I've been a graphic designer for many, many years. As a matter of fact, my day job is teaching graphic design at Bronx Community College where I have my students create their own cover designs. But it's only been recently that I've delved into the world of cover design myself. After getting the the amazing opportunity from my publisher, SPENCER HILL PRESS, to design my own cover, I've gone on to do quite a few more for them. The above cover for the forthcoming book, AWOKEN, is the first of the SHP covers to be revealed. Expect more to come.
Cover design, the way we do it at SHP, is a fascinating process. At SHP, it's a collaboration between the editor, the author and me. We really listen to what the author wants and try to represent the spirit of the book as authentically as possible. It's an incredibly exciting process. In some cases, I've only been given the blurb, as in the case with AWOKEN. In other cases, I've read the whole manuscript. It really depends on how long it takes me to grasp the fundamentals of the book.
It took a lot of comps for me to get this book right. I really had no idea how to portray this rather complex tale. Below, I've posted the final comp that became the cover you see above. What we do is find low rez images from stock photography houses and play around with them until we capture the right mojo. I've yet to set up a photo shoot, though SHP is open to that possibility. I guess it's my roots as an illustrator that drives me to combine multiple images to get the effect I am looking for. And of course, the final touch is the typography, something all my students at BCC know I am absolutely adamant and exacting about. (I give some of them type nightmares). For the final, the high rez images are purchased, and then the cover has to be rebuilt from scratch to look as similar to the comp as possible, and of course, cleaner, crisper and better.
If you want to see more of my cover designs, and keep up to date with new work as it is released, you can check out my page on here, or visit my Facebook designer page at: http://www.facebook.com/LisaAmowitzCoverDesigns?fref=ts
This is the final rough comp made of low rez images.
You can even see the stock houses watermark if you look closely enough.
Let's see..I am now part of a blog chain with my good friend Michelle McLean a bunch of other awesome authors. Look for my first post in this chain later this week. Also, I'm in a blog tag with Christine Foneeca.
Also, I have another interview and this is a really hot one. I'm going to be talking to one of my fave authors, Cinda Williams Chima, author of the super-great SEVEN REALMS fantasy series (THE DEMON KING, THE EXILED QUEEN, THE GREY WOLF THRONE). The fourth book in the series, THE CRIMSON CROWN is due out in October and I can't wait. Meanwhile, to whet your appetites, how about a look at the cinematic, theater quality trailer for the book.
Okay--so I wasn't aware of the fact that the film Donnie Darko, released in 2001 and ignored because it features a chunk of a jet engine falling out of the sky, and a kid who thinks the world is going to end in the very same year as 9-11-- has become a cult classic. I watched reluctantly when my hipster son told me I'd probably like it.
Understatement. Like it? Unknown to me, it's been informing my YA sensibilities in much the same way the guy in the rabbit suit stalked a very young and adorable Jake Gyllenhaal. My book BREAKING GLASS is about a troubled kid who may have brought a girl back from the dead or may be a hallucinating the whole thing---I've been influenced, indirectly, without even knowing it.
This movie came out before the young adult novel craze took hold, but I suppose, if I were a student of film I would be able to trace its roots to this film and others like it. It's probably not the first of its kind, or the last--but you see--at the time I was neither a college student or even a writer. I was just a young mom trying to cope with the insanity of 9-11 and this movie, I suppose got lost in the shuffle.
But there it is, a gem of weirdness (and I can see its connection to very weird movies and TV shows of my past such as Eraserhead and Twin Peaks). I'm sure there are others--as I said, I am not a scholar in this area. It's just so exciting for me to see a movie that really captures the vibe of my books.
But, Darko is really out there. I have been working hard to dial my tendency toward zaniness back--to focus on one strange event that sends all the characters in my books spinning out of control.
Darko is an enigma, so dense the director has a website and a director's cut to explain all the strange sci-fi gibberish that underscores the movie. But I guess that's not really what I love about this film. I love the idea of the ordinary boy toggling back and forth between the extraordinary and the mundane---I love how the adults in his life are woven into the tale, each with their own secrets and parts to play. I love how Donnie, distant and disaffected, discovers what life and the people around him really mean to him and just how far he'll go to protect them. Ahhh...it has all the elements of the best YA.
So if you haven't seen it---DO---if you have---share your insights thoughts, whatevers. I'd love to hear them.
