Cover Reveal - Painting First, Then the Book

"Evening of the Dragonfly" watercolor ©MMSikes

A couple of years ago when I completed a mixed water media painting, I thought it would someday become the cover of a book. As I studied the painting more closely, I discovered the image of a dragonfly emerging in the green and yellow mist, formed by spraying the surface of Yupo with beautiful paints created by Robert Doak in his Brooklyn studio. Because I had developed a special love of Dragonflies as I wrote my novel, Night Watch, I knew at that moment the painting would have special significance.

You can imagine how excited I was when dragonflies became a part of the story in my new novel, Evening of the Dragonfly. Like the dragonfly in the painting, these dragonflies emerged spontaneously and flew into my writing. I now had a book to go with my dragonfly painting.

What is it about dragonflies? I've read that they are filled with magic and spiritual energy. They have the ability to travel into another dimension, then re-emerge. They relate to water and are able to move across it. They symbolize deeper meaning and growth beyond the limitations of the physical. The life of a dragonfly can be two to three years or more with most of that time spent in the aquatic phase.

Here is the final cover of the just-released book. I do not yet have a copy to hold in my hands. In the months to come, I hope that my readers will enjoy and understand the symbolism of the dragonflies in my story. I would love to hear thoughts on my book and, also, on the ways authors use symbolism in their own writing.

You Can't Always Tell A Book By Its Cover!

"You can always tell a book by its cover." That's one of the expressions my mother often used.

No, you can't! I just learned my lesson the hard way.

Yesterday, when I pulled a book from the supply I recently ordered from my publisher's printing company and opened it to sign, I got a big surprise. It was my book, Night Watch, on the cover, but the inside was a completely different book by another author! At first, I thought the front page was an ad for someone's book, but after flipping through the pages I realized that nothing about Night Watch was inside my cover. Besides that, the book inside was from a completely different publisher. How could that  happen?!

I pulled more books from the box and discovered some were actually the real Night Watch and others were the book by the other author. All had my cover. In the box of 40 books, 20 were really mine, the other 20 contained the other book.

Do you normally check each book you order to see if the printer has made an outrageous mistake like this one? You should.

I have two events within the next week for which I'll need books. If I had checked my order sooner, the printer might have replaced the books in time.

The ironical thing about all this is that I learned last night the author of the other book lives in my native city (not where I now live) and is a graduate of the University of Mary Washington from which I earned my undergraduate degree. I had not heard of her before.

I also learned this is not the first time this has happened to her. She had incorrect copies in an earlier order this fall!

So just remember, you can't always tell a book by its cover. My mother would be very disappointed!