kelly parra

Cover Stories: Something Wicked

The cover for the anthology of nightmares, Something Wicked, makes me wish I had a Halloween costume just like this. Kelly Parra has a short story within its pages, and she's here to talk about the cover: "When I first saw the cover for Something Wicked I thought, 'Wow, eye-catching!'And that’s what I really like about covers. I want them to be unique and give you a little punch at first glimpse.

"Buzz Books's first young adult anthology Prom Dates to Die For was shot with a model (right). My first story with teen supernatural hunters Jaz and Blake were introduced in my story 'Darkness Becomes Him.' They did an entire behind-the-scenes video with a teen model. I really enjoyed that. This time I believe the girl with the painted face may be a stock photo. But I can tell the choice really gave the spooky vibe the publisher was going for.

"I'm very pleased with the Something Wicked cover. The model gives a paranormal creepy feel with the death mask, yet the pink flowers and dress make it just a bit feminine. We do have one male author in the collection, however, you can tell this anthology wants to entice female readers of YA paranormal."

Thanks, Kelly! I have to say that I think the cover is stunning -- I seriously want that look in my closet for Wednesday. It's very Day of the Dead, right?

What do you guys think?

Cover Stories: 6 at Unabashedly Bookish

Just a heads up on a few Cover Stories that have been published over at Unabashedly Bookish for Barnes and Noble.overexposed.jpgOverexposed by Susan Shapiro "Right before we went to press--crisis! Somebody decided the beloved spiky black film dress I'd xeroxed and shown everybody in the world was suddenly too edgy and creepy. They changed it to a typical little black dress I didn't like and added a cutesy wootsy pink sash on the white dress which made it look less like a wedding dress. I hated it!" Read more... breakaway.jpgBreakaway by Andrea Montalbano "When I saw my first cover, I told the publisher that I thought there should be more to it, either more action, or something a little less 'girly,' or as my daughter Lily pointed out, 'less pinky.'" Read more... tiffany.jpgSummer at Tiffany by Marjorie Hart "I had been writing my story solely for my grandchildren and family--intending to self-publish--and therefore had imagined somehow designing the jacket myself. But when the opening pages of my manuscript lead to its writers' conference discovery and acquisition back in 2006, it was an unexpected delight to know that professional designers from HarperCollins would be actively working on the book's jacket." Read more... indigo.jpgIndigo Blues by Danielle Joseph "My editor asked how I envisioned Indigo and Adam and she asked me to provide pictures if possible. I thought Adam looked like a young Johnny Depp and Indigo had a bit of attitude, a certain sureness." Read more... criminalinstinct.jpgCriminal Instinct by Kelly Parra "I filled out an Art Fact Sheet, which Harlequin requests from their authors, and I added a synopsis of the story, physical descriptions of my main characters, as well as any specific details I thought would help the artist. In my case, it was Ana Moreno's physical description which I felt the artist really worked hard to match and added her weapon of choice--a switch blade." Read more... misbehavin.jpgHaint Misbehavin' by Maureen Hardegree "Even though most of us know we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, we do. As first-time authors, we pray for a good one, and when we get a cover that we love, we feel charmed. At least, that's how I'm feeling with my first." Read more... tell her.jpgWhat I Would Tell Her edited by Andrea N. Richesin "I love how the image compliments my introduction. I refer to a folktale 'Singeli's Silver Slippers' in which a poor cobbler sews magical slippers to guide his daughter on her adventures. After reading the essays in What I Would Tell Her, I write that the daughters no longer need magical slippers as their fathers have already demonstrated how to navigate their world. The little girl on the cover is barefoot too." Read more...