Cover Reveal!

Hey, blogfrogs: Surf on over to The Book Smugglers blog to see the cover reveal for The Wand & the Sea today! Better yet, you can win a signed ARC (advance reader's copy) of the book. So get your mouse moving.

And while you're at it, head over to Shannon Messenger's blog for more Marvelous Middle Grade Monday fun!

Cover Reveal at Last!

Yes, and this time, it's mine! Book blogger IceyBooks is hosting an exclusive reveal of the cover of my forthcoming fantasy novel for kids of all ages, The Key & the Flame. And to make it extra special, I'll be giving away an advanced reader's copy (ARC)* of the book too. Enter the giveaway over at IceyBooks as well, and thanks for sharing my excitement!

-- SORRY, BUT THIS GIVEAWAY HAS CLOSED --

*P.S. Wondering what an ARC is? It's a bound copy of the uncorrected proofs of the book, usually handed out to book reviewers in advance of publication. It looks like a paperback, with all the elements of the finished copy--cover, dedication, etc. But it will have a few typos.

More Gorgeous 2013 Covers

Kidlit authors who will debut in 2013 are known as The Lucky 13s. Most of us middle-grade authors don't have covers yet, but the YA covers are coming down the pipeline, fast and furious! Here are some more, with synopses:

Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans
January 15, 2013, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Since her untimely death the day before her eighteenth birthday, Felicia Ward has been trapped in Level 2, a stark white afterlife located between our world and the next. Along with her fellow prisoners, Felicia passes the endless hours downloading memories and mourning what she’s lost—family, friends, and the boy she loved, Neil.

Then a girl in a neighboring chamber disappears, and nobody but Felicia seems to recall she existed in the first place. Something is obviously very wrong. When Julian—a dangerously charming guy Felicia knew in life—comes to offer Felicia a way out, she learns the truth: a rebellion is brewing to overthrow the Morati, the guardians of Level 2.

Felicia is reluctant to trust Julian, but then he promises what she wants the most—to be with Neil again—if only she’ll join the rebels. Suspended between Heaven and Earth, Felicia finds herself in the center of an age-old struggle between good and evil. As memories from her life come back to haunt her, and as the Morati hunt her down, Felicia will discover it’s not just her own redemption at stake… but the salvation of all mankind.

The Culling by Steven dos Santos
March 8, 2013, Flux

Who would you choose?

Lucian “Lucky” Spark has been recruited for training by the totalitarian government known as The Establishment. According to Establishment rules, if a recruit fails any level of the violent training competitions, a family member is brutally killed . . . and the recruit has to choose which one.

As the five recruits form uneasy alliances in the hellish wasteland that is the training ground, an undeniable attraction develops between Lucky and the rebellious Digory Tycho. But the rules of the training ensure that only one will survive—the strongest recruits receive accolades, wealth, and power while the weakest receive death.

With Cole—Lucky’s four-year-old brother—being held as “incentive,” Lucky must marshal all his skills and use his wits to keep himself alive, no matter what the cost.

 Nobody But Us by Kristin Halbrook
January 29, 2013, HarperTeen

Bonnie and Clyde meets Simone Elkeles in this addictively heart-wrenching story of two desperate teenagers on the run from their pasts.

They’re young. They’re in love. They’re on the run.

Zoe wants to save Will as much as Will wants to save Zoe. When Will turns eighteen, they decide to run away together. But they never expected their escape to be so fraught with danger....

When the whole world is after you, sometimes it seems like you can’t run fast enough.

Nobody But Us, told in alternating perspectives from Will and Zoe, is an unflinching novel, in turns heartbreaking and hopeful, about survival, choices, and love...and how having love doesn’t always mean that you get a happy ending. Described as “beautiful, heartbreaking, and exhilarating” by Kody Keplinger, author of The DUFF, Nobody But Us will prove irresistible to fans of Nina Lacour, Jenny Han, and Sara Zarr.

 Belle Epoque by Elizabeth Ross
January 8, 2013, Random House Children's Books

When Maude Pichon runs away from provincial Brittany to Paris, her romantic dreams vanish