Oh, Crappers! Did I say that out loud?

Winner! Okay...Winners.

Hubby, my cardboard stock expert, pulled three names out of the hat. Rebekah E., Sarah. Please send me your snail mail addresses to: christie (at) christie-craig (dot) come

Have you ever had that happen? When a thought ran through your brain and somehow it just fell out of your lips and it was so not the right time, or something that needed to be said in the present company?

Well, it happened to me recently. Thankfully, it was just with my hubby. Then again, it might have been better if it had been with anyone else.

Here’s what happened. I was at my desk, hand on my mouse, staring at my computer, when hubby stepped in and was telling me this fascinating piece of info about how some cardboard stock was down and how that could be a sign the overall cardboard box industry was on the fall. I mean…cardboard stock? Really?

Anyway, his riveting dialogue had me enthralled and sitting on the edge of my seat. Then a light ding announced the arrival of a new email. I had my hand on the mouse, so why not click on it, right? I mean, I could listen to cardboard stock info and click.

It was an email from my editor at Grand Central sending me photographs of the models as they posed for the my cover for my upcoming humorous romantic suspense, Don’t Mess With Texas. While my hubby continued with his electrifying dialogue, I somehow managed to pull myself away and did another click to view the images.

The pictures filled my screen. My mouth dropped open. I’ll bet my eyes widened, too. And that’s when the words just slipped out. “Wow, I got a half-naked man. I’ve sort of always wanted a half-naked man.”

A second or so after the words slipped out the did-I-just-say-that-aloud thought hit.

“What?” hubby asked, his cardboard box stock talk coming to a sudden halt.

I sat speechless for a couple of seconds and then said. “You’re the only half-naked man I really want.”

He didn’t look convinced. So I explained. “My cover. My new cover for Grand Central. The Don’t Mess with Texas cover, I got a . . . half naked man.” I pointed to the screen.

His expression grew grim. And not because I’d interrupted him, or that I just said I’d always wanted a half naked man.

“Why would they want to put a half-naked man on your cover?” he asked. “Your books are about the women.” Yes, my hubby does read my books.

“About women who fall in love with men,” I reminded him. “The books are about the men, too.” Obviously, for some reason he didn’t seem to recall the men in my books. Hmm . . .

Then I recalled that his favorite of my covers was Divorced, Desperate and Delicious. The one that was nothing more than a pair of boobs. Of course, at the time he didn’t refrain from telling me that the woman had enough room between her cleavage to park an eighteen wheeler. Not that he was complaining, mind you. It’s still his favorite cover. I guess wide cleavage isn’t all together a bad thing. LOL

But let’s move to the important part of this blog. I GOT A HALF-NAKED MAN ON MY COVER! A very hot looking, shirtless, Texan and in his arms is my very happy to-be-there heroine. And can I be honest? It’s not really the half-naked man I love. It’s the fun, flirty image. When my editor asked me to describe my dream cover,that’s what I said. I wanted a fun, flirty cover. One that was a reflection of the tone of my books. And I think this cover is pretty much near perfect.

Oh, and I also got some other riveting information in that email (and it has nothing do with cardboard boxes.) Don’t Mess With Texas is scheduled to be an August 23, 2011 release. That’s four months earlier than I thought.

I’m over the moon excited. So with no further ado, here’s my cover.

And for the record, my fabulous, sweet hubby is thrilled with the cover, too. (Yeah, I’m trying to make up for my earlier sarcasm about his exciting cardboard box dialogue.) I do love the man, seriously.

Anyway, have you ever had a thought just slip out of your mouth when you wished it hadn’t? Have you ever spoke first and thought later? Have you ever wished you could swallow up the words? And what kind of book covers do you like? Come on, let’s have some fun. Oh, and one commenter will win a bag of swag for my upcoming YA novel, Born at Midnight. (Yep, that book has a great cover, too.)

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