In case you haven't yet seen ...

This is the cover for SANCTUM. Many of you have already seen it and have let me know what you think of it, and I appreciate every single kind and enthusiastic word! For those of you who haven't yet seen, it was revealed on Sunday on the Mundie Moms blog, where I answered some really great questions from Katieb about the story and its characters (my first interview! Please check it out!). Here's the summary/flap copy:

A week ago, seventeen-year-old Lela Santos's best friend, Nadia, killed herself. Today, thanks to a farewell ritual gone awry, Lela is standing in paradise, looking upon a vast gated city in the distance – hell. No one willingly walks through the Suicide Gates, into a place smothered in darkness and infested with depraved creatures. But Lela isn't just anyone – she's determined to save her best friend's soul, even if it means sacrificing her eternal afterlife.

As Lela struggles to find Nadia, she's captured by the Guards, enormous, not-quite-human creatures that patrol the dark city's endless streets. Their all-too-human leader, Malachi, is unlike them in every way except one: his deadly efficiency. When he meets Lela, Malachi forms his own plan: get her out of the city, even if it means she must leave Nadia behind. Malachi knows something Lela doesn't – the dark city isn't the worst place Lela could end up, and he will stop at nothing to keep her from that fate.

As you may know, most authors don't design their own covers (and that's good, because I am the least visual person on the planet--I'm made entirely of words). You may also know that not every author actually *likes* her cover. It happens sometimes.

I LOVE this cover. I also enjoyed the process. I was given the chance to have quite a bit of input, starting with offering my own ideas, supplying reference images, and offering my take on the appropriate mood and tone. Then, I was given the opportunity to review a few rounds before we reached this final product, but at each step along the way, I really felt like my editor and cover designer listened. Despite experiencing that, I was still stunned by this cover; it's about ten times better than I ever imagined it could be (which is why it's a wonderful thing that I didn't have to design it myself). It captures Lela's vulnerable-yet-unbreakable spirit, the absolute immensity of what she's facing as she searches for the friend she lost to suicide, and the hope and determination that propels the story.

Anyway, if you're interested, you can add Sanctum to your TBR shelf on Goodreads. Also, I now have an author website you can check out here. If you're a person who "likes" things on the Facebook, my page is right here. And if you happen to want to pre-order SANCTUM, it's right here--or stop by this blog/Goodreads over the next few months because I think I'll be giving away some ARCs! I promise you, I will not get spammy with all this stuff, but you know. I had to mention it. And I'm kind of excited.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!