I’m taking part in the Autumn Harvest Blog Hop!

For more information on the hop, including the other authors participating, click here.

Autumn is a time of change, transition for me. The house generally gets a little extra cleaning, I change the decor to my autumn theme (lots of yellow and orange), and I begin to think about winter and the holidays.

I have to admit that I’m not really a compulsive housekeeper.  In fact, it’s only the fact that I like things organized and I don’t like clutter that keeps my home from being a total disaster.  But there is something about fall — whether it’s the coming holidays, the change in temperature, or just the fact that I’m indoors more–that inspires me to a bit of extra effort.

My self-published, contemporary paranormal romance needs some fall cleaning and change as well. It isn’t selling.  I’d attribute that to my just being a bad or unknown writer, but my other books sell decently well.  Not hugely, but reasonably well.  MAGIC, MURDER AND MICROCIRCUITS isn’t selling at all.  It was a finalist in the Oklahoma RWA’s International Digital Awards recently, so it’s not like it’s a bad book.

I suspect it’s that the combination of title and cover just aren’t telling the right story about the book.  Michael Morgan is a kind of grown-up, American Harry Potter, with a Ph.D. in Physics, a chip on his shoulder, and a former lover, also a wizard herself, who’s been sent to convince him to destroy his latest invention.

Here’s the current cover and blurb for the story.

A powerful wizard with a physics degree and a checkered past invents a shield to ensure he’ll never again be tortured almost to death.

The wizarding powers-that-be fear the repercussions of such a device and send his former girlfriend, an accomplished wizard herself, to retrieve the device or destroy it.

When the shield is stolen by the magical mafia, Ilene McConnell and Michael Morgan have to set aside their differences and work together to recover it. Michael claims he needs the device as insurance against the kind of injury and injustice he suffered once before. Ilene maintains its potential to upset the delicate balance of power makes it too dangerous and that it needs to be destroyed. But none of that will matter if they can’t prevent a powerful rogue wizard from using the shield for his own purposes.

Here are a couple of ideas for new covers and titles.  Please help me by letting me know which cover/title you think best conveys the story.  Or if you have a better idea, I’m open to that, too.

The Wizard’s Shield:

The Colors of Magic:

I’ll hold a drawing for those commenting with their votes and ideas. The winner gets paperback copies of A Gift for Murder and Shadow of a Doubt, along with some bonus extras.

Remember to comment here for a chance to win lots of great prizes. For more information on the blog hop, click here.