My Favorite Writing - Jungle Jeopardy

Marketing for Romance Writers has a 52-week blog writing challenge, and I've decided to join. The first week is "What is your favorite piece of writing and why?"

Jungle Jeopardy, my Indiana Jones kind of novel, has to be the most exciting, fun piece of writing I've ever done. It starts on the island of Antigua where my heroine lives, then heads to Costa Rica and goes up to Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala.

Our first trip to Antigua a few years ago was the real inspiration for this book. It all began with a visit to the director of the history museum on the island. He shared so much with me that I was immediately hooked on writing a book that would include some of the things I learned.  

Secrets by the Sea was my first book with Antigua as the setting, but it didn't tell the whole story so I wrote Jungle Jeopardy. Billy, the jaguar, became a character in that book. If you love animals, casting an animal in an important role in the story will intrigue you.

Costa Rica is the only one of the four Central American countries we have visited, but I had developed strong interest in the Mayan Ruins of Mexico. I pulled that knowledge into my new story that I set in the jungle. The fictitious ruins in my book rely a lot on what I learned while visiting the Mayan sites at Palenque, Chichen Itza, and Cozumel. I had already created a series of large Mayan Ruins paintings, so writing a story that included ruins was a perfect follow-up.

In my imagination, I see Jungle Jeopardy as a magical movie. It is a true adventure story and romance with an actor who is a young version of Harrison Ford. Who might that be?

Promoting Two Books That Have the Same Lead Characters #MFRWauthor

When I started writing Jungle Jeopardy, I had not planned to connect it with another book in my Passenger to Paradise series. Then, as often happens to a writer, my characters took over. Dana Sinclair and Clifton Wilder were the heroine and the hero from Secrets by the Sea. They decided they should be part of Jungle Jeopardy as well, and thus their new adventure began.

I have a special attachment to Maya Ruins, and Dana and Clifton got involved in a treasure hunt that led to  unexplored imaginary ruins in Central America. The couple also continued their quest for a precious gold coin, the Brasher doubloon, that Dana's grandfather sought for many years to find. Along the way, my characters are kidnapped and then face a variety of dangers in the jungle.

This is the fifth book in the Passenger to Paradise series. Eventually I want to write another book in the series, all of which are stand-alone novels. Whether or not , Dana and Clifton will be part of that next book, I do not know yet. We will see what they have to say.

In the meantime, I am working on a new novel scheduled for publication later this year. Dragonflies in the Morning is a mystery set in a fictitious small town in Virginia. Since no exotic destinations are involved, it cannot be a Passenger to Paradise book. Unless those wayward characters decide otherwise.

Writers Learn from Readers at Book Signings

Key West Sailboat - ©Mary Montague Sikes

As I reflect on a recent book signing, I realize writers can always learn at least one new thing as they talk with readers. I like to promote the exotic destinations that many of my novels feature.

"Do you like to travel in the Caribbean?" I ask, hopeful I'll learn that he or she has been to one of the islands my books feature and loved the trip.

"No. I've never been to the Caribbean."

"I haven't been to Antigua."

"I don't want to go to Jamaica."

"Where is Trinidad?"

These are the answers I often get. My publisher created the "Passenger to Paradise" series for my books, so those responses disappoint me. I wrote Secrets by the Sea  because a museum director on the island of Antigua intrigued me with his stories about the rich history of this tropical paradise. I hope to find readers who relate to the island's history or to the fact it was settled by the British. I want to find people who have gone to Jamaica and appreciate a fantasy story related to the legend of the white witch of Rose Hall (Hearts Across Forever). I want to discover those who have visited Mexico or Central America and have studied the Maya ruins because of those visits (Jungle Jeopardy).

Perhaps I am approaching potential readers the wrong way. Should I ask, "Are you an armchair traveler who fantasizes about visiting the tropics?"

With the unusual cold weather we have now in Virginia, a warm destination like Key West, Florida sounds perfect. I could curl up with a book set in a nice tropical place where warm breezes blow and sweet floral scents fill the air.

As a writer, what do you do for a positive response from readers? How do you you draw them into your settings? Do you learn from readers at your book signings?

Summer Activities for the Writer and Artist

As a writer and/or artist, how do you schedule your summer activities? Do you try to plan vacation trips that will later enhance your writing or your art? Or do you want to get away from all of the craziness a creative life involves?

"Hotel Del Pool" ©Mary Montague Sikes

I have to admit that, good or bad, I can't seem to get away from using any trip, vacation or otherwise, as an opportunity to create a writing, photography, or art project. With the wonder of digital imagery, creating articles, stories, and paintings has grown far easier. I always enjoy having a picture to go along with a story. Even with fiction writing, it's helpful to have reference photos to remind you of details of a setting. Also, I have found that it's wonderful to have your own image to use for a book cover when the occasion arises. The cover for my Passenger to Paradise novel, Secrets by the Sea, is a beach photograph I took on one of those vacation trips.

