About the cover

The cover for "Corporate Ties" went through so many iterations that I can barely remember all of them. With the help of designer Brad Samuelson, I think we came up with something that should be meaningful without a full-blown description of its entirety. However, seeing that some people might wonder what the heck is going on with the crap in the boxes people are carrying, I figured that I should explain.

The basic idea behind the front shows all of the individuals leaving the office with all of their stuff in boxes. The main characters can be seen in the foreground, most of them carrying items of importance spilling out of their boxes. The main character doesn't have a box because, as you'll see in the book, he worked at the company only eight days before the relocation announcement. As for the items in other people's boxes, here's the rundown, from left to right:

• Box 1: a Ganesh (a Hindu deity) figurine, a green card and a bracelet/sash from a dance costume
• Box 2: a guitar, a comb and a microphone
• Box 3: a martini (shaken, not stirred of course), ice cream and a hammer
• Box 4: a volleyball, cornhole beanbags and a barbecuing utensil
• Box 5: a house "sold" sign and a pair of while gloves

All of the items are mentioned in some way or another within the book … it's just a matter of determining how they relate to the story as a whole.

The back cover shows the "decision" that everyone has to make, now that the subsidiary office is closing. Do the employees head up the river and cross the bridge to company headquarters? Before doing so, they have knot their ties properly. The other option is … somewhere else, which, at least for the time being, means freedom.

That about sums it up!