HeartMate Cover (far left)

One of the first things my editor said to me when I sold my first book, was “send pictures of the cat.” Well, I didn’t have a scanner, so I took photos down to the local Kinkos (in the cold and snow – it was January). They scanned it in black and white, I didn’t see that until I got home and had to go back…but I emailed pictures of the cat Maddox/Zanth, the next day. See Bottom for pics. They are NOT immortal pieces of photography.

My editor wanted jewelry on the cover (the hero, T’Ash, is a blacksmith and a jeweler and whenever someone calls him an artist, he glowers – interview with T’Ash, here: http://robindowens.com/worlds/interviewtash.htm )
I wanted a hunk on the cover. We both got what we want – though T’Ash never actually wears his HeartGift necklace in the book.

The cover of HeartMate has been the easiest cover process I ever had. They DID send me a Macintosh zip disk that frustrated me since I’ve never had a zip drive or Mac (and I received it the night before leaving for the RWA convention and I NEEDED to have prints. Luckily, I have many high-tech friends).

CAT FACT: Notice the cat’s head. In the book, I call it perfectly round, and that was true of Maddox when he was a stray tom. Unneutered male cats have a differing facial structure (muscle or something around their jaws-ears). After Maddox was neutered, he looked like what we think of as a regular cat.

CELTA FACT: On my planet Celta, cats and dogs are rare, so they aren’t often neutered – in fact, Earth people and animals are still struggling to establish a firm hold on the planet. Birth rates are low, and families can easily die out…

Other cover stuff: There are two moons, and both rotate the same so they are always the same phase. I think of Celta as more verdant than the cover, though.






Love to all,
Robin