New Release! Protect the Heart

Protect The Heart
LK Hunsaker

Elucidate Publishing
May 31, 2010
198 pg trade paperback
& ebook 

A Home Front Story
sweet romance, any age

Blurb:

Entrenched on his father's farm in southern Idaho's Snake River Valley, Abraham Luchner pulls up roots to join the war effort. Joined by his friend Cameron Terry, an impulsive adventure seeker, Abe determines to sever ties at home in order to minimize distractions. His greatest connection with his beloved canyon and farm is in the form of charcoal sketches he works on each night to escape his present conditions, as well as the letters Cameron reads aloud from his beloved.

Maura Laerty has been claimed as Cameron's betrothed in the eyes of the community. Determined not to become a war widow or caregiver of one more soul who needs her ongoing assistance, she refuses his proposal, at least until he returns. Despite her efforts, Maura soon finds herself saddled with responsibilities that tax her resolve and turn the townspeople away. Her greatest ally comes from a twist of fate as winding and unpredictable as the great Snake River itself.


Excerpt:

“Good afternoon, Miss Laerty.”

She jumped at Cameron’s voice, amazed she hadn’t noticed his car pull in front of her house as she stood admiring her flowers. Maura shoved the indecent thoughts out of her mind while she faced him. “Oh, good afternoon, Mr. Terry. You aren’t off already, are you?” She couldn’t help but stare at Cameron in his olive green uniform. It made her heart hurt. She didn’t want him to come back like those men at the other end of the home. With his risk-taking and high spirits, she was awfully afraid he would.

“I have nearly two full days yet. Abe and I are in town to get ready is all. Thought I would start getting used to it.” He stepped out and offered his arm. “I hoped to take you for a walk around town.”

“I’m afraid I have plans.”

“You have plans?” He looked alarmed.

“Yes. I was on my way to the home. They’re expecting me today.”

“Oh.” His face relaxed. “Well, I don’t suppose I could change your mind, seeing as I have only two days left and all?”

“For now. Two days left for now, you mean, Mr. Terry. And I expect you to come home walking, by the way. You do know I expect that.”

He bowed. “I will do my best to accommodate you.”

His grin was too charming. She had to pull her eyes away. “I do need to go in to the home for a bit, but I suppose I could leave early. Would you like to come for dinner? Father would enjoy the extra company.”

“I would be honored. Please, allow me to drive you and I’ll pick you up after if you’ll give me a time.”

Maura couldn’t refuse. After all, Cameron was leaving. She might as well enjoy the company, also, while she could. “You are welcome to bring your friend along, if you would like. You say he’s in town with you?”

“Abe? Yes, he’s in town. But he has ‘errands’ to take care of, so he says. Trying to make sure everything is set for his father while he’s away, I believe. I told him I’d have my younger brothers stop by now and then to offer help. He seems to appreciate it, but he still worries.”

“His father is in good health, though, I hear.”

“Oh yes. For a man nearly sixty, he is in good health. They are close, however, and Abe worries he will work too hard there alone. Not like you and your father or me and my own, where we put up with each other only as we are related by circumstance. If anything happens to Abe, the old man will be devastated. His world centers on him.”

“Lord willing he won’t be away long, then. Or you.”

Cameron lifted her hand to kiss her fingers.

She blushed. “We’re in public. What will people think?”

“They’ll think you’re inclined to become my wife. As I’m inclined to think you might, also.”

“Mr. Terry…”

“Please, Maura. Cameron. At least do me the favor of using my first name and allowing me use of yours.”

“I believe you have already taken that liberty.”

He grinned. “And I believe you are starting to bend to my request. But we’ll talk more of it later, after dinner tonight when we take a stroll.”

Download the first 10% (appr. 20 pgs) to peruse HERE

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PROTECT THE HEART benefits military families:

$1.00 of every $7.95 PRINT sale directly from http://www.ElucidatePublishing.net
and $2.00 of every $4.95 EBOOK sale directly from  http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/15621
goes to BooksforBoots.org to help families of injured service members visit them as they recover. [print books will be personally signed and come with bookmarks]

Other fundraisers for the military in the works. Watch my blog or sign up for my newsletter for details.

LK Hunsaker
~Literary Romance with an Artsy Twist~
http://www.lkhunsaker.com
http://lkhunsaker.blogspot.com

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Cover Art: A Different Perspective

Hello! I’m coming at this cover art theme from a slightly different place than those authors before me. I’ve enjoyed reading their thoughts on the subject as both writers and readers because I think about the topic a lot. I’m an author, as well, but I’m also a cover artist, at least for my own. The two I’ve done for other writers are not yet out so unfortunately I can’t show them. I’ll have to make do with my own.

When planning a cover, I have three big thoughts in mind: 1) what do I want it to say?  2) how do I pull a reader in with it? & 3) how do I do what I want to do?

I study covers in bookstores. When one pulls me in I pay attention to why it did. Most often it’s a combination of color and subject. Nature will pull me. Blues/greens/purples will pull me. Travel scenes will definitely grab me, particularly when it’s of Italy, Scotland, Ireland, or a beach somewhere. On the opposite hand, too much black, red, or nudity turn me away. So do covers that look like elements were pulled from here and there and just smashed together. It has to flow. A cover that doesn’t flow implies a book that doesn’t flow, fair or not.

My first cover was for my own first novel and I created it during a graphic design class.

