I keep cover pictures that I haven’t yet posted to all possible venues on my laptop desktop.  And for some reason, although every horizontal surface in my house is covered with stuff and I am usually blithely unaware of the clutter, I am very, very neat electronically.  I rarely allow my email inboxes to contain more than 15 entries, and once the number of covers on my electronic desktop reaches a certain critical mass, well, here comes a post.  :-)

Two years ago, I did a post here called Red Dress-Off.  The idea came about as Meredith and I each had a book with a red dress on the cover coming out around the same time.  Guess what?  I’ve another red dress cover, for Beguiling the Beauty.

Blurb:

Meredith does not have a red-dress cover coming out in 2012.  What she does have, however, is just as synchronicitous.

I wish I could find a bigger picture for At Your Pleasure.  (Meredith has kindly provided a large pic.)  But as you can see, these covers are totally twins separated at birth.  If only one of them were leaning the other way–they’d make a perfect set to display on the wall.

Blurb:

Now a bunch of foreign covers.

First up, The Duke of Shadows in complex Chinese.  Is that not a gorgeous cover?  Somehow it escaped my detection during the Duran foreign covers omnibus hunt.  I can excuse myself for that oversight, since Meredith herself didn’t know this edition existed.  The title in Chinese is less The Duke of Shadows, but more The Duke of Illusions.

Vietnamese Private Arrangements. I am again labeled as a New York Times bestselling author. Well, if you say if often enough… (Update: Finally got around to Google Translate.  The title in Vietnamese is Covenant of Destiny, which is totally awesome.  Might be my favorite title, foreign or domestic.)

French His at Night. Title translates to The One I’ve Been Waiting For, which I like very much.

And last, but not at all the least, comes Slovene Not Quite a Husband.  I’m not sure what’s going on with the hands, but once I realized that the dress was see through, I couldn’t pay attention to the hands at all.  Am I witnessing a miraculous piece of Brazilian waxing?

It’s not quite real until you have covers.

So I decided to hunt down as many of her covers as I can and post them here.

Let’s go with the French covers first.

Bound by Your Touch. French title: Last Hope

Written on Your Skin. French title: Conquered..Never Surrendered

Wicked Becomes Her. French title: The Disenchanted Belle

Now to the Spanish covers.

No captions needed.

Bound by Your Touch. Spanish title: Marked by Your Touch

Written on Your Skin. Spanish title: Written in Your Skin

Russian covers are always a pleasure.  :-)

Duke of Shadows. Russian Title: Renounce Not Love

Bound by Your Touch. Russian title: Your Touch

Written on Your Skin. Russian title: Love Without Deceit

Not to be outdone, here come the Dutch covers.

The Duke of Shadows. Dutch title: I Waited for You

Bound by Your Touch. Dutch Title: Deep in His Heart

Written on Your Skin. Dutch title: Complete Trust

This this last one is definitely my favorite.

Duke of Shadows. German title: The Saffron Glow of the Moon

OMG.  And the title?  Swoon.

Several of Meredith’s foreign covers have already been featured on the blog earlier.  To see them, click here.

I would like to thank blogger Pearl for helping me track down the Dutch covers and Loveletter publisher Kris Alice Hohls for locating the German cover–this post would have been very incomplete without their help.  A shout-out also goes to May Boonpitak, reader, bookseller, and publisher adviser in Thailand, for promising to email me Meredith’s Thai covers as soon as they come availalble.

(And if anyone can point me to Meredith’s Slovak covers, that would be totally awesome.)

You can’t really see me but if you set your audio to maximum, you can hear the speech pretty well.

See, you don’t need to speak English all that well to write okay in it.  :-)  (A long time ago, Bettie Sharpe confessed that before she first heard me, she’d imagined I spoke with a smoky voice, kind of like an expat in a French cafe. Darn it. I think I should too.)

My gratitude goes to my RWA roommie Kristyne Raley, for taking the video and then transferring it to a USB stick for me.  (Btw, Kristyne, your USB stick is so fancy it took me a minute to realize it has two ends!  Hmm, did I just reveal again how much of a Luddite I am?)

Since we are it, a couple more foreign covers.  Up first, Slovene HIS AT NIGHT.  The cover model is awfully pretty, but I’d always pictured Elissande a bit fuller–both in the face and in the bosom.  :-)

And now, the upcoming German reissue of PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS.  From what I understand, Cora Verlag (Harlequin Germany) first distributes their titles to train stations and other such convenience spots.  And then later a book might get repackaged for the bookstores.  So here is the repackaging and I’m very excited to have my first leads-lying-down-together cover.

