Putting Together A Pet Friendly Cover for Dog Friendly

I love talking to authors. Our experiences are so similar, yet so very different, that every one of us has a new story to share. Everyone says that the moment you get your cover it really hits you – you’re an author. The cover is your story – and you – packaged for the world. So the process of the cover reveal can be slightly panic inducing. Does it fit your story? Is it what you hoped? Will it sell? With this in mind I put together the CRAP (Cover Reveal Anxiety Phase) Interview.

Today’s guest for the CRAP is Victoria Schade, author of Dog Friendly, the story of a burned-out veterinarian who takes a much-needed beach vacation, where a charming surfer makes waves in her love life, and a unique foster pup renews her passion for her work.

Do you have any preconceived notions of what you wanted your cover art to look like?

A big yes! I love art and graphic design so I always have a vibe in mind. The Nantucket setting in Dog Friendly gave us so many possible themes to use since the island is known for lighthouses, beaches, grey shingled homes, and hydrangeas. Add an adorable dog (or two!) to any of those images and you’ve got the perfect cover!

Did you have any input on your cover?

Yes, I’m very fortunate! With my prior books I was given a bunch of initial options to choose from but I think the design team felt so strongly about the direction for Dog Friendly that they only sent one image to me. I was so nervous to look at it but the instant the photo filled my screen I knew we had a winner. I requested a few tweaks (and yes, I’m such a perfectionist that I asked for Hudson’s plain collar to be changed to a preppy striped collar) and voila, the perfect beachy cover!

How far in advance of the reveal date were you aware of what your cover would look like?

We started talking about design concepts over a year before the publication date, starting with character and setting photos. I also sent a bunch of general “Nantucket inspo” photos with colors and patterns that are synonymous with the island, like the infamous “Nantucket Red” and preppy ginghams and stripes. Nantucket is a place unlike any other, and I wanted to convey the vibe to the design team in as many ways as possible. We had the cover firmed up well in advance of pub date, I think at least nine months out.

Was it hard to keep it to yourself before the official release?

Oh my gosh, yes! Of course I showed it off to my friends and family right away but I couldn’t wait for the rest of the world to see how perfect it was. It’s such a happy, inviting image!

What surprised you most about the process?

I was surprised that this cover was basically an immediate home run. The Berkley team did such a great job capturing not only the Nantucket spirit, but the tail-wagging joy of the dogs of Dog Friendly!

Any advice to other authors about how to handle cover art anxiety?

I think communicating what you hope to avoid is just as important as talking about what you’d like to see on a cover. (One of my requests was “no feet”!) And remember that your team is considering your cover’s marketability in addition to the aesthetic … they know the industry and know what sells, so be open to a direction that might be a little different than what you were envisioning.

Victoria Schade is a dog trainer and speaker who serves as a dog resource for the media, and has worked both in front of and behind the camera on Animal Planet, as a co-host on the program Faithful Friends and as a trainer and wrangler on the channel’s popular Puppy Bowl specials. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, her dogs Millie and Olive, and the occasional foster pup.

Shut Up & Write Founder On Deep Work

 by Rennie Saunders

Have you ever noticed that sometimes, when you write, you concentrate so completely that you might not hear a phone ring? You can temporarily forget about the bills you need to pay, or the dentist appointment you should probably make, and instead you become completely immersed in your work. This state of intense focus, or “flow state,” is what I am hoping to achieve every time I write. It’s something productivity expert Cal Newport termed “Deep Work.”

Deep work improves your ability to hold multiple threads of thought, piece together seemingly unrelated topics and bits, and see the root cause of actions. It is the ability to achieve a creatively meditative state for doing a thinking-based activity to the exclusion of all else.

So how do we achieve this state of deep work, especially when it’s so easy to pick up a ringing phone? Critical thinking and analysis practices, meditation, prayer, Tai Chi, and ecstatic dancing are all different forms of mental, emotional and physical mindfulness. By practicing mindfulness in different aspects of our lives, we can train our brains to enter in the mindful state more readily. And when we feel comfortable entering into this space, we can begin the process of deep work.

Imagine that your writing project is a train on a track, speeding towards a destination. When you’re in a state of deep work, distractions fly right by the window as you focus on riding that train. If you are able to recognize distractions and let them go, rather than having them capture your attention, you can focus entirely on your project. In other words, don’t get off of that train!

