Cover Stories: Mia the Magnificent by Eileen Boggess

I usually feature Young Adult books in the Cover Stories slot, but today I have Middle Grade author Eileen Boggess talking about her Mia trilogy.Here's a little about the latest book, Mia the Magnificent: "Mia Fullerton's life so far has been a series of misadventures, sometimes exciting, sometimes mortifying, and always hilarious (to anyone but Mia). But having already battled her shyness in Mia the Meek and acquired new confidence in Mia the Melodramatic, Mia has to face her greatest challenge yet--independence--in Mia the Magnificent. Take it away, Eileen! "I have absolutely no artisitic talent, so I had no idea how my cover should look. Fortunately, my editor, Bruce Bortz, hired Tammy Grimes to design the cover for Mia the Meek and I loved it! I have been happy with the covers ever since. "For Mia the Meek, Tammy designed three covers and Bruce asked which one I liked best. Both of us agreed that we liked the same cover, so it was easy. "For Mia the Melodramatic, there was a little more input. At first, I thought the cover should have Mia dressed as a clown. But when I saw the design, I thought it was a little scary and too childish for middle grade readers. Plus, I discovered there are a lot of people who are scared of clowns, which isn't a good thing when you are trying to sell a book! So, after a lot of revisions, Tammy came up with a cover that truly showed Mia's growth as a character (right). "The only input I gave for the cover of Mia the Magnificent was that Mia has brown eyes, not blue. I have been very fortunate that Bruce lets me have input on my cover designs. I have heard from many authors that they have had no say on their covers. "Only the cover for Mia the Melodramatic changed drastically. The rest were great from the start! "The covers were drawn specifically for my books. "I like how the covers show Mia's growth as a character. In Mia the Meek, Mia's face is hidden and she is reaching for a flower (which to me represents Mia reaching for greatness). In Mia the Melodramatic, Mia's face is partially shown and she is holding the flower, but it is limp (which represents that Mia is not quite there, yet). In Mia the Magnificent, Mia's face is fully shown and she is holding a perfectly healthy flower (which to me represents she made it!). I also like the lights in the Mia the Magnificent cover, which can be interpreted as headlights or spotlights." Here's the trio together: Thanks, Eileen! I love the colors and the almost comic-book pop of these covers. I think Mia the Meek is my favorite--her hair hanging down is really touching somehow. Also, I'm glad Eileen piped up about the clowns. Totally scary to me too! What do you guys think?