That’s all, folks.  For now.

1. Pre-Departure

Everywhere I look, I see authors with other artistic talents.  They can paint, draw, sew, knit, quilt, garden, graphic design, compose, play instruments, and whatnot.  I play casual games and have nothing to show for it.  (Well,  lots of good memories with the kidlets but His Hawtness and I debate on whether that constitute as quality time.   I say yes. *g*)

But ever since the shea butter episode, I’ve developed an obsession with hand-making beauty products.  Not for myself, but as promo items.  For RWA Orlando I did bath bombs.  Facial scrubs for New Jersey RWA’s conference and RT Los Angeles.  In between I also made solid lotion bars as belated Christmas presents.

By the beginning of the year I’d already decided to make lip butters for RWA.  I’d really, really hoped that by June I’d have a cover for the first book in my 2012 trilogy, but since the release is still 11 months out, no.  All the same, my enthusiasm remained undimmed.  I love giving away good swag.  I love doing repetitive chores, especially fresh from deadlines.

Here’s the lip butter chronicle, for Janine especially, starting with empty jars.

And now they are being filled. 

Next the caps go on.

The above batch is for Courtney Milan.  Next batch is for me.

This is the image I used:

My name appears a bit off center since I had to correct for the idiosyncracies of my printer.

And this is the bottom label:

And yes, those are the tentative titles and release dates for the trilogy.  We are set on the first title, but the other two hadn’t quite finished the testing process yet.

I had a blast.  Made 900 of them and took about 800 to NYC.  They went really fast.  And now I have to think what to do next year.  :-)

2) The conference

Even more fun and more exhausting than usual, since it is NYC.

I went to the Alexander McQueen exhibit, which is macabre and stunning.  On my way back I passed this house on Fifth Avenue.  I recognized it as the template I used for Camden’s New York townhouse in Private Arrangements.  Like seeing an old friend.

This picture is from Random House’s offices, overlooking Central Park.

Le sigh.

And here’s my roomie Shellee, also known as one third of Ivy Adams, author of The International Kissing Club, before the New York Public Library.  Some chicks are born to pose.  So jealous.

The trouble with RWA?  Not enough time.  I didn’t get to see enough of Meredith, of Kristan Higgins, or Julie James, of…The list goes on and on.  I didn’t even get to see enough of my roommates!

But still it was a good one, I have to say.

HIS AT NIGHT won the RITA® for Best Historical Romance.  It was such an incredibly tight category that I didn’t even bother prepare notes for a speech.  The thrill was all the sweeter as His Hawtness flew in that afternoon to be with me.  He’d been kicking himself for missing the RITA moment in Orlando.  But I wasn’t so sure that it would be a good idea for him to come, since the chances of repeating was next to nil.  But woot, he got his way and it was awesome.

We stayed in New York over the weekend and went all over Manhattan.

I love greenery on balconies, especially balconies overlooking Central Park.

Look at those spikes.  So that’s how a Manhattan townhouse protects itself from cat burglars.

I wish my garbage can was half so pretty.

LOL.

And of course, this.

I would not have gone had His Hawtness not wanted to see it.   The Statue of Liberty is an over-familiar sight and I usually stay away from long lines crowded places.  Besides, I stepped onto American soil not via New York but San Francisco, five thousand miles to the West and across a different ocean.

But I’m so glad we went.  The moment Lady Liberty came into view, I had tears in my eyes.  Unlike many immigrants into the country, I did not come to the United States to escape persecution or a life of hardship.  I had a happy, safe childhood in China, surrounded by friends and a tightly knit neighborhood community.

But this is where I have made my home.  This is where I vote in every election, big or small.  This is the birthplace of my children.  And I am part of the fabric of American life.

3) Foreign Covers

You didn’t think I was going to forget them, did you?

First up, Turkish Private Arrangements.  I am so often a NYT bestseller overseas.  Why not here too?  :-)

Google Translator tells me the title means Signed with Marriage. I can totally get behind it.

Spanish paperback edition of Delicious.  I squeal every time there is food on a Delicious cover.

Italian Delicious. Love the pearls.

Russian Not Quite a Husband. Retitled Can Not Forget. Be still my heart, is that a streak of white I see in her hair?

And last, but definitely one that gave me a whole day of lols, German Not Quite a Husband, retitled Dangerous Passions.