Lately I've been working with a few lovely and talented beta readers and I notice they grapple with a common issue. Back story overload. Once I cut away two thirds of what they had written (and my their writing was lovely!) the wonderful stories they were telling emerged, glistening and lovely as morning dew. And, to their credit, each of them accepted the bloodbath and rewrote, to excellent results. I've been calling this bloodbath, "Killing Your Darlings" for years, a phrase I have gleefully borrowed from Stephen King from his book, ON WRITING. (If you haven't read it, get it NOW.) http://www.amazon.com/On-Writing-Stephen-King/dp/0743455967
I also find that backstory, how little or how much to include, still gives me headaches at the beginning of any new WIP. When I noticed this excellent blog post about back story dos and dont's I had to share it (with Janice Hardy's generous permission). You really should check this out. I think I'm going to look at this website every day. It's a huge treasure trove of writerly information.
Lately, I've found myself wishing either for an extra five-ten hours in the day or perhaps a pills that would let me do without sleep. And while we're at it, how about a personal chef and a very intelligent robot that can clean my house and buy my groceries. (and maybe do the laundry as well?). Then I'd also like a personal assistant to keep track of my appointments and someone to do---oh never mind. You get the point right?
Between thinking about marketing myself, doing design work, keeping up with my job, the household stuff (which includes paying attention to what my teenage daughter and college boy are up to) and oh yeah--the three WIPs I have going (did I mention critiquing and beta-reading?) I'm kind of on a creativity overload. I'm not complaining---it's all good. But, I've never been known for my cool methodical temperament. When you think of me, think of a cheerful storm, or as my colleague and I call ourselves once we get going--a detonation.
Yeah. It's an exciting time for me. But I am wanting to do everything at once. And I am finding it a little difficult to focus on writing with so many other cool projects begging for my attention (blog design, designing my website, book cover design, illustration---shall I continue?). Plus, my amazing publisher Spencer Hill Press and the incredible Kate Kaynak seems to be just like me--full of ideas and energy (but much more organized about it.) She's got me so excited, I'm about to bust (but I'm not breathing a word of what she's got me excited about--CIA swear as one of my students says.)
So, I want to know--how do you all handle it? I do drag myself to the gym and that helps. But seriously--maybe most of you aren't as kooky as me? If you are, I want to know (not you, Michelle!--I already know all about it, lol). This morning I'm really proud of myself--I ate breakfast before noon, showered and even painted my toenails..but it was a struggle.
How do you spell multi-tasking? D-I-S-T-R-A-C-T-I-O-N?
Here it is! I'm thrilled with the result, and I hope Sandi is too! It was fun trying to capture the essence of Sandi—funny, dark, gothic, romantic and Southern. I hope I succeeded.
I already loved Sandi's blog, which is one of the reasons she won this contest (in addition to following the rules and begging so eloquently). Sandi is a YA writer and a school librarian with some incredibly useful insight into the minds of actual real life teens (wow!) and their reading habits. She is also funny, interesting and super nice. It's really been great (and easy) working with her. So....
Please visit Sandi on MAD, BAD and DANGEROUS TO KNOW.
I've had it all over on Twitter and Facebook, but I guess it's time I put the news on my blog.
My book, BREAKING GLASS, is due out in June 2013 from Spencer Hill Press. Thank you to my agent Victoria Marini for her support and unflagging belief in my writing.
Here is a snippet:
Now (November 17th)
Outside the
dinner theater lobby, the glow of street lamps barely penetrates the thick mist
that shrouds the parking lot. It’s the kind of night that Jack the Ripper might
have prowled the cobblestoned streets of London searching for victims.
In the lobby,
fresh from the standing ovation he’s received as Tony in our production of
Westside Story, my best friend Ryan Morgan is surrounded by a crush of people.
For two weeks running his performance has been drawing crowds from all over
Westchester County, his surprising star turn unprecedented for a high school
junior.
I glance around
furtively, but no one notices the lighting guy. Truth is, my hearts not in
theater. I’m only working weekends to pad my college applications and my
wallet. So, I take a minute to study the latest text from Susannah Durban,
Ryan’s girlfriend of three years. Heat creeps to my cheeks.
For the past year
Susannah’s been inexplicably texting me with Youtube links to her haunting
stop-action animations. I watch her half-clothed body drift across the screen
draped with filmy gauze, her dark bronze hair and golden skin amid floating
leaves, graveyards, ballet dancers, Indian goddesses and scattered words in
Hebrew and English, most of which make no sense.
But other than
telling me the link is private and to keep it our little secret, Susannah never
mentions them when I see her. Neither do I.
