Everyone is raving about Andrea Cremer's Nightshade, and I need to read it! The cover is enchanting, so at least I've got the scoop on that. Here's Andrea:
"I had a couple of ideas for the cover--one involved wolves, shadows, and blood; the other was that it would feature the Elemental Cross, an image that plays an important role in the series. I envisioned a more abstract cover than the image we ended up with.
"My publisher did ask for input and at first we were going for the wolves, shadows, blood thing, but then they found Suza Scalora's art--she's the photographer who shot the cover--and we all loved it so we switched gears and focused on finding a model who could be transformed into Calla for the cover.
"I gasped when I saw the cover, as it was so, so beautiful. It was different then anything I'd imagined, but I couldn't love it more. To be honest I wasn't sure how I'd feel about having a face on the cover, but Suza and the art director at Penguin, Linda, absolutely nailed it. Plus I adore the bloody calla lilies. My editor got to drip the blood on the flowers herself!
"The cover didn't change much from the original version. The blood drop was a bit longer, we made sure the 't' in Nightshade resembled the tattoo on Shay's neck and Calla's eye went from green to gold.
"Suza Scalora did a photo shoot with a model. [Wolfsbane and Bloodrose, the next books in this series, will also be shot by Suza Scalora.]
"I couldn't be happier with the Nightshade cover. It fits the book perfectly--it's alluring, mysterious and dangerous. Calla's face is just as I imagined it; people sometimes ask me about the makeup she's wearing because Calla doesn't wear makeup. To me the cover offers an artistic rendering of a particular moment in the story--the makeup to me represents the twilight shadows cast on her face and the glitter is the sparkle of new snow on her cheeks. I don't take is as a literal depiction and I like it that way."
Thanks, Andrea! I love Suza Scalora's site and all the amazing beauty shots there--you guys should definitely scroll through. I think this cover is so soft and fresh looking on the one hand, and so deadly and evil on the other--such a cool balance. And sparkle. I love sparkle.
What do you guys think?