Blogging · Mi Vida Loca · nonfiction · postaday

A Restless Mind and a Book Cover Reveal

JackieP

Do you ever get nights where you can’t sleep because your mind won’t turn off? That’s been me lately.

BookWithFlyingPages-rev

Last night I tossed and turned and couldn’t quiet my mind. I wasn’t upset about anything. I have so many things going on around me that my mind had a hard time shutting down. I was going through each and every piece of information like a chaotic picture book.

The pages flipped and flopped and nothing would settle enough for me to grab onto.

I laid there and as the pages of my restless mind threw pictures at me I tried to quiet myself. I closed my eyes and thought…things will get done. They always do. I’m only one woman, but I have always managed to get what I needed done, done.

Mostly I’m worried about my books that I’m working on. Well, technically one is a short story. I’m deep into edits for them both. My short story ‘The Canine Caper’ is in the hands of my wonderful beta readers.

The next one is novel length, ‘A Case of Deceit’. I’m doing first draft edits on it now. Plus, I’m trying to learn Gimp (a free software for image manipulation). I’m trying to learn how to make my own book covers. This is not easy, folks. I have super respect for anyone who does this.

I have a tentative book cover for ‘The Canine Caper’. I didn’t do the work, I outsourced it on Fiverr.com because that’s all I can afford. I thought she did a pretty good job. This is what she came up with.

teeseries

The dog is spot on. Just like Tee in the stories as I saw him in my mind. The woman, I’m not so sure about as Dee. What do you think? I really need your input.

With all this restlessness comes the doubts. You know the type…

Am I good enough?

Can I really write something that people want to read?

I hate when the doubts start creeping in. I’m working so hard to make this writing dream come true. I don’t give up easily. I can’t give up.

So I lay in bed at night and fight the demons in my mind. Sometimes I win, sometimes they win and sometimes it’s a draw because I fall into an exhausted sleep in the middle of the fight.

I keep fighting. The day I’m published is the day I win this skirmish. Then onto the next.

 

 

How do you settle your mind when it’s all over the place? What do you think about the book cover? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

48 thoughts on “A Restless Mind and a Book Cover Reveal”

  1. I use a Yoga technique called “Yoganidra” – it can lull you into deep sleep in a matter of minutes. I have it on a CD that I listen to (by Manohar Harkare), but unfortunately it’s not in English.

    The trick is to pay attention to specific parts of your body in a sequence – 2-4 seconds per body part. Try to visualize each part when you think of it. Here’s how I remember it (though I might be wrong about the specifics):

    1. Individual toes on the left leg, starting with the little finger to the thumb
    2. The sole
    3. The heel
    4. Ankle
    5. Calf
    6. Back of your knee
    7. Front of your knee
    8. Thigh
    9. Hamstrings
    10. Groin
    11. Steps 1 – 10, for the right leg
    12. Fingers on your left hand, starting with the little finger to the thumb
    13. Palm
    14. Wrist
    15. Forearm
    16. Elbow
    17. Biceps
    18. Shoulder
    19. 12 – 18 for your right hand
    20. Groin
    21. Perineum
    22. Navel
    23. Stomach
    24. Chest
    25. Throat
    26. Mouth
    27. Nose
    28. Left eye
    29. Right eye
    30. Temple
    31. Heart

    I usually fall asleep before I’m done with the left leg.

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    1. I used to do something close to this, my own type of self hypnosis or meditation I guess you’d call it. I need to get back to doing that. Thank you for the information. I will keep it in mind tonight.

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  2. I also have a hard time shutting down my mind at night, so I toss and turn…wish I had better advice. 😦
    I like Tee, but I pictured Dee differently…tougher maybe. But it is a nice book cover. ❤

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    1. I need to get back to meditation. That helped me a lot in the past. As for the book cover…yes, you hit it right. I picture Dee as much tougher looking too. Now I need to figure out how to fix it. lol

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      1. The dark eye liner/eye works (strong), but she just doesn’t give off a “I can be hard as nails when I need to be” look. Line of the mouth is almost there – firm
        Dee wouldn’t be looking up for guidance/help – she’d be looking straight at you without blinking. Where her eyes/gaze looks may be important to overall impression of her. Maybe if her head was turned to engage/challenge the reader?
        I do like the way the dog’s ear fluff mimics lines of her hair.

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          1. The pose is used to often in searching for answers/religious images. So that’s what people will think of automatically. Beautiful but not really working for a self reliant, tough PI on a case? She looks too vulnerable and less self reliant. The way the eyes and mouth look will be important – those are the cues humans use to understand what is going on with another person

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  3. I was about to say, I think Dee is a little too…refined? I don’t know how to explain it, I mean she is a PI so she has to blend in some but then again she is still pretty. Hmm.

