Melissa C. Walker's Blog, page 56

Bonus Cover Stories: A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott

[image error] Zetta Elliott is here today to talk about the covers for A Wish After Midnight . Zetta self-published the book at first, and then it was picked up by AmazonEncore for traditional publishing! Lyn Miller-Lachmann wrote a beautiful review of Zetta's book for readergirlz, so check that out. Here's Zetta:"My story's a little unusual because I first wrote AWAM in 2003, and at that time I had no idea whatsoever what I wanted the cover to look like. I was just happy to have finished, and I was sending...

Win-It Wednesday: Teen Fiction Cafe

The winner of last week's contest for All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab is... Theresa W.! Send me your address, T. [image error] This week, I'm over at Teen Fiction Cafe celebrating three years with the my fellow author-bloggers Alyson Noel, Amanda Ashby, Erica Orloff, Jessica Burkhart, Kay Cassidy, Kelly Parra, Lauren Baratz-Logsted, Linda Gerber, Sara Hantz, Stephanie Kuehnert, Wendy Toliver and Sara Zarr (click on their names to read their TFC posts and enter their contests). For the third anniversary of...

A Manifesto of Imaginative Literature by Justin Allen

[image error] A few weeks ago, Justin Allen was here to talk about his cover for Year of the Horse, and the comments were abuzz with discussion about whether the dark cowboy silhouette and Asian-inspired title represented all the characters of the characters in his book (it's a multicultural cast -- yay!), or whether it spoke to a white Old West image.Since then, Justin's given some thought to the categorization of books, and he has a three-part essay on that topic that starts on SF Signal. Check out Why W...

Cover Stories: Hot Girl by Dream Jordan

[image error] When I saw the cover for Dream Jordan's Hot Girl, I couldn't stop staring at it. It is so up-close and arresting--and I love her expression. So hard to figure out but so intriguing!So, you know, I emailed Dream. And she told me this story:"Originally, I envisioned my protagonist Kate dressed in sweats, sitting on a park bench with a basketball under her foot. I thought by depicting Kate as a tomboy, the reader would get a welcoming surprise when she's made over into a HOT GIRL. "My publisher...

Sunday Song: Madinthemoon Does Taylor Swift

You guys know I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan. But I also really enjoyed this parody -- it's the song that youtube's Madinthemoon wishes Taylor would write (I have to say I agree on lots of points).



However you feel about it, it's creative. What do you guys think?

Happy Sunday!

Bonus Cover Stories: Reality Check by Jen Calonita

[image error] Jen Calonita writes really awesome books for Little, Brown's POPPY imprint ( Secrets of My Hollywood Life series, anyone?). Her next novel, Reality Check , has a unique, doll-covered cover. She posted a full Cover Story at her own site, and she let me excerpt a little bit. Here's Jen:"I'm lucky to work with a wonderful publisher that always shares their ideas with me, but I can't take any credit for the fabulous ideas and designs. It's all them! Thankfully I always adore what they do. I'm parti...

Photo Friday: More Cats

Just two quick shots of cat life at my apartment:

When a fur coat came over to visit...

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The way Winnie is staring at me right now. Disdain? Admiration? Who can tell.

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Happy Friday!

Cover Story + Crafty Bookmark

[image error] Two things to say today:1. I interviewed Amy Brecount White about her cover for Forget-Her-Nots, and that post is up at Barnes and Noble's Unabashedly Bookish blog. An excerpt: "The flowers in the shot are scarlet poppies, which mean 'fantastic extravagance' in the language of flowers. I think that perfectly describes my main character Laurel's relationship with blooms throughout the novel."Go read the full story if you have a minute! (Amy's also doing a fun Spread the Flower Love Blog Tour,...

Win-It Wednesday + Cover Stories: All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab

[image error] The lovely Anna Jarzab is here to talk about her novel's cover. All Unquiet Things, which The Compulsive Reader called "[A:] complex, smart, and disquieting debut." Plus, Anna's giving a copy of her book to one lucky commenter, whom I'll choose at random next week (announced on Weds as usual). Take it away, Anna!"It surprises me now, considering how obsessively I thought of this book, how little I thought about what the cover might look like. I had dinner with my editor and my agent a few mont...

Happy Birthday, Readergirlz + Scotts (Westerfeld and Elizabeth) + Prizes

[image error] readergirlz is three years old! Amazing! So here's what we do: Every month, we feature a book that has a strong female protagonist. Then, the author writes discussion questions for us to talk about on the blog all month long (we post two each week). There are also fun extras, like the author's soundtrack to the book, a reach out volunteer project for each book, an interview with the featured author and more! It's kinda like a big party. (Especially the LIVE chats.)It's a lot of fun working wi...