Cover woes

Okay, so my editor emailed last night and said I needed to send in a cover request ASAP for Maneater (I also need to send in the book, too, but that's a different dilemma).

It’s tough to form a meaningful relationship when you have all the dating skills of a praying mantis.

For Chloe, human interaction is an absolute disaster area, but then she is a siren. Vegetarianism is not an option when you can turn into a six-foot eagle with a human head. But in the glittering lights of Las Vegas, she meets the dazzling, irresistible Alexius.

He’s gorgeous. He’s sexy. He’s perfect in every way. And he’s about to hand her over to the harem of a collector of paranormal beings

Suddenly, delicious takes on a whole new meaning.

Problem is, I've no freaking clue what to put on there. Usually, I can see what I want, and I tell the cover dept. pretty clearly instead of just going, "Er, it's about vampires," which is why my covers are so pretty. And they are pretty, aren't they?

But this time...nothing. It's called Maneater because the heroine is a siren and she eats people. Try putting that on a cover. Sexy. And anyway, I'm advised that covers with women on them don't sell as well as covers with men, because the readership is largely female. Okay, but Poser men tend to look like they're having allergic reactions. And even if they turn out okay, the hero doesn't ahve any obvious paranormal qualities except for extreme hotness, so it'd be another faceless torso cover, and how many millions of them have you seen recently?

When I do a cover request I generally try to think about themes or motifs. You know, like for She Who Dares it was the stake and the tattoo and the Egyptian background. What are the themes and motifs for Maneater? Well, the heroine is a siren--so, water, rocks, wings. And it's set largely in Las Vegas--bright lights, gambling, showgirls. So...a showgirl on a rock, with wings?

Yep. That'll appear to my hererosexual female readership.