Saturday Snapshot

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky at At Home with Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Sunset on St. Pete Beach, Florida. Late May.

Friday Five

I decided to copy Kim Baccellia and do a Friday Five this week.
1.  Cirque du Soliel - Alegria

 I love, love, love Cirque du Soliel performances.  My husband and I actually saw Alegria in Paris in 2007, so when the show came to Jacksonville, I knew we had to take the girls.  As a member of Club Cirque (told you I loved it), I could buy advance tickets, so we ended up being in the front row on the floor, literally like 3 feet away from the stage.  The clowns and bird people were close enough to give my daughter a balloon and pat hubby on the head. We felt the rush of air when the performers landed right in front of us. It was awesome. If you've never been to one of their shows, I can't recommend it enough.

2.  Beach time with the family -- after the excitement of Sunday's performance, we spent an incredibly relaxing 4th of July on the beach. 
When the tide went out, we got to see the coquinas doing something we'd never seen before.  They stuck some part of their body out of their shells, so that it was above the sand while the shell was buried, and they looked like these mini anemones.  The girls collected dozens and relocated them to their own private beach colony.  They even had an open white clam shell mirror.  Very chic.

3.  Starcrossed.  I wasn't sure about it during the first 2 chapters, but now I'm pretty well hooked.  Can't wait to see what happens.  Sort of hoping that Helen kills Hector.  He's annoying me.

4.  Destined.  I'm now more than 2/3s of the way through revisions and it's feeling really "right."  My lovely and talented CP - Lynne - is being like my own personal cheerleader and I can't thank her enough!

5.  Sprint Tri.  And no, it's not me. But hubby is doing his last one of the summer tomorrow and I wish him luck as he strives to beat his last time (and maybe even win a new bike in the raffle).  Good luck, sweetie!

Introducing Cover Artist, Josh Longiaru

By now, you've probably all had the chance to see my fabulous cover.  And last week, I even told you the story of how I met my cover artist, Josh Longiaru.  But this week, I want you to meet him and see some more of his work -- 'cause he's just that awesome.

So without further ado, I introduce you to Josh --

1.  How did you get started designing novel covers?

I've been dabbling in graphic and print design for about 15 years.  I started mainly with retouching photos for friends and family or designing the occasional greeting card.  I then began getting more serious and continued with photo manipulations, rebranding for logo businesses, and some basic web design.  I didn't start on novel covers until I stumbled upon a YA Book Blog that was having a contest for the best re-designed cover redesign.  Being a bit competitive, I did some research and started entering contests.  It sort of took off from there.

2.  Obviously, I think you're very talented. ;)  How many different programs or skills did it take you to create the cover for DESTINED?

I used three programs, all Adobe: Photoshop, Illustrator, and inDesign.  Photoshop was used for the photo retouching.  Illustrator was used for the title and the rest of the graphics.  inDesign was used for the final layout and text placement. 

3.  Since you only recently got into freelancing, I assume you have a day job.  Does it involve the same skill set you use for cover art?

My day job is in roughly the same genre - I'm an IT Director for a non-profit healthcare agency.  The title roughly means that I get the fun task of managing anything that plugs in, any of the software that runs on anything that plugs in, and anything else that's needed to let the things that plug in function or communicate.  I also get to provide support to everyone in our agency that uses any of aforementioned devices or services. 

[[ Jessie's note -- since computers tend to hate me, this job sounds like one of my personal circles of hell.  So glad there are people like Josh in the world so I don't have to worry about these sorts of things.]]

4.  Can you share with us some of your other favorite covers you've created? 

I am happy to say that your cover is the first book cover that's actually going to be printed!  All of my previous covers have been re-designs for contests or fun.  Although thanks to you, I am currently working on several other covers for books that will also hit the shelf in coming months.  You can see some of my covers as well as a few other examples of my print media work here: http://jlongiaru.carbonmade.com/

 [[Jessie's note -- Lauren Hammond gave me permission to post her cover for Famished, which Josh also designed.]]

5.  In addition to covers, you also designed my countdown widget and are helping with promotional materials (bookmarks, business cards, etc.) for the novel.  Can you give us an idea of the full range of your services?

In my real job, I need to be a jack-of-all-trades.  This has translated pretty well to my freelance jobs as well.  So far I've done everything from full business rebranding (logo, business cards, letterhead, envelopes, banners, etc), designed full websites and online surveys, photo retouching and manipulation, basic flash programming, and tried to do just about anything else a client might need. 

6.  What's the best way for someone to get in touch with you?

You can contact me via the website: http://jlongiaru.carbonmade.com/  Or e-mail me directly: josh.longiaru [at] gmail [dot] com

7.  Random fact: What would readers of a YA lit blog be most surprised to learn about you?

As much of a geek as I am, I still refuse to use any electronic device to read books.  There's just something about holding a book that's too satisfying to relinquish just yet. 

Thanks very much Jessie!  It's been great working with you so far and I can't wait to see what else we can create together! 

Jessie's note: I can say the same to you, Josh!  Folks, if you are ever in need of a designer for your cover, Lauren and I cannot recommend Josh enough.

Happy Debut YA Book Birthday!

Hope you all enjoyed a wonderful long weekend and enjoyed your 4th of July activities!  Now that we're back to the grind, let's take a moment to celebrate the release of these debut YA novels.

