Cover Reveal: One, Two Three

Hello, friends. It’s been a while, I know. Seems my wrists weren’t too happy with the work I put in on my WIP and protested with serious aching. I’m not sure if they’re sprained or if I have carpal tunnel, but the result is the same: typing hurts.

Which is why I’ve been MIA. I wanted to give my wrists some time to rest before I start tidying up my WIP or working on a new project. I’ve also been wearing the latest fashion accessory because I am cooler than cool.

But I’m taking a break from my break-taking to reveal the cover of a coming-soon YA contemporary romance by my friend Elodie Nowodazkij. (Publishing June 26, 2014.) Check out the cover and synopsis for One, Two, Three, then enter to win some great prizes.

When seventeen-year-old Natalya’s dreams of being a ballerina are killed in a car accident along with her father, she must choose: shut down—like her mother—or open up to love.
 Last year, Natalya was attending the School of Performing Arts in New York City. Last year, she was well on her way to becoming a professional ballerina. Last year, her father was still alive. 

But a car crash changed all that—and Natalya can’t stop blaming herself. Now, she goes to a regular high school in New Jersey; lives with her onetime prima ballerina, now alcoholic mother; and has no hope of a dance career. 

At her new school, however, sexy soccer player Antonio sees a brighter future for Natalya, or at least a more pleasant present, and his patient charms eventually draw her out of her shell. 

But when upsetting secrets come to light and Tonio’s own problems draw her in, Natalya shuts down again, this time turning to alcohol herself. 

Can Natalya learn to trust Antonio before she loses him—and destroys herself?

I personally can’t wait until this comes out! Here’s a little info about the author:

Elodie Nowodazkij was raised in a tiny village in France, where she could always be found a book in hand. At nineteen, she moved to the U.S., where she learned she’d never lose her French accent. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Modern Language & Linguistics, and later earned master’s degrees in German Cultural Studies and European Studies. Unbeknownst to her professors, she sometimes drafted stories in class. Now she lives in Germany with her husband and their cat (who doesn’t seem to realize he’s not human), and use her commuting time to write the stories swirling in my head. She’s also a serial smiley user. One, Two, Three is her first novel.

LEARN MORE: Elodie’s website | Twitter | Goodreads author page | Add the book to Goodreads | Learn more about her upcoming releases by subscribing to her newsletter

Now, for a chance to win a signed copy of One, Two, Three, an ARC of the book, or other great prizes!

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Creed Cover Reveal

Once upon a time there was this little story I really loved that was intense and wonderful but mostly naked in its Word doc format. Not any more. Today that book finally has a cover and it’s all sorts of horrifying.

But good horrifying. As opposed to brainwashed-cult-members-who-want-to-kill-you horrifying. Which brings me to Creed by Lindsay Currie and Trisha Leaver. I am so pleased  to be able to reveal the cover for this novel. It’s perfectly fitting for the story, which is brilliantly creepy.

First, a little about the authors:

Trisha Leaver resides on Cape Cod with her husband, three children and one rather excitable black lab. She spent most of her childhood living inside her own mind, creating characters and stories that only a child's imagination could dream up. She now spends her days breathing life into those characters, writing realistic fiction for young adults. Today, Trisha is a free-lance editor and a proud member of the SCBWI, YA Scream Queens, The Horror Writers Association, TheBookYards, and OneFourKidLit, a community of authors with debuts upcoming in 2014. More information about her solo and co-authored projects can be found at the following links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog

Lindsay Currie lives in Chicago, Illinois with one incredibly patient hubby, three amazing kids and one adorable, but irreverent Bullmastiff named Sam. She graduated from Knox College in the heart of the Midwest and has been writing for as long as she can remember. She is a freelance editor for young adult, new adult and middle grade fiction, and is a proud member of SCBWI, The Horror Writers Association, The YA Scream Queens, The BookYard and OneFourKidLit, a community of authors with debuts upcoming in 2014. Website | Facebook | Twitter

Without further ado…

CREED – November 2014 from Flux

Dee Langley is seventeen and mere months away from total freedom and a life where state social workers, counselors, and foster parents don’t dictate her every move. She has spent years trying to eke out a normal existence, hiding from her past and walking the tenuous line between denial and self-preservation. A weekend away with her boyfriend, Luke, and his brother, Mike, seems like the perfect opportunity to forget and start over. Little does Dee know that she's just trading one hell for another. 

When an unexpected storm and a lack of gas force their car off the road, Dee, Luke, and Mike find themselves with no other choice but to wander into the nearby town of Purity Springs for help. But it’s not good Samaritans they find, but rather complete and utter silence, every store and every house abandoned. Forced to seek shelter in one of the deserted homes, they uncover a disturbing book with explicit instructions on how to correctly rear a child, complete with a hand written record of its use. It’s not until the next morning, however, that they discover the alarming truth – the town isn’t abandoned; it is populated by a deadly cult, and the leader, Elijah Hawkins, has plans for the three of them. The group’s only hope for survival lies in the hands of Elijah’s son, Joseph. But is Joseph really their ticket to freedom or is his game just as deadly as his father’s? 

