Pardon me while I rearrange...

I am determined to do some prettifying, and so things may look strange from time to time in the next while. Pardonez moi, s'il vous plait, as us classy broads say, while I work here...

Cover Story

So I said I would post some of my less than stellar romance covers the next week, and it's been... three weeks?? Time flies when you are laboring over a hot computer. I am hard at work on Book 1 of a new series, about which I will have more to say in future!

Anyway, here are a few samples of my Regency covers.

As Donna Simpson, I wrote Regency romances for Kensington Zebra. Gosh, I loved writing and reading traditional Regency romances! So much fun . But it appeared, sometimes, that cover artists didn't know much about the Regency period, roughly 1810 to 1820. Here is a Christmas cover... can you spot the BIG boo-boo??
Here's a hint... it is on the right, just barely visible.
Did you guess Christmas tree?

You're right! Trees were not commonly a part of English Christmas traditon until the Victorian era. Other than that, it is actually a lovely cover!


Which I can't say about this one. This is my least favorite. Okay... I think it's hideous.




I call it the breast implant cover, or 'Dude, Where's My Bowflex'. The models' development - in both cases - is just so dang over the top.

And the smirky look on his face... augh! My eyes!

I actually laughed out loud when I saw it, and that is not the reaction the poor artist was likely going for.


However, just as the imprint was shutting down in 2005, I had one of the last covers, and it was gorgeous!! Breathtaking! Totally awesomesauce.

So here, without any more gushing or commentary, is the cover for Lady Savage, June 2005.

Okay, a little more gushing... I love the colors, and the back view of the heroine, and the moon, and... well, everything.

Beautiful.


Next, I think I will go through some of my Italian covers by Mondadori... hoo, boy! Interesting take on my werewolf paranormals, I do have to say.

By the way... today I am guest at Poe's Deadly Daughters, with my Love Letter to America. Drop on by!

http://poesdeadlydaughters.blogspot.ca/2012/07/canadian-in-us-my-love-letter-to.html

Cover Art & the Author

For many years, when I wrote romance novels, I would be bemused by a certain question that came from readers and non-readers alike. After "Where do you get your ideas?" the next most asked question any writer gets, would be, "Do you do the cover art yourself?", or some variation of that.

I actually haven't heard that for a while, and assumed that the internet had made readers and other folks more savvy. But then I read this in a recent Amazon review of A Deadly Grind:

"My first turn off on the book is the cover, the dog's head is completely out of proportion to the body and when you read the story, you find out that the dog has a missing front leg due to an accident when still a puppy. Yet, the cover shows both front paws. Was this an error by a newbie writer? I do not think so since Victoria Hamilton is a pseudonym for Donna Lea Simpson, a romance writer that is now branching into the cozy market."

I'm not quite sure where to start with this, and I'm trying to figure out what exactly the reader/reviewer is saying. I'm okay with the reviewer not liking the book - everyone's tastes are different, after all - but the remarks on the cover are unfortunate for a number of reasons.

So, I thought I would just run through the book cover design process, from concept to finished product, from the author's point of view.

I write the book (Insert Barry Manilow singing "I write the songs, I write the songs...") and give it to my editor. At some point down the line, my editor will ask me for some concept ideas for the cover, for the artist to work from. In the case of A Deadly Grind I described the summer porch on the back of Jaymie's home, the boxes of items she had purchased at the estate auction, and sent along photos of my own Hoosier-style cabinet, as well as photos of Yorkie-Poos.

Should I have made a point of saying in the reference material that Hoppy is three-legged? Not sure about that. Maybe. Whenever publishers have asked for my input on covers, I've gone overboard, sometimes spending days writing scene blurbs and gathering reference materials. In one memorable instance I did all that - days worth of work! - and the stuff was ignored comepletely and a random generic cover designed.  *Note - this was NOT with Berkley, but another publisher.

When I got the cover illustration for A Deadly Grind, I was very pleased... loved the Hoosier cabinet and the grinder and Hoppy, big head and all. I think the head size was meant to be cutesy, and I don't mind it a bit. But it was a four-legged Hoppy. I emailed my agent, and pointed that out. Do you want to say something to them? my agent asked me. I pondered it for a few days, then decided that in the grand scheme of things, depicting Hoppy with two front paws rather than one did not matter to the book. I didn't mention it to my editor.

