The beta readers have the new book, leaving me some clear time to work on interior images, finding a cover, and describing the new story. As you know, Confidence Game is a standalone novel (or, the first in a new series if the readers want more from these new characters, I’ve certainly fallen in love with them), set in my TCOTU galaxy. This time around, the focus is not *military* space opera, just straight up space opera about a cargo ship and its crew of characters. Each has a different background, and different motives, and they are brought together by one man who’s not quite playing by the rules. As was the case with BRS Anelace, the ship in this story is another character. In fact, I haven’t felt so attached to a ship since Old Ana, and CSV Zanshin has got plenty of character. More on that in a later post.

Today is about finding the right cover. This one was tough, because the book deviates from my military focus. Karen and I searched through a great many cover ideas until finally finding a theme that caught our eye. Then we asked the cover artist to try a couple things, add my star chart (you may have noticed it’s incorporated into every cover for books set in the TCOTU galaxy), and give it her artist’s touch. The result, we think, is perfect for the new story:

Cover by Monika at Ampersand Book Covers

This art is the work of Monika MacFarlane over at Ampersand Book Covers. Not only do we love her design, but I want to say that she was very easy to work with. She was enthusiastic and responsive (aka *fast*), able to make our changes and explore our ideas, and added a great touch and good eye to the project. In addition to her website, you can find her on Facebook. She does great work.