The release of a new book  is an exciting occasion for an author, the culmination of months (sometimes years) of work and wondering, "Will people like it? Will they buy it?" Hopefully for Gail Koger and the rest of us, the answer is a resounding "yes!" Gail writes science fiction romance with a sense of humor. Loose ID will publish her new book, Reality Bites, on July 1. Here's a preview:

Bree never thought her dimwit act, military grade mace, cattle prod, or a ton of stinky manure dumped on Jaylan's head would encourage his pursuit. Who knew a Coletti warlord would think being zapped with a cattle prod was foreplay? Or that a clever opponent only heightened his  enjoyment of the chase? But the chase comes to an abrupt halt when the Tai-Kok attack Tucson, forcing Bree to team up with the Coletti warlord to stop them. Suddenly plucked from Earth by a crazed Tai-Kok commander, Jaylan and Bree find themselves stranded in a hostile alien world and being tracked by a deadly Askole assassin. Neither of them expects to find love.

Here's Gail's bio: "I was a 9-1-1 dispatcher for thirty-one years, and to keep insanity at bay I took up writing. Not to worry. The insanity isn’t catching -- much. Other than the addiction to chocolate and the twitch in my left eye, I’m good. My current project is Just Desserts, the next book in the Coletti Warlord series."

Be sure to visit Gail at her website, www.gailkoger.com. Or head over to her Colettii Warlord Facebook page at http://tinyurl.com/o2es6og.

In her newsletter, Coletti Life, Gail dishes out all the juiciest gossip and news about, plus photos of, your favorite warlords and their kick-ass mates. She investigates the craziest and most outrageous rumors. What's true? What's not?  Get free stuff and snippets of upcoming books.  Get on the mailing list for her newsletter by sending an email to: morecolettisplease@aol.com.

And to buy the book, just click on the button below:

As some of you already known, once a week I volunteer at Clearwater Marine Aquarium, home of movie star dolphins Winter and Hope (Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2).

I started out there in the education department as an animal educator. My duties included some of the same things Shelby Martin Dean and Danielle "Dani" Davidson do in my soon-to-be-published contemporary romance novel, The Shore Thing. Shelby is a volunteer at the fictional Gulf Shore Aquarium, while Dani is on staff there as an education specialist.

Because of a reorganization, Clearwater Marine Aquarium's education volunteers had the opportunity to transfer to the hospitality department, which focuses on "the guest experience." I do a lot of the same things for hospitality that I used to do in  education,  primarily interacting with guests and teaching them about marine creatures. Being with the hospitality department has allowed me to expand my horizons and also lead behind-the-scenes tours, host story time and give presentations on sea turtle anatomy, stingrays, Winter's prosthetic tail and pelicans.

 Dani and Shelby also have other education department duties such as leading "eco" kayak tours and speaking at schools and other venues. And because of their personal relationships with folks in other departments at the aquarium, they get to help train the dolphins and care for a rescued baby dolphin. Except for speaking at a school once for the Great American Teach-in, I've done none of those "other" things for CMA. I just want to make that clear so people don't think that if they volunteer at their local aquarium, they'll spend their time playing with dolphins. Wouldn't we all love to do that? 

While talking to dozens of guests in the course of my four-hour shift, I'm often asked my opinion about what I'll call "the marine mammal dilemma." That's a euphemism for the contentious topic of keeping dolphins, whales and other marine mammals in captivity, or "human care," as the industry prefers to call it. Specifically, I'm asked what I think about SeaWorld and the killer whales there.

I walk a fine line with my answer because, obviously, I'm representing Clearwater Marine Aquarium. I'm a very small cog in that big wheel, and I'm also no expert on the topic.

Ask me that question when I'm not on duty at CMA, and I'll tell you I've been visiting places like SeaWorld for most of my life and have always enjoyed them. Until fairly recently, I've never had any qualms about it. In fact, such places helped spur my love for dolphins particularly and marine life in general. That, by the way, is the argument that the "pro" contingent of the captivity debate uses: that the more people get to know these animals, the more they'll want to protect them in the wild. This point is a bit skewed given that SeaWorld and other aquariums in the United States used to pluck dolphins and whales from the wild, usually culling the more malleable babies from their family groups, causing panic and heartbreak in those ranks. The federal Marine Mammal Protection Act now prohibits such practices in this country, but that's still business as usual in other parts of the world. 

Now, however, after reading the book Death at SeaWorld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity and watching the documentary Blackfish, plus doing my own research, I've reconsidered my position. I'll unequivocally state that orcas do not belong in concrete pools. Even stripped of all the emotions swirling around this issue, that conclusion is, to me, a logical one. 