When I saw the image this morning I immediately did a double take.  Is it…?  Yes it is.  The stepback from Joanna Bourne’s The Spymaster’s Lady!   I don’t know why but I’m still giggling.

(By the way, I had the great pleasure of sitting next to Jo at the RITAs, and more adorable and witty company I could not have hoped for.)

And this concludes the report on the first part of my summer.  :-)

The senior kidlet, who is a gourmet, has written a recipe post for the blog.  And lo and behold, he sounds exactly like the smart-aleck fourteen-year-old he is.  And he also sounds like he is talking to a bunch of other teenagers, rather than to ladies of his mother’s generation.  But oh well.  I have some general update following the recipe.

And if you need a query consultation, I have one up for bit at the Brenda Novak Diabetes Research Auction.

Caramel Popcorn

Hi I’m John a.k.a the senior kidlet. First off, this blog is pretty cool. Do i sound immature? Never mind.  If you don’t already know I’ve been on a cooking spree for a while now. Most of the time  I make slightly more complicated dishes than caramel popcorn but I just had to share this one because it’s just so delicious, easy to make and not expensive either.  This is great food for any sports event on TV, a movie you rented and brought home, or just a quick snack. Do you really want to know this recipe? I bet you do, you wanna know how I know it’s cause I’m a psychic. Not. All right, on to the recipe.

Acquire a bag of popcorn and about 1/3 cup of sugar. You can use more or less sugar and you can pop your own corn rather than a bag if you please.

Get a small pot

Put in the same amount of water as sugar in the pot.

Add the sugar.

Find yourself something to stir the mixture with. The chopsticks of Fire Flash are my choice but anything will do.

Stir! Stir you scurvy dogs!

Turn the heat up to High and stir until sugar is dissolved. You should probably put the popcorn bag in microwave now but if you’re making it in a kettle you should start a little earlier.

Put the popcorn in a big bowl and keep it nearby.

This is what it looks like before turning into caramel. I usually pour it in now because it’s much easier to pour and I think it tastes better as well.

Make sure that you stir it together and make sure nothing is sticking at the bottom

This is what it looks like in the end. Yeah not much but I assure you in the strictest confidence. It’s good.

This is a piece that is (expletive deleted by Mom) loaded with caramel you can mix and match as you please.

Just how good it is.

(Thank you, Sr. Kidlet, now back to Mom.)

General Update

I have finished the first book in the trilogy!  Woot!  It is very exciting–especially more so as the book hasn’t given me anywhere as much trouble as HIS AT NIGHT did.  I am full of cuddly feelings right now.

OK, so the truth is, the scaffolding is all done, but the plasterwork and the wiring and the interior decoration still leave much to be desired.  So as I go full steam at Book 2–2.5 weeks to deadline and 30k words to go–I’ll have to revise Book 1 as I go.  But a good scaffolding has always been my greatest problem in the past, so I am happy to have that out of the way.

The Harlequin title for Book 2, btw, is EIGHT YEARS AS A VIRGIN BRIDE–AND HOW IT ALL ENDED.  :-)

(There are no official titles for any of them yet.  Will be hashed out during cover meetings, which are to take place soon at Berkley, from what I understand.)

And of course, what is a general update post without a couple of foreign covers?

Portuguese PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS, the title of which translates into AN ALMOST PERFECT LOVE.

Japanese NOT QUITE A HUSBAND, which they call AWAKENING OF LOVE BURNING.  Me like.  :-)

And don’t forget that Meredith’s new book will be out in soon.  The excerpt is on her website.  I have the link to it in the sidebar.  Read and love.  In the meanwhile, I return to work and will–I devoutly hope–post the next update after both Books 1 & 2 have been turned in at the beginning of June.  Keep well and happy reading.

So here’s my call story for this year’s RITA nominations.

Usually I am not a nervous person, possibly because usually I have no idea what’s going on.  Take the RITAs, for example, in 2009 and 2010, the calls came early in the morning, right after I’d come back home from walking the Junior Kidlet to school, before I’d even realized what date it was.  This time, however, I began working before waking the kidlet up, and while using the dictionary widget on my macbook, I happened to glance at the calendar widget, and the 25 was highlighted.  Too bad, a second later, I remembered that RITA calls went out on the 25th.

This set me slight on edge.  I am not a hoper–is that a word?–and usually prefer to first mentally prepare myself for the worst that can happen.  And when 8:30 came and went, I thought, well, that’s probably it.  The calls have gone out and I didn’t get mine.