Three went in, and three will come out, but not a single one will ever be a shadow of who they once were.

Pre-order on Amazon
Mark it to read on Goodreads
Vote for it on the 2014 Debut Authors Challenge

I love this cover. I love the scratched-in-blood title (no doubt the result of someone’s bleeding fingernails against a hard wood surface). I love the sense of isolation, the twisted tree, and the dark, cloudy filter over everything. The book reads much like the cover feels.

And if that cover isn’t enough to interest you, check out my review for more reasons you should most definitely add Creed to your must-read list.

Show of hands, who’s creeped out now?

A Short Story in YA Covers

A little story for you guys, told with the help of some very lovely young adult book covers.*

 Once upon a time, there was a girl stuck in a glass bubble.

 Like most girls who live in bubbles, Anna was chronically depressed.

But thanks to a team of stylists and makeup artists, Anna spent her mostly depressed days in extravagant getups most unbubbled teenagers couldn’t even find at their local Hollister.

 

One day, during a freak hailstorm, Anna’s bubble shattered.

But all was not perfect, and Anna realized too late that without her gravity bubble, she would easily float away.

And so she sunk into another depression.

Out of options, Anna traded her delicate ballet flats for weighted boots that would keep her feet planted firmly on the ground.

She stepped outside to find a harsh world.

Whipping winds tossed her hair over her face. She batted it back with a flick of the wrist.

But the wind persisted.

“This is war,” she said to the night wind.

Then she put her hair into a ponytale.

Anna set out on bike—no easy feat considering her weighted boots—to find another human on this desolate planet.

Soon, she came to a turquoise lake. When she leaned over the water, she imagined herself back in the bubble, still rocking those impractical yet fabulous dresses. And still wearing her hair down instead of in a ponytail like a bad “before” shot in a cheesy teen movie.

She slipped on the slick earth. In an instant, she was under water. It all happened so fast, and Anna’s heart was pounding so hard and her lungs were squeezed so tight that she didn’t know which way was up.

Strong arms circled her. Were they holding her down or pulling her out?

And then she was being carried from the lake. She curled into a ball, her lungs still fighting for air.

A boy lowered her to the ground, pinched her nose, and leaned in close, closer, closer—

“I don’t need mouth to mouth, you idiot!” Anna yelled, which made her cough, which made lake water pour out of her mouth. “You’re supposed to check for a pulse first.” But then she saw the look in the boy’s face—a mix between hurt, annoyance, and murderous rage—and her eyes found the ground. “Thanks,” she whispered.

With that, she was in his arms. Her hair had come undone in the water and the wind pushed it behind her face. Somehow, with this stunning boy in front of her, little annoyances like that—or the fact that her boots clashed with her haute couture gown—didn’t seem to matter.

And because she really didn’t care about the boots at all, she bent down and removed them. The boy, whose gorgeous looks seemed to grown on unused brain cells, removed his, too.

Soon they were in the air, the wind swirling around them. “Crap. Gravity,” the boy said, holding on to her tightly.

The wind picked up, tossing them in separate directions. Her hand grabbed for his, but he was being pulled further and further away.

           

At the last minute, wings unfurled from his back. “What the—” Anna stopped when he rammed into her, driving her back toward the earth.

They ended up in a tree, in possibly the most uncomfortable and awkward position to ever have graced a YA book cover.

“Are you my guardian angel?” she asked. The boy (whose name she learned was Gus—it seemed only proper to exchange names considering she was sitting on a tree between his legs, resting on his stomach) laughed. “No, not an angel. I’m a mutant. I used to be human and now I’ve been … altered.”

Well, she thought, he might not be human, but he was hot. So they got down from the tree (safety first), put on their heavy boots, and made out like crazy.

But after a while she kind of wasn’t into it.

“I could kiss you forever,” Gus said. Anna crossed her fingers behind her back. “Me too.”

When his tongue was done mauling hers, Gus and his mutant wings flew away to save other girls in need. Anna sat on the cold ground and went back to being depressed.

It wasn’t until she felt something icy against her cheek that she noticed the butterfly incased in ice. “Just like I used to be,” she said, thinking of her glass bubble as she held the cube. “You’re better off staying in there, little guy.”

As she spoke to the butterfly, the ice began to melt. But Anna was too sad to notice so she talked and talked to the frozen butterfly until it wasn’t in ice anymore.

Before she could tell it she was sorry, a gust of wind rushed across the plain, and the little butterfly was swept up, up into the sky.

*To read more about any of these books, click the cover.