Whenever a couple on a TV drama gets close to contentment, what’s the writing team’s first line of defense in breaking up the tedium of actual happiness? That’s right, our three-cornered friend–the love triangle.

Dawson-Joey-Pacey, Meredith-McDreamy-Addison, Buffy-Angel-Spike (although technically Buffy was never involved with both vamps at once) [ed. note: don’t forget rory-dean-jess!], there’s nothing like the drama of a romantic choice to catch peoples’ interest even if the resolution is a foregone conclusion. There’s always the possibility that the hapless heroine might choose the man who’s clearly wrong for her, instead of the guy who appears to be her polar opposite yet understands her in deeper ways than anyone else ever could.

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And now for something completely different… No, really. Take it away, Jana!

Greetings! I’m Jana Oliver and I’m guest blogging from England where I’m currently on “holiday” as they saw. Since my Time Rovers Series is set in Victorian England, my holidays consist of lots of research.

The photo is from the interior of the Mayflower in Rotherhithe (south side of the Thames across from London’s East End). Rotherhithe used to be to be one of the busiest sections of London’s Docklands, bustling with ships from across the globe, sailors, ladies of easy virtue and tons of pubs.

The Mayflower isn’t Victorian. Still, it has a rich history. The original pub at that location hails from 1620 when it was called the Shippe. It was from a nearby quayside that a group of strait-laced Protestants (the Puritans) set off for the New World. A century later the pub was rebuilt and named the Spread Eagle and Crown. After a refurbishment in 1957, it was renamed the Mayflower. For me, it’ll always be the Spread Eagle as it was named in the 1880’s.

The pub’s interior is full of dark beams, cozy “snugs” that allow you some privacy while you drink, and a view of the Thames. You can watch the seabirds diving through the air and the occasional boat chugging up or down river. I’d been to Rotherhithe before and photographed the exterior of this pub, but this time we went inside. I mention this pub in the second book of my series (Virtual Evil) when my heroine Jacynda Lassiter wanders in trying to find out about a rich woman’s suicide.

Nearby is the Isambard Kingdom Brunel Museum which details his construction of the Thames Tunnel between Rotherhithe and Wapping on the north shoreline. Completed in 1843, it is still in use as part of the London Underground. This amazing feat of engineering is well worth our awe today.

I admit, research can be tiring at times, but when your feet are swollen and your back is barking at you, there’s always a pub waiting for you with real ale, hot food and, if you’re daring, a furious game of dominos. Thanks for your time! And now back to it…

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Jana Oliver loves to live in the past. When not rummaging through old books and maps, she’s conducting extensive “research” in genuine Victorian pubs. To learn more about Jana and her multi award-winning series, please visit www.janaoliver.com

Virtual Evil, Jana Oliver’s latest book in the multi-award winning Time Rovers Series debuts Oct. 15th. Comment on this post for a chance to win a free signed copy of Virtual Evil!

And the winner to Jana’s contest is… Kate Rothwell! Rothwell, you get a signed copy of Virtual Evil. Email me and I’ll hook you up right quick.

[source: Uncooked Land]
I woke up this morning and found myself feeling old. It’s raining, my knees are killing me, I have a zit the size of the Rock of Gibraltar on my chin, my breath smells like I was licking an ashtray in my sleep, and I have 30 dollars in my bank account. Yes, I’m having a pity party as well as a birthday party. Except without the birthday party part.

Tell me your suckiest birthday story and one lucky commenter will get… NOTHING. Why should I give you anything when it’s MY birthday? Anyway, just commiserate with me, all right? Make me laugh or cringe in horror. Give me reason for schadenfreude.

Oh, and don’t forget to check out Jana Oliver’s post on pubs. She’s in the U.K. right now doing research. Luuucky. Oh, and if you haven’t read my bitch-session with Shuzluva on J.R. Ward’s Lover Unbound, go do that, too. Lastly, I’ve extended the deadline of the writing contest, so you can slack off and get the entries in by October 20th and it’d still be gravy. If you’ve never tried it, you should take a stab at it. You’d be surprised at how fun it is… Plus if you win, you get 50 bucks.

Here’s something that finally made me smile. My sister’s boyfriend, a pragmatic young fella I like to call Good Chinese Boy Brian (but lovingly) read Skin to Skin and liked it. Yay.

