From my post over at DeviantArt; I’m cross posting here. Some of you will already know some of these things…

I’m no artist. I’m just a writer and of all things, I mostly write cozy mysteries. I can hear the “What?” already.

Cozy mysteries are a genre of the mystery group similar to Agatha Christie. Murder She Wrote. Small town murders that occur off the page where the gruesome details are sketched over. There’s usually at least a small element of romance and quite frequently a large element of busy-body. The covers have a quaint, almost cartoonish, air about them (Think artist Brandon Dorman who did Sara Rosett’s covers.)

I’ve been at this a while and have gone through a few phases looking for art. Or drawing my own (you can probably tell from my covers which was commissioned.) The thing is, I really don’t like doing artwork. I don’t mind pencil drawing when I have to sketch something to get a point across, but fight with AI? Photoshop? AEIII!

I’ve recently started writing an Urban Fantasy series, the first of which is out: Under Witch Moon (Moon Shadow Series). Yes, I commissioned that artwork. I love it. But it doesn’t shout urban fantasy because the industry has chosen photoshopped photos to denote Urban Fantasy (Think Ilona Andrews, Patricia Briggs, or the The Dresden Files)

Why doesn’t anyone hire artists to draw urban fantasy covers? Okay, okay, I admit it, I prefer drawn images to photoshopped ones in most cases. I don’t know why; it’s just a personal preference. The covers for John Levitt books are quite awesome even though they are photoshopped. I’d take them in a heartbeat. One of the things I like? The guy is a normal looking Joe in blue jeans. He’s got his dog, his guitar and he’s looking a little lost–but he’s not in a trench coat, he’s not loaded to the hilt with swords or guns and he left his loincloth at home. His chest isn’t bared in an obvious attempt to get himself killed.

It’s true that if the Levitt covers were a drawn picture, a cool demon might be a nice add to one of the backgrounds. Might be tough to keep that realism look with a drawn demon, but there’s some talented folks out there. I know it can be done. But I digress.

My question is: Where are all the heroines in blue jeans? We can carry a gun while wearing blue jeans; we can use it too. We want sneakers, cause gosh, we might have to RUN. Ninja outfits are very cool, but sometimes we might just have to fight without the outfit–we might be in shorts, sneakers and, God-forbid–a t-shirt!!!

*Sometimes* we might even be in sweatpants rather than evening wear. Sure, they might be tight-fitting sweats, like the ones we wear to the gym, but we do wear them. Rarely and I do mean RARELY are we in our bikini’s with a sword strapped to our thigh. No, really, I mean that. I can only think of one time that happened to me and thank God I had the sword. You go walking around in a bikini in normal foot traffic, you’re going to need the sword.

I’m sure the blue-jeaned heroines are out here. Or even a clever ninja outfit that could almost pass for day wear. Because some urban fantasy heroines, or cozy mystery heroines, have a day job. They have to go to work–ready for normal and ready for demons, be they the mundane kind or the fantastical.

Believe me, I’ve run into both kinds on the job. And not once did I wish I was wearing a bikini.