Broccoli salad and Cheetos: This has been my lunch basically all week. I'm nothing if not balanced. (And that puzzle is totally kicking my butt.)
And these are my boys this weekend (with apologies to my twitter followers). Go, Heels!
Happy weekend!
Last week's winner of Teenie by Christopher Grant is... jpetroroy! J, send me your address.
This week, I have a hot-off-the-presses copy of Carrie Ryan's The Dark and Hollow Places, the third book in her Forest of Hands and Teeth series!
On another note, I recently contributed to an anthology edited by Carrie Jones and Megan Kelley Hall called Dear Bully. I just got to view my laid out essay, and I can't WAIT for it to come out in August.
To enter to win Carrie Ryan's book, answer these questions: Have you ever encountered bullying? How did you handle it? (I know, I'm so nosy! But I'm interested. And I have a feeling we all have experiences with this topic, sadly. To hear about mine, you'll have to wait for the anthology!)
Good luck -- I'll pick a winner from the comments next Wednesday.
PS-Thanks to Liz, who totally called me on my Jones/Ryan mixup, which is ridiculous. I blame pregnancy exhaustion! Sorry, Carries!
You guys know I'm moonlighting over at the bn.com blog, right? Click through to read the full Cover Stories teased here.
Georgia Bottoms by Mark Childress. "Who is this girl and why does she have her fabulous shoes propped up on this old granny sofa? I think the best cover images set a scene..." Read more...
The Way He Lived by Emily Wing-Smith. "As a debut novelist, I had no idea what to expect when my publishers sent me that first jpeg. What if I hated it? Was there anything I could do? Mostly, though, I was just curious. How did they choose to convey this story through an image?" Read more...
Hollywood Stories by Stephen Schochet. "I always wanted Shirley Temple in the front with Frankenstein's Monster behind her just because they were such a fun combination. I wanted to make sure the Monster was not threatening her in any way..." Read more...
The Orchid Affair by Lauren Willig. "Not only did my editor listen to my howl of, 'But this is the wrong era!' (accompanied by a rather tedious exposition on historical costume), she went out, hired another designer, another model, new costumes, and did a whole new photo shoot." Read more...
Smile for the Camera by Kelle James. "My memoir details my teenage years, a tumultuous time in New York City. A time when, for reasons beyond my control, I was without family or money and struggling to find my place in an oftentimes, overwhelming world. The tiny replica of me standing in the middle of all those massive New York City buildings, looking out through the shattered snow globe glass captures the spirit of Smile for the Camera perfectly." Read more...
Scrawl by Mark Schulman. "Uh oh. Now I'm in the art director's office. My editor has very kindly invited me along to the kind of meeting I know many novelists don't get to attend. And I'm hoping my nodding and grinning aren't too obvious. I am ready to give them a blank check. I just want to surrender in style." Read more...
Lindsey Leavitt is a member of The Contemps (along with me) and her new book, Sean Griswold's Head, is a super fun read. Hear more about what I thought at The Contemps blog.
For now, we're gonna talk covers! Here's Lindsey:
"It all started with a head.
"Sean Griswold's Head, to be exact. When I started writing this book, I knew I wanted the story to be about that boy--the one who is always there, the one you know nothing about, except maybe that he wears the same shirt every Thursday, or peed his pants two days in a row in second grade. 
So I always pictured Sean's head when I thought of the cover. Kind of like Feed by MT Anderson (right), but with hair.
"I shared this with my editor when we first broached cover design, and she said, great! But we do want to play up the romance angle, so we'll think about it. I never considered the romance to be the focus of the story, but I figured... cool. Give him a HOT head then. Hot heads sell.
"But then I got an email that sales wasn't sure the title would work. We went back and forth for a few months, brainstorming titles. It's an aggravating process--there were some possibilities I liked, but nothing felt right. At one point, my publisher was leaning toward THE SEAN GRISWOLD PROJECT. Here is one cover comp that design came up with that my editor just now sent me (left). I'm glad we didn't use this. I can say that now, right?
"I trusted my publisher, but I was still feeling down about the title madness. Then my editor sent me an email, saying there had been a meeting and they'd decided the title should be... SEAN GRISWOLD'S HEAD. 
