I’ve had a lot of compliments on the cover of Call Me Lisa. If you’re interested in where the art came from, here is the original painting by Nina Smart. Nina is an Australian artist whose numerous paintings of dressage horses caught my eye. I’ve been asked if I own the original. Sadly, I don’t. Nina graciously sold me the rights to use this beautiful image for my book cover and related advertising at a price that fit my (small) budget.
If I had a comment to make, it would be that if the rider is Lisa, her coach, Elke, would tell her to sit up straight and keep her heels down! Lisa is a beginner, so Elke has a lot to work with. Fact is, I’ve been riding for decades and if Elke was coaching me, she would still have plenty to work with!
You can find more of Nina’s work at https://www.saatchiart.com.
You may have noticed the actual cover of Call Me Lisa has the horse facing the other way. That’s thanks to the cover designer, Sharon Brownlie, who thought it was better that way – and I agree. See more of Sharon’s work at https://www.aspirebookcovers.com.
The common wisdom is that “it takes a village to raise a child”. When it comes to books, “it takes a village to create a book”. It’s not just Nina and Sharon, but my website guy Nate Hoffelder, and all the people that have passed in an out of my life whose qualities I’ve drawn from to create the characters in my books. In the end, my characters are (almost all) my friends and I miss them when the book is finished. I hope my readers feel the same way.
March 31, 2019