With your indulgence, I’m updating a blog from the Sizzling Pens Blog, July 2008. I’m in a tight deadline crunch right now. So here goes:
I’m so excited! I have the cover art for my March Blaze, PRIMAL CALLING. Isn’t it gorgeous? I love the Northern Lights in the background. This is a story about an Alaskan bush pilot.
It’s fascinating to me how a romance cover is made. You can read about it here. An authors’ cover can be so important to her sales, and yet she basically has no say in how it turns out. She can only describe her characters and a few scenes and hope for the best. If you want to see some covers voted some of the worst in recent years, go here . And here is an interview with one of the artists who create romance novel covers.
Blaze authors are so lucky, the Harlequin art department does an outstanding job making the most delicious covers. I don’t know about you, but I love a clinch cover. And I don’t care who sees me reading a book with one. I read romance novels and I’m proud of it.
And have you seen some of the guys that model for Romance covers? Yum-EY! Romance cover models have come a long way since Fabio. Check out this site: Models like John DeSalvo, and Rob Ashton are tall, dark and sexy, baby. And they’ve gained a following in the biz among authors. Some authors with enough clout can actually request certain models for their covers. And it’s fun to go to the models’ web sites and look at all the covers they’ve modeled for and see how different they can look. Every year, Romantic Times Magazine hosts their cover model competition during their Book Lovers convention and one man is crowned Mr. Romance. Convention goers, both readers and writers of romance, drool and sigh as they get to meet and mingle with the years’ finalists. Some day, I’ll go to a Romantic Times Convention…
I guess some people think the “clinch” cover is cheesy, or demeaning, or even misrepresents what’s on the inside. Let’s face it, today’s romance novels -LIKE BLAZE-are compelling, relevant, complicated, and darned exciting. So why, you might ask, do we need a hunky bare chest with a set of rock hard abs splashed across the cover?
Well, sister, we might not need them, but they sure are scrumptious to look at. And if it encourages readers to pick up my book and read the back cover, then I’m all for it.
So, do you like or dislike the bare-chested guys on Blaze covers, and why or why not?

It’s a lot of work being a Blaze Babe. I mean, all writers have to work hard at their craft and possess the persistence and determination of an NFL lineman to sell their books. But beyond that core commitment to writing, the Blaze authors face some unique challenges.

1) We can never say “Not tonight honey, I have a headache.”

There comes a time in every romance writer’s life when she doesn’t feel like writing a love scene. Maybe her kids are ill and writing a love scene is the last thing on her mind. Or maybe she just had a fight with her significant other and there’s a bit of anger projected onto her fictional hero. But when you’re a Blaze author, writing a fade-to-black love scene simply isn’t an option. You’ve got to be ready to sizzle at all times.

2) We’re the resident sex experts.

Now at first, this is kind of fun. When you become a Blaze author, your friends and family all try to hide their surprise that you write “those books”—the ones with the sexy-as-hell covers your mother doesn’t admit she’s ever read. But eventually, being the local sexpert will land you in embarrassing situations. Your newspaper boy winks at you even though he’s barely reached puberty. Your neighbor reveals an acrobatic event in her bedroom the night before and offers more details in case you’d like some ideas for your next book. Men older than your father will guffaw with lecherous glee to learn what you write and ask if you want any pointers. Umm… no.

3) We’re the bad girls.

While the men in a Blaze author’s life are busy suggesting they’d be happy to supply inspiration for future projects, there is another population of friends and family who can be less enthusiastic. Non-romance reading buds steer their impressionable children away from our bookcases full of splashy covers. Quasi-helpful siblings read our books while hiding them behind copies of National Geographic. A few utterly non-helpful friends hide our autographed labors of love all together, unwilling to admit they like racy romance.

Still, I wouldn’t trade being a Blaze author for the world. A Psychology Today study assures us that readers of romance make love with their partners 74% more often than non-romance readers. So I’d like to think I’ve had a hand in making the world a happier place through my stories. And maybe I’m deluding myself, but I hope even those friends who are hiding my book covers are kicking their love lives up a notch the night after a sexy Blaze read.

So razz me all you want. Any way you look at it… you’re welcome. (L)

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Whether you’re a reader or a writer of hot romance, I’ll bet there are people in your life who give you a hard time about liking “those books.” What’s your response?