Inspired by Grace Cover 'Story' with Jeanna Ellsworth

Available at Amazon

Welcome back, Jeanna Ellsworth! It is so good to have you visit again and talk to us about your latest release, Inspired by Grace. This is the Ms. Ellsworth first book that is not JAFF but is time set in the Regency period. Her characters are interesting and well developed and the heroine is portrayed by her daughter, Paige, quite beautifully on the cover of the book. I especially enjoyed seeing the cover 'come to life'. 

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Inspired by Grace Cover “story”

Thank you Janet for hosting me on your blog and allowing me the chance to talk about my latest release, Inspired by Grace, published in May. You are the second to last stop on the blog tour so I thought I would talk a little about the cover since you and many of your followers appreciate those kind of things. Here is the back cover intrigue to give you an idea of what the book is about:

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“She was never the demure lady who was afraid of getting her petticoat dirty. He was never the calm and collected lad who coddled her. What had started as friendship had evolved into something quite tangible . . .”

A lady always hopes that the man she falls in love with will sweep her off her feet in a dramatic and graceful way. Well, for Grace Iverson, at least it was dramatic. Her childhood best friend, Gavin Kingston—now His Grace, the Duke of Huntsman—is still just as clumsy as ever.

Despite their painful separation as children, a chance encounter has offered them a second opportunity for happiness. But after ten years apart, they both carry hidden scars. Trust takes time. And soon, forces from the past threaten to destroy the love they both have hoped for all of their lives.

Can Grace’s best friend break down her emotional fortress and prove his love before she disappears from his life a second time?

This lovely Regency romance started well before either of them knew what they wished for in a partner; but it will surely be one that stands the test of time.

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The main character, Grace, is based off my 18 year old daughter, Paige. We used to call her “Paige-ee” and she was too young to be able to say her nickname so she would call herself, “Gee-Gee”. This is one of the correlations in the book you will find because Grace is called Gigi as well. It was rather fun to think of my daughter and all her great qualities as well as her weaknesses that allowed me to make her character so human and lovable. But it was not hard to decide who I wanted to be on the cover!

My ideas for the cover started on Etsy.com. I found a seamstress who could make a Regency dress for about $100.  I got to choose the fabric and everything. I went to Hobby Lobby and perused their fabric. I was particularly thinking of a certain scene that I had written, a ballroom scene, where she wore a blue gown.  I immediately found the perfect blue that would match her eyes and a cord for embellishments that would match the gown perfectly! I fell in love with the antique looking buttons for the back and once I sent her Paige’s measurements and the fabric, the lady shipped the dress back within a week! For those of you who are interested, here is the link to the dress seamstress: https://www.etsy.com/listing/87910205/custom-regency-dress-reenactment-costume?ref=favs_view_2

The next step was finding a photographer and a venue. I was referred to Lauren Perry of Periwinkle photography by my best friend and she sent me examples of book covers she had shot and designed. As we talked, she quoted me a price that I could not pass up.  All my other covers had been original paintings, and therefore pricy, (but worth it!). I was quite nervous about using a photograph but took the risk anyway.  I told Lauren the type of book it was, a Regency Romance, and the color scheme I was hoping to have and she found a place called Garden Ward, which is a very old church in downtown Salt Lake City.

The next step was to figure out how to do her hair! Paige’s hair wasn’t particularly long, nor was it thick, and it was as straight as you can get. I called my good friend, Danny Johnson, who I knew had done several bride’s hair and asked her if she could do something. I made some hair accessories with my best friend Christy Barnson since she was an awesome beader. Then it was time to see Danny! She had researched on Pinterest and Youtube how people did hair back then and this is what we got. Amazing! I felt my insides flutter as I saw the hair go up strand by strand. (Paige was making a silly face in the photo).

We all met at Garden Ward and the photo shoot took all of 20 minutes but I could tell we were going to have some fantastic pictures to choose from. My daughter Paige took the shoot totally seriously and the final photo we chose captured the whole look of Grace like I could not explain! It was like Paige knew exactly how to look at the camera and the photographer knew exactly what Grace needed to portray.

When she sent me the first draft I was nearly giddy, as I have been with all my covers, but this time it was even more impressive. It was my daughter on the cover! I am always astounded at the artistic talent people have to capture what is in my head and bring it to life!

Here is the final draft of the photo we used.

Then Lauren went to work and played with the photo until we had this cover to present.

Available at Amazon

I really enjoyed seeing each of my covers come to life and each one holds a special place in my heart. But I am sure that you understand how this one is my favorite so far. All of those contributors made it spectacular!

Thank you again, Janet, for hosting me and letting me talk about my cover. I really appreciate being able to share the “cover story” with someone who truly understands how it works. I would like to say thank you to all you readers as well by giving away a copy of Inspired by Grace to one lucky commenter. All you have to do is comment on the blog or book or my writing and you are entered! The winner will get their choice of either a paperback (U.S. only) or an eBook (open internationally). Good luck in the giveaway!

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Thank you, Jeanna Ellsworth, for the sharing how your cover came to be. It is an interesting process that covers and authors go through with the designer to get to that final product. Your cover is lovely, as is your daughter, and I am thrilled to hear how pleased you are with your photographer/designer. It was so good to have you visit my blog again and I hope you have as much success with this book as you have your books of JAFF. 

My readers will be happy with your giveaway and I thank you for hosting it. As Ms. Ellsworth stated, the giveaway is for one copy of Inspired by Grace with details in the paragraph above. Please leave your contact info in the comment so I may reach you should you be the winner. The giveaway will end at 11:59 PM, 3 August, 2015. Good luck to all of you!