With their turbulent past firmly behind them, Belinda and her daughters are ready to live happily ever after. But before long new threats emerge and things spiral out of control as Belinda fights like hell to keep her teenagers on the straight and narrow.
Published: October 6th, 2015
With their turbulent past firmly behind them, Belinda and her daughters are ready to live happily ever after. But before long new threats emerge and things spiral out of control as Belinda fights like hell to keep her teenagers on the straight and narrow. The tighter she pulls the reins the harder they rebel until secrecy, addiction, and wounds from the past send the Morrow girls hurling down unexpected paths.
From Goodreads:
Belinda is happily remarried and her girls have finally been returned to her care. But the family isn’t whole—not yet. Wounds from the abuse and separation are still fresh. Further complicating the issue is time’s refusal to stand still.
Belinda, now the mother of six daughters, has three willful teenagers. As Nikki, Mya, and Jackie test boundaries, experimenting with love, sex, and drugs, Belinda tries everything she can think of to rein them in before they go too far. But Morrow blood runs thick and the tighter she pulls the reins, the more her girls rebel. Until she loses her grip completely and secrecy, addiction, and wounds from the past send the Morrow girls hurling down treacherous paths.
READ CHAPTER 1 HERE
Two — Covers communicate valuable information.
GUEST POST
Why Book Covers Are So Important
Well, I’m about to enrage most self-published authors, some of whom are friends of mine. Because if there was one vice that the self-publishing boom is responsible for it’s the onslaught of terrible, horrendous, just totally...terrible book covers. Every time I see one I cringe and mentally envision slapping the person who created (or approved) it. I cannot overstate how big of a pet peeve this is for me.
But D., it’s a book. The cover isn’t important. What’s important is the words.
Wrong!
People judge books by their cover. I do! I won’t touch a book that has a crappy cover and there are very good reasons for this.
One — Packaging inspires confidence in the product.
And the decision to purchase a book (even an e-book) is a serious commitment. How long does it take to read the average novel? Two hours? Four hours? Spread over how long? A week? For those of us who have busy lives, choosing one book over another means giving up not just money, put time we could be spending doing something else. Who wants to waste an hour on a book that’s not well written? It’s one thing if you read a book and it just doesn’t make your list of all time greatest hits. It’s quite another if you find yourself correcting the author’s punctuation. Or if you spend the entire first act wondering...when the real story is gonna start. That’s time none of us is going to get back.
Two — Covers communicate valuable information.
The book cover’s main job is to tell the reader:
● The title
● The genre
● The mood of the story
● What type of story it is
D., you left out author. Yup. I did. Because nobody cares who the author is unless that author has name recognition. Now, of the four points mentioned three are pretty straight forward. So, I’m going to skip to the last one because this is where a lot of self-published authors get tripped up. When I say the cover needs to tell the reader what kind of story it is, what I mean is prototype (or archetype). And skilled writers (and some serious readers) know what I mean. Is it a rebel-with-a-cause type of story, like The Hunger Games? Is it a love triangle story? You get my drift. The cover needs to communicate this with just a passing glance. I’ll give you an example I know you’ve seen before. The main image on this blog! Now, if the book cover meets all four criteria then congratulations! You now have a book cover that’s functional.
Three — A picture is worth a thousand words. And we love words, right?
Now, we all want covers that are pleasing to look at. My mom used to say, “People don’t stare at things that are ugly.” And there is a science to creating visually appealing covers. Ever hear of the rule of thirds? Or the term elements of composition? What about scale or depth? Do you know how to use color the right way? Visual Arts is a language all its own. If you don’t know french, you’re not going to take a position as a French interpreter at the UN, are you? I sure hope not.
So, what makes me an expert on book covers? Well, I’m a bookworm, self-published author, and I dabble in cover design. I minored in art in college and although I happen to be a very good writer, I’m probably more qualified to be a designer. My most recent novel is a great example of my work. I’ve gotten compliments on it from bookstore owners and librarians. Don’t believe me? Visit Bravebird Books, to see for yourself.
Goodreads ** Amazon ** Barnes&Noble
About the author:
D. Bryant Simmons is an award-winning author and pens realistic fiction that straddles the line between art and social commentary.
She is currently hard at work on The Morrow Girls Series, a family saga that spans three generations of women.
Simmons incorporates meaty topics, such as domestic violence, addiction, and mental illness into her fiction. She believes novels can act as agents of change and hopes that her writing will inspire and empower women.
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5 comments:
I'm intrigued by the cover, an old house in the mist... could be a good read :)
To be honest, I love the cover its unique and the mother daughter relationship is interesting.
What intrigues me the most is characters going down a dangerous path.
Sounds very interesting
I enjoyed reading the guest post and learning about this book series. These books sound very interesting and intriguing!
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