Cover Stories: Skinned by Robin Wasserman

I'm so behind on my to-read pile, but I'm aiming to finish at least three books this week, and I have a signed copy of Skinned waiting for me (and then for you, on Win-It Wednesday) soon! I've heard such great things about this book, and I can't wait to dive in. For the meantime, I'll have to be content with the awesome Robin Wasserman's compelling Cover Story. Enjoy!"I've never pretended to have good taste (or any taste, for that matter) when it comes to the visual arts. Back when I used to work in publishing, the cover designers all loved me, because I was happy for them to do whatever they wanted. (Figuring that it was their job to have better taste than me. They certainly couldn't have had worse.) "So when it comes time for me to weigh in on covers for my own books, I generally go with a 'silence is golden' policy. But when we were working on SKINNED, I did send along a selection of cool cyborg images that I found online. I thought this might help them find a way to depict the fact that Lia (the main character) is both human and machine. These were my favorites: "Not that I wanted Lia to look quite this mechanical, but I thought it would be good food for thought! In the end, they decided to go with something a little less...bizarre. "At their request, I gave them a description of the main character: 'Long blond hair, pale, smooth skin, perfect proportions, a Barbie doll come to life. Preferably blue eyes, though it doesn't matter so much. If possible, the eyes should somehow be (digitally?) made to look a bit off—some kind of machinery whirring at the center of the pupil, or an iris color that's too solid, or slightly too bright. Something to make them look totally inhuman.' "They found the perfect cover model: "And once they had their Lia, things moved pretty quickly. Here's what the rough version of the cover looked like: "And here's the final cover: "Points if you can figure out the differences. (It took me quite a while. I'm always mystified by the way such tiny changes add up to something big.) "The major difference, obviously, is the title. We started with Skinjacked, but when it turned out this term was going to play a prominent role in another Simon & Schuster book, we groped around for something else. Anything else. I came up with about a million options (Skinflyer, Skincrash, Skin Deep, etc etc etc -- I have a document on my computer of at least a hundred sub-par options) until finally settling on the simplest one of all. My editor promised me that after a few weeks of looking at SKINNED on the cover, I wouldn't be able to imagine the book being titled anything else. "She was right." Wow--I love this story, Robin, and I'm blown away by the process. I also think the title is perfect, and I'm glad the font got bigger so you can see more clearly how it glows on the cover. What do you guys think?

Readergirlz! (+ the magic spinny cube)

I've raved about readergirlz before, because--hello--their goal is to inspire girls to read and make history. Sounds good, right? And now, I'm joining the awesome Lorie Ann Grover, Dia Calhoun, Justina Chen Headley, Mitali Perkins and Holly Cupala as the readergirlz blogger.That's right, you have to read another blog of mine! Find and bookmark it here. Also, they added Violet in Private to their magic spinny cube, which really is incentive enough to roll with these amazing authors. Look how pretty!

Remember to friend readergirlz on myspace so you can be at the live author chats each month and talk books every day. It's fun. Promise. Happy Saturday!

Photo Friday: Happy Halloween!

Halloween always makes me think of my college friend Charles. Maybe because he has retained a sense of childlike wonder that few hold onto past age 25. So, in honor of the holiday, here are costumes from years past... including some from Charles. 1. Me as a diner waitress; Charles as a star. We told him that painting his face white made him a very scary Star, but he insisted he was joyful. 2. Me as a messed up Prom Queen. Everyone thought I was Courtney Love. I borrowed this amazing yellow dress (and tiara) from the Seventeen Prom closet... shhh.... 3. My college friend Charles, this year. He's on a trampolene, and he said I could post this. He is not growing up anytime soon. He's in LA now--miss you, CT! I have no costume this year! Maybe I'll throw on an apron and call myself Betty Draper. What are you guys going as?

Another Violet Contest Entry: Coke-bottle Violet, by Lucy D!

