Cover Stories: Wolfsbane

Andrea Cremer shared the Cover Story for the hardcover of Nightshade last year, and since then I have eaten pizza with her and can confirm that she's as awesome as the books she writes. Seriously. And now she has a newly redesigned paperback! Plus, the second novel in the Nightshade trilogy, Wolfsbane, was just released. Here's Andrea to talk covers:

"I didn't have a specific idea for the cover, but it always involved wolves and blood.

"When I first saw the new covers, I was thrilled. To me the new covers depict Calla perfectly. The new Nightshade cover (right) drew on the poem that inspired Calla's character. The poem is one of Margaret Atwood's and its first stanza is 'Not you I fear but that other/she who walks through flesh/queen of the two dimensions.'

"The Wolfsbane cover: First of all it's green! My favorite color! I think it continues the theme of depicting Calla's strength. The concept is that she is crouched under the moon about to shift into wolf form. I love it!

"There were some small tweaks - usually about getting the color of Calla's eyes just right.

"The covers (both the originals, shown below, and the new designs) all feature the same model. Her name is Amber and she is the perfect Calla. Penguin had photo shoots for both designs.

 

"I love all the covers and I feel so lucky to have such a talented design department handling my books. Calla anchors the Nightshade trilogy so getting her right is essential - that has always happened and I couldn't be more thrilled!!!"

Thanks, Andrea! These books have been international bestsellers, and I think the cover change is really interesting. I actually adore the original covers, but maybe the new ones are more appealing to guys, too? Less girl-face-on-cover with bright colors?

In any case, this series is really great--smart, full of action and with lovely literary and historical nods.

What do you guys think of these covers?

Win-It Wednesday: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

The winner of last week's contest for Rosebush by Michele Jaffe is... Sarah, who was reading Dash and Lily's Book of Dares. Send me your address, S!This week's prize: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer. Oh, how I love this cover (and its origin story), and now you know this: The book is fantastic, too! It's smart and well-paced and full of rich history. So, you know, you want to read it. I have one lovely hardcover to give away, so if you'd like to enter to win it, leave a comment sharing your six-word memoir for the past week. (I love this game.) Mine would be: Instead of working out, ate Cheetos. I really need to get back to yoga. Tell me yours and you're entered! I'll pick a winner next week. Happy Wednesday!

Cover Stories: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

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?