Then at 8:37 the phone rang.  I scrambled to get it.  Ack.  The number of a known telemarketer.  I pressed the rejection button really hard and muttered something under my breath.  And then, just as I was walking away from the phone, it rang again.  And this time it was Cindy Kirk from RWA.  There is an old Turkish proverb that goes: When Allah wants to make a poor man happy, He takes away the man’s goat and then let him find it again.  And boy, when I got the call after thinking I wouldn’t, did it make me happy!

This was written for The Romance Bandits.  Who corralled a bunch of RITA nominees (and a couple of Golden Heart nominees) who have been guest bloggers at the Bandits’ blog to share their RITA call stories.  Go give it a read.  Most of the stories are better than mine.

But I was most certainly as thrilled as anyone.  This never gets old.  Especially as I’m always a little unsure how to feel about HIS AT NIGHT myself.

Now my mind turns to the dress.  But alas, I’m on deadline.  And I sit all day and eat crap when I’m on deadline.  And even the prettiest dress might turn into sausage casing when the deadline goes on for another two months.

So I’d better finish those two books fast–two books, ack–if for nothing else than to get out the house and get some exercise.  Book 1 is shaping up well.  Book 2 is going to need an overhaul–nothing new here.  Same old process.  Write ‘em first and sort ‘em later.

This then, will be the last blog for a while, until I’ve turned those two books in.  So I want to inform everyone that I am contributing critiques to two auctions.  First, to the well-known Brenda Novak Diabetes Auction, a query critique.  Second, a three-chapter critique to the Crits for Water Campaign run by blogger Flighty Temptress.  My critique is scheduled to go up for auction on June 13.  I’m not sure how the bidding works exactly, but if you are interested, I’m sure Flighty Temptress will be happy to walk you through the process.  :-)

I have never offered a chapter-critique before, and the reason is that I can be terrifying.  :-)  Half the time I preface a critique with “I know you won’t like hearing this–”  But if you want someone to have a good hard look at your WIP, especially one that’s close but no cigar (those actually  benefit the most from a stone-cold analysis), and if you’ve a few bucks to contribute to a good cause, then look me up.  Just make sure you really do want to know what’s not working.

And now, last but never least, new foreign covers.

Italian Private Arrangements:

Now if this looks familiar, it is.  

It’s Monica Belucci all over again!  Different photos from the same series.  I really would like to know if my Italian publisher consulted the French cover or if this is just an amazing coincidence.  :-)

And now, Taiwanese NOT QUITE A HUSBAND.

This actually looks a lot like the environs of Chakdarra, where pitches battles of the Swat Valley Uprising of 1897 were fought.  And the fort resembles the real fort at Chakdarra.  Need I tell you that I’m happy?  And lol, not only did they mention the RITA for NQAH, they also mentioned the AAR Best Hundred Romance placement.  All true, let’s sell this baby, I say.  It’s when they call me a New York Times bestselling author that I start to giggle.  How come I’m always an American bestseller overseas?  :-P

So long, keep well, and ’til we meet again.

Next up, German Delicious.

And now, Thai His at Night.

Near the end of HIS AT NIGHT is the following paragraph:

The top of the Hangman Cliffs gave onto a stunning vista: miles of verdant headlands towering hundreds of feet high, a twilight-blue sea upon which the sun glimmered like silver netting, and in the distance a pleasure boat, all its sails unfurled, gliding across the water with the leisurely grace of a swan.

I love this cover!

Anyway, here’s a lovely foreign cover of NOT QUITE A HUSBAND  to start the year.

I think the French like their romances set in exotic locales.  Bryony is never in native attire, if memory serves, but the Indian aspect, instead of being downplayed on the U.S. cover, is unambiguously emphasized here.

My favorite part of the cover, no doubt, is the band on the bottom that declares this book to have won the “Prize of the best historical romance of 2010.”  Hee.   The book came out in the beginning of November 2010, so I won the RITA just in time for it to be emblazoned across the cover.

In other exciting news, NQAH came in #18 in the All About Romance Top 100 Romances poll.  I am completely thrilled.  NQAH is my favorite, my own, my precioussss.  Debut books usually get all the attention so I’m really happy that NQAH, not a debut book, went so high.

As for the new books–the Fitzmaurice Trilogy–I am chugging along on pace for them.  Did a big push for book 1 in December.  So at beginning of 2011 the book is at the halfway point.  And now the story for book 2 has finally fallen into place in my head, i.e., I’ve got a grip on the hero now–no puns intended at all. 