Yet if I could
dive into my iPhone and swim beside her, an exotic fish in her private world, I
would do it and never look back.
And Ryan would
kill me. Best friends don’t want to do their
best friend’s girlfriend. I think that’s written somewhere.
I glance behind
me. Ryan is intertwined with Claudia Herman, the community college girl who
plays Maria. Claudia’s hot. And she’s slept with the whole track team. I think
of Susannah, mercifully out of town on a college visit.
My phone
vibrates. Susannah again. This time it’s an actual text.
I clench my jaw
and look away from Ryan and his latest fling, sworn to silence by the Guy Code
of Honor.
Jeremy! guess what. i’m here! got n earlier flight
I peer out into
night then glance at Ryan again.
Shit.
Claudia has one
toned leg coiled around Ryan’s tall frame like a boa constrictor. I fumble with
my phone. Texting under pressure has never been my strong suit.
Welcome to Christine Johnson, my good friend, critique partner and author of the upcoming YA paranormal romance, Claire de Lune. And stay tuned for another book giveaway contest!
Tell us a little about yourself.
I was born in Chicago, but moved to Indianapolis when I was too little to remember living anywhere else. I have two small kids and a wonderful husband. I write YA fantasy and I adore reading and chocolate and I have a degree in Political Science. Also, as you may have gathered, I have a talent for being exceptionally random.
Tell us about your upcoming release, CLAIRE DE LUNE. Tell us about any sequels you may have in store for readers.
CLAIRE DE LUNE! Coming to bookstores May 18th! Huzzah! Okay, now that that’s out of the way - CLAIRE DE LUNE is about Claire Benoit, a girl who discovers on her 16th birthday that she’s a werewolf. She’s descended from a long line of female werewolves - it’s actually a female-only species. Unfortunately, she’s also just begun a romance with Matthew Engle, the ultra-hot soccer star who’s father is leading the hunt for a rogue, human-killing werewolf in their hometown. Claire has to struggle with her new identity while also dealing with the danger that seems to be coming at her from every direction . . . with life-changing results. And there will be a sequel! It’s currently slated for publication in the summer of 2011. I’m drafting like mad. Writing like crazy. Staring at the computer endlessly. It’s awesome.
You somehow juggle a demanding writing regimen and raising two small children. How do you do it?
I don’t. Seriously. I could be a more effective mom if I wasn’t a writer. I could be a more effective writer if I wasn’t a mom. But I love both of those roles so much - they’re so essential to who I am. Also, I think I’m *better* at each of them because I am both. The logistics work because I have a really fabulous mom and a great husband and a couple of fantastic baby-sitters who help out with the kids so that I can get my writing done.
What inspires you?
I love this question! Great books inspire me. Every time I read something new that I really love, it makes me want to run off and write. I also always come back from long walks and hot showers with new ideas - that’s when the knotted-up scenes come unsnarled, or a sticky sub-plot gets greased. And NPR is great, too. Seriously! I’m always hearing stories on NPR that give me ideas for new things to think about - new jumping-off points for my own stories.
What advice to you have for aspiring writers?
Read. Write. Repeat. You can only know what you’re aspiring to by exposure - hence the reading. And you can only creep toward those aspirations by trying and failing and trying and failing and improving inch by inch until you’re good enough. And also - there’s a boatload of patience and a modicum of luck involved, so be prepared to weather the passage of much time and also the unfairness of an agent’s or editor’s personal tastes.
What kind of books would you like to see more of on the shelves?
Oooh! YA fantasy, just like the ones I write! (Heh. I’m working on my shameless self-promotion, since it doesn’t come naturally to me. How did that sound? Kidding!) Okay. I think - I really like the direction that the YA genre has gone in the last few years. The books, as a whole, are treating teens as legitimate, capable, discerning readers. Which they *are.* The more honest and well-crafted the books are, the better the genre does, the more teens read, and the happier I am. I think it’s happening already, but I really want to see it continue.
Tell us something we may not know about Christine Johnson.
Oh, man. Let’s see . . . I’m passionate about and obsessed with sharks. Matawan, NJ, anyone? I’m miserable at math. I can’t stand the word “ointment.” Just typing that made me shudder a little bit. Hey, Lisa! Thanks for having me by for an interview. I always love talking to you. Let’s do it again soon!
Thanks, Christine, or C as she is fondly known in our corner of the world. Gee, didn't know about the shark or ointment thing. That's pretty hysterical. I'm going to press you on that to find the root of your aversion when we meet up in June!
