One of the really exhilarating things for me as an author was the creation of my book covers. 
Some authors may choose to assign this task to the book publisher, but I envisioned the exact front book cover that I wanted for my book about Egypt. My problem is I am not an artist—at least not yet, (but the thought of enrolling in some art classes has been entering my mind lately). Thus, because of this, I decided without any hesitation to procure the assistance of my dear Egyptian friend Ahmed Sami. Ahmed is currently a public school physical education teacher in Egypt but is also a naturally talented and incredible artist. I conveyed to him that I wanted it to capture the readers’ attention, to be an image representative of Egypt with which everyone would immediately identify, and to be humorous and make people smile-even laugh if possible. I had ridden on a real camel behind the famous Great Pyramids in Giza with some students–a dream I was able to achieve, so I instructed him to recreate this event. I entrusted him with this creative project with no doubt that he could accomplish this.
His marvelous artistic creation was absolutely perfect. He portrayed me sitting comically on a camel with a short skirt and wearing high heels and a hijab (scarf) on my head. My hands, legs, and breasts were depicted slightly unrealistically which also added to the humor of this scene. My head and eyes were tilted toward the sky to represent me giving thanks to God for helping me to make my Egyptian fantasy come true. In the background obviously was a recreation of the three pyramids. I loved it immediately and did not alter one thing from the original painting. I then added the title and my name, and my book cover was ready for publication. The publisher added the dark tan background border which tastefully complimented the colors created by Ahmed. Both Ahmed and I were utterly thrilled with the final product.
The back cover was my creation. I selected a photo of me adorned in my black “I Love Egypt” shirt with the Egyptian flag on it–a special gift from my dearest Egyptian friend Moustafa Abou Hussein in May 2011. 
The photo was taken in my front yard in Georgia with our swing in the background. The text I wrote included a short autobiography of me plus a brief synopsis of my book. At the top I included my life quote which is also copyrighted in my book: “Don’t dream big; dream bigger! The sky is the Limit!” The publisher Author House arranged these on the back cover with the same dark tan background color as the front cover but with a lighter shade of tan for the printed text and a pale blue color for the quote. Once again it was so charming to my eyes I accepted it immediately.
Thus, my twenty-eight chapters plus my Dedication, my Introduction, my 153 book photos, my Table of Contents, and my Sources Cited pages now had the perfect jacket to safeguard my heart felt words and precious memories. Every time I caress my book in my hands and gaze at it affectionately, I still smile and feel so delighted with my beloved book presentation.
Randi D. Ward
May 24. 2013
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