WHEN LOVE TAKES OVER (EXCERPT AND COVER INTERPRETATION.)

                                                              

                                          

                                    COVER INTERPRETATION

You can see from the cover, that the setting and mood portrays romance, depicting what love is all about. Going by the title of the novel, I tried to show a picture of the two protagonists who fell in love, playing the game of love. They’re both taking a love ride in a boat cruise.

                When you read through the novel, you’ll found out that the description of the physical appearance of Francis, and Dianna fit in with the images in the cover. Dianna with her magnetic beauty caught the attention of Francis. I created a photo that I believe would draw the attention of readers.

                Francis as a calm and calculated guy was very romantic which was why I showed a setting of him taking her on a boat ride, and presenting her with a beautiful love flower. Dianna had a different definition of love from day one, and hated Francis. But I tried to accentuate through the design, how deep her emotions were for him when love took over. The only child of a billionaire woman realized that love is part of human existence, and that there’s nothing as beautiful as love. From the way they stare at each other, one could read the chemistry between them. I tried to draw the attention of contemporary romance readers with the good looks of the protagonists. The font and text of the author name, and the title are written in bright colors to add beauty to the cover.

                Overall, Francis, and Dianna are seen taking a love ride in a boat cruise, as designed in the cover. I hope readers love it.

 

                                                                                                                                        EXCERPT

                

      Her bedroom was dim in a pale blue light as it was illuminated from a small bulb. The bulb hung loosely in a mushroom bulb protector with an umbrella structure that shielded the bulb, preventing too much light from shining. The darkness was not completely vanished, because she likes her room dim whenever she sleeps.

                Dianna was still asleep when she felt troubled by a too-full bladder. She awoke and sat up in bed. Then, she let out a wide yawn. Her eyes were puffy with sleep. She put on her slippers, and stood up to go to the bathroom to pee. She opened the door and walked out, with the intention of using the toilet upstairs. She staggered as a wave of dizziness hit her. Wobbling down the passageway, she heard a loud sound, the soundtrack of a movie. Instantly, her instinct told her that the sound was coming from the TV.

                Surprised, she wondered who could have switched on the TV. She had forgotten that she left it on when she was watching a seasonal movie last night. She was watching the movie when suddenly she started to doze fitfully. She had then climbed the stairway, staggered to her bedroom, and fell asleep, leaving the TV and the DVD running.

                Perplexed with wonder, Dianna walked downstairs to the sitting room in order to switch off the electronics, as well as make use of the toilet downstairs. She was putting on a white robe as she walked. As she went into the sitting room, she moved to the centre and yawned again, this time covering her mouth. She walked forward slowly, exhaustedly, and switched off first the TV and then the DVD. She stretched her body and staggered forward a little before she got her balance. She was about to move to the toilet, and do her business when, suddenly, she heard a knock at the back door.

                Dianna quivered in fear. She was wide awake now. Her eyes brightened in surprise and fright. She stared flustered at the door, wondering who it could be. ‘‘Sophia? Gertrude?’’ she called out uncomfortably.

                Her friends were the only ones who had access to her house, and they always knocked hard at the door. But this knock was polite, and gently tapped.

                She stood motionless, straining to hear a reply, but silence surrounded the atmosphere. Her legs began to tremble. Her heartbeat was fluttering. She stole a gaze at the wall clock. 5:30 A.M the clock chimed.

                It’s too early for such a knock, she thought. No one, not even my friends, have ever knocked at this hour.

                Dianna nearly collapsed in fear. Her initial fright was now overshadowed by a far deeper dread. Tension began to spread through her core. ‘‘Sophia! Gertrude!’’ she called out again, but her fear kept her voice subdued.

Another long, heavy silence weighted the air.

A surge of terror continuously rushed waves over her, causing her to lose all sense of reasoning. She began to panic and thoughts of what to do wildly flew through her head. Her heartbeat pounded faster. She was still battling with her thoughts when the knock was gently tapped double time against the door.

Dianna’s heart skipped several beats, and she let out a shaky breath. She stared but her vision was blurred from fright. She was at a loss.

Bolstered by logic and curiosity, she moved forward to investigate. Her legs felt as heavy as blocks. As she dragged her feet through the steps to door, she was weighted down with dread. Trepidation ripped through her system. Slowly, she unlocked the door, and then opened it quickly. To her surprise, she saw nobody there. The little relief that fell on her did nothing to overcome the terror that quickly reclaimed her.

Dianna was stunned, and looked around slowly.