Sales had somehow warmed up to the idea, and they agreed I could keep the quirky title IF they could get the romance in there still. So we went back to the head. My editor and I talked and they decided to go with the boy-in-class approach with some doodles. A few weeks later, my editor sent an email explaining that this was a VERY ROUGH comp, a non-refined work-in-progress, and the designer was still toying with the idea. Which was a relief because it looked, you know, rough (right).
"I wasn't a fan of the purple. Or the boy. Or the doodles. Or the font.
"Okay, so I wasn't a fan. And I felt bad, because Bloomsbury had listened to my input throughout the developmental process. I got to keep my title. They'd pretty much given me exactly what I asked for. 
And I'd even decided not to say anything, but... the purple just did me in. My first book (PRINCESS FOR HIRE, left) had a girly cover, and I was really hoping to branch out with color schemes.
"My agent wrote with some notes, and I decided to just talk to my editor, who'd been wonderful every step of the way, and asked for my input. So I got over myself and wrote back with my thoughts. We decided that the doodles should tell more of a story, and that the color scheme and font should be quirkier, like Juno. I hung up the phone feeling really excited about the new direction.
"And the next time I got a cover email, I screamed. I LOVED the font. I LOVED the chalkboard. I LOVED how hot Sean was without even seeing his face! And they'd even added a heart for the romance :) I called my editor right away and gushed and garbled. This was what I wanted, and I didn't know it until I saw it (below, left).
"From there, the designer made a few more changes to the cover: the sweatshirt stripes, sharpened the colors, added the genius tag line, played with fonts, and slimmed Sean's build (he looked like a wrestler, when he's a tri-athlete). Which all led us to the final cover (above, right). I love the final product, love the stock image of Sean, and hope teens will open the cover to fall in love with the boy (and girl!) on the inside of the pages as well."
Thanks, Lindsey! I love the final cover--especially the chalkboard doodles--and the iconic head-in-front-of-you in class is such a fun idea. This concept evolved so much, and I'm so glad Bloomsbury made it just what it needed to be!
What do you guys think?
This week my friend Katie told me about Banana Shakes, and they are my new favorite thing.
See? Okay, here's how you make it:
Cut a banana in cubes and freeze it overnight. The next day, blend the frozen banana cubes (which act like ice) with 8 oz of milk. Add a spoonful of peanut butter if you want protein, or whatever vitamin powder you're into (you won't taste it).
You get this foamy milk-and-bananas shake that taste like dessert but is really healthy too! Love.
Happy Friday.
Sorrysorrysorry. It's NYC Teen Author Festival week (check out the amazing schedule) and I'm a little of kilter! So... it's Thursday and this is Win-It Wednesday. I do not pretend to always make sense.The winner of last week's giveaway of Miles From Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams is... Maryam! Send me your address, M.
Anyway, today I got to do a reading at the Brooklyn Public Library's Grand Army branch with amazing authors Melissa Kantor, Gayle Forman, Cathleen Bell, Jeri Smith-Ready and Christopher Grant. I happened to have a copy of Teenie, Christopher's debut novel, in my bag, and he happened to sign it. So that's what you have a shot at winning today.
First, let me just say that Christopher is awesome, and he holds a very busy day job as a stock trader, but he writes on the subway. I mean, anyone who says they don't have time to write has to sit down and talk to this guy. He makes the time.
Teenie is his super delightful debut, about a high school freshman growing up in Brooklyn with a promising future and a dream to study in Spain. But you know, boys and best friends and life get in the way of some of her goals... and she has to work it all out. You can read excerpts on Christopher's site -- I was into Teenie from page one. (And how gorgeous is that cover?) Here's the full jacket:
I would have had Christopher here for a Cover Story, but when I asked him about it he said, "They sent me this image, and I said, 'That's it!'" So there, that's the Cover Story. I love it when it's so easy.
Anyway, to win this signed copy of Teenie, name the last author event/reading you attended. If you haven't ever been to one, admit it! But then promise me you'll attend one soon? They're fun -- I promise.
Happy Wednes, uh, Thursday!
