Contest--and Preview of My Business Card

Next week, I'm off to SleuthFest, a great mystery conference held annually in Florida. Since it's my first "official" appearance since Midnight Ink (MI) bought the Kiki Lowenstein Scrapbook Mystery Series, I wanted a business card that matched my books.

But the book cover won't be done for months and months to come.

From what my fellow MI authors have told me, MI is very kind about working with their authors on covers. That's NOT usual. Most publishers give their authors very little to NO input.

Still...I didn't want to wait.

One thing I knew for certain I wanted on my covers was a picture of Gracie, the Harlequin Great Dane that my protagonist Kiki Lowenstein impulsively adopts from one of those sidewalk "adopt-a-pet" fairs that pet stores sometimes sponsor. With that in mind, I combed the Internet for pictures of Harlequin Great Danes. Harlequins are black and white spotted Great Danes.

Once I found photos with poses I liked or close ups of heads or photos with spot-patterns I liked, I printed them out as large as possible. Then I copied them in black and white on my photocopier. I flipped over one I especially admired and with a #2 Ticonderoga pencil, I c--

(at this point while writing, I was rudely interrupted. Vicki, our girl Bichon, began the whimpering that means, "I have to go potty, Mom. Reallllllly bad. Hurry." So I let her and Rafferty out. Rafferty heard the lawn cutting guys. So...in a fury of "Get out of my lawn! I'm the dog on duty here!" he went whipping around the front of the house. The lawn guys were...amused. To see a three-legged puff ball hurl himself at you can only be called...amusing. I ran along behind, yelling, "Rafferty! Rafferty!" He didn't listen. He did laps around Lawn Guy 1 who shouted to Lawn Guy 2 on a riding mower. They carried on in Spanish and laughed as they stopped all machinery. The Lawn Guys are very sweet and I imagine their days aren't often broken up by such comedy. By the time I grabbed Rafferty, he was wearing three little green socks! The fresh cut grass had dyed his fur!)

Back to reality...

I colored in the backside of the....you don't care, do you?

Forget it.

Here's the point. I made my own business cards. I did a pen and ink of Gracie, and then I colored her in with watercolor pencils.

Tell me what you think! Totally cool or totally dorky? Write me at savetales@aol.com

I'll pull one comment from the list and send that person a signed copy of one of my scrapbooking books!

Joanna (alias Crazy Woman Running After Three-Legged Dog)