Recently, I've started taking photographs of meals in restaurants. After all, you never know when you might need your own picture of crab cakes or quiche to go along with the story you're writing.

As a artist, you can never have enough good reference photographs to inspire a new painting. When I made a painting a day for Blogging A to Z, I was happy to have my own photos to use most of the time for that project. There are free photographs available on the Internet, but I always feel more comfortable using my own.

What about you? Do you really take a vacation, or are you, like me, always looking?

Writing for a Small Publisher

Several years ago, my small publisher and I worked together to create an ambitious project that resulted in a hard cover coffee table book, Hotels to Remember. Not only was the writing in this book my own, but I also took all the photographs and created all of the paintings--one for each of the 20 hotels featured in this book.

"St. Louis Union Station" Painting by MM Sikes Hotels to Remember

My publisher, Billie Johnson, was located in California at the time. On several occasions, my husband and I flew from Virginia to the John Wayne Airport in Orange County and met with Billie. I brought with me hundreds of slides and photographs, and we spread them out on one of the large breakfast tables at a La Quinta where we were staying. It was on that table that many of the choices for the final version of my book were made.

This was in the early days of Oak Tree. I was learning as a writer, and Billie was learning as a publisher. We've had interesting experiences and challenges along the way. It has been rewarding to work directly with my publisher on projects. We've met other times and places--in Denver when my first novel, Hearts Across Forever was released, in New Orleans where we were working together on another project, and in Las Vegas at the Public Safety Writers Conference where several of my later books were released. These include:  Secrets by the Sea, Night Watch, and Jungle Jeopardy. Because my books are with a small publisher who is concerned with every one of her published books, the earlier books are still available. Books with large publishing houses often are no longer available after several months, sometimes after only one month.

After Oak Tree moved to Taylorville, Illinois, Billie had a writers conference that I attended. While there I discussed my hotels book with another author. I lamented that hotels are always changing and updating. One in my book almost doubled in size right before publication. He told me my book was a snapshot in time. I mentioned that to Billie, and last year she created "A Snapshot in Time" books for some of my hotels.
I loved the idea because I could use much of the material from Hotels to Remember and update it as well. Would this have happened with a larger publisher? Perhaps.


The publishing industry has changed drastically over the past several years. E-books have gained prominence. They are outselling print books and will become an even bigger market. Although I love to hold a book in my hand, I thought when I left on a trip recently that the two large paperbacks would be much nicer to take in an e-reading device.

I'm excited about writing for a small publisher. I'm excited to have a marketing team to help me. I'm excited about all the potential for growth and opportunity writers now have.

Do you write for a small publisher? What are your experiences?

Book Cover Art - Original Vs. Stock

The growth of e-books has sparked the need for a flood of book covers featuring original art.

Or not!

Where do we get art for the explosion in the number of covers? Many book cover designers use stock art, all from the same stock art sources. That means the very same or similar images can appear on the book covers of many different authors. How disconcerting for an author who suddenly recognizes images from his/her cover on the work of another author!

Stock photos are just that. Stock that can be sold multiple times. If you use one of those pictures, you may see it over and over again. It's like the Van Gogh image, "Starry Night," that is found everywhere from prints hanging in homes and doctor's offices to puzzles on sale in bookstores.

"Sedona" original acrylic painting MMSikes

"Jungle Beat" - original acrylic painting MMSikes

"Tropical Waterfall" - original pastel MMSikes

If you want your book cover to be unique, you must be willing to pay an artist well for all rights to his/her work or you must be able to create original art yourself. Most of my books feature parts of my own original paintings or photographs on the covers. Hearts Across Forever, my first novel, has a cover with a favorite pastel painting I created of a waterfall that fits well into the plot of the story. For Eagle Rising, the cover artist superimposed the image of an eagle over an acrylic painting I did in Sedona, AZ, the setting for my book. Jungle Jeopardy, my latest "Passenger to Paradise" book, has a large tropical jungle painting, "Jungle Beat," I created on canvas a few years ago. This is perfect for the plot of my adventure story set in Central America. Thankfully, I'll never find any of those images on the cover of another book because I retain the copyrights to all my work.

"Beach at Sunset"- original photo MMSikes

My photo of a beach painted orange by the setting sun works perfectly for Secrets by the Sea, set on the Caribbean island of Antigua. My original photos and paintings are also on the covers of books by other authors including: Callie and the Dealer and a Dog Named Jake by Wendy Howell Mills, An Affinity for Murder by Anne White, and Lake Meade by Heather Musko.



 

I have read comments debating the use of photos taken of art on display in museums on book covers. Is it okay to place photos of the original art of others on your book cover without their permission? At first glance, I would say no. However, if the artist is deceased and the work is in the public domain, is it okay then? I don't know, and I would welcome thoughts on this subject.

As with everything in life, the issue is complicated. I like having my own art grace my covers. Then, I have control over the image. I don't expect to see it on the book cover of another author. And that's a good thing.

Please let me know what you think about book covers. Does stock art concern you? Do you use it?