I'm not ready yet, however, to say that dolphins, porpoises and smaller species of whales absolutely shouldn't be on display at aquariums. But I'm leaning in that direction when it comes to animals that are healthy enough or possess the necessary survival skills to live wild.

Those last two qualifiers are an important distinction. Clearwater Marine Aquarium currently has three resident dolphins: Winter, Hope and Nicholas. None of them could survive if released because they have no clue how to be wild dolphins. They were rescued as babies, too young to have learned all they'd need to know from their mothers. (Hope and Nicholas' mothers both died. Nobody knows what happened to Winter's mother. Did she die before her calf became hopelessly entangled in the crab trap line? Was she among the group of dolphins seen swimming nearby when Winter was found, helpless to do anything about her unfortunate circumstances?) 

The aquarium has had other resident dolphins over the years, including Sunset Sam and Panama, that lived in the wild as adults but suffered physical problems that prevented their release after their rescue and rehabilitation. (Sam was partially blind.  Panama was deaf and her teeth had worn down with age, making it very unlikely she'd be able to hunt successfully.)

I don't ever worry about "the marine mammal dilemma" where Clearwater Marine Aquarium is concerned because most of its resident animals wouldn't be there if they could survive in their natural habitats. (The exceptions are the fish, stingrays, crabs, sea snails, urchins, etc. that are kept for educational purposes, plus the two performing pelicans that played Rufus in Dolphin Tale.) CMA isn't a breeding facility or a commercial aquarium. It's a nonprofit marine animal hospital that welcomes visitors through its doors to help support its primary mission of rescue, rehab and release.

When I started writing my new Gulf Shore contemporary romance series, of which The Shore Thing is the first book, my conscience nagged me to address the "marine mammal dilemma." It's simply part of the equation when talking about aquariums. The fictional Gulf Shore Aquarium is a commercial enterprise, but it also actively participates in the three R's. Yes, I drew on a lot of things I've learned through my volunteer work at Clearwater Marine Aquarium, but I am NOT writing about CMA. Or The Florida Aquarium. Or SeaWorld. Or any other real place.

Gulf Shore Aquarium is blend of fact, fiction and  idealism. It's the kind of place I wish all commercial aquariums could be. The dolphins there are residents because they can't be wild. GSA doesn't breed them. And although the aquarium director expresses an interest in acquiring whales, his staff isn't wild about the idea.

In book two, tentatively titled Shore Feels Right, I introduce an animal activist named Tara Langley who heads a group called Stop Whale and Dolphin Suffering. Tara resents being compared to the crazies who ram whaling ships or throw paint at people wearing real fur. The farthest she'll go to express her displeasure is to picket across the street from the aquarium. When GSA's director foists her off on underlings, she begins a verbal and physical dance with head dolphin trainer Paul "Flipper" O'Riley. Sparks and intrigue ensue and carry over into Gulf Shore book three.

So this is how I've resolved my "marine mammal dilemma." In general, when Clearwater Marine Aquarium guests ask my opinion, I tell them that SeaWorld and other such places aren't the enemy; that they also do good things (such as the three R's). As a longtime newspaper journalist, I learned to keep an open mind and that a lot of issues aren't black or white. There are many shades of gray. (No, not that kind!)

Do you have your own "marine mammal dilemma"? I'd love to hear your opinion. There are just two rules: Be civil, and no personal attacks. This is an important issue, so let's get the dialogue going.

In this post, I'm  featuring the talented woman responsible for the cover of The Shore Thing. I'll let her introduce herself, and then we'll play Q&A.

Hello, everyone!  My name is Valerie Tibbs, and I am a graphic designer.  I have a day job as an IT person at a local bank, but my true vocation is graphic design.  Even though this career path came to me fairly late in life, I had always wanted to be an artist. I loved to paint and sketch.  But as things happen in life, I went the more practical route and joined the military.  I spent eight years in the U.S. Navy and learned all I could about computers and took art and design classes whenever and wherever I could.

Several years ago, I discovered ebooks.  I saw a lot of the covers -- most of them were the Poser covers (CGI) -- and thought there had to be something better.  I started designing covers, practicing, honing my skills, and finally had the courage to submit some samples to several publishers.  They all got rejected. J I persevered and asked one publisher to let me do one for free.  If they liked it, then we could negotiate and they’d hired me.  I did it, and they liked it.  So once I had that as part of my portfolio, I was able to get hired on by more publishers.  And that kept growing.

I tried with Liquid Silver for several years before I was accepted.  When I did, they embraced me fully and truly appreciate my talents.

