Making an Indie Book Cover – the Parker way

Making the book cover for my self-published middle grade novel, The Devil’s Backbone, was a family project. I asked my photographer husband if he would shoot an original photo for the cover. He said yes; he takes lots of photos. Then I asked if he would also design the cover. After a slight hesitation, he said yes, on the condition if I wasn’t pleased, I could hire someone else to turn the photo into a cover.

Stage 1:

Look at ALL the book covers in the children’s section of the bookstore. Yes, all of them. I knew I wanted the cover to be a photo of a scene from the book. I shared comparison covers with my cover artist.

Stage 2:

Convince my son (who portrays the ghost, Kit) and his friend (who portrays the main character, David) to be on my book cover. They both said yes right away, even before I told them there would be pizza after.

Select costumes and props (the ghost’s hat and mailbag). This took WAY longer than expected.

Choose a location for the photo shoot.

Stage 3:

White board drawings by the cover artist

-Wait for weather to cooperate.-

Stage 4:

The Photo Shoot at Gordon House on the Natchez Trace, an important place in the book. What a fun day! And my daughter (also a photographer) documented the day with more photos. Here are a few shots from the day. (photos by John A. Parker)

Acting out the scene to get into character. The boy on the right is an actor.

Here I'm saying something like: you see the ghost is desperate for David to take this mailbag.

And somewhere in the middle of all the photos, the Money Shot! This is the photo that turned into the book cover.

After the photo shoot, I went through the over 500 photos taken that day. Right away, I knew one was my favorite. Hubby looked through the photos and chose his favorite photo. We compared and we had picked the SAME ONE! No joke. (you see, that’s why we’re married).

Stage 5:

More discussion about fonts and other stuff. Finally the photo turns into a book cover. Here it is:

 I think Mr. Parker did a great job on his first book cover design. I love it! And not just because my name is on the cover. 

Cover Reveal for The Devil’s Backbone

I am thrilled to reveal the cover for my debut novel, The Devil’s Backbone.

The cover is an original photo taken by my cover artist, John A. Parker. The photo was shot on the Natchez Trace Parkway, where the book takes place. The boy on the left portrays Kit, the 200-year-old postal rider ghost and the boy in the blue hoodie portrays David, the main character.

Blurb for The Devil’s Backbone (for readers ages 9 & up):

David Baxter takes the blame for the graffiti on the school gym doors to keep his friend out of trouble and earns a three-day suspension. His dad, the juvenile judge, forces him to go on a roadtrip to redemption on the Natchez Trace Parkway. What his dad doesn’t know is that David meets a ghost carrying the last letter of Meriwether Lewis - the piece of evidence that may solve the 200-year-old mystery of Lewis’s death. Thanks to the ghost, David just might figure out how to relate to his dad and forgive his wayward mom.

I love the cover and I hope you do, too. The book will be available next month. Stay tuned for more info.

The Devil’s Backbone – My Debut Novel Coming Soon!

My debut novel, The Devil’s Backbone, will be available next month. It’s a middle grade mystery-roadtrip-ghost story for readers ages 9 & up.

Here’s the blurb:

David Baxter takes the blame for the graffiti on the school gym doors to keep his friend out of trouble and earns a three-day suspension. His dad, the juvenile judge, forces him to go on a roadtrip to redemption on the Natchez Trace Parkway. What his dad doesn’t know is that David meets a ghost carrying the last letter of Meriwether Lewis - the piece of evidence that may solve the 200-year-old mystery of Lewis’s death. Thanks to the ghost, David just might figure out how to relate to his dad and forgive his wayward mom.

I’m very excited for the book (paperback & ebook) to be in the hands of readers.

Stay tuned for the cover reveal.

Meriwether Lewis Commemoration Ceremony

This week marks the 200th anniversary of the death of Meriwether Lewis, co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Meriwether Lewis died at Grinder’s Stand on the Natchez Trace on October 11, 1809. He died without family and friends at his side. Some say he was buried where he fell. Lewis never had a funeral. Last week, that changed.

The Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail Foundation and guests gathered on October 7 to honor Meriwether Lewis in a ceremony “Undaunted Courage: The Final Journey”. It was a beautiful ceremony with music from the 101st Airborne Infantry Band, dedication of a bust of Lewis that will be displayed at the Parkway headquarters, and words from descendants of Lewis and William Clark. There was a reenactment of Meriwether Lewis’s arrival at Grinder’s Stand followed by a procession to his gravesite with flag bearers carrying state flags of every state Lewis & Clark traveled through on the Corps of Discovery. Cub Scouts assisted in a wreath laying ceremony and also presented plants that Lewis discovered on the expedition.

For more information on the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation and the Lewis & Clark Expedition, click here. To see the photos on the Foundation’s Flickr page of the commemoration ceremony, click here.

Can CSI Techniques Solve a 200 year-old Mystery?

Was Meriwether Lewis, the great explorer and co-captain of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, a victim of murder or did he die by his own hand at an inn for travelers on October 11, 1809? The answer to this unsolved historical mystery may lie in a grave in Hohenwald, Tennessee along the Natchez Trace Parkway.

There are many opinions on whether the body should be removed and whether it will actually provide any answers. With the support of Lewis’s relatives, researchers have filed a petition with the National Park Service to exhume the body.

For more information on the Lewis family’s quest, visit their website, Solve The Mystery.

In my recent research on the Parkway, I became interested in the question that has fascinated historians for almost two centuries now. When I started my research, I had no idea the great explorer died on the Trace under mysterious circumstances. When I typed The End on my manuscript, the mystery of Meriwether Lewis’s death played a pivotal role in my novel.

To learn more about this fascinating piece of history, plan a visit to the Meriwether Lewis site at milepost 385.9 on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Click here for a list of Ranger-led activities and talks to learn more about the explorer.

[Photo: Meriwether Lewis's gravesite.]

Road Trip Research

I took another trip down the Natchez Trace Parkway this week with my research assistant/photographer (my daughter). There were a few stops on the 444-mile trek that I needed to revisit to clear up some setting details for my book.
One of the highest points in the state of Mississippi is at the Jeff Busby site. I thought we would have to take the hiking trail up to the overlook summit, but the park service has made it easy for everyone to see the beautiful view. You can drive right up to the area and park your car. For the more adventurous, there is a hiking trail down from the summit to the campground area. We hiked part of the way down the trail. I think my daughter would have happily hiked the whole way, but my failure to pack bug spray and knowing that the hike down was the easy part, made us turn back about halfway down the trail.

This is a photo of another hiker we saw at the top of the trail.

I am glad that I made it to the Jeff Busby site again. The convenience store and gas station previously located there is now closed. The pay telephone that was of great interest to my character in the first draft of my story has been removed from the site. There is good cell phone reception at the overlook point, something I would not have known without a visit.

For readers: Do you enjoy reading books set in real locations more than stories set in fictional towns?

For writers: Do you find it easier to write about real places or made-up locales?

Fall Colors on the Natchez Trace

In case you wandered onto my blog for the first time, let me start with this: I have a fascination with the Natchez Trace Parkway. If you missed the posts about my trek along the entire 444 miles of the Trace from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN last spring, click here and here.

Last weekend, DH (aka Mr. Parker) and I drove on the Trace to view the leaves. As residents of Tennessee for just over a year, we are totally fascinated with the changing colors of the leaves. Just to contrast, in our former home of New Orleans it was very common to see Christmas lights strung on azalea bushes blooming with beautiful pink flowers during December.

No trip up the Trace would be complete without a stop at the Loveless Café on Highway 100 as you exit the end of the Trace in Nashville. They are famous for their biscuits and celebrity diners whose framed photos cover the wall in the foyer. If you arrive at lunch, I recommend the BLT with fried green tomatoes.