The story of Finishing Touches is about a young widow of a somewhat famous painter with a new baby trying to find her own direction. She’s also an artist but hides from it for several reasons. She lives in a loft overlooking the Illinois River and spends much of her thoughtful time staring out at the trees she loves. For this cover, I wanted a somber but not dark feel, therefore the muted trees and deep greens and browns, plus the touch of yellow to lighten it. The girl is actually a conte crayon sketch I did back in my late teen years. I scanned it, took the yellowed paper background out, and colorized it to fit the cover. The paintbrush was a quick computer drawing added for theme and for the rule of 3. All artists know the rule of 3 when it comes to design. I use it here several times: paintbrush/title/girl, upper trees/yellow text block/lower trees, & upper border/middle/lower. Three looks much more artistically balanced than any other number of elements.

I’ve recently finished an update of this book to put out as second edition ebook format and so decided I needed an updated cover for it. This is what I have so far. It could very well change. This background is an actual photo taken of the Illinois River by a family member who was kind enough to run around Peoria and grab photos of some of the places in my books so I could put them on my website. (Helpful people are always a true blessing for authors!)  I wanted it brighter this time but with enough of the same elements to look like the same story. The background (and back cover if I decide to put it in print, also) looks like canvas. The photo was manipulated with a watercolor filter to look like a painting.


For my Rehearsal series, which features a dancer who helps support her best friend and his up and coming rock band, I wanted of course a musical theme, but also a 70s look since it begins in 1974. The problem with this one was … where do I get the picture of the musicians and dancer without breaking copyright? I solved it the hard way: I drew them. The good thing about that was I could make them just the way the are in the book so they are perfectly represented in a way that can be hard to do with stock photos. It also cost nothing ;-) … that is, nothing but a heck of a lot of time!  A Different Drummer (book 1) also uses a photo I took at a concert some years ago, faded out and small enough not to see who the band is but enough to get an actual concert audience, as well. Again, the rule of 3 comes in more than once.

The Highest Aim (book 2) has the band more on the move and the characters changing roles, growing up, moving along.  Part of the book is set in Edinburgh where one of the main characters is from, and so the photo of Scotland’s National Monument on Calton Hill. The road photo is mine, as well. The band is modeled after some rather big musical names which I won’t reveal, but changed to fit each character as I see them.

 
I have to admit, though, the next cover is my favorite so far:

 Off The Moon is set half in NYC and half in the little lake town of Bennington, VT. Boats and water play a large part in the story, as does the sky and moon, along with the struggling relationship between Ryan and Kaitlyn. This one is a combination of three photos: two of my own and one a photographer friend provided [www.inescreations.com] in exchange for return promo. ;-)

As I’ve yet to be able to visit Bennington, I had no photos of the lake there, so I ‘cheated’ and used a lake down the road instead. Sometimes a photographer/artist gets very lucky, as I did with this one. The picnic table and two people in the picture were there waiting for me to capture them when I went to get photos, as was the little pontoon in the background. The perfect shot. Amazing luck. (Yes, I do have their knowledge of and okay to be featured, but not to announce who they are.)

The window ledge was harder to get, but with some assistance to get into a public building that actually has a cement ledge, I had all of the elements I needed for what I wanted to say. This is a thoughtful novel, an exploration of an evolving relationship with plenty of complications, and highly nature symbolic. I would like to have added a dog to it, but putting too many elements on a cover only creates confusion and looks messy.

You’ll notice that I don’t have pictures of sexy men showing their wares on my covers. My apologies, as I know they’re a huge draw. However, I’m on the milder side of romance and although you’ll find plenty of sensuality, you won’t find detailed sex scenes. The relationship is the feature. The psychology behind the relationships, in particular, are the focus. I need to be sure that is reflected in my covers so readers don’t expect something they won’t get. My heroes are, however, quite sexy and charming, even when they don’t know they are. ;-)

So, this is the story of novel covers so far. As a thank you to Lindsay for hosting this blog and the cover art theme week, I thought I’d debut my newest. The next-to-come novel is due next month! Instead of saying anything about the story, I’d love to know what you think it will be about just from the cover art:



LK Hunsaker
~Literary Romance with an Artsy Twist~
http://www.lkhunsaker.com
http://lkhunsaker.blogspot.com
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When a Thing becomes a Character

What happens when part of a setting is so completely integrated into a story that it magically transforms from a Thing into a Character?

Take this rock wall from a photo I snapped somewhere along one of our road trips. It could simply be part of the setting -- background detail to help ground the reality of where our characters are and what they see, maybe even showing how they feel about it that defines them somewhat. This is the typical use of description, even when it's describing such a gorgeous scene as this wall.

On the other hand, it could become such an important part of the story that the story wouldn't be the same without it. It could be a catalyst for a character to change. Maybe he passes it every day and ponders it for miles afterwards, so much so that it becomes a part of him. Maybe he becomes as rigid and strong as that rock wall while allowing enough subtle growth to let himself flourish like the hardy vegetation hanging on to its side.

I used this device in Finishing Touches, my novel about a young artist fighting against being an artist because she marries one and feels she can't compete with him. Throughout the story, she often refers to the huge window in their loft that allows her to look out at the world while staying safely closed within. To my delight, one of my readers picked up on the characterization of the window and how it helped define Jenna herself. It reflects her struggle to look out or to stay in, her urging to explore her art and use it, or to give in to her insecurity of not being good enough. This theme reaches beyond art and into other areas of her life.

Her artist spouse, who she loses just before the story begins, paints a scene of them wrapped in only a blanket looking out at the river below. The window, here, becomes a metaphor of the exposure Jenna feels because of his professional career, because she becomes known as his wife and attracts another young artist who is a fan of his work. Still, it keeps a boundary. She may be exposed but she's beyond anyone's bounds to be able to reach. Or so she believes.

The window becomes a character. The story would hardly be the same story without it.

I'm sure other authors here have used the same technique. I'd love to hear about their character objects in the comments!

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Finishing Touches is available as a Trade Paperback and as an Ebook. Find its website for more information at LKHunsaker.com/FT/main.htm