But someone was knocking, she thought. Or am I crazy? Can it be a spirit?

She took a step forward, but remained standing in the doorway, and peeped outside. Still, she saw no one. Usually at that hour, the sky was always dark but the compound was lit up as bright as midday because of the many security flood lights that surrounded the house.

Dianna didn’t know that at the moment she pulled the lock to open the door, the stranger had quickly hidden herself beside the flowers. Still confused, she decided to ignore everything. She turned and took a step back into the sitting room. As she was about to shut the door, a young lady dressed in red semi-jean trousers, a black blouse, and silver heel sandals jumped out from the flowers and hit Dianna on the back head.

She fell on the marble floor, her knees bruising the floor. She turned and saw a pretty, young lady about her age standing in front of her. The young lady was holding a knife – a butcher’s knife. Dianna recognized her.

‘‘How dare you?’’ the young lady growled, wielding the knife as she walked close to Dianna.

Dianna crawled backward across the floor on her buttocks. Her elbows gripped the floor as she crawled. ‘‘You’re Vanessa?’’ she managed to speak, struggling to keep her voice steady. ‘‘The lady that met me at Maxwell’s house?’’

‘‘Shut up!’’ Vanessa screamed in her face.

Dianna was frightened. She felt a sudden rush of panic piling on top of the one she was already feeling, and it caused horror to settle in her core.

‘‘Who do you think you are?’’ Vanessa frowned. ‘‘You think just because you're the daughter of Mrs. Cole, the multibillionaire woman, that no one else is even good enough to breathe! You believe you can do what you like and intimidate others! Huh?’’ she roared. ‘‘You're wrong!’’ Vanessa yelled angrily.

Dianna became even more frightened. Her heart beat had never slowed down, and now it raced faster with every passing moment. She felt the blood in her system drain away from her head and it made her feel as though she would collapse.

Vanessa’s gaze darted around the sitting room, admiring the Coles' possessions and all the good things of life. This sitting room looks very posh, she thought. Her gaze flicked back to Dianna.

‘‘What do you want?’’ Dianna stammered.

Vanessa's mouth curved into a cruel grin. ‘‘What do I want…’’ she said mockingly. ‘‘She is asking me what – ’’ She broke out in a horrible chuckle, and moved around slowly, all the while tapping the blade on her palm.

She turned towards Dianna, and pointed the knife close to her face.

Dianna crawled backward in dread.

‘‘You stole my boyfriend away from me!’’ she snarled. ‘‘Maxwell was the love of my life!’’

Dianna was so afraid that all coherent thought left her mind. She saw her own terrified reflection in the blade. She saw herself shuddering in fear. Drops of urine began to drench her white robe. She completely forgot she had ever wanted to pee. Had she been wearing pajama bottoms, they would have at least absorbed some of the urine, but she never wore them when going to bed. The robe soaked up all the urine that continued to come out in droplets, forming a pee map.

Vanessa looked ruthless. ‘‘You came and took my man away, and you must pay severely for it.’’ She said in a painful voice. ‘‘You have to remember how humiliated I was. You slapped me, and then I was prevented from retaliating. I was heartbroken. But revenge will fix everything.’’ She smiled mockingly.

Dianna's heart sank completely. ‘‘I’m sorry! Please forgive me! I never knew he was your boyfriend.’’ Dianna begged, sobbing. She was sweating even though the AC was on full-blast. ‘‘I’m very sorry.’’ Her voice sounded pitiful and flat. Her eyes were shining with an accumulation of tears.

‘‘Oh! You are very sorry,’’ Vanessa ridiculed. ‘‘She is sorry after having a feel of his erection with her disgusting vagina.’’ Vanessa’s mouth was filled with harsh and dirty words. She had come prepared. ‘‘Bitch! Even if you had known he was my boyfriend, you wouldn't have cared because you go about stealing handsome, rich guys from their girlfriends all the time! And you think you can get away with it because you think your mum is “Mrs. Wealth” and “Mrs. Famous”, and you believe nobody will stand up to you!’’ Vanessa said angrily as she moved the blade from Dianna's face, down the length of her throat, and further down to her stomach.