Lucy D. entered the big Violet contest in an incredibly original way. I'm going to quote her email so that the photos can be explained. Here's Lucy... "I designed a (violet) dress for a Coke bottle--because your books are about the fashion industry! (Which was actually pretty silly of me since I know next to nothing about sewing, and my lack of designing ability!) I googled it to see if there were any examples I could work on and found this, which is pretty funny: http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/fashion/cavalli-dress-coke-bottles (MW note: It IS funny! Lucy D. and Cavalli!) "And it's also remake of the Violet on the Runway cover, as well as being a crossover with Zoolander- so it's kind of like 3 in 1. (MW note: I love Zoolander! Amazing movie. Must see.) "I know my dress doesn't look that flash--especially since you get invited to Fashion Week (by Vivienne Tam no less!), lol, but I am so glad that I finally finished something that I've started--in a craftish way! And I'm really sorry that Violet's neck looks really... long, especially compared to her head! I think the hardest thing for me in the end, was deciding what type of dress I'd make--I'm really indecisive. I had a few other possible skirt pieces (like the bubble skirt shown) that I finished but didn't really look that good, lol! The skirt I ended up with is sort of princess style, which is great coz all of my other attempts looked shapeless! I had to superglue it onto the bottle, so I used gloves! I started the bottom of the dress later than the top because I couldn't find any usable purple fabric in town. So I looked up the directions to a second hand store called Savemart which was about a 45 min walk away. I found tons of great stuff, but I didn't need to use a lot of it! =) (MW note: I love this step by step thought process, outlined by Lucy! AND, this is way cooler than any fashion show I've been to.) "And I kept changing the top part too. It's made out of this feathery, silky yarn, and I wound it across the top of the bottle. Sometimes there were lots of kinks, which made it hard to smooth down, and it would keep twisting. I meant to put the feathery stuff on top, but it the end I decided not to (except for the neckline and where it meets the skirt), because it was really thick and made the proportion was wrong. I was also going to make the neckline straight and strapless, but it didn't really look like a girl bottle (if that makes sense, lol!) so I made it a sweetheart neckline. It was really hard to get the right arch onto sellotape--so it took awhile, lol! "If you have seen it, I used the part where Zoolander is being brainwashed, and there are those celeb cutouts that pop up when he's on the runway. =) I watched the clip again, and I tried to get the most similar pictures I could, and put them in order on the runway. The only person I couldn't make was the Prime Minister of Malaysia but he probably would've taken the spotlight away from Violet, lol! "I tried to make the cutouts lean, and I had three spare straws from McD's (I has to use a coffee stirrer for Fred Durst though) so I stabbed pins through the sheets. (MW note: Um, I love the cast of celebrities at this fashion show. Genius.) "As for violet's face I bought a ping pong ball, and got my purple thread (It's the only one I have--so I'm going to pretend that Violet dyed her hair violet, lol!) and wound it around my tv antenna--my fingers wouldn't make a big enough loop! Then I tied, cut and superglued her hair on. It took three loops, coz she kept on having bald patches! I gave her a (sort of) swooping fringe, and flicked her hair. "I had a hard time trying to find something to make the runway out of (I tried three tissue boxes sellotaped together- didn't work) and I found some cardboard from a parcel my parents had sent me. Then I wrapped it in a white sheet (that I bought at Savemart) and tried to get the creases out of it, lol! There isn't much space in my sardine can of a room, so I had to put everything on my bed- go ahead, you can laugh at my duvet cover with the dogs on it! ;) It looked sort of boring so I turned my scarf into a 'V' for violet on the wall. =D "I hope you're having a great day and thanks so much for the opportunity! I learned a lot from this, like re-learning how to sew, and the fact that pins are a very important thing to have before you start, lol! ;)" Okay, is everyone now loving Lucy D. like I love Lucy D.? AMAZING entry! (Finished product below.) Thank you! PS-One more note from Lucy D.: "btw, I am eating mango passion frozen yoghurt right now and it is amazing! I would highly recommend it! =D"

Win-It Wednesday: I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone + Wristbands

Ooh, that first crush question was fun! Thanks for sharing. Sigh. The winner of the signed copy of Susane Colasanti's When It Happens, as chosen randomly, is... Lis! Send me your address, L. I finally got to read Stephanie Kuehnert's awesome debut, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone. It felt like I was watching a really fast and furious rock documentary where I actually got to be inside the rockstar's head--and I loved it. Most importantly, Emily Black felt real. I know lots of people already know about this book, so I won't say more, but trust me--you want to win it. I also am giving away a few floral wristbands, which are made by Laura Thorpe, who contacted me when I was doing the Violet party gift bags. You know how sometimes, like when you wear all black, you want to just have a small accessory to perk things up? These wristbands are perfect for that, and they can also be looped around a ponytail as a decorative hairband. Cute! I have four to give away, so these will also be prizes this week. (Also, they work as bookmarks. I know, I'm a dork, but I love bookmarks.) To enter, here's what you have to do. I don't care who you're supporting in the election (well, I do, but I'm not going to subject you to more rants here). However, I do want to make sure that if you're old enough to vote, you do vote! So, I want each of you to talk to people you know about voting, and ensure that your friends and family are all getting to the polls. Please. Then, just tell me you did that below and you're entered, no questions asked. And here's a link that totally moved me recently: Girls 4 Obama. Happy last Bush Wednesday!

