Cover Stories: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (+ a contest!)

Elizabeth Scott is an awesome author who writes heartfelt stories about first love and friendships and parental relationships (I've adored Bloom and the upcoming Something, Maybe, and can't wait to read the rest of her canon, which includes Stealing Heaven, Perfect You, and the upcoming Love You, Hate You, Miss You). Living Dead Girl is unlike most of her other work in that it's the story of a girl who was kidnapped at a young age and faces horrific abuse. It's not a G-rated tale, and the cover represents the novel's ominous feeling very well.So I had to ask Elizabeth: How did the cover come about? Here she is: "My editor at Simon Pulse always talks to me about the cover--the kind of look they're going for--and usually I see samples that they're thinking about using, which come from stock photos, or pictures that have already been taken. For LIVING DEAD GIRL, though, Simon Pulse had a photographer, Russell Gordon, take the pictures. "The very first cover was just a dress, and I liked it, but worried that it wasn't going to be eye-catching enough. With so many books out there, it's really important to have a cover that pops visually and that will grab a potential readers' attention. "The final cover was shot in Central Park, I believe (I know it was a park in Manhattan!) and Russell very patiently took about a million shots of different dresses on fall leaves. Oddly enough, the picture that ended up being chosen was one where Russell's leg had accidentally gotten into the shot, but as soon as I saw it, I *knew* it was the right one--it conveyed a sense of menace that the shots of just a dress didn't, and really did a great job of showing what the book is about--and all without words!" MW interruption: I told Elizabeth that we love to see photos of previous covers, and she didn't have any, but she did say... "I'm really sorry I don't have other images to share, so to make it up to your readers, how about you pick one commenter, and they can have a signed copy of any of my current books?" Thanks, Elizabeth! You heard the generous lady. Comment below, sharing what you think about this cover, and you'll be entered to win a signed copy of any of Elizabeth's already released books. Sweet. (I'll announce a winner next Monday, 12/29.) PS-I'm not going to be around much this week, so entertain yourself with this amazing post from Jocelyn of Teen Book Review fame. She waxes poetic about body image (and includes the Violet books--thanks, J!).

Photo Friday: Poladroids!

There's one of me, the obligatory self-take, plus one of butterflies in Asheville. So how did I make them look all cool and Polaroidy? Find out on iheartdaily.com! Have great weekends!

Girl Week + Meg Cabot LIVE! (tonight)

First, I have to thank Reviewer X for some awesome Girl Week posts: She reviewed the Violet series (and liked it--yay!); she asked me some really great questions about the Fashion Industry; and she's helping me give away five winter shimmer lip glosses (go enter to win one!). Girl Week rules and there are tons of great authors over there (a highlight is Stephanie Kuehnert's essay about being called "slut" and how that relates to her character Emily as well). And second, join the readergirlz forum tonight at 9pm EST/6pm PST as we chat LIVE with Meg Cabot! That's Meg, left, being cute as usual. I mean, can you resist that invitation? I can't wait. I may even wear a tiara. It is Girl Week, after all.

Win-It Wednesday: WAKE and Major Beauty Stuff

First, last week's winner of John Green's Looking for Alaska is.... Tara, who had two entries (one for commenting, one for blogging)! Send me your address, T.This week, I'm giving away a hardcover copy of Lisa McMann's WAKE in anticipation of the February release of FADE, which will also be on Win-It Wednesday later in 2009. If you haven't started this trilogy, now is the time! Also, because I have a lot of cosmetics prizes in the house, I'll be giving away a goodie bag filled with fun beauty products, including Jelly Pong Pong's cheek stain in Peach Bourbon (shown here). This gift bag is very un-Janie (she's the main character in WAKE, and I don't picture her as a made-up type), but there it is. Because it's close to Christmas, and I'll be gone a lot of next week, I'm going to let this contest run for two weeks, until December 31st, hence the double set of prizes. I'll choose one winner for WAKE and one winner of beauty booty. To enter--and you knew this was coming--I need your help talking up my friend Anne's and my new site, iheartdaily.com. You may have read about it by now, and I'd love everyone to sign up for the daily newsletter (I promise you'll like it! Well, I promise I hope you'll like it!) and then tell friends about it. That means: tweeting it, putting a note on facebook, sending a myspace bulletin, blogging it, talking about it at lunch--whatever you can think of. Each of your efforts counts as one entry below (as does signing up for the newsletter); just comment below to tell me what you did to help spread the word. And get your friends to sign up too! We're going to be covering a lot of fun things, including great YA books. Today's feature: An interview with an amazing up and coming fashion designer, Alison Lewis. Oh, and you can follow us on twitter too: twitter.com/iheartdaily. Happy Holidays!

RIP, Bettie Page, 1923-2008

Just a salute to the iconic pin-up girl who always had a sunny smile, great style and the Best. Bangs. Ever. Am I right? PS-Thanks to the Book Girl for putting all the Violet cover story links into one convenient post, and for reviewing Violet by Design!

Cover Story: Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi

The minute I saw Mari's amazing Gamer Girl cover, I knew I wanted the back story. Luckily, she's nice! And there's a good story to tell. Here's Mari:

"One of the things that originally sold Gamer Girl to my editor was the idea of creating a very visual package to wrap the story in. After all, the heroine of the story, Maddy Madison, is a budding manga artist herself, so she'd want it that way!

