Cover Stories: Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Stolarz

Laurie Stolarz is part of the Girlfriend Cyber Circuit, and she's on tour this week! So I asked her to stop by and tell the Cover Story behind her latest release Deadly Little Secret, which Kirkus Reviews says has "CW-worthy dialogue." It's the first in her Touch Series. Here's a little bit about the book: Until three months ago, everything about sixteen-year-old Camelia's life had been fairly ordinary: decent grades; an okay relationship with her parents; and a pretty cool part-time job at an art studio downtown. But when Ben, the mysterious new guy, starts junior year at her high school, Camelia's life becomes far from ordinary. Rumored to be somehow responsible for his ex-girlfriend's accidental death, Ben is immediately ostracized by everyone on campus. Except for Camelia. She's reluctant to believe he's trouble, even when her friends try to convince her otherwise. Instead she's inexplicably drawn to Ben...and to his touch. But soon, Camelia is receiving eerie phone calls and strange packages with threatening notes. Ben insists she is in danger, and that he can help--but can he be trusted? She knows he's hiding something...but he's not the only one with a secret. Oooh... and the cover reflects that eerie feeling too. Here's Laurie, who says she didn't even know they were working on the cover yet, until she got a jpeg in her inbox: "My editor e-mailed me a picture of the jpeg. As soon as I saw it, I loved it. It's probably my favorite cover yet. I love the color scheme. And I love how the girl's hand is sort of translucent, lending itself to the topic of psychometry (the ability to sense things through touch). One of the main characters in Deadly Little Secret has this ability, and this mystical touch really works well, I think, without being too fantastical or overdone. I asked my editor how the cover came to be and she said the art person was really inspired and the cover came together really quickly. Everyone was pleased with it, including me." Sometimes a Cover Story is just that short and sweet! I love this cover, because I think the flowing dress is just perfect, the grassy/mossy ground with her bare feet in it looks somehow both soothing and scary, and the treatment of the title--with the illustrated lace frame--is just gorgeous. What do you guys think? Laurie's also running a great contest on her blog--think of a soundtrack for the book and you can be entered to have a minor character in Deadly Little Lies, the second book in the Touch Series, named after you. That would be cool. PS-Last week's winner of an Elizabeth Scott book of her choice is... bookworm! Send me your address, bw, and let me know which of Elizabeth's books you'd like!