Nineteen Days to the Finish Line - Cover Design & Acknowledgements

This week I’m making one last pass through THE RUBY BROOCH before I send it off to be formatted for upload to the three major sales channels: Smashwords, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. They all have different requirements. The manuscript has gone through a series of edits and reviews by critique partners and editors and beta readers, and I believe after this final pass, it will be ready for release.

It was hair-pulling to envision a cover design that truly represented the story. Should I use a horse, a white planked fence, a wagon train, pictures of Kit and Cullen? No. They muddy the message. In the final analysis, the deicsion came down to three things: distinctiveness, clarity, and connection. What one thing represented the distinctiveness of THE RUBY BROOCH? It was in the name all along—a 14^th century brooch inscribed in Gaelic: Chan ann le tìm no àite a bhios sinn a' tomhais an gaol ach 's ann le neart anama.

Letting go of the story used to scare me to death, but now I see it as freeing and exhilarating and comparable to a runner’s high. There is much to do between now and the 31^st, but I have a checklist and a supportive group of friends at Kentucky Indie Writers who have “been there and done this” and have answers for all of my questions.  

As I mentally prepare to run a half-marathon and release a book that has taken fourteen years of my life, I am reminded of a dozen people who never gave up on me:

1.     My late husband Tom Pierce

2.     My daughters 

3.     My sister Mimi Beckes

4.     My critique partners Kathleen Rice Adams and Cindy Nord

5.     My dear friends Connie Lester, John Witt, Donna Farmer, Phil Maxson, Tammy Moore, and Robin Reed

6.     My mom Anne Lowry Brown

And that makes a baker’s dozen.

As my mom’s health declines, it has always been my goal to see this book published during her lifetime. Time is running out. So, Mom, this one is for you.

Happy writing and running, Kathy