The lovely Saundra Mitchell is here today with a rollercoaster ride of a Cover Story for her latest novel, The Vespertine! Here goes:"I didn't have a specific image in mind for the cover, but I knew in my soul that I wanted the book to be in russet, sunset colors. The main character, Amelia, can see the future, but only at sunset--and the book is full of loving descriptions of that time of day.
"My editor, Julie, sent me a note one Thursday afternoon and asked for a detailed description of Amelia, the main character. She told me that the design department was scheduled to start my cover the next day.
"She didn't ask for any particular input beyond that. But I come from a filmmaking background, where we make contact sheets for everything from paint colors, to car styles, to actors. So I put together this contact sheet and forwarded it with my notes.
"When I wrote the book, I'd had Malese Jow in my mind as Amelia (I loved her as Anna on The Vampire Diaries) and I'd taken all the clothing directly out of Harper's Bazar, circa 1881-1889. Lucky for me, costume designers do the same thing. The exact gown that Amelia wears in my book is the same pattern that costume designer Janet Patterson used when dressing the cast of Portrait of a Lady. And of course, everything in sunset colors, because that's how I saw the book.
"The first time I saw the cover, I cried! Because what I saw first was the concept art for the cover. I was in New York for the very first time. Julie, my editor, took me on a tour of the offices, which ended at her desk, where she'd just gotten the preliminary art for my cover.
She turned on her monitor, and there it was:
"It was perfect! There's the girl! There's the dress! There are the sunset colors, and even the necklace that Amelia gets during the book!
"Regina Roff, the designer at HMH, owned a deck of Archeon Tarot by artist Timothy Lantz. She thought he would be the perfect artist for my cover, so HMH contracted him and he was available. It's gorgeous, gorgeous art. I loved it so, so much. I could go on for hours about the details, but seriously. It made me cry; it was extraordinary.
"So... of course it had to change.
"There's a feeling in the industry that illustrated covers are for juvenile and middle grade novels; photographic covers are for young adult novels. And a lot of people have a say on the final cover.
"After a lot of discussion in-house and with some book buyers, people felt that a cover with Mr. Lantz's extraordinary art fell too close to illustration. I was devastated! When I found out it was changing, I sent a note that said that I wouldn't mind seeing a new cover modeled on Melissa de la Cruz's Blue Bloods covers (right), or something wholly iconic. But I honestly didn't know what to expect.
"On the second round of covers, my agent and I had more input. HMH kindly put together three comps, and I was so anxious. After loving the first cover so much, I was prepared to pick the new one based on the art I hated the least.
"But when I saw the comps, I loved them all. They were gorgeous--and really varied. It was so exciting to see so many different artist conceptions of my book. My agent and I had some notes, which my editor took to the jacket meeting.
"My fave was actually #3, but I knew at the time that it wouldn't fly as a YA cover. After the jacket meeting, HMH decided on Comp #2 as the final cover. And my only issue was that the clothes we could see were anachronistic to the book. I asked them to hide that as best as they could, and they did a fantastic job of doing that. Plus, it was really exciting to see that they used the exact pendant I'd put in the book right on the cover! And thus, I had a final cover, which was this:
"So I was really happy again, because once again, HMH had gone above and beyond to create a really meaningful cover for this book. But...
"I had a lot of fun unveiling the final, got lots of neat stuff printed and then... My editor called. She was incredibly apologetic, but they were changing the cover again. People felt the second cover was still too illustrated looking. Everyone really wanted a clean, photographic cover with a lot of BANG to it.
"The second cover had already gone out on digital ARCs, but they were trying to get the new cover done in time for print ARCs. It was looking less and less likely though, because another publisher was interested in using the gorgeous image they'd selected for the third cover. The stock company would only license it to one of us, so it was a nail-biting several days.
"But finally we got word that we could use the image, and so my designer put together a stunning new cover. I cried again, because it was that gorgeous. And here it is:
"It's remarkable how much that model looks like Malese Jow. How amazing that dress is. How much I want to just grab it and hold it and show it to the world. Friends have called it The Luxe with Motion, and I think they've nailed it. It's just screamingly beautiful.
