This is my favorite cover to date! Lynnette Bonner at IndieCoverDesign did a great job, didn’t she? Did you notice the “Circle Bar Ranch Novel” emblem on the right? She designed that for me too.
Funny thing about the story’s setting at the Circle Bar Ranch: it wasn’t supposed to be named “Circle Bar.” When I started writing Give the Lady a Ride, I was on a roll. But when I reached the place where I needed to name the ranch, I stalled. For the life of me, I couldn’t think of anything catchy or meaningful or even cute. Finally, I got aggravated and tapped the keys spelling out Circle Bar Ranch with the intention of going back later to replace it with something better. “Later” never brought with it the reminder to change the ranch name, and finally, I just got used to calling it the Circle Bar.
Well, fast forward to 2013, when I decided to write a sequel to Give the Lady a Ride, a decision which was based upon reader requests. One group of readers wanted to know what happened to Talon and Patricia, and another group wanted me to solve the mystery of who killed Talon’s first fiancée, Janet Parsons (saved for Book 3 of the series). I never thought of turning Give the Lady a Ride into a series, so I never thought of coming up with a series title. Apparently, I’m not good at coming up with titles at all; I discovered the error of my ways when I realized that “give the lady a ride” carried connotations I didn’t even think of. And, of course, The Final Ride leaves readers with the impression this is the last in the series, so that’s not really a great title either.
Learn from my mistakes, kids.
Anyway, given my track record for naming things, you can see how I had trouble coming up with a series title. I finally thought I’d name it after the ranch–and remember what the name of the ranch is? Yes, the brilliant, dazzling, catchy “Circle Bar.” I’d thought about including “Ride” in the series name somewhere, but I’ve learned my lesson to be careful how I use that word.
Sigh.
I think from now on, I’m going to hold a contest to help me with book titles and ranch names.
The series itself is going to be a strange concoction, because, as I said, I hadn’t intended to turn the stand-alone Give the Lady a Ride in to a series. So Give the Lady a Ride is a romance, The Final Ride is women’s fiction, and the upcoming Ride to the Altar will be a mystery novel. Not exactly the way the pros in this business suggest doing things, but . . . well, there ya go. This is me we’re talking about. Apparently I don’t learn except through trial and error. Emphasis on error.
I love the characters of these books so much, I have ideas for other novels in the series, all of which would be women’s fiction.
Back to the covers: Lynnette put the Circle Bar Ranch emblem on Give the Lady a Ride too, so now, for the first time ever, I have matching covers!
Aren’t they great?
Although the release date is July 5, the Kindle version of The Final Ride is available for preorder on Amazon! If you read it, please consider leaving a review, okay?
Several years into it, and this blog still refuses to be categorized. It's eclectic and includes everything from writing posts to snippets from my ordinary life. 
Linda W. Yezak 
Love that cover!
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Lynnette did a great job, didn’t she? I love it!
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Great post, Linda. But will we ever learn it all? LOL. I had to make an even greater change (and it was very traumatic) by changing the titles AND covers on my first two books. Don’t know if anyone has ever done that before. It was a big, scary thing for me to do, but the titles “Handful of Demons” and “Devil’s Digs” put a bad fright into the very audience for which they’d been written. I decided I had nothing to lose. Changing them to “Pastor McAlester’s Bride” and “Winnoby Cabin” has made a tremendous difference. And I’ve become much more cognizant of the importance the cover and title make in the sales. I love, love, love your new covers!
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Sounds like you should’ve written this post! I doubt I’ll ever change the titles, but I will definitely be more careful in my next series! 😀
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It’s just beautiful Linda!!
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Thanks, Annette! ❤
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Love the cover!! Anxiously awaiting your new book.
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Thanks, Joan! I think you’ll like this one. I had a blast writing it!
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Ooo…ooo…ooo! I l-o-v-e the cover (well, both of them)! Kudos, Lynnette! Great job! 😀
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She did great, didn’t she? I love it!
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I agree about the cover being one of Lynnette’s best! And I love the new header for the site!
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I was tickled to find that picture. You’ll see it in a lot of my ad campaigns.
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There are so many meanings to words, it’s hard to keep up with all the trends! We just do our best, and then let it go. Some will try to change context no matter what we do. I know your fans/readers do not think in those contexts, and we all eagerly await the next chapters in this wonderful story. We don’t care what the label is, we just love the characters and aren’t ready to let go! 🙂
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Thank you! I’m not ready to let them go either!
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