I finished reading your book a few weeks ago on my way to Michigan. I printed the book out including the cover so I could read it while I waited for the flight. I was embarrassed when I was boarding the plane and your book fell out of my pocket and landed with the cover facing up. A large dude picked it up for me and I quickly took it and rolled it up. Some how I picture Oliver to be the green arrow from smallville and not the guy on the cover. I really like the story. The plot is something that I would expect from “Desperate Housewives”.

Not quite sure how to take the last part, but since Brian doesn’t read romance novels, but actually liked Skin to Skin… I think I’ll take it as a compliment.

This review is riddled with spoilers. No, really. In fact, we reveal EVERYTHING. The ending, the twists, the identity of the villain… [Shuzluva Note: You have been warned, so bitch to us about some other shit.] It’s also really long and a little self-indulgent, but man, we had a blast. If you wanna hang out with us and read on, please do so. If not, feel free to skip this one (I won’t mind) and read this one, which is well-thought out and more eloquent than I could ever hope to be. Boo! Shuzluva and I have been waiting for this book to come out for a long time, so we hope you understand why we feel so passionate (so passionate in fact that we might have crossed some lines and in the process, cussed a helluva lot) about it and decided to share our thoughts with you in this format.

Bam: I’m here, homie. What’s doin’?
Shuzluva: I was just wondering if you were going to show up.
Bam: shaddup. I said 7:30. it’s 7:30. Damn, beeyatch, you know I ain’t functional without my morning Red Bull.
Shuzluva: Well, it’s 10:30 here.
Bam: Whatevz. Let’s start this thing.
Shuzluva: Okay.
Bam: For starters, what the hell is up with—

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Now that the perfect cover for a book has been created, it turns out to actually be not that perfect after all. After seeing a draft of the artwork, the author might catch a few things that are off, or maybe the art director feels a different look altogether would have a greater impact with readers. That’s when the artist gets to work fine-tuning her masterpiece.

Ch-Ch-Changes: Do-overs and D’ohs!

April: Sometimes I get lucky and nail a cover in the first draft; proclamations of worship and promises of chocolate will find their way into my e-mail inbox with a hearty “Squee!” These are nice, and I never get enough of them.

Other times I get questions, comments, and request for changes, which are not as nice but, depending on the author and the feedback, may or may not make a better cover. It’s hard to predict.

The author having an art or design background, for instance, isn’t always a good predictor. One would think it would help in every case, but that isn’t so; sometimes it makes them nit pickier and hard to work with because they feel they know better than the cover artist about what looks good. Having a writing degree myself, I can sort of understand the psyche; there have been times I would read a book and think, “I could have done better,” but at the same time, I don’t go around telling people how to write. Do I?

The point is that it’s hard to tell if the changes will actually make a better cover. You just hope that the changes they request are sound.

Frauke: While I’m happy if I don’t have to change everything, some covers wouldn’t be what they are thanks to the changes requested by the art department and/or the author.

After

Before

The art requests I fear most are these where the author did her-/himself several cover art drafts and sends them to me with the request to do the cover exactly the way they did. These authors aren’t allowed to design their covers themselves and feel now stuck with a cover artist they don’t really want. Everything I do is damned to be changed from the start, because I have my own style and my own vision. Here I’m very happy that there’s an art director or managing artist who steps in as third party - otherwise such a cover would never get finished.

Changes of another kind are re-designs of existing covers. Usually authors come to me on a private basis - after haven gotten the ‘okay’ from the publisher to have the cover designed by an outside artist. This is then really like a ‘before’ and ‘after’ show.

Anne: I’ll be frank — without input from my really awesome art directors, some covers just wouldn’t have come out right. There’s always a detail I miss or something not-quite-right about the design that my eyes don’t catch after having stared at the computer screen for too long. This is one of my favorite examples of that:

The concept stayed the same in both versions, but the final is a totally different execution that captures more of the sexual tension and noir feel of the story. I’ve heard some nice comments about it, so readers agree it’s a powerful image!

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The Insanity of Being a Cover Artist - where *headdesk*ing can become an artform

Looming deadlines! Software glitches! More photos of semi-nude beefcakes than you can shake a cordless mouse at! The life of a cover artist is almost always hectic, with new projects every week keeping them busy. As rewarding as the job is, enough crazy stuff happens along the way to keep artists on their toes and glued to their computer chairs. To close off this weeklong tribute to The Cover Art, April, Frauke and Anne share some thoughts on the trade they love.

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