July 4th:

Lost Voices by Sarah Porter (this is one I read early via NetGalley - you can check out my review here)

Fourteen-year-old Luce has had a tough life, but she reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on the cliffs outside of a grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation and becomes a mermaid. A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the rocks. Luce possesses an extraordinary singing talent, which makes her important to the tribe—she may even have a shot at becoming their queen. However her struggle to retain her humanity puts her at odds with her new friends. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?


July 5th:

Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray

Meet Ophelia: a blonde, beautiful high-school senior and long-time girlfriend of Prince Hamlet of Denmark. Her life is dominated not only by her boyfriend's fame and his overbearing family, but also by the paparazzi who hound them wherever they go. As the devastatingly handsome Hamlet spirals into madness after the mysterious death of his father, the King, Ophelia rides out his crazy roller coaster life, and lives to tell about it. In live television interviews, of course.

Passion, romance, drama, humor, and tragedy intertwine in this compulsively readable debut novel, told by a strong-willed, modern-day Ophelia.

A Scene from a Scary Movie by Matt Blackstone

Rene, an obsessive-compulsive fourteen year old, smells his hands and wears a Batman cape when he's nervous. If he picks up a face-down coin, moves a muscle when the time adds up to thirteen (7:42 is bad luck because 7 + 4 + 2 = 13), or washes his body parts in the wrong order, Rene or someone close to him will break a bone, contract a deadly virus, and/or die a slow and painful death like someone in a scary scene in scary movie. Rene's new and only friend tutors him in the art of playing it cool, but that's not as easy as Gio makes it sound.

Paradise by Jill S. Alexander

Paisley Tillery is the drummer for a country rock band. If they can make it to the stage at the Texapalooza music fest, then Paisley will be closer to her dream of a career in music and a ticket out of her small Texas town.

Drumming and music are what Paisley has always wanted. Until the band gets a new lead singer, the boy from Paradise, Texas. With Paradise in her life, what Paisley wants, and what she needs, complicate her dreams coming true.

July 8th


Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. by Medeia Sharif

No pizza. No boyfriend. (No life.)

Okay, so during Ramadan, we're not allowed to eat from sunrise to sunset. For one whole month. My family does this every year, even though I've been to a mosque exactly twice in my life. And it's true, I could stand to lose a few pounds. (Sadly, my mom's hotness skipped a generation.) But is starvation really an acceptable method? I think not.

Even worse, my oppressive parents forbid me to date. This is just cruel and wrong. Especially since Peter, a cute and crushable artist, might be my soul mate. Figures my bestest friend Lisa likes him, too. To top it off, there's a new Muslim girl in school who struts around in super-short skirts, commanding every boy's attention-including Peter's. How can I get him to notice me? And will I ever figure out how to be Muslim and American?

How I Got My Cover

You can't judge a book by it's cover... only, everyone does.  So when I decided to put out Destined, I knew the cover had to be breathtaking.  Something that would compete with the look of the big houses without breaking the bank.  And then fortune smiled on me and I met my designer online.  At the risk of sounding cheesy, I think it was destined.  ;)

I entered a blog contest to win a copy of Shade by Jerri Smith-Ready and low and behold, I won.  When I went to the YA Book Queen's blog to read some more of her posts, I noticed that another person had won both Shade and the sequel, Shift. This person -- JL -- had won by designing alternate book covers for the two titles.

In a word, they were amazing.  I knew this was who I wanted to make the cover for Destined.  I contacted the blogger, who got me in touch with JL -- who turned out to be the super-fabulous Josh Longiaru (stay tuned for his interview next week) and he said he's never done a cover-for-hire before, but he'd be willing to give it a try.  SQUEE.

First step, picking a concept.  I knew I really liked the covers of Falling Under and Abandon, so I was going for something along those lines.  With that in mind, we both started hunting for stock photos that would work.

Now, you've got to know this about my novel: it's a retelling of the Cupid & Psyche myth, where Psyche is the most beautiful woman in the world.  So you might say I was a bit "picky" when it came to finding a face I liked well enough to fit the bill.

I found my cover photo on DeviantArt and instantly fell in love with it.  Only it wasn't for sale.  And the owner/photographer lived in Norway.  I tried to put it out of my mind and looked for something else.  But when my daughter woke me up at 2 am and I couldn't go back to sleep for hours, I decided, what the heck, it can't hurt to ask if she'd sell me the rights to it.  I sent an e-mail in the middle of the night our time.

When I got up the next morning, the self-portrait artist, Perri Eriksen, had responded that she was flattered and yes, she'd sell me the photo as a stock image for my book.  Cue jumping over the moon.

From there, the rest came easy.  Sure, I had to make sure I paid royalties on the fonts since they were for commercial use.  And I had to write the back cover copy.  And we went through lots of "just tweak this" and "can you change that?"  But in the end, I am SO happy.

I don't know how authors can stand to sit back and have no input on their covers.  I was grateful that Josh had artistic vision and came up with ideas for me to give the thumbs up or thumbs down, but I loved having that choice!

I want to thank everyone for their support of the novel thus far.  We're still months from launching, and I have friends sending me shout outs, which has led to new twitter followers, Goodreads friends, and I'm sure visits to Amazon.  So, THANK YOU!!  The YA reading and writing community is amazing and I love being a part of it.