Have a heart?

Spoiler-free, despite being about designing the cover for Limited Capability.

I spent most of my lunch break yesterday looking for a Valentine's Day card - and not for my husband - and tomorrow I'll be forging a page or two of a set of Employment and Support Allowance appeal papers.  Rest assured that this isn't the beginning of a life of crime with a 'seecrit admiorer' (see LC episode eight for the reference) - I'm simply working on the cover design for the paperback version of Limited Capability.

Having written the story and already described the card in question, I had to find something to match.  Had I thought up the cover design before publishing, I could have tweeked the story to fit the cards available (I actually did do this for Lyn Walker's birthday card on the cover of Severe Discomfort which arrives in a yellow envelope in the first draft).  But with inspiration following publication, this time I was stuck with tracking down a suitable card - not too expensive-looking or especially tasteful - with a 'sparkly heart' on the front.  How hard could that be?  You'd be surprised...

After visiting all the local newsagents, co-ops and card shops, it was starting to look like rewriting episode eight was on the cards after all, but luckily I got back to the office from my morning commitments early enough for a dash round Hanley and while the card I have isn't quite as I pictured it in my mind's eye, it does have the requisite sparkly heart. 

I thought I had some ESA papers I could use - a set I used to use for training, with the client details blotted out - but after taking a few photos of key sections with unsuitable wording hidden under the card, I realised my old training 'bundle' used the pre 2011 'descriptors', so was no use.  So one wet afternoon (tomorrow, perchance) I'll be using these as a template for a fabricated set.  Geeky, yes - but when my keenest readers are advisers and claimants (if the reviews are to be believed) you can't afford to get stuff like this wrong!


Spot the deliberate mistake!

I must admit I am a control freak where my books are concerned and I like designing the covers myself and setting up the photos.  If you've got beyond the first couple of chapters of Severe Discomfort you'll realise that the cover reflects the key moment when Lyn Walker receives more than just birthday cards in the post one November morning.  Continual Supervision has a cover based on what might be found on Hilary Carrington's desk as she sits down to snatch a quick lunch in the late summer of 2010 - a copy of the Guardian, a letter Martin Connolly needs her to check (written in haste - there is a typo) and a colour chart of emulsion paints in classic shades as she contemplates the on-going and unexpectedly pleasurable  redecoration of her home. 

Once the paperback is produced and when time permits, I'm planning to do some new covers for the Limited Capability ebooks.  I already know what some of them are going to look like.  The paint sample cards might make a reappearance, though for a good quality trade emulsion, and there will be at least one gloomy view across Southampton Water, but shopping for props for episode four's cover will be definitely be fun!