Jenn LeBlanc

Guest : Heather Long talks imagery…

Posted by Jenn on March 5, 2012 · 9 Comments 

I would like to welcome another author to the blog. Heather Long writes paranormal romance, and the cover of her next book should look very familiar to my readers…yes. That’s GUY! Hi Guy, doesn’t he look good there on that cover? Turns out he fits the character to a T.

So without further adooooo…Heather Long.

Every Picture Tells a Story

When it comes to writing a book, every author has a different technique, a different set of tools or even a ritual that they obey. Some create storyboards, others create collages and still others look for pictures of their main characters, images that can inspire them. I happen to be one those people who does a little bit of everything.

Finding My Wolf

When I wrote Marshal of Hel Dorado, I had a lot of characters to introduce. Characters I needed to picture. Some were easy, I could see them in my head and I didn’t need a physical image for them, but others…others required a picture so I could keep their image firm.

I always knew what Cody looked like. Cody Morning Star, the Fevered who could shape shift into a sandy colored wolf. Cody had the most stunning blue eyes, brilliant and powerful like a summer sky over the prairie. But when he shifted, he turned into a sandy colored wolf, nearly two times the size of a natural wolf with golden-yellow eyes.

Cody is a big guy, broad shoulders, thick arms and well-defined musculature. He is a wolf, after all, but he also does a lot of physical work. Cody carries a gun, but he rarely uses it. He’s good with his hands, he’s got a keen sense of smell, and a dangerous temper.

Every nuance of Cody, I could see in my mind, but do you know what image I kept coming back to when I saw him? If you know me, then you know it was Chris Hemsworth…but a grittier Chris Hemsworth, with the powerful build and gorgeous golden blonde hair and beard he sported in Thor, but with an edgier sense to him — an almost Chris Pine type edge.

Blending Two Into One

If I could take the primary features of Chris Hemsworth and overlay the grittier nuance of Chris Pine, I’d have my Cody. Amusingly enough, Hemsworth and Pine were in the same film together — playing a father and a son (Star Trek). But the images still fit.

When we were putting together the cover for Brave Are the Lonely, it was important to me that we find the right guy and the right wolf — because Cody is both. Thanks to Kendra Egert and Jenn LeBlanc, I got the best of both worlds. The cover tells a story and it’s Cody’s.

Brave Are the Lonely

When the spirit fever struck a town, a village or an outpost, it left few if any survivors. The white man blamed the Indian saying they used their mojo on them. The Indians blamed the white man for angering the spirits. The survivors knew it didn’t matter. The Fevered were forever changed.

When death seemed preferable…

Mourning his mate drove fevered wolf shifter Cody out of Texas, but a brother’s need drags him back from the brink.

…and good deeds never go unpunished…

Gypsy princess Mariska only wants to protect her people and her freedom, but a dangerous choice puts her on a collision course with an angry wolf.

…the best thing that could happen to him…

When Cody touches Mariska, his wolf cannot escape the hunger that fills him. For Mariska, Cody’s touch brings her a pleasure she never imagined, but is it enough to heal his fractured soul?

…was the last thing he expected.

As danger stalks all three of them, they must confront who they are or risk losing Cody forever.

His wolf. His woman. His way.

The first two chapters are available at Heather’s website.

Now Heather has graciously offered up a copy of her ebook to one lucky reader…all you need to do is leave a comment here, what do you think of the visualization of Heather’s hero? Does the cover work for you? Winner will be announced in THREE DAYS…aaaand GO!

Jenn