Cover Stories: Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott (+ a contest!)

Elizabeth Scott is an awesome author who writes heartfelt stories about first love and friendships and parental relationships (I've adored Bloom and the upcoming Something, Maybe, and can't wait to read the rest of her canon, which includes Stealing Heaven, Perfect You, and the upcoming Love You, Hate You, Miss You). Living Dead Girl is unlike most of her other work in that it's the story of a girl who was kidnapped at a young age and faces horrific abuse. It's not a G-rated tale, and the cover represents the novel's ominous feeling very well.So I had to ask Elizabeth: How did the cover come about? Here she is: "My editor at Simon Pulse always talks to me about the cover--the kind of look they're going for--and usually I see samples that they're thinking about using, which come from stock photos, or pictures that have already been taken. For LIVING DEAD GIRL, though, Simon Pulse had a photographer, Russell Gordon, take the pictures. "The very first cover was just a dress, and I liked it, but worried that it wasn't going to be eye-catching enough. With so many books out there, it's really important to have a cover that pops visually and that will grab a potential readers' attention. "The final cover was shot in Central Park, I believe (I know it was a park in Manhattan!) and Russell very patiently took about a million shots of different dresses on fall leaves. Oddly enough, the picture that ended up being chosen was one where Russell's leg had accidentally gotten into the shot, but as soon as I saw it, I *knew* it was the right one--it conveyed a sense of menace that the shots of just a dress didn't, and really did a great job of showing what the book is about--and all without words!" MW interruption: I told Elizabeth that we love to see photos of previous covers, and she didn't have any, but she did say... "I'm really sorry I don't have other images to share, so to make it up to your readers, how about you pick one commenter, and they can have a signed copy of any of my current books?" Thanks, Elizabeth! You heard the generous lady. Comment below, sharing what you think about this cover, and you'll be entered to win a signed copy of any of Elizabeth's already released books. Sweet. (I'll announce a winner next Monday, 12/29.) PS-I'm not going to be around much this week, so entertain yourself with this amazing post from Jocelyn of Teen Book Review fame. She waxes poetic about body image (and includes the Violet books--thanks, J!).