Why did I decide that? Well, I liked the cover. I didn't think the extra paw was damaging to the book itself and didn't think it would matter to readers. I was new at Berkley Prime Crime and sooo thrilled to be launching my mystery writing career, so I suppose I didn't want to rock the roat. I know how much time and effort goes into the artwork, and to ask them to redo it based on one small objection... I just didn't have the heart to do it.

So, ultimately, I suppose the reviewer is both right and wrong... in a sense it IS my responsibility. However, it is NOT the mistake of a newbie writer, but rather the decision of a seasoned one, and a decision with which I'm completely at peace. Hoppy rules!!

I think next week I'm going to post a few of my old romance covers, with my first throughts and impressions on seeing some of them!!

Gluten Free Goes Vintage

A couple of weeks ago I got a charming email from a reader claiming I was reading her mind! She lives in Michigan, writes a food blog based on vintage recipes and collects vintage kitchen stuff... in short, her similarities to my heroine, Jaymie Leighton in A Deadly Grind, are truly startling!

But the basis of her reworking of vintage recipes is a little different; she creates gluten free recipes from vintage recipes!!

So Holly and I have partnered to offer one of my autographed books to a commentor on her blog, Gluten Free Goes Vintage. Check it out, read about the fun she had at the Feast of the Strawberry Moon festival, and drool over her lovely Hoosier-style cabinet and comment for a chance to win!

http://glutenfreegoesvintage.blogspot.ca/2012/06/once-in-strawberry-moon.html

50 Shades of Cake

Lately I've been seeing a lot of mention of 'food p o r n', (I'm separating the letters of the word because I don't want to wind up with trouble, or weird stuff... LOL!) and I never quite got what that phrase meant. Then on Thursday, I went to the thrift store; I got the cutest teacup with a little mystery attached, which I have to investigate and I'll talk about later. But I also perused the books, and besides getting Mary Daheim's Hocus Croakus and another 'Company's Coming' cookbook, I found a book called Luscious Afternoon Teas by Rosemary Wadey.

OMG. This book has the most gorgeous cakes and pastries... here are some of the names of the cakes... Chocolate and Hazlenut Caramel, Orange Caraque Gateau, Gateau Japonais, Lemon Praline Ring... and the photos!! Beautifully photographed, gorgeous flowers, and the plates and cutlery are divine...

I was salivating, and not just for the food.

And suddenly it hit me... I understood food p o r n. The recipes are difficult, too much so for my limited baking abilities, but I can look, right? So just like that other kind of p o r n, which describes activities and positions you might not actually try, flipping through the book was still fun.

You get my drift. The book will stay on my shelf, even though I'll never try one of the recipes. But I will look it over and sigh.

Oh MY! Will you look at that!!

Teapot Collectibles

As anyone might guess from my recent change in my Facebook profile pic, I do love tea, everything about it, the taste, the vessels and the brewing paraphernalia. So recently, when I went to a gigantic epic garage sale, I was thrilled to find a few 'tea' items. I'd like to share so photos of my finds!

Here is a cutesy 'tea tray'... and I can't say that without remembering from Alice In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll's version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:

 

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!
Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea tray in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!

 

 

 

 

I collect miniature tea items, too... I just love tiny teacups and teapots, and children's sets. I suppose I coveted one when I was a kid, because my tea drinking started early, when it was a treat that made me feel like an adult. Of course, my tea was mostly milk, but it was served in a china teacup!!

At the sale I found this gorgeous tiny teapot... I cried out loud - yelped, actually - and the woman in front of me dived to the left as I lunged for it. She joked that she didn't suppose she had better get in my way, and I laughed... never get in the way of a dedicated collector!

But the prize of my day was this sweet Otagiri figural teapot... and it was only .75! Not a chip or a scratch on it.

I don't have a place for it, and I still can't figure out where it's going, but it sits on my kitchen table right now.

I also got a beautiful silverplate teastrainer that I forgot to photograph... I'll have to do it and upload that too!!

So there you have some of my adorable finds... total bill? About 2 dollars.

Bonus With Purchase!!

Okay, so I thought this particular vintage item would be easy to find information about... turns out I was WRONG!

I think I need to explain.

When I was a kid, my mom had some big spoons that were used to serve vegetable; they were slotted or perforated spoons, so the liquids would strain off of the veggies. the handles were some black material, very comfortable in the hand. I've coveted them for years.

Then I went to this junk store and found some with the same handles... not the slotted spoons, but a couple of random forks. Over the years I've found a long tined fork, a pickle/fish fork, a bread & butter knife and a big spoon, and finally, a kind friend gave me the slotted spoon she had found at a garage sale. I also got my mom's slotted spoons at long last! The handles are kind of ruined, but I think that was probably the result of putting them in the dishwasher.