"During an initial conversation, my editor asked me to send along some examples of manga that I felt represented my heroine's personal style. I suggested she read the Dramacon, a really fun contemporary manga from Tokyo Pop. If you haven't read the series, I highly recommend it. My editor followed my suggestion and ended up falling in love with the series and it really gave her a better understanding of the anime/manga world. (The series takes place at a manga/anime convention.)

"What especially fascinated her were the different faces the artist/author, Svetlana Chmakova would draw to illustrate the moods of her main characters. My editor wanted to do something similar for Gamer Girl. So she suggested we do internal emoticons of the heroine at the beginning of each chapter. This way the reader would get a hint when starting a chapter if the heroine were happy, sad, excited, or angry--just by looking at the drawings. "As for the cover itself, they offered two different mock-ups to start.

"While I liked both in different ways, my editor, agent and I unanimously liked the second style best--featuring my heroine Maddy on top and her alter-ego video game character Allora on the bottom. It just really captured the idea of the book--of having a whole other persona online that's almost a separate person from the real life you. The other cover was fine--it was just kind of generic.

"After we decided on style, the publisher had an artist (the talented Elise Trinh) draw the cover. She did an amazing job--really capturing my character and her alter-ego, just as I imagined them. Maddy even has her sketchpad to draw her manga.

"I realize the cover is a lot different than most on the YA shelves today. Seems like a lot of publishers are going for a dark, mysterious, romantic, glamorous feel. But that's okay with me. After all, part of the message of the book is about celebrating our differences--and so having a different sort of cover really works! Not to mention all the white space really makes it stand out on the shelf, which is never a bad thing. All in all, I couldn't be happier with how it turned out and I hope readers feel the same."

Thanks, Mari! As I've said in the past, I love this cover. You guys?

PS-I posted about the new Twilight dolls over at readergirlz today.

Perfect Chemistry, A Book Trailer

I couldn't resist this book trailer for Simone Elkeles's new book, Perfect Chemistry, out December 28th. I heard "rap" and I thought "uh-oh," but it's hilarious, and I looove it! What do you think?FYI: if you click on the small words "Watch in High Quality" located on the bottom right of the video, it will give a much better picture. If you haven't had enough, there are outtakes after the jump... PS-Another blog to check out today: Read, Read, Read where I did an inter(re)view with Chelsie about Stephanie Kuehnert's I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone!

I Heart Daily!

Today I'm introducing a new site that I created with my friend Anne: I Heart Daily! I'd love it if everyone would check it out and sign up for our newsletter.Our Mission: "Each day, you'll find out about one thing we think you'll like: The band you should hear, the girl who's making a difference in the world, the new lip gloss color that looks good on everyone, the undiscovered designer who is making amazing clothes. You'll never hear about stuff we hate, just stuff we heart. We're nice that way." You can also become a fan on facebook and follow us on twitter. Let me know what you think of the site so far... Anne and I are working hard on it! This week, we've gotten some fun press from NYLON, Ypulse, Folio and Teen Vogue. Come join our new adventure? Tell your friends (seriously, I would love it if you would bulletin it or blog it or tweet it or post a note to facebook). And email us with feedback--good or bad, really! We're at editors AT iheartdaily.com. Happy weekend! PS-Something else to check out today: West of Mars-Win a Book, where you can find out about a gajillion book contests!

Embarrassing Parents in Teen Vogue

Here's a story I wrote for the Dec/Jan issue of Teen Vogue. Some regular blog readers helped me with quotes--thank you! Click for larger versions of each page.Isn't Kristen pretty on the cover? I'm a new fan. Also, how hilarious is the art they used of Joe Simpson? Perfect! PS-Another blog to visit today: A new book blogger in town, THOUGHTS ON YA LITERATURE. Say hi! PPS-Major giveaways going on at Teen Fiction Cafe. Win Amanda Ashby's last ARC of ZOMBIE QUEEN OF NEWBURY HIGH or a signed copy of Sarah Zarr's SWEETHEARTS. Bonus: You get to talk about zombies and body image. Go, go!

Win-It Wednesday: Looking for Alaska by John Green

The winner of Matthue Roth's hilarious Losers is... (((Renee))) is a {{{loser}}}. Is that fate or what?! Though I'm sure Renee is not a loser. And she has an awesome Taylor Swift song on her profile. Sigh. Send me your address, Renee, the not loser. Now, this week I want to give away an awesome book that would make a great holiday present... John Green's Looking for Alaska. I know lots of you have read it, and know how truly lovely and smart and funny it is. It really is! I'll say no more. You can find troves of info online about it, but here's how you win it: Tell me the last 3 things you googled. Seriously! Check your cache. I'm curious. Mine are "random number generator" (to determine last week's contest), "i heart daily" (i'm starting a new site and wanted to see how search results showed up) and "how women act around men" (working on a story for Glamour). Your turn! What are the last 3 things you googled? Then, you're entered! Extra entry if you post about this contest (or twitter, or status update or do whatever to spread the word). Happy Wednesday!