE DONE! (Had to get that plug in there!) ;)








The first cover Steven sent me for DAMAGE DONE was phenomenal. I just loved it. But it was wrong for my book.

We have the whole sexy thing here, the pub, even bikes. (Sean rides a motorcycle and that's touched on several times in the book.) But with the image blown up more, I notice the girl's nails, and to me, they're hideous! And it's just not saying Irish to me. The pub could be a bar, and we all know there's a huge difference there. I'm just kidding, but I needed more Irish. These were images I sent him, by the way. I'm sure he was like, but these are the images she sent me! But being the great guy that he is, Steven made me up another cover from the images I sent. Now, keep in mind, you may not agree with the decisions I made to come up with my final cover, and that's fine. I really did love this cover. Sigh. I even love the colors. So here's what he came up with next--->

Again, I love it. We have the Cliffs of Mohr, they say Irish. I like the couple. She looks pensive, the bottom's a little spooky, I think that can hint of suspense. I'm actually pretty sold on this...but I want to mess with it some more because I'm just that much of a pain in the backside. I feel like the all white with the fonts is washing it out a little bit, and my girl has red hair, and I don't really want to change it. It's kind of one of her outstanding features. So Steven works his magic and I get this--->

Much closer. We've got a tagline now. I'm feeling the Irish. But there is a strand of the girl's hair near her face that's blond and bugging me. I also ask Steven to change the title, which I just told him to make green, back to white. That's how I roll.

The next cover is great. 

The title looks good in white, he's gotten rid of the blond hair...but we still need a little more tweaking. I've been looking at the girl's hair and it looks fine when it's small, but big it comes off brassy. And there is a green mist behind the title now that gives it a sci-fi feel. Plus my editor wants me to take the "to them" out of the tag.

The girl's hair looks slightly less brassy. It's a subtle difference but I think we are as close as we're going to get. The final change I ask him to make is again to the color behind the font. The white, I feel, washes it out. I ask Steven to make it grayer, like in the first cover with this couple. And here's our finished product. --->

Did my changes make it better, or screw it up? We'll all have our opinions, but I feel Steven has done an excellent job of capturing my book in visual form.

I hope you enjoyed this. And now, if you think you'd be interested in the pages behind the cover, here is where you can purchase DAMAGE DONE:

You can find DAMAGE DONE at:

Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00LU7719K

Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/damage-done-mj-schiller/1119955011?ean=2940149795697

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/damage-done-1

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id899251690




You can find M.J. at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/MJ-Schiller-Romance-Author/286382241460365?ref=hl

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mjschiller/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mjschiller

Tumblr: http://mjschilz.tumblr.com/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/mjschiller

Google + : https://plus.google.com/u/0/110797684036386240402/posts  

What are your thoughts on cover art? 

Does the cover weigh in a lot when you're choosing a book?

Is there anything that tends to annoy you on covers?