Cover Love-- Creating your own book covers

I have sort of a lukewarm feeling toward Valentine's Day. I love my husband. I don't need a single day of the year to give/receive romance and appreciation. That said, it's a great excuse to find a babysitter and go out on a date. I'm never averse to a little extra romance amidst the everyday romance.

But that's not what this post is about. It's about LOVE, yes...but it's about something I LOVE about writing that, uh, has nothing to do with writing.

I love making mock covers for my books. I'm not an expert in graphic design, and I don't even have Photoshop. My covers are pretty basic; I have two steps.

1. Make a list of words that reflect your book's themes, plot points, and characters. Then do a Google image search for those.

2. I pull the images I want into a freeware program called GIMP. I do some tweaking, effects, rearranging, image combinations, and text creation for the titles.

And voila! I get a temporary face for my book. Here are some designs I've played with for my current WIPs.

This is the cover for Devolutionaries. I had a hard time coming up with a cover for this one. I think this one looks awesome, but I'm not sure it really captures the book. [image removed]

This one is for Black and Blue. While the story is currently waiting its turn because I got wrapped up in another project, I love the cover! [image removed]

And now for my favorite...the cover for The Unhappening of Genesis Lee. A few effects turned the basic picture into something that reflects the story. [image removed]

So, my friends, what fun things do you do with your WIPs that have nothing to do with the writing of it? Have you ever made your own covers, just to put a face on your book?

And don't forget, you can enter to win a critique from agent Sarah LaPolla and editor C.A. Marshall-- and help five kids in Africa get an education!

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Cliffhanger

So, I know I said I don't usually do blogfests...but a cliffhanger fest was too irresistible to pass up! Check out the other entries here, and here is the 500-words-or-less cliffhanger for Devolutionaries, chapter 1!

Grandad closed his eyes a minute, like he was listening for something. “They’ve come for me.”

“Who?” My throat tightened in panic, and my voice came out in a quiet screech. I already knew who. “What are we going to do?”

“Listen. They’re not going to kill me, okay?”

But there wasn’t another option. Unless… “They’re going to Disappear you? How do you know that?”

“I just know.”

What was that supposed to mean? Nobody knew exactly why the Government Disappeared anybody, just that somebody would suddenly be gone. None of their things missing, no hint about what had happened. No sign of a struggle.

“How can you—“

“Doesn’t matter,” Grandad said. “You just have to know they’re going to keep me alive. And you have to stay that way if you want to help. Now, I want you to stay here, behind the door. There’s only one of them. He’ll come for me, and when he does, run. Somewhere with lots of people. Go to the arcade. Then find Jay.”

I glared at him. “I’m not taking off on you like Wes. If there’s only one, I can attack him when he goes for you.”

“No!” His voice was sharp. “There’s only one because they only need one. He’ll kill you if you try that. You run. Find Jay.”

Suddenly, he stood up straighter. Then he strode across the room and stood over the boiling pot. “Do it, kiddo.”

He smiled at me, and I felt a sharp pain in my throat.

The door flew open and I threw my hand up to keep it from hitting my nose. Footsteps, then a clanging noise, a splash, a stranger’s yell. In my panic, a hysterical giggle rose up. There’d be signs of struggle after they Disappeared Grandad. Something crashed, and wood splintered. A sharp pfft echoed through the room, followed by a dull thump.

The room went silent, raising the hairs on my arm. Had he shot Grandad after all? I risked a peek around the door. The agent was kneeling next to Grandad, pulling the needle of a tranq bullet from a blue-stained spot on Grandad’s shoulder. He was alive. I started breathing again.

The agent’s back was still to me. It was now or never. I swung the door forward and dashed around it. My heart didn’t seem to beat to a normal rhythm, and I ran wildly through the night. I tripped over pavement cracks, darted into side streets, and skirted the corners where the military police clutched their guns. My feet pounded forward, and I grabbed at the pain growing in my side.

I stopped a few blocks from the arcade. Sucking in big gulps of air, I sank to the ground. I dropped my head between my knees. My mind buzzed, and thoughts didn’t stay long enough to register. Only two things made sense, and they pounded in my head with every gasping breath. Grandad. Disappeared.

Some people said Disappeared was worse than dead.

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First 250 Words Blogfest on Saturday!

So a few weeks back, I entered my first line in a blog contest for an agent critique. I was picked as a finalist, and posted my first 250 words for the next part of the contest.

And as soon as I did, I realized that my first 250 words were not at all what I wanted them to be. Luckily, I'm in revisions! Even though I didn't win the contest, I feel like I sort of did anyway because of what I learned about my wip.

AND, because Elle Strauss is awesome, she's holding a blogfest on Saturday for everyone to share their first 250 words! I don't usually do blogfests, but this one really got me thinking about my wip. I'd encourage everybody to go sign up! It's amazing what you can learn about your wip just by pulling out your first 250 words and taking a hard look at them.

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Thank You!

Wow, I'm blown away by the responses from yesterday's Great Blogging Experiment!

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone, and welcome to my new followers!

And...I'm only two followers away from 100, which means I'm two followers away from hosting an awesome Giveaway!

And...just a hint...every follower can win something. It's going to be that awesome. Because you're that awesome.

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The Awesomeness of Mail

I love the mail. Every day when I get home from work, I immediately go to the mailbox, anticipating treasures. Most of the time, of course, there is only junk. But sometimes, something awesome comes, and it makes the mail anticipation totally worth all those days of disappointment.

Today, for example, I opened the mailbox to find this awesomeness:

Oh yes, my friends. That would be an ARC of the fabulous James Dashner's The Scorch Trials. And...

Oh yes, my friends. It is signed. Woot! Thanks, Mr. Dashner. :)

I literally whooped when I pulled it out of the envelope. Check back in a week or two, when I'll be doing a review! And in the meantime, go check out the first book, The Maze Runner. It even comes out in paperback on August 24th. Go forth and read!

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Raffle Winners and Disneyland

Okay folks, the winners of the raffle for the Reach for the Stars Ghana education project have been announced! Congrats to the winners. :) You can still donate at any time through the website and help the kids get their high school education.

In other news, I'll be out of town this next week. Disneyland, here I come! This will be the first real vacation with my little man, and the first trip in over a year with my hubs, so I'm extra excited. Needless to say, I won't be blogging much. However, I do have 2 guest blogs this week over at Literary Life Notes! So go visit my friend and writing group buddy Chersti to see what I have to say on the importance of setting. (I'll post links here on separate posts.) And check out some of Chersti's other posts, she's got some good ones.

Hope ya'll have a fabulous week!

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Sign Me Up for Jane Austen's Fight Club!

This was too funny not to share!

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Which Dystopic Future is Right for You?

Go decide now-- you're future could depend on it!

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Still on the mend...

...but just had to post an awesome link. Angie Smibert from the League of Extraordinary Writers has put up a Random Dystopian World Generator.

Of all the awesomness in the world, I think this definitely ranks among the highest of the high!

P.S. The League currently has some great posts on creating a dystopic world, too.

Happy linking!

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