So, what if the doorbell rings, or your friend texts you? That’s where mindfulness comes in. Because I’ve practiced mindfulness for many years, I’ve learned to prioritize my own focus, and minimize the importance of these disturbances. If the phone does ring, I write a quick note to myself and then set it aside for later. Unless something is a true emergency, I can detach myself from most interruptions and just let them fly past me.

In my experience, the best way to develop a sense of mindfulness and arrive at that ideal flow state is to simply practice. Just as in martial arts, regular practice will help you learn the mental choreography you need in order to focus. You can learn to recognize distractions and let them go, and you’ll remember what it feels like if you find yourself in a state of deep work. By regularly practicing mindfulness as well as scheduling writing time, you’ll find that your focus improves as you become accustomed to a creative routine.

Learning to notice your own writing process, particularly your ability to focus, can be just as rewarding as finishing up that first draft. And it may even put you on a faster track to the finish line.

Rennie Saunders has built an 80,000 -person global writer’s community based on his simple, highly effective formula – Shut Up & Write. Since 2007, SU&W has inspired writers of all genres and experience levels to meet for weekly writing sessions, no critiquing or feedback required. With hundreds of chapters in over 350 cities across the globe, the process is proven to work.

Mental Illnesses Travel in Packs

Who would think that a person with one serious illness could have two or more? It seems cruel, unconscionable that God would allow that. And yet, like other inexplicably painful phenomena, it happens more often than we think. 

The condition of having multiple illness goes by several names: dual diagnosis, co-existing disorder, co-occurring disorder, or co-morbidity. People can have co-occurring mental disorders, mental and intellectual disabilities, or mental and substance use disorders. No matter how you mix or match these, it relates to someone having several illnesses at once. Rachel hit the jackpot: she had co-occurring physical, mental, and substance use disorders. 

Co-occurring disorders are not uncommon. People can receive a medical diagnosis for a physical problem, like cancer, and then develop a mental disorder, such as anxiety or major depression. Or they can receive one mental diagnosis followed by another;[1] for example, major depression co-occurs with anxiety disorders in 50 percent of cases; and with eating disorders, namely anorexia and bulimia, in a whopping 92 percent of cases. [2] Not surprisingly, people with a mental health condition are twice as likely as the general population to acquire a substance use disorder.[3]

Please don’t gloss over these facts. Co-occurring disorders are painful and dangerous. To appreciate a victim’s plight, you’d have to understand how daunting it is to cope with just one serious illness. Diabetes alone requires a person to maintain a constant balancing act between food, exercise, and insulin for healthy blood sugars. Sickness or stress throws everything off. Highs and lows respectively induce searing stomach pains and dizziness. Future health problems constantly loom. You’d have to witness the wild mood swings of someone with bipolar disorder to comprehend how much that one disorder tortures him/her. People with bulimia grapple with chronic freight-train urges to binge and purge; guilt and despair; massive food bills; and frightening physical symptoms. Individuals with substance use disorders, who have struggled for decades with alcoholic or drugs, have their own horror stories to tell. Each disorder comes with its own set of distressing symptoms and risks. Any single major illness is so fierce, so all-consuming that it can overtake a person’s life. And even with treatment, certain disorders require lifelong maintenance. 

Now, if you can imagine how difficult it is to live with one serious illness, multiply that by two or three to get an inkling of the hell people with co-existing disorders live in. It’s no wonder they tend to be less responsive to treatment, have poorer prognoses, and exert a greater demand on health care services than patients with a single illness. People battling multiple illnesses also have more brutal symptoms and poorer quality of life, not to mention suicidal thoughts and higher rates of suicide.[2]

In Reckless Grace, I’ve tried to bring these truths to light. My deepest hope is that my book makes it to the nightstands of people in high positions--doctors and nurses and CEOs of health insurance companies, hospitals, and eating disorder (ED) facilities--moving them to review and improve practices and policies that would give young people with co-existing disorders a fighting chance to improve their health and live long, full lives. 

Carolyn DiPasquale grew up in Franksville, Wisconsin, graduating from UW-Milwaukee with a double major in English and French. In 1983, she moved to Rhode Island where she raised three children while pursuing her Master’s in English at the University of Rhode Island. Over her career, she taught literature and composition at various New England colleges; worked as a technical writer at the Naval Underseas Warfare Center in Newport; and wrote winning grants as a volunteer for Turning Around Ministries, a Newport aftercare program for ex-offenders. She has been an active member of the Newport Round Table, a professional writing group (founded in 1995), since 2013. 

[1] https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-comorbidity-3024480

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4392551/

[3] National Institute of Mental Health