Dianna felt her soul leave her body. She could smell the metal of the blade; it smelt like death. She crawled slowly backwards, as far as she could, then felt the sofa behind her back. She leaned on it, quivering. Her eyes were already filled with tears, and they were preparing to flood her cheeks. Enormous dread threatened to drown her. She needed someone to rescue her, but who would she call? Her phone was upstairs even if she planned to call an emergency number. Her mother had traveled abroad for business. Musa, the gate-man, would do nothing. Even if he did, it would probably only be to scream to the neighbor in the estate or alert the estate's armed guards. He obviously didn't know that Vanessa was here and would probably not hear Dianna if she screamed. The walls of the mansion were like the walls of Jericho and the distance to the gate house would make any sound difficult to hear. There was also the fact that Musa slept like a corpse. The house keepers were on suspension for two days, as Dianna had suspended them. She was crippled with fear, waiting for the outcome of the drama.

‘‘I’ve broken up with him! I’m no longer with him!’’ Dianna twittered. She was searching for anything to say that might make Vanessa forgive her.

Vanessa scowled. ‘‘Shut up!’’ she shouted.

Dianna went deadly silent.

‘‘Move…!’’ Vanessa ordered her, directing her away from the sofa with the knife.

Dianna obeyed, as she knew what the consequences would be if she hesitated. She was panicking, and the sound of her heartbeat was like that of a talking drum.

‘‘I got the worst humiliation of my life on my birthday because of you!’’ Vanessa wailed. ‘‘You’ve offended me twice; the first was at Polo Club where you and your friend beat me up and injured me on my mouth,’’ she paused, and smiled horribly as she saw the memory come to Dianna's mind.

Dianna was horrified. She remembered. She was surprised that Vanessa was the same lady they had dealt with at the club. She was thinking about that night and how everything had happened.

Vanessa grew exasperated. ‘‘You know what,’’ she broke in between Dianna’s thought. ‘‘I'm not one for chatting.’’

She lunged forward, and pierced Dianna's lap with the blade.

Dianna screamed in pain.

‘‘Go to hell, bitch!’’ Vanessa snarled, as she stabbed Dianna’s skin mercilessly. She left a stab on almost every part of her body – her arms, thighs, stomach, and legs. When she had finished with her assault, she rushed out, leaving behind the knife, which lay covered with blood, on the floor.

WHEN LOVE TAKES OVER

'WHEN LOVE TAKES OVER' is the title of my new novel, which will be out on 5th Dec, 2013 as an Ebook in online stores - Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes and Noble. It's a contemporary romance fiction that tells the story of love between Dianna, the daughter of wealthy woman, and a pool cleaner named Francis.

Dianna was cocky, hostile, proud, and snobbish. She lived a life where no dictates what she does, that is, she lived in her own world. Being the only child of her mother, she was pampered up till adulthood. She got everything she wanted. She loved to party, drink, smokes, and has sex with wealthy and handsome guys.

            Dianna didn’t believe in love until Francis turned her world around. From the onset, when she met Francis, and employed him to take care of her pool, she hated him. She was hostile to him, treated him like a slave. But in the end, she fell in love with him. When love took over, her life, her heart was taken over. She became crazily in love, and couldn’t control her emotion toward him. The more she tried to control her feelings, the more she kept falling deeply in love for him. Francis showed her the true meaning of love, the other side of love, and since afterward, Dianna was lost in him.

            Her mother was against their relationship. She tried everything she could to separate them, but instead, Dianna disown her mother than to stop loving Francis.

SYNOPSIS

            Francis Dennis was an orphan. He dropped out of college when his father died of heart disease and began to look for something to do to earn a living. He learned a trade as a mechanic. While he was under training, he got a job as pool cleaner for one Ms. Dianna Cole.

            Dianna Cole was the only child of Mrs. Otunba Cole, a very wealthy woman well known in the local society. Her mother owned the biggest beverage company in the country. Due to her mother’s riches, Dianna was proud, self-centered, snobbish, and a skinflint. She had two best friends, Gertrude, a Mass Communication graduate, and Sophia, a barrister.

            When Dianna employed Francis as her pool cleaner, she mistreated him, corrected him for every fault, and was never satisfied with his services. Francis endured every harsh treatment from Dianna simply because he had a vision to pursue, and his working at the pool would only last a short while.

            Vanessa hated Dianna with a passion, and wanted revenge for what Dianna had done to her. One night, she paid Dianna a visit.  She stabbed Dianna, leaving her half dead on the marble floor.  After Vanessa left, Dianna crawled slowly through a pool of her own blood. She was writhing in pain. She cried for help, but no one could hear her choked whisper. Fortunately for her, Francis came back to work at the pool. He saw Dianna crawling to the door in great distress and soaked with blood.

            Shocked, Francis rushed to help her. He took her to the hospital. She lost so much blood that she needed a blood transfusion to survive. It was such an emergency; Francis donated his own blood to save her life.

