The Great Love Story ... and what it looks like
Hello! April speaking. I'm the one who makes pictures to go with the love stories.
It's amazing how romances always paint the main characters as attractive. More often than not, they're young and beautiful, but even when they're scarred or plain, they're always attracted to each other. It's easy to see why; when you're in love with someone, you see their beauty and all else fades away -- a bit like falling in love with, say, the sexy Joaquin Phoenix and never noticing his harelip.
Yes, my lovesick friends. He has a harelip. Sexy as it is.
But the covers, oy, the covers have to be attractive to everyone or even the blurb won't seem credible. The hero/heroine falls in love with that person? Never!
It's so not like real life. Really.
I'm a part-time people watcher -- part-time because I don't do it often enough, but when I do I find myself saying every now and then, "Now that would never make it to a romance cover." I see couples clearly devoted to and deeply in love with each other, and they look like all the secondary characters in all the romance novels. You know the type -- the kindly uncle, the interfering neighbor, the mousy girl at the register with the coke-bottle glasses and bony arms. But when they're with someone, and they love each other, they glow. Their hearts race. Their blood boils. They feel the exact same things that all those heroes and heroines feel in the romance novels. One just wouldn't think it because they don't look the part.
It's even more pronounced when maybe one of the two looks the part and the other looks like the crazy villain or villainess or the bumbling friend and secondary character. One sees a couple like that in real life, and one wonders how the two ever got together and fell in love. One wonders how such a gorgeous creature could fall in love with such a troll.
On a cover a depiction of that kind of couple might be a turn-off, and in real life the sight of the couple might not even be remarkable. But then you talk to them, you find out how they met and fell in love, and you get this wonderful sense of wonder and romance -- a bit like the sequences in When Harry Met Sally, where the old couples reminisce about their courtship in between Harry and Sally's own courtship.
It's amazing what love you can find between two people who look nothing at all like romance characters. I guess the lesson is: never judge a book by its cover.
This, coming from a cover artist.
But truly, I mean it. My boyfriend and I ... we look nothing like romance novel couples. We get "looks" every now and then, and we can tell what people are thinking half the time. They're never right, by the way, but we don't care; we know the real story, and the story is great. One just has to get past the cover to see it.
Think about it a bit. What do you and your significant other look like compared to romance covers, and what's your love story like? Is your story worth buying?
I'll bet it is.
It's amazing how romances always paint the main characters as attractive. More often than not, they're young and beautiful, but even when they're scarred or plain, they're always attracted to each other. It's easy to see why; when you're in love with someone, you see their beauty and all else fades away -- a bit like falling in love with, say, the sexy Joaquin Phoenix and never noticing his harelip.
Yes, my lovesick friends. He has a harelip. Sexy as it is.
But the covers, oy, the covers have to be attractive to everyone or even the blurb won't seem credible. The hero/heroine falls in love with that person? Never!
It's so not like real life. Really.
I'm a part-time people watcher -- part-time because I don't do it often enough, but when I do I find myself saying every now and then, "Now that would never make it to a romance cover." I see couples clearly devoted to and deeply in love with each other, and they look like all the secondary characters in all the romance novels. You know the type -- the kindly uncle, the interfering neighbor, the mousy girl at the register with the coke-bottle glasses and bony arms. But when they're with someone, and they love each other, they glow. Their hearts race. Their blood boils. They feel the exact same things that all those heroes and heroines feel in the romance novels. One just wouldn't think it because they don't look the part.
It's even more pronounced when maybe one of the two looks the part and the other looks like the crazy villain or villainess or the bumbling friend and secondary character. One sees a couple like that in real life, and one wonders how the two ever got together and fell in love. One wonders how such a gorgeous creature could fall in love with such a troll.
On a cover a depiction of that kind of couple might be a turn-off, and in real life the sight of the couple might not even be remarkable. But then you talk to them, you find out how they met and fell in love, and you get this wonderful sense of wonder and romance -- a bit like the sequences in When Harry Met Sally, where the old couples reminisce about their courtship in between Harry and Sally's own courtship.
It's amazing what love you can find between two people who look nothing at all like romance characters. I guess the lesson is: never judge a book by its cover.
This, coming from a cover artist.
But truly, I mean it. My boyfriend and I ... we look nothing like romance novel couples. We get "looks" every now and then, and we can tell what people are thinking half the time. They're never right, by the way, but we don't care; we know the real story, and the story is great. One just has to get past the cover to see it.
Think about it a bit. What do you and your significant other look like compared to romance covers, and what's your love story like? Is your story worth buying?
I'll bet it is.
SExed by April Martinez at 9:29 PM
5 Comments:
Oh yes, I think any romance is worth a wonderful cover and a story ;). Especially a cover as wonderful as your's, April.
Great Blog, April. Most people think my husband and I are exact opposites. I'm 31, he's 54. I'm talkative and have attitude, he's laid back and contemplative. I like tacky costume jewelry and bright colored clothes and he's the hippi bandana and sleeveless shirts. LOL I'm the pick up truck and he's the sportscar nut.
We've had some wonder why and how we ended up together...sometimes they make assumptions.
The biggest and most common assumption has to do with the age difference. They think I married him for money. What money? he had no t.v. and a radio set on cinderblocks in his livingroom when I moved in (thank God I came with furniture, electronics, and curtains).
LOL If I was gonna marry for money, honey, I'd have a man who give me a humungus swimming pool with my name and picture on the bottom of it.
But inside, we are EXACTLY alike - so much that it's a lil scary at times. Once people get to know us, they think we fit one another.
So when people make assumptions, we correct them by telling them:
I married him for sex and he married me for my car. (It's a firebird and I hate it)
-SG
Wonderful piece, April. What does it say about us that, when it comes to fantasies, we don't really want to see an 'ugly' couple? My favorite odd match is from sex and the city, Charlotte and her second husband, the divorce lawyer (name escaping me at the moment). Their relationship was so touching and showed Charlotte's growth as a person.
Terrific blog, April! My hubby and I look more alike than is probably good, since we're both fairly short and come from short families. Hence, my son has remained in the 5% of the height/weight growth chart since he was born. The dr mentioned that we should have his growth checked out by an endochronologist, but we know why he's short ;-)
With romances, I think the hero has to be more handsome than the heroine. I like the idea that the less than perfect heroine can get the babe. But on covers, you're so right--they need to look great or at the very least not be a turn-off.
April, your covers are awesome--thanks for every one that you've done for me!
Shara
www.sharalanel.com
Super blog, April. My hubby and I are one of those couples that people wonder how we got together until they see us together. We both have warped senses of humor and have the same type of family background. He's smart and funny and a super nice guy -- and he thought I was beautiful and special from the day he met me. What's not to love? So, yes, a book is more than its cover.
Although your covers do make readers want to give our books a chance. So, thank you.
Rae Morgan
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