One of the perks of being an author of Highland Romance novels is that I get to design and approve the illustrations that appear on the cover of my book. If you go into Barnes & Noble, Half-Price Books, or other wonderful places where they sell books, you'll find an entire section for ROMANCE in the larger Fiction section. In the Romance section, you'll find an enormous amount of books written with Highlander men either nearly naked or trying to get to that stage of undress; they are usually wearing a kilt, or some sort of Scottish traditional garb so you know they're Highlanders. I think there needs to be, if there isn't already, an entire genre dedicated just to Highland Romance. That's my thought.
Because I want my new book "Of Kilted Pleasure" to be up there with all the other fine Highland Romance novels in terms of good-looking Highlander men who are barely dressed, I have commissioned the illustrators at the publishing house to use their digital artists (bots) to create for me the perfect Craig Allan Mackenzie as he is seen throughout the book, holding Aria Campbell from behind, and he's just about to do things that don't require a kilt. The good news I suppose for any Highlanders is that the kilt can be on or off of the man and not really get in his way when he does what he needs (or is expected) to do.
After a bit of an argument today, my publisher has asked me to go through Getty Images www.gettyimages.com and look through the hundreds or thousands of photos necessary to create the right cover images for my book, and I had no problem agreeing to do so. You go to the site, you put in what you're looking for, (sort of like Pinterest) and you just pick and choose. In my case, I was allowed to send three images for Craig Mackenzie, three images for Aria Campbell, and three images for the area where they are standing, which are called "the Ruins". Basically, the Ruins are 500-year-old walls that are the only things standing from a huge manor house from yesteryear. This is where Aria and Ewan go separately and together to dream, pretend, and meet.
Ewan will not be on the cover of this book but he will be on the cover of the sequel. Craig is the Highlander who needs to be holding the woman while heaving and panting. It's sort of the way things go in the Highlander Romance book genre expectations. Only after you become a successful Highlander Romance book author can you deviate from this expectation...I'm absolutely making that up, but it sounds good to me. Bring me more bulked-up, good-looking, muscular, half-naked Scottish men with their beards, longer hair, and somber faces. I don't mind looking.
Now, if I was asking them to print me off a 3-D image of one he would be about six foot, 200 pounds, rounder rather than too bulky, he would have good strong arms, thighs, and butt, and he'd have that three-day beard going on. I do like the longer hair, but as long as it's thick and easy to grab a hold of I'm good. I'm not into the whole six-pack abs thing. I like a man with life and experience on him rather than him having nothing else to do than hang out at the gym staring at himself in the mirror. Give me a man every time.
So, that's what I did tonight. I looked at a bunch of men. I found a few and I sent them in to be mixed together, blended if you will, to become Craig Allan Mackenzie. Now, the real Craig Allan doesn't look like that. He's my personal Naked Bearded Man, and he's older, has a lot more life than these guys, and he's nowhere near as fit either. He's been with me for a few years so he's been eating well and resting; when he can. Like the one in the book, my Craig, the real fantasy man, also only speaks Scots Gaelic so I can absolutely not understand him unless he tells me he is OK and has a kitten and a bus. I have those words down pretty well. I'm doing better on Duolingo. Love the content.
If you have nothing else to do when you go to the bookstore next time, take a look at the Fiction section, find the Highland Romance section, and just feast your eyes on the big bulky brutes of the moors. You'll not be sorry.
Photo Credit: Gettyimages.com
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