P.C. Cast, along with her daughter Kristin, is the author of the bestselling House of Night series. Some of her previous books are being reissued for Harlequin Teen's new line, so she's here to talk about the new covers they'll have. Thanks, P.C.!
"The cover story for the YA reissue of Elphame's Choice (right) and Brighid's Quest is a little unusual. When they were first published by LUNA, my fabulous editor, Mary-Theresa Hussey, and I had several conversations about how the strong, unique heroines should be portrayed. I remember the cover of Brighid's Quest was particularly interesting because both of us felt that it was important that the setting stay true to the descriptions in the book.
"Well, many of the most important scenes in the book are set in Partholon's Centaur Plains, which is basically Oklahoma's Tall Grass Prairie. So the original cover of Brighid included real flora from pictures taken of the Tall Grass Prairie by my mother! How cool is that?
"And how to top that?!
"You can imagine that Mary-Theresa and I had several in-depth conversations when the decision was made to reissue Elphame and Brighid as part of the launch of Harlequin TEEN. We loved the original covers, but we agreed that they really didn't focus enough on the YA appeal of the books. So we delved back into the world of Partholon, revisiting Elphame and Brighid with the intention of really bringing alive the heroines for the new covers.
"Mock-ups were done with stock photos, setting the look, and then real models were used for the two young heroines. Some of you may already know that in the land of Partholon many of my main characters are centaurs, so I especially love the cover effect that allows an illusion of a horse's mane wrapping around both books. I think the models were perfect, and I couldn't be happier with the new look for the series!"
I love seeing old evolve into new. So cool! And I think the new covers definitely look way more YA. What do you guys think of the new covers? Share your opinion at readergirlz for a chance to win prizes from Harlequin Teen (and I'd love to hear thoughts here too).