African American

I picked that cover from an array of art images that I sifted through in 2011 when I first considered publishing the book. It just fit. The dancing black couple, the music theme for the blues. It really spoke to me.

And I didn't really think anything of it until I started looking at other covers. In most covers, it is the title, not the art, that stands out. It's as if I did it all wrong. And yet, if people are scrolling through books on a website or in an e-mail, mine will be noticeable because it is so different. So, maybe I didn't do it wrong after all!

When I bought the rights to the art 11 years ago, I did not keep a record of the sale. So I could not prove my rights. And I was afraid to use the cover. So I paid my publisher an ungodly sum to design a cover for me. And it was SO awful (two white people embracing), that I doubled down trying to find my original cover. I lucked out, and a WONDERFUL customer service guy from Shuttercock found it for me, on another website. I immediately bought the rights, and let my publisher add the title. The font on my name is so small that you can't make it out if all you have is a snapshot of the cover. But that's okay. My name is secondary.