The cover has been tough especially after people made it clear in the forums that readers are suspicious of covers that are not photographic. It might seem who cares, but a writer who is publishing themselves has to care. If a reader will not get past a cover they consider handmade (handmade is bad), they won't be even trying the story.
I worked through several possibilities after I gave up on using the people. The first moon, which is back here a blog or two, had too much of a werewolf feel to it. It wasn't capturing the positive nature of this book which although there is danger, emotional trauma, also is a positive look at how we can make a difference in the lives of others. The title, Moon Dust has meaning which meant a moon was the second perfect choice (assuming the couple didn't work).
So I went searching through my hard drive for a different moon shot. Luckily I have photographed the moon many many times. I came across what to me is the perfect one. This moon has the softer, more healing quality which I think the book does have in spite of its difficult subject matter.
The following will be the new cover as well as the promo that I (at least for now) settled on to hopefully get across to readers what is inside the book. I've said it before and say it again that writing a book almost seems like the easy part when you begin to look at the difficulty in marketing in a way that potential readers find the book and you give them a realistic view of what they will find if they decide to read it.
Moon Dust is about danger, the passion of love, and the work of making relationships—all kinds-- succeed. How do we really impact someone else’s life? It is a love story set into the turbulence of inner city conflicts where everyone is sure they are right and some are willing to kill to prove it.
As a high school principal, you might think a day, when you successfully ended a confrontation with a student holding a gun, was about as difficult as it could get. For Dane Connors, it is just the start as he comes home to the shock that his wife of two years wants a divorce. Susan can’t handle the emotional distance to which Dane has subjected her. He can’t handle her discovering the reasons why.
The story explores the adult consequences of childhood abuse and not only that which happened in the past, but current abuse of the youths in the militia group who have been manipulated into thinking their leader has all the answers. Can Dane save them or himself?
Portland Oregon is the setting for this imaginary school, which could be in many cities with the problems educators face today. It’s not all turbulence as there is Susan’s home decorator business, with her own problem clients (although not homicidal at least), and while Dane and Susan might not have had good emotional connections, sex has never been the problem.
88,967 words
For now it is at Amazon and clicking the link alongside here will take you to its page.
