Monday Musings and Masquerade's Blog Tour Begins!

It's late Sunday night and I'm writing this bleary-eyed after spending hours at stock photo sites.  You see, as an indie author, I have complete control over what my book covers look like.  This sounds like a dream come true, especially for those poor souls who have been at the mercy of a publisher's art department and saddled with a cover that makes them cringe every day.  In reality, what it means is that I have to search for just the person who should appear on my book cover and represent what the book is.  This is a difficult task, considering what these stock photo sites offer. 

Let me note that if I wrote YA, this cover task would be easy-peasy.  Every male on these sites looks all of 19, at most.  I write adult erotic romance (I know, the first two words seem redundant, but I saw a book with the words Teen and Slut yesterday in the erotica section...ok, enough of that), and my men are men, not boys or almost men.  My male characters are typically in their late 20s and early 30s, at least the ones who get the heroine and appear on the cover.  The problem is that stock sites don't seem to know men exist between the ages of 21 and 50.  So what does this leave me with?

Jimmy Thomas.  Don't get me wrong.  I love Jimmy Thomas.  I used him on Love's Master because his image with that woman was so perfect for the story, I couldn't imagine using anyone else. Literally, the second I saw the image I knew it was the only one to use.  His images are great quality and the variety is top shelf. If he'd fit into my vision all the time, he'd be on every cover.  Hell, it would be easy.  I could just go to his site, pick the one I like, and shazaam! Cover done.

However, what do I do if I want a blond man?  There is no blond Jimmy Thomas, as far as I can tell.  If there is, please give me the heads up and let me know.  Or what do I do if I need a male who isn't built like a brick shithouse?  Again, I love Jimmy's body, but not every romance book cover calls for a man so well built.  I might be out of step with most, but I don't want to mislead people with a cover that seems to point to a certain type of man when in fact a different type is described in the book.  Maybe it doesn't matter, but I'm particular about this.  If the man's a blond with short hair and lean, I can't use a dark haired man with long hair and a body that takes hours each day in the gym. 

I'm currently looking for a dark haired man, not too muscular but not scrawny, with a mysterious, almost evil look.  Feel free to say it:  I'd have more luck trying to find a needle in a haystack.  I did find one image of a man, but now I realize there are no less than five vampire books with him on the cover.  Yes, my man I seek to represent is a vampire, but somehow that just doesn't work if he's everywhere. 

Maybe it's time Vasilije started lifting weights. 

On a much lighter note, Masquerade's blog tour begins today at Kay Dee Royal's blog with an excerpt and a giveaway, so if you're looking to snag a copy of the last novella in the Victorian Erotic Romance Trilogy, head on over there. Thank you to Kay Dee for a great start to the tour!