I went on Ebay several times, trying to find full sets, and couldn't and that is when, finally, I figured out where the items came from.
They were gifts-in-the-box bonus items with detergent!

Do you remember back in the 'good old days' when powdered laundry detergent - for example, a brand named Duz, and another brand named, pointedly enough Bonus - came with a 'gift' in each box? Bonus brand detergent appearently came with a towel in each box, and Duz, wikipedia says, came with glasses and plates.

But... darned if I can find the brand that came with cutlery in each box!! I suppose nowadays people would look askance at finding a knife in their box of powdered laundry detergent, but in the good old days, people expected brands to court them with gifts!!

So... do you remember this trend? Do you have any like these? Do you know what brand of detergent these came out of? It has to be something that was sold in Canada.

If you know, please tell me, but I'm also interested in any memories pertaining to bonus items in laundry detergent! Click on the photo to see a larger picture of these utensils.

More to come...

I went to the mother of all garage sales on the weekend... 16,000 square feet of stuff! Well... I was in heaven, and bought far more than I ought to have. But not as much as I wanted. Of course.

I will be taking photos over the next couple of days and sharing my treasures, so... stay tuned!!

BTW... this photo is not of the sale. I wish I'd taken my camera!! Well, next year; it's an annual event. Oh, and the sale had the added benefit of being for a charity, providing shelter for women in need!

Do you like going to garage sales? Have you ever made an exciting purchase, or found something rare?

Today join me for Cozy Wednesday at Escape with Dollycas!! And she's hosting a Giveaway, too!
http://www.escapewithdollycas.com/2012/05/16/cozy-wednesday-with-victoria-hamilton-giveaway-too/

First Week Excitement & Queen Elizabeth Cake

My first-ever cozy mystery novel release has been an unmixed blessing. Those are rare, right? I had a couple of difficult days at the same time, but always, ALWAYS... A Deadly Grind and the folks who are reading/have read it was a bright light. The reviews have been wonderful, and so have the comments from readers.

However... I was clearly so overcome that I forgot to do one thing I had intended to do on May 1st, and that was post the photos of the Queen Elizabeth Cake from the recipe in the book! How did that happen??

Anyway, here we go.

I did make this cake to test it, and I have to say, I wasn't really expecting much.It is a simple enough recipe, kind of a date jut cake. Not many people cook with dates anymore... dates, the foodstuff, not the guy you're going out with... though... hmm... maybe Jaymie should try cooking with her date??

Anyway, back to the recipe. I made the cake, and even used the weird coconut brown sugar cooked drizzle thingie, and... WOW! This was a really yummy cake!! It was moist, and full of flavor - not bland at all, and yet not oversweet - and I knew Jaymie would be proud to serve it to the guests at the annual Queensville, Michigan 'Tea With the Queen' event!

Hope someone tries the recipe and reports back to me how it went for them!??? I'd love to hear about it.

In the days to come I'll be blogging at more places.

Update: Today I'm at Lesa's Bookblog... here is the link! Lesa reviewed A Deadly Grind and liked it... she really liked it!  Drop in and comment!!http://www.lesasbookcritiques.blogspot.ca/2012/05/victoria-hamilton-guest-blogger.html

Bottle O' Buttons

Have you read my May 1st release, A Deadly Grind, yet? Well, in it, among the junk Jaymie buys at an estate auction, is a box of sewing odds and sods with a bottle of buttons in it. (She has a reason... read the book to find out why she buys the box of sewing stuff!! LOL) Being the borderline hoarder that I am, I do have a big bottle of buttons, and this is it.

Some of the buttons are old, ones I've been hauling around for 25 years. Some are those pesky 'one of' buttons that come attached to a new sweater or blouse. What the heck are you supposed to do with those things? I never lose buttons, so long after the sweater or top has gone bye bye to the Goodwill or Sally Ann, I'm left with the randomness of odd buttons. I've got a virtual tidal wave of weird little buttons in tiny plastic bags with random bits of thread.

But my bottle o' buttons has come in useful at times. I make hand wipe cloths for my kitchen using half a tea towel and crochet cotton, and I always need a big button for it so it can hang on my cupboard drawer handle, right beneath the sink. My big bottle o' buttons has never failed me yet.

So... do any of you have a mason jar of buttons, or am I alone here?