Here It Is...The Cover!

I'm Not a Lizard Killer!

We have tons of lizards running around out backyard. They love our backyard. There's a big hill that grows bugs for them. We have rocks they can sun themselves on. It's like Lizard Nirvana.

Or it used to be.

Then we built a pool. We spent two years making the decision to put in a pool. We consulted with about six pool companies. We talked to people who had pools. We talked to Pool Specialists. We basically bugged the bejeebers about of everyone we know trying to make this decision.

But we didn't ask the lizards. Not once. It never crossed my mind. I thought the birds might be a little peeved since we removed the grass that was their favorite worm-hunting ground. But the birds actually seem fine with it. They still sing at five-freaking-am., so I assume they have adjusted.

Not the lizards. They, evidently, are traumatized enough to commit suicide.

In my pool.

Ugh!

The first time I found a lizard floating in the pool, I was a little freaked, but I got him out and saved his life. I actually thought he was dead, but it turns out he was just floating. Very much alive and seriously annoyed when I used the skimmer to get him out.

Ungrateful, if you ask me.

But then (cue creepy music) we started finding lizards at the bottom of our pool. GROSS. And it's no easy feat to use the skimmer and get them out

So what's the deal here? Are lizards committing hari-kari in my pool? Are they so dumb then haven't noticed there's a huge body of water where the grass used to be and run right into it? Are they playing some kind of Lizard X Games on the raised bond beam along the back of the pool and the loser goes in the pool (this is my son's theory)? Is there a serial lizard killer on the loose?

Any other theories?

News from my Editor

My editor loves THE SEX ON THE BEACH BOOK CLUB that will be out in January 2007. Publishing is a weird business and often backwards. The sales/marketing/art team came up with the cover copy and the cover before my editor actually read my manuscript. They do all this based on a synopsis that I write for them.

This stuff used to freak me out.

Now I've gotten used to it. And I'm a fast rewriter (first draft takes me forever and ever), so I know I can fix most anything my editor wants revised in a reasonable period of time.

But still…

Normally my editor reads stuff I send her in a few weeks time. Two months past before she got to the manuscript this time and trust me, I was beyond freaking out. Not because I didn't think I could do the rewrites, but because the voices in my head will fill the empty space with chatter. "She hates it. It's taking her weeks to decide if she should toss the whole book or have you do a killer revision."

Why don't the voices in my head say good things like—"It was so good it rendered her speechless for five weeks?" Never happens.

So I was heading out the back door to do some work in the yard and the phone rings. I'm annoyed because it's later in the afternoon and probably one of my kids wanting to know what's for dinner. And trust me, whatever is for dinner isn't what they want. They've lived with me all their lives, just where did they get the impression I lived to cook them the dinner of the fantasies?

Anyway, I answer the phone. "Hello?" with an edge of snark to my voice, just daring the caller to ask me what is for dinner.

"Jen?" one second pause, then, "I love it! I just finished it and I love it!'

My brain is trying to catch up. Being very clever, I notice right away the voice is not one of my sons. Finally, it snaps into place. "Kate? You mean the book? Wes and Holly?"

From then on, I mostly listened. My editor is incredible. She can name every character in the book, she understands their motivation and conflicts, and she grasps the subtlies that I try so hard to weave in. She's truly Editor Extraordinaire. And at this point, I'm still in shock. "Wow, I was worried you wouldn't like it."

And she's off again, talking about the book. It just made my week. She doesn't want any revisions. And both of us are just thrilled with the cover. I'm hoping that I can show you all the cover next week. My editor and the art department worked really hard to get this cover right and I can't wait to show it off.

Authors Trying New Things

This week, over at Murder She Writers we are talking about Author Growth, and does the volume of work equal growth. It's an interesting conversation—hop over and join us!

For here, I thought I'd talk about authors who do take chances with their writing. When is that a good thing, and when does it turn the reader off?

Janet Evanovich had a mediocre career as a romance writer, and decided to go in a completely different direction with her Stephanie Plum bounty hunter series. That was a huge leap for her, but the risk was worth it. The world loves Stephanie Plum.

Nora Roberts took a chance when she created her futuristic "In Death" series, BUT she wrote it under the pen name of JD Robb. Nora was already hugely successful and I don't know that the series was much of a career risk, but I love the JD Robb series! It's so different from her work written under Nora Roberts.

I believe that Sherrilyn Kenyon wrote historical romances as Kinley MacGregor before she made the leap to her super sexy paranormal Dark Hunter Series.

Those are three success stories that I thought of off the top of my head. It's a really big deal when an established author decides to break the mold and do something different. Publishers are very conscious of reader expectation. And no author wants to disappoint her readers. But we all want to grow and see if we can write something different and better. Off hand, I can't think of any failures, but I know they are out there. Authors who tried something different and the readers didn't like it.

What do you all think? Do you like it when your favorite authors go in a different direction? Have you been turned off by an author who started writing in another genre that just didn't appeal to you?