I have Amelia Thorne with me today talking about her cover for her new story Tied Up With Love. When Amelia said she wanted to do a blog post titled Willygate, I couldn’t possibly say no.

Amelia over to you.

I love the beautiful covers that Carina produce for their books, they are absolutely stunning, everyone always comments on them and the designers do an amazing job. So when I received an email from my editor with my new cover I was beyond excited to see it.

This was the original cover before any amendments.

My first reaction was ‘ohhhhhhh its so beautiful’ I sat there smiling at it for thirty seconds and then I received my next reaction. ‘what is that between the couple?’

I stared at it and stared at it and although in my head I knew it was his arm, with his hand on her waist, I couldn’t escape the fact that it looked like something else.

Maybe I was going mad. I do think about sex a lot especially in my writing, I was obviously seeing something in this picture that wasn’t really there.

So I turned to my fellow Carina authors for some advice.

“Is there anything in this picture that you think looks a bit… odd?” I asked.

These are a sample of the replies I received.

• Oh, eek!!!
• I can see it as well haha
• It’s right there
• haha!
• Showed my husband who fell off his chair laughing
• Its frigging hilarious, I can’t take my eyes off it?
• Woah.
• He looks like he’s impaling her on it
• Hahahahahaha!!!! At least he’s pleased to see her PMSL
• Omigosh!
• haaaaa snigger snigger. I feel like you should email back with just one word. Excited? Impaled? Turgid? So many options!
• Ooh er, missus!
• Looks like something’s come up during their kiss…lol.
• He might have a gun in his pocket:-)
• Oh my. He’s very excited, isn’t he?
• ooh er!!
• Oh my!!!!
• It almost looks like she is giving him a hand job
• Yes if its not his… Excitement, her hand is definitely in the wrong place
• This made me laugh so much!
• Is that a rabbit in his pocket or he just happy to see her? That is so funny.
• Just woke up to see this… you have just, at 7am, put my day on the brightest path imaginable! OMFG!!!!
• Hahahahaha OMG

It seems that the Carina authors, like me, have a school kid’s sense of humour when it comes to things like willies.

So then I had to send an email to my editor explaining the erm… problem.  I have never been so embarrassed before in my life. I write quite saucy sex scenes quite happily which my editor obviously reads, but I could not bring myself to say penis or willy or any other appropriate word in a letter to my editor. After much deliberation this is what I settled on:

I love this cover so much apart from one Very Big… Oh my God no!!!

I’ve showed this to a few of my friends and a few Carina authors to make sure it wasnt just me, and completely unprompted here is a selection of their replies.
‘oh my god, is he pleased to see her’
‘he looks like he is impaling her with it’
‘is that his hand or his…’
‘It looks like something came up during the kiss’
‘Oo er missus’
‘Snigger, snigger’

I can’t let that cover out with that between them, i know its supposed to be his hand but it really doesnt look like it.

If this couple is final and can’t be switched for another couple, can we give her a big skirt or dress to cover it up. There is a scene in the book where they go to a party on a rooftop bar and they dance out on the roof patio alone overlooking the london skyline, this cover could totally be that scene, she wears a long dress in that scene, so you could give her that to cover up the erm… Unwanted bits. I do realise, with a couple in white and a long white dress it might look like a wedding dress but rather that than people laughing at the inadvertent porno element.

Diplomatically done, I thought. Then I sat back and waited. Meanwhile word started to spread on Twitter. A few of my friends who had been privy to it started talking about the willies. I lost a few followers who clearly weren’t willy fans, I gained a lot more followers who clearly were. It became a mini event that soon became known as Willygate. I was dying to see my editor’s response, but also dreading it with equal measure. What if she didn’t understand my email, what if she asked me to elaborate on the problem. Finally I got a reply:

We genuinely were crying with laughter this morning. How did we NOT see that? It’s hard to miss! Attached is the new version, although I have to say, purely for entertainment purposes I think we all prefer the original….!

Phew, crisis averted. Here is the lovely new cover, minus the willy.

But some were not happy with the new cover. When I showed the new improved cover to the Carina authors one male author said:

* I’m afraid the operation brought a tear to my eye. Snip. Ouch!

Other Carina authors tried to reassure him

*Don’t worry, the graphic designer probably just painted the offending appendage blue

But he was not convinced

*I’m not sure that makes it any better.

I have to say I’m delighted with my new non-offensive cover, I think its beautiful but I do miss the willy just a little bit.

Caption Competition

I am offering a £10 Amazon voucher, but only to the brave. Will you go on Twitter and talk about willies?

To be in with a chance of winning, tweet the original offending cover with the hashtags #CaptionComp #WillyGate and your own funny caption about his erm…problem and I’ll put you in the draw to win.

Good luck