This morning, as I was reflecting on at last getting inside the hero’s head, I realized that with the exception of DELICIOUS, which was about the hero’s honor, the epiphanies PA, NQAH, and HAN have all revolve around how much the hero loves the heroine.  Also book 1 of the Fitzmaurice Trilogy, which is tentatively called An Affair with the Duke (formerly known as Fornicating with the Duke).

The crux of Book 2, however, is going to be quite a different kettle of fish.  It will be an interesting book.  Or at least it won’t be like any of my other books.  Might be dicey for readers, but it is very exciting for me as a writer so I will quit blogging and work on it some more. 

A belated Happy New Year to all, and may your 2011 be a year filled with good books, good friends, comfort, love, and security.

So let’s see, what all happened since I last posted.

RWA Orlando

It’s always fun to attend a RWA conference. But the highlight of my conference, without a doubt, was this:

The preparations leading up to the awards ceremony was the same as the year before.  I had a couple of commitments that left me about forty-five minutes to get ready.  I threw on my dress.  My roommate Kristyne did my make-up. My other roomie Shellee flat-ironed my hair.  (My hair, left to its own devices, is wavy.  And since it is never not left to its own devices, it was the first time I’d ever seen my hair completely straight.  I was thrilled to discover that I looked like a Hong Kong gangster’s moll–the expensive sort, of course!)  My other, other roomie Tracy, my bedmate actually, introduced me to the wonder that is the vibrating mascara applicator last year.  This year she did nothing to help me!  LOL, because Tracy, a first-time nominee, had to get her own gorgeous self ready for the event.

Right before I left my hotel room, I tore a small strip off the edge of a newspaper that’s been lying around.  I figured, just in case, I should jot down a few reminders of people I wanted to thank.

(I didn’t do this last year because last year I was nominated for PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS, and had I won, you’d have heard me thank myself.  Seriously, somebody should give that speech, for all the writers out there who don’t give themselves quite enough credit.  Since PA was written on my own time, at my own instigation, without ever inconveniencing any family  members, I figured it was the only time in my career I could say, “And most importantly, I want to thank me for never giving up on me.  I would never be here if it weren’t for me!”   I’d have done it too–I can see Shellee, Kristyne, and Tracy all nodding their heads going, yep, she totally would have–except for the fact that my name didn’t get called!)

This time it did get called.

Even as Teresa Medeiros, the presenter for the historical category, read the list of nominees, I was scrutinizing the same list on my program and wondering if it was going to be Elizabeth Hoyt, Liz Carlyle, or a complete dark horse.  And then came the drumroll.

Until then I had no idea who it would be; my gut is usually dormant when it comes to such matters.  As soon as the drumroll started, however, I sort of knew.

Somebody hugged me from behind–my agent, as it later turned out.  And then I was upon that stage.  And I am totally mortified about it now, but as I was walking across to the podium, I heard my name shouted from  the back in the ballroom–and I waved.  Waved, like a beauty queen!  *dies of embarrassment*

The statuette is surprisingly heavy.  Perfect-for-braining-home-intruders heavy.  I pulled out my little piece of paper–reproduced below–and poured out my gratitude.  It can never be said enough that I needed all the help I could get on NOT QUITE A HUSBAND–on each book since PA, in fact–and if I look back and see only one pair of footprints, it was probably because my editor carried me.  And so the award was dedicated to her.

I did forget one line on the list–the line that said “everyone.”  So if you are reading this, I want to thank you–and thank you again–for everything.

I got my picture taken more times that night than at my wedding.  Drank a bit of champagne–and that’s not an euphemism but literally two sips.  And then went back to my room to hang with them what brung me, my wonderful roommies.

And then, I put on my headphones and listened to this song three times straight.  It is called, aptly enough, “Just for Tonight.”

This is a tough business. But it does have its occasional glorious moments.

(The video is incomplete. The full version does not allow embedding, but you can access it here.)

San Diego

I had the good fortune to spend five weeks in San Diego this summer.

His Hawtness was working there, the family joined him for some time before RWA.  On route to Orlando I dropped off the kids at their grandparents’.  From Orlando I went back to SD for a nice little grownups-only time with the honey.

I love San Diego.  True, I was shocked upon arrival that it is so arid–I was expecting a humid maritime climate, like my hometown in China, not taking into consideration Southern California’s proximity to the deserts.  But other than that, the weather could not have been more delightful, especially coming from the heat of a Texas summer.  (This year wasn’t quite as bad; last year we had 100 days over 100F.)