"The original art is a photographic illustration by Timothy Lantz. The second cover was a stock photo, edited by Regina Roff. The final cover is a photograph by Susan Fox, edited by Regina Roff.
"In the end, I love it. I just love it. Beyond being a great cover, I think it's a truly beautiful piece of art. It captures a moment in the story, but more than that, it really reflects the mood and sensibility.
"There's so much storytelling going on in the image too. I think it's mysterious and wonderful and you know what? The first cover showed the girl and the dress from my contact sheet. The second cover showed the exact pendant I'd put in the book. And the third has the girl and the dress again. Every single one of these covers emphasize how much care and thought everyone at HMH has put into my book. It makes me smile every time I see them--all three of them. I'm a lucky, lucky author indeed."
Thank you, Saundra! I love an epic Cover Story, and this one certainly qualifies. I have to say, I'm a sucker for flowy dresses, and I'm so happy that the cover ended up where it did -- it's gorgeous!
What do you guys think?
Last month when I was in Florida for a weekend, my mom and I drove across the state from west to east and came across this middle town: Arcadia. We stopped for lunch in the charming downtown area, and I snapped a few pics. I love discovering places like this!Gorgeous old building (pink!) with an adorable little tea shop downstairs:
An opera house!
Hello, vintage blue-violet-gold dress of my dreams! (This store wasn't open--tragic!)
Oh, me? I'm just peachy.
A bookstore with baked goods wins my heart every time.
Isn't this just such a charming town? It used to be the county seat! I'm not even sure what that means, but I love it.
Happy Friday!
Alex Flinn, who shared the Cover Story for Beastly on Monday, is back to talk about another of her retold fairytale covers, A Kiss in Time, based on Sleeping Beauty. Here's Alex:
"I don't think I had much input for the Kiss in Time hardcover. I was pleased with the color scheme and general look, but I thought it was a bit bland. I've seen other covers by this designer, such as Fairest (below right) and Princess Ben, and they always have a little something more to them than just a girl in a pretty dress. It was obvious that the cover was 'set' when I saw it. It was a photograph, and they'd spent weeks going through dozens of photos to find the perfect one -- it was shot specifically for the book. I liked the colors and the font.
"The girl does look like Talia in my book, and the dress is important in the story and is as I portrayed it, the same color as the girl's eyes. But I was a bit disappointed that you couldn't tell it was Sleeping Beauty, as you can easily tell that Fairest is Snow White. That said, it has been a successful hardcover. I do think the cover art has caused it to be mostly overlooked by the young-adult library community, because it makes it look like a younger book. However, bookstore sales have made up for that. It is so pretty that you want to pick it up.
"My editor and I had discussed a spindle for the A Kiss in Time paperback and, in fact, even looked at photos of spindles on Etsy, but they ended up going a different way. When I first saw the cover, left, I didn't really think the flower had much to do with the story.
"I had originally thought that the flower was a pansy. However, I later realized that it was a poppy (the colors are reversed so that the poppy's distinctive red color is the background color while the flower is white). The poppy is a symbol of both sleep (because of the poppy's relationship to opium, as in The Wizard of Oz) and also, remembrance (such as in Macrae's poem, 'In Flanders Field'), both strong themes in Sleeping Beauty. Indeed, the poppy is a symbol of resurrection in Greco-Roman myth, and Talia and her kingdom are resurrected by Jack's kiss. On the cover, the poppy has thorns and, of course, a thorn-covered wall is strongly associated with the story of Sleeping Beauty. Will readers get all this from the cover? Probably not, but it's pretty."
Thanks, Alex! I like the iconic design of the paperback more than the hardcover, to be honest. I also like how it goes with simple Beastly's design. (And I think the thorny font is cool!)
What do you guys think?
The winner of last week's giveaway of Alive and Well in Prague, New York by Daphne Grab is... Chelley! Send me your address, C.
This week, I'm giving away a copy of Miles from Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams. I read this book in two days, and I was seriously nervous the whole time. It definitely keeps you worrying and guessing, and I love emotional involvement.
So, to enter to win a copy of this book, tell me the last time you felt really scared by a book or a movie or whatever. For me, it was with this book!
Good luck--I'll choose a random winner next week.
