There is no right or wrong way to start writing a book. It could be from the beginning. It could be a specific scene–I did it with Asanni –and then building the story around it. You could even start from the end.

But never before had I started from the cover.

I found the sexiest cover alive. Absolutely gorgeous. As sexy and hot as Santana’s Smooth. Believe me.

Photo by Alex Iby on Unsplash

It happened that I was looking around for the cover for Once Upon a Night, formerly known as Blind Date. (I decided to change the title and the cover, and republish it.) I found an image that corresponds with the story. It’s sensual and classy. The designer did a great job with the font and the layout.

I wish I could use the sexiest-cover-ever for Once Upon a Night, but in that case I’d need to rewrite the entire novella to match the cover with the atmosphere of the stories.

It wouldn’t do. Once Upon… is a retelling of Cinderella. It’s sexy, but also subtle and romantic. This cover is, well, for something entirely different.

Photo by 贝莉儿 NG on Unsplash

So I bought the image and I’m going to write a short novel to match the cover. Five thousand words, within a month.

Yes, I’m seriously thinking of registering for NaNoWriMo.

With my full-time job, two young boys, the middle-age crisis (after crisis)? Why not? It would be just another thing to squeeze into my schedule. Who needs to sleep more than four hours during the night anyway?

Simple yet insane.

But it’s a challenge. And I love challenges. I wish there was someone to tell me, “No, you can’t do that.” Then I know I would. I might succeed (if I come up with a solid story structure in a couple of days). I might not. I’ll try. I’d never thought I could walk 60 km in two days, without any training. I finished as 67th out of 2000 women, and ended up with a bad muscle pain, but I did it.

I can’t show you the famous cover; it’d be too premature. But the amazing Unsplash has an endless supply of beautiful, free, high-resolution photos to use any way you wish. They only ask you to credit the creator.