We went to the beach.  We hiked.  I wrote in a public library with a spectacular view of the ocean.  I visited my jewel of a critique partner, Janine, and the awesome Bettie Sharpe in LA–sprinting like mad to catch my train back to SD because we were having so much fun.  They in turn visited me in SD.

And, of course, His Hawtness and I stumbled upon a clothing-optional beach. (Janine and Bettie, it was where we did not go down to the beach.) Imagine, it was near twilight, we were having this wonderful walk on this largely empty beach that goes on for miles and miles.  There were a few people fishing, some joggers, others on an evening constitutional–perfect normalcy, if you will.   And all of a sudden I blurted, “Is that man not wearing anything?”

It was exciting stuff, let me tell you, even though I kept my eyes averted from the dangly bits–and not out of modesty either, but so as not to laugh. Anyway, nude beach! This suburban soccer mom has never seen one before.  And now she has.

Thank you, San Diego.

Latest Foreign Covers

French DELICIOUS

Spanish paperback DELICIOUS

Books

For a while there, I thought there was no more to say after foreign covers, and then of course, I had to smack my forehead.

I am writing a new trilogy for Berkley.  The schedule pub dates are May, June, and September of 2012.  From now to end of next year I have to produce three books.  I’ve never had such tight deadlines before.  Send speedy vibes my way!

Jersey Shore

I am going to give my chemistry workshop–which has totally become my workhorse presentation–at NJRWA’s Put Your Heart in a Book conference Oct 22-24. I am very excited about it, not only because I’ve never been to New Jersey–or a big regional conference, for that matter–but also because I am going to room with Meredith, whom I haven’t seen since RWA D.C.

I am going to attempt to shame her into writing an update blog post, so we know what she’s been up to. Wish me good luck!

I think I’m excited about getting new foreign covers because it’s like getting new clothes.  I like new clothes, but I am in general disinclined to shop.  We are in July now and this entire year I’ve spent less than $300 on clothes and accessories combined.  For the money I’m willing to fork over per piece–as you can guess, not much at all–there is usually something not quite there with the style, the cut, the fit, the whatnot, which means time spent browsing is time largely wasted.  And as for White House Black Market, which has the style, the cut, the fit, and the whatnot, alas, they do not carry enough color and I can only wear so much black before the twee-ness of my soul rebels and I begin to long for all kinds of pastels.

But getting foreign covers is like having fun, fabulous new clothes delivered to your home–free!

First up, Spanish DELICIOUS.  Did I mention above how much I adore pastels?  Well, here’s pastel heaven, that’s what.

I only wish I knew for sure whether she’s hugging a fancy pillow or a small sack of potatoes. 

Next, pocket edition of Spanish PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS.  I was quite surprised to receive those books in the mail, as I didn’t know there was to be a pocket edition.

Niiiice.  Rather an Orientalist flavor to it.

Now, Japanese DELICIOUS, which is the largely the same cover as the North American one.

I like the title, though, which says SEDUCTIVE DINNER. 

I can spot a Russian cover from a kilometer away.  They have a certain old-fashioned je ne sais quoi.  Here’s the hardcover Russian DELICIOUS.

Here it is, with a mighty rose, the paperback edition.

The title translates to EXQUISITE, according to Google translator.

Indonesia gave PRIVATE ARRANGEMENTS its first landscape cover.

The title is COVENANT OF LOVE.  Pretty.  Greek-ish.  But Camden and Gigi have plans to sail the Aegean, so it’s all good.  Besides, I’m sure they had cobalt-blue swimming pools back in the 1890s.   And nice rubbish collectors with ashtrays on top. 

And last, but most definitely not the least, my Thai publisher is not about to be outdone.  Here is the second landscape cover for PA.

Mamma mia!  Lest you think this is just generic prettiness, look at this detail.

As it so happens, there is an important horse-riding scene in PA, with Gigi on the horse and Camden leading.  Although it took place in the dead of winter, so Gigi probably wouldn’t have been so scantily attired.  But what an adorable little touch.

(And omg, I just noticed the package on Camden.  Holy @#$%!)

Now if someone would only send me my Slovenian and Turkish covers.  I’m sure those would be pure amazingness. 

Update:  And now thanks to Neja and Klara, we have Slovene covers.  Here’s Slovene PA, which translates into PLANNED LOVE or LOVE DESIGN, a close parallel to SCHEMES OF LOVE, the original title.

Here’s Slovene DELICIOUS, titled DELIGHT.  Me like.

Thank you again, Neja and Klara!