I have a confession: I’m sleeping with my cover artist! Don’t worry, it’s totally above board. I’m also married to him and have been long before I called myself an author. Having my husband provide the art for my books is sweet deal financially, but what I like most is getting to collaborate with him. Considering that we’re unlikely to conceive a biological child (we keep trying anyway!), this gives us a chance to create something together. As romantic and sigh-inducing as that might sound, it can also be awkward. Book covers rarely remain the same for long. There are a variety of marketing reasons for this, but much like the books I write, I’m more interested in exploring the emotional side. My husband has a demanding career of his own, so each cover he creates represents him spending precious downtime to do even more work. For me. I often feel torn about this, since I worry about the poor guy getting enough rest. I can’t argue with the results though. I adore his covers, especially those for the Something Like… series, which look like this:
Drop me off at a gallery or museum in the morning and you won’t have to pick me up again until closing time. That’s how much I like the visual arts. Not everyone is into illustrations though. Some might see these covers and assume that the contents are geared toward younger audiences. People have different tastes, trends change, and creative impulses must be tempered with logical choices if success is to be found. That means sometimes, even if you don’t like it, you have to tell your hardworking husband that you plan on replacing all the covers he toiled over. Lucky for me, I’m married to the nicest guy in the world. He even offered to help with the new set, the first four of which can be seen here:
I don’t know about you, but I have an appreciation for both. The eye candy in the new covers is nice, and I’m happy that we’re keeping the original color scheme. Some people will like the illustrated covers more, others will prefer the photography covers. Most readers will decide that in the blink of an eye without ever considering the story behind the creation of either version. But for the fans of this sprawling twelve book series, there is a bigger concern, one that I take very seriously as a fellow collector of way-too-many things: Will those who own the paperbacks be forced to buy a book that doesn’t match the others? I’m very pleased to put those concerns to rest by revealing the twelfth and final cover of the Something Like… series:
Three guys walking into the sunset… Who are they? What’s the nature of their relationship? And where the heck are they going? You know the drill. You’ve gotta buy the book to find out, but I’m happy to tell you more about it. Something Like Stories: Volume Three is a collection of short stories that acts as a sort of epilogue to the series. If you’ve never heard of these books before, each one tends to follow a single character from the tail end of high school well into their drama-soaked adult lives. If you’re into emotional stories that leave you feeling like you’ve made new friends, you’ll likely enjoy this series. I’m not trying to make a buck here either, because from now until Sunday, the first book is completely free! You can grab Something Like Summer from here for no dollars and zero cents. (Link for that: https://amzn.to/2L6e6hk or feel free to use your own)
For those already familiar with the series, you know what to expect from the final book: silly intimate moments, emotional life-changing scenes, a few tears, and a surprise or two. Mostly it’s more uplifting stories about people who love each other. I feel like the world could use more of that right now. If you do too, you can preorder Something Like Stories: Volume Three from Amazon, iBooks, Google Play, and Barnes & Noble. Will this new book also get a photo cover? Eventually, but there’s no rush. I’m proud of my husband’s art and want to give others a chance to see a glimmer of the light that radiates his from heart. I may write love stories for a living, but there’s only one that has managed to capture my attention so completely, pulling me in and never letting go again. So in a way, my cover artist is also the coauthor of the story that he and I are still living. I hope it never ever ends!
Blurb:
Here’s the blurb for Stories 3:
Embark on a final trip through the Something Like… universe with this special collection of stories that promises heartwarming reunions and gut-wrenching closure.
Something Like Stars playfully explores what would happen if a movie was made about Ben’s love for Tim and Jace. Harold attempts to befriend Noah and Felix in Something Like Us, causing unrequited feelings to challenge their relationship. Marcello prepares for the inevitable while revealing secrets from his past in Something Like Goodbye. And in Something Like Heaven, Ben must decide once and for all who his heart-and his future-belongs to.
Eighteen stories await you, some short and sweet, others lengthy and dramatic, all of them emotional. Say farewell to old friends in this ultimate epilogue to the Something Like… series!
Preorder links:
Amazon – I’ll send it soon.
Jay Bell led a quiet life in Kansas until the day he met a handsome foreign exchange student who swept him off his feet and carried him all the way to Germany. Much to their delight, marriage awaited them when they got there. While living so distant from friends and family, Jay began writing in an effort to reconcile the mixture of devotion and alienation he felt. This resulted in a Lambda Literary Award and a film option for his best-selling novel Something Like Summer. Jay and his family have since relocated to Chicago where their adventures continue, as do those of the characters in their emotionally driven Something Like… series. Jay pens the stories and his husband provides the cover art, making them books about love, forged by love.