I'm an artist as well as a writer. In fact, my college degree is a BFA
in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute. So, when it was time
to come up with covers for the out-of-print historical mysteries and
medieval romances that I was publishing as eBooks, I embraced the
challenge with enthusiasm. I enjoyed it tremendously; I particularly
enjoyed giving myself the covers I had always wanted for these books!
Lots
of authors have started e-publishing their backlist, and they all need
new covers, since the original covers are copyrighted by the original
publishers. So far, I've created covers for Kathryn Shay and my Evil
Twin, Pamela Burford, both of whom write contemporary romance, and I've started working with other authors as well.
If you're an author who needs a cover for your ebook(s), and you think you might be interested in working with me, drop me a line at patricia@patricia-ryan.com.
The
images below are thumbnails. Click on them for a better look!
Pamela Burford
Pam is one of those writers, like Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jennifer Crusie, who can't not write funny. Although her books are wonderfully romantic and super-steamy, they also sparkle with a character-driven wit that few other authors--of any genre--can rival. Pam's print publishers were Harlequin and Kensington. Check out the excerpts at pamelaburford.wordpress.com
Image:
Kathryn Shay
Kathy's books, originally published by Berkley and Harlequin Superromance, are wrenchingly emotional contemporary romances featuring empathetic characters battling real flaws and tough conflicts. There have been over five million Kathryn Shay novels in print! Find out more about her books at kathrynshay.com
Image:
My Nell Sweeney Historical Mysteries
This series takes place in post-Civil War Boston, so in order to evoke a historical feel, I decided to go with classic paintings. When you click on a thumbnail, the full-sized image will be captioned with the title and artist. The works featuring skulls are Vanitas paintings, so called because they're meant to symbolize the transient nature of our lives and the emptiness of our preoccupation with vanity, riches, and earthly pleasures. As such, they were a perfect fit for the themes of those books. But the most appropriate cover, in my opinion, is that for Death on Beacon Hill. Sargent's Madame X personifies the murder victim, notorious actress Virginia Kimball, to a T.
Image:
My Medieval Romances
My 11th and 12th century novels, most of them romantic suspense, tend to be grittier and more complex than your average historical romance. There's a widespread myth that medieval women were all powerless and passive, but nothing could be further from the truth. Noblewomen often managed vast estates and even conducted military campaigns in their husbands' absence. And they were often, like Eleanor of Aquitaine and the great Heloise, quite well-educated. Working-class women were farmers, shopkeepers, brewers, you name it. To pay homage to my beloved medieval heroines, I chose paintings of women, all but one from the lushly romantic pre-Raphaelite movement.