    I like the list above for the meditation/relaxation. Of course, I am the wrong person to ask about sleeping at night! 😀

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    1. Yes, Dee is not right. I mean in the picture. 😉 She needs to be…..tougher or something. Sigh. I have a picture I think would work better, but I don’t know how to change it and I can’t afford to hire someone….know anyone who does photoshop or gimp? And would do a little something for free? LOL

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  4. Tech support wants to know if you have the original photo. He does a lot of photoshop work. I kind of like the look myself. You would never guess that sweet face that Fedora fell for to have such a tough interior. That’s how she fools people into thinking she can’t do the job. I like the red hair on her. Just a thought. As for sleeping. I have no problem falling asleep but it’s the staying that way the gives me fits. I read a chicken soup story before going to sleep and journal. Maybe it’s the dump into the journal, hand written of course that helps my mind be free to sleep. Good luck with the sleep. The book thing, no sweat. Let go of it and trust that it will all come together exactly as it should. You can’t force this. Keep a positive mind to help it move forward. Hugs.

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    1. Thank you Marlene. Tell tech support I am grateful for any offers of help. I do have a picture, it is available for commercial use.
      That’s one way of looking at the woman on the cover, but really I think it needs a different woman. I do like the red hair, as Dee does have red hair.
      As for sleeping, yes I am up and down multiple times a night. I think it comes with our age. 😉

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          1. He suggested it when i told him what you were doing. He’s my son and has a good heart. If he can’t do anything good with it. No loss to you and playtime for him.

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      2. Sometimes there are lack of sleep periods. Annoying. Try some cereal in milk/vanilla ice cream before bedtime? Getting 20 min of walking outside? Sometimes you just hope the moon or whatever it is changes and you can sleep better once again

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        1. That is true about the moon I find. If its full or near full I have more trouble sleeping. Maybe I’m part werewolf? 😉

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  5. Oh yes! I know that one indeed. When I’m writing a book I have difficulty thinking of anything else, but no one I live with understands that so I have to keep everything to myself. It doesn’t make for peaceful sleeping. Then, the editing – oh gosh! I have been known to procrastinate on rewriting or editing by writing another book. The first book I wrote is still waiting to be done. However, I have done three others which have been published. As for covers, I admit, it’s my one extravagance because I have paid to have my covers done by artists or photographers because at first I had little idea that my books would ever be published and I was indulging myself.

    I like your cover very much, although only you can say if the girl ‘fits’ because I have not yet read the book. I certainly wish that I could do my own covers but I don’t have a clue – pretty much the story of my life! 🙂

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    1. I live, breath and everything else in between with my characters firmly by my side. I love my characters. Believe it or not, I like the editing phase of things. I love how it shows me improving on the book. 🙂
      I have a tiny clue on how to do book covers, but so tiny it might as well be nothing. LOL

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  6. The cover is looking great, but I agree that Dee might look tougher and not this nice. I sleep fairly well once I’m tired, so I can’t offer much advice…other than that meditation will be helpful. I like the list in the first comment

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  7. I have not read the book so I do not know if the photo fits. However, I am drawn to the woman’s eyes. I feel that detracts a bit from the dog. So if it was possible, if someone could photo-shop in order to tone down the woman’s make-up and somehow make her a little more subtle, if that is possible. Also if the words ‘The Canine Caper’ could be moved down slightly so that ‘Canine’ appears with the black background completely behind it, that would free up the dog into central spot and, I believe, would draw the reader in.

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  8. On second thoughts, I think the cover would be better with just the dog. Having two sets of eyes is distracting. If the dog was on its own, centered, and black or a very dark colour behind it, it would be perfect.

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  9. I agree with you and the others who have chimed in that the cover girl is a but too girly for Dee. In fact, other than the red hair (which I love), she looks rather odd. Maybe it’s just the weird way she’s looking to the side and up…

    Funny, my mental image of Tee looked a lot like Toto. I guess it was the association with Dee keeping him in her purse, and Toto often hitching a ride in Dorothy’s basket.

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    1. I can understand thinking of Toto. But my mind was always on a Tee like the cover dog. 🙂 As for Dee, yes, it’s not quite right. Hoping to change that soon….

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      1. It didn’t hit me until after I commented that “Tee” = “T” = “Toto”, which was probably another way I subconsciously associated the two. It’s funny how we each build our mental images of things we know information about, but never actually see…

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  10. I have those nights also, too many of them as far as I’m concerned. No the Dee on the cover doesn’t come close to how I pictured her. I have made several covers for people. I use public domain images then manipulate them using Picmonkey.com a free program (or you can pay for the upgrade) that allows me to use special effects and add text. Keep at it till you like what you see is my best advice.

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  11. I know the misbehaving brain thing all too well. Sometimes it helps me to put it all down on paper, like a to do list, and then I know I won’t forget it and that helps me to sleep. But that kind of insomnia can be rough.

    I think the book cover is nice, but not quite perfect yet. Hang in there sweetie. ❤

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  12. Whatever the reason, the restless mind has caused many hours of lost sleep. As you mentioned, hang in there … it will work out. Good luck … and I see a bit of intrigue on the cover. I say that because it’s a fresh look from someone who doesn’t know a thing about your story.

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  13. I pictured her as a blond biker chick. Not this nicey nice that is currently on the cover. She rides a Harley for heaven’s sake.

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