We Haz Cover Art!

Yup. Living Promises will be out on July 4th– and I’m SO relieved to have my cover art!

I’m showing the sketch and the finished work, because the mud puddle is pretty amazing, and, well, because Collin’s hair became more Collin-like in the second one.

I like it. I’ll post the blurb in a minute, but one of the reasons I like the picture is because it shows so much life! One of the first gay men I ever knew as an adult came to work one day with a black eye. When I asked him what happened, he said, “My roommate and I got into a fight.”

NOw I’m not a smart woman, but I did know one or two things. “Wait a minute. Isn’t your roommate your…”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but we’re still men. Men get pissed off and they fight.”

The conversation (over 23 years old btw) stuck with me, and you can see it in my writing. Collin and Jeff are FIGHTING. Yes, Jeff has a tragic history (you all have no idea) and yes, this is Promise Rock, but these guys get pissed off and they throw a punch and they live hard and loud.

And THAT’S why I like the cover. Because even with the blurb and what we know of Jeff, this story is all about life.

So here’s the blurb:

Six years ago, Jeff Beachum comforted a frightened teenager outside an HIV treatment clinic, and Collin Waters has remembered his kindness ever since. Now, after six years of crushing on the kind, brown-eyed sweetheart of his dreams, Collin is feeling adult and together enough to make his move. Too bad fate, which has never been kind to Jeff, has something else in mind.

Jeff’s life had fallen completely apart before that long-ago day, and it isn’t much better now. Jeff has toughened up, become self-reliant, been the funny guy his friends turn to, the one who gives advice and comfort when needed. But every phantom from Jeff’s past is about to come out to haunt him, and the family Jeff has staked his future on isn’t in such great shape either. Collin is more than a starry-eyed kid, and it’s a good thing, because Jeff’s going to need all the help he can get. No one knows better than Jeff that life can be too short to turn your back on honest love, and that living happily is the best promise of all.

And here’s the prayer. Join me, won’t you?

Holy Goddess, Merciful God, LET IT NOT SUCK! Cannyagimmehallelujia? IknewyoucouldAMEN!