            Dianna finally fell in love with Francis. They began to spend time together, playing the game of love and romance.

            Dianna’s mother was oblivious to their relationship until she caught them in bed in Dianna’s bedroom. Shock, confusion, and doubt crippled her senses. She called the cops, and they arrested Francis. Then, she placed Dianna under house arrest, froze Dianna’s account, and stopped her allowances.

            Dianna called her friends, and they came to plead with her mother on her behalf. Her mother forgave her on the condition that she would have nothing to do with Francis, and she promised. Mrs. Cole didn't know that her daughter had told a white lie in order to regain her freedom, and fight to vindicate her love.

The first thing Dianna did after her release was to free Francis from prison through the help of her friend, Barrister Sophia. Her friends accompanied her to the cell, where they found Francis in poor health.  He was rushed directly from the cell to the hospital. He had almost died inside the cell because he was badly tortured by the policemen who acted under the instruction of Mrs. Cole.

            Mrs. Cole found out about Francis's release, and she became very angry. She began to search for the barrister who was responsible for his release. She did not know that the barrister she sought was her own daughter's best friend. After what seemed to be a futile search, Mrs. Cole sued Francis so that whoever was responsible for his release would have to show up in court.

            Dianna was prepared to fight and vindicate her love in the court of law. The courtroom was filled with drama, suspense, betrayal, shock, hilarity, and love on the day of the proceedings.

The battle line was drawn between Dianna and her mother. Would Mrs. Cole succeed in making Francis spend the rest of his life in jail or would Dianna conquer her mother, and succeed in marrying Francis? Find Out.

Look out for an excerpt tomorrow.

BOOK COVER

                

A book cover is the outer layer of a book covering the story.  A beautiful cover attracts the attention of readers.

         Covers are not just design to cover a story; covers are done to interpret a story. Thus, a book cover is the image interpretation of a story.

A cover should be able to portray a story, and if it doesn’t, then it’s termed ‘vague cover.’

        Covers don’t tell a good book, but covers tell and interpret a story. They do that with image representation, meaning that the whole idea of a story is interpreted in a cover. A reader can predict, anticipate and tell your story through the cover. It also helps them to know the genre of the book.

        I’m so fascinated by book covers, I love it when a cover looks beautiful, catchy and interprets. I never adore it when a cover is just there; unattractive, dull and untold.

A cover shouldn’t only interpret, it should also look attractive. The cover should leave a cliche in the psyche of readers. When a cover is well interpreted and looks very attractive, it gets the reader fighting with a rising urge to read the book.

        Two things should be noted when designing a book cover, the interpretation and the attractiveness. Why because cover plays a vital role in your book and that’s why many authors make research, spend time and money to get the best cover. Through a cover, you can draw people’s attention to your book and by the time they finish reading and found it interesting they help promote your book. A dull and untold cover can crucify a book especially if you’re a new author.

First have an idea of your cover through the story. Think of what the whole story is all about, is it talking about love or about crime. That will help you figure out the kind of cover to design to represent the story. Mind you that interpretation and attractiveness are two different words.

        Interpretation is to explain the meaning of your story through images. For instance, a romance novel cannot have the image of a cookie because it’s not a story about biscuit. Likewise will a thriller novel carry an image of a stripper; there is simply no form of interpretation.

 Attractiveness can be drawn from the image and the whole design of the cover; from color combination, additional designs and written words. Attraction as the word implies, the cover should attract.

Good cover promotes a book, good cover draws the attention of readers and good cover can make a book become bestseller. Don’t get me wrong when I say good cover can make a book bestseller. I don’t mean that an uninteresting and badly written story with a good cover will become bestseller but what I mean is that a well written story with good cover will probably become a bestseller. For instance, a new author publishes a good book and it’s interesting, well written with a good cover; readers will be drawn by the superb cover and they pick the book. After reading the book and they found out that the book was interesting; they would spread and promote the book, stimulating others to read the book. They can also make a good review and through the review others will want to read the book. Gradually, the book becomes popular and makes mark on the bestseller chart.

Paying attention to cover really helps to promote you as an author. When the cover is good, the book sells itself. Aware that when a person enters a bookshop to buy a book, the first thing that will catch his/her attention is the cover which might lead to a sudden surge of uneasiness and eventually gets the person to pick up the book. Covers keep one staring at a book for few minutes before flipping into the pages.

In conclusion, a cover should interprets, a cover should be attractive, a cover must have an origin, a cover should not have too many colors and a cover should be catchy.