Tuesday in Fashion: Librarians and Dior

First, I found this link through YA Book Nerd, and I love it: Librarian Couture!Pictured is Danielle Mitchell, who's "Fashionably Green" at the Chicago Public Library, Wrightwood-Ashburn Branch, in Illinois. Second, my Glamour UK story about being backstage at the Dior show is finally out, so I'm going to share it here. I wish I had been twittering at that point in time because I would have cataloged the whole show! Ah, well, I'm a late adopter. Here's the story: PS-I love how strong, bright lips are so in right now! Anyone rocking that? I need to find the perfect red. PPS-On that last page, check out Leighton Meester looking SO BLAIR WALDORF on the far right side of the front row. Sigh.

Cover Stories: Invisible Touch by Kelly Parra

I really enjoyed author Kelly Parra's RITA-nominated Graffiti Girl, and her new book, Invisible Touch, looks Exciting. So I asked her some questions about the cover, and here's her story. "Before the cover of Invisible Touch was created I was asked to provide some specifications on my main character Kara. And my editor told me she was giving the art department ideas of pictograms for the cover. So I really didn't know what to expect. I knew a girl would be on the cover but I wasn't quite sure what she would be doing! I told them Kara had short hair and she had light brown skin. "When I saw the cover I was blown away! Kara was stunning and the images gave a paranormal feel, but Invisible Touch is urban too and the brick wall gave an edgy feel. I had the feeling they got the brick wall and eye from my website, www.KellyParra.com. I was very pleased! "Obviously, they didn't give Kara the short hair. Haha! So Kara's hair suddenly changed in the book. *wink* I did not have to change Kara's hair, but it would have bothered me otherwise and it was an easy fix. "We all agreed on the cover, writer, agent and editor. It was very eye-catching and portrayed the feel of the novel and that's what counted. A few months later when the final cover surfaced the title had been shifted and font changed, but it was still awesome!" Thanks, Kelly! This might sound silly, but I'm so glad the hair descriptions match the cover! I get so bothered by covers that look nothing like the character I know in the book, so I'm with Kelly on that change. What do you guys think of this cover? Oh, and to find out more about Invisible Touch, here's the trailer: Happy Monday!

Gone to Carolina...

I'm in NC this weekend, and I got to have lunch with author Sarah Dessen on Friday! Chapel Hill magazine interviewed us together, which is un-effing-believable for me--yay! We actually went back to our old high school to take photos in the hallways by the lockers, which was the weirdest experience. It felt completely unreal to be back there, and with Sarah Dessen no less! She is amazingly nice and funny and all the good things you imagine she is. So much fun.Anyway, more home state press (I forget if I posted this before) are these 5 Questions from the Charlotte Observer's Style Section last spring. I can't believe they asked me about STDs! I didn't see that coming... also, could I have said "self esteem" one more time? Yeesh. But still, I like that shirt I'm wearing, so there's a plus (although, now that I think about it, it's the same shirt I was wearing for the magazine photo shoot yesterday--oops). Enjoy! Happy Sunday!

Two things on a Saturday

1. Love this Huffington Post essay by America the Beautiful documentarian Darryl Roberts. Go read it to get the full story if you have time, but in short, MTV was involved with a new reality show called Model Makers that was going to take girls 17-24 and make them "high fashion." Translation: The goal was to get the girls to be super skinny. Roberts points out that to lure young girls to audition, the website said: "Have you always wanted to model but don't know where to start? Maybe you don't know the right people. Maybe you are not thin enough. Women come in all shapes and sizes, but models don't."Um, yikes! The good news: Due to lots of uproar from people who heeded Roberts' calls to protest, the show has been canceled! Phew. (Oh, and that photo is the awesome Ali Michael, whom I've raved about in the past, and who has nothing to do with the show.) 2. On another note, YA for Obama is going strong now, with dissenting voices (come on over, McCain fans!) and big prizes for people who volunteer (read Maureen Johnson's Call to Action, With Prizes blog). Also, you could meet Adam Brody if you volunteer for Obama. Right, Devyn? I'm just saying. Enjoy your Saturday!

Photo Friday: It's Fall! + AA Drag Show

First, fall is awesome, as evidenced by this tree on my block. It's lemon-lime colored! I love it. So last weekend I went to a show where there was no line for the ladies' room (but the men's room was PACKED). It was The 8th Annual Miss Sobriety Drag Pageant put on by Alcoholics Anonymous, and it was fabulous and glittery! I went with my friend Kevin, who, admittedly, inspired a bit of the character of Kurt in Violet in Private. Everyone needs a Kevin. Here are a few shots. (1) Note that I got to meet Project Runway contestant Chris March, who was really nice (yes, that's me in between those glamorous queens!). (2) All the contestants on stage. (3) And the winner, Chisa Chu! I didn't get a good shot of last year's winner, Pancakes Barbara, but she was gorgeous and hilarious, in a young Judy Garland kind of way. Have a shiny, happy weekend!