 What art/graphics training does an aspiring cover artist need to have?

  I think a basic understanding of art is important.  Take art classes in school, if they’re offered.  If not, there are lots of online courses as well as a lot of colleges/universities that offer art classes.  Getting the fundamentals down is important.

Study old paintings, the masters, and see how they’ve presented an image.  See what appeals to you, and why.  What you might like might not get the same reaction from someone else.  My favorite image of all time is this painting by Renoir, "Dance at Bougival, 1883." I got to see this painting in person at the Boston Fine Arts Museum when I was in high school.  I was in love instantly. I love everything about this, the movement, the colors, the way he’s looking at her, the people in the background.  Taking photography classes or having an understanding of photographic elements is helpful.  But the biggest thing to learn is the software.  Most cover artists (that I know of) use Photoshop to create covers.  This is a very important tool, and it’s important to be very familiar with all the aspects of the software.

What goes into creating a book cover?

The first thing I need to know is the genre. Is it paranormal? Contemporary? Those will play into the design. Then the typeface. I will admit, I struggle with this. Fonts make me crazy. I sometimes have to get help because what I've chosen just isn't quite right.

The next is the layout.  What does the author want?  Single image?  Is it a couple?  Ménage?  Will I need an animal of some sort if it’s a shifter?  See this example that I did for Bianca D’Arc.  I wanted something that would really grab attention, and after several revisions and tweaking with the author, we nailed it. This has all the elements she wanted on there: the hot guy (HELLO!), the white tiger, and the volcano, and we managed to get all this text on there without having it overshadow the design.

Please provide insight into how you chose the images and colors for the cover of The Shore Thing.

That was fairly easy. J We wanted a contemporary couple and a beach scene. Because it was summery and warm, I went with the warm yellow tones. And not too naughty as to trigger any filters anywhere, either. Pretty! J

What  elements go into an eye-catching cover? Are there specific elements that Liquid Silver Books  recommends for romances?

LSB has very specific guidelines it wants to follow, and the primary goal is that the author's name be large and legible at the small thumbnail size.  This is the author’s “brand.” Books come and go, but the author’s name will always be there.  Sometimes this works well with the design, and sometimes the design (the art portion) has to be tweaked a bit to accommodate the text.  But the result is that we strive to get every LSB author's name legible at the small size, and it’s easy to read on certain e-readers in black and white as well.

What do you think authors desire in a book cover?

The primary objective of any cover is to get sales, right?  You need to sell your book.  Eye-catching covers get sales.  We DO judge a book by its cover.  I think how authors go about this differs from author to author.  Some well-established authors just want an eye-catching cover and really aren’t fussy about the details.  Other authors, especially new authors, want EVERY possible element on their cover.  It’s a shifter/ménage/contemporary/in space/with green wings/steampunk/BDSM.  Uh, hmmm …  So, it’s up to me to reel them in and make them take a hard look and really think about the cover.  It’s not supposed to tell the WHOLE story.  It’s supposed to represent KEY elements in your book.  Romance?  Check.  Hot guy?  Check.  The rest is superfluous. At least in my opinion.

What should self-published authors look for when hiring a cover artist?

You want to find one who’s reputable.  Ask publishers who they recommend (if they have one).  Word of mouth really goes a long way.  This will sound weird, but don’t hire someone who undercharges.  I know it’s easy to get a $40 cover, but you get what you pay for.  This undermines those of us who are trying to make a living and who have spent years learning and training. These are people who use illegal images (just because you can find it on Google or Deviant Art doesn’t make it legal) or low resolution (a.k.a. cheap) stock images and slap on some text.  You want to hire someone who knows what they’re doing and can help you market this book as well.  Do your homework.  Or you can just hire me.  J

Do you have a favorite cover that you've designed? 

This is a very hard question. The Bianca D’Arc one is really my top favorite right now.  I do love the covers that I’ve done for Mari Carr and Lila DuBois as well.

What’s your workload like? How many covers do you do in a week? How many have you done in total?

I can normally do about five to 10 covers a week.  This depends on what activities I have going on during the weekends or at night, since I do have a day job, too.  I have lost count of how many covers I’ve done, but it’s more than 400.

What’s your dream job?

My dream job would be to travel all the time (first class, of course) and stay in fancy hotels with room service.  But I don’t think that’s really possible, so I’d really love to do graphic design full time.  J

If anyone wants to get hold of me, they can find me at www.tibbsdesign.com. Or you can find me on Facebook on my personal page or the Tibbs Design  page. And occasionally I’m on Twitter: @valerietibbs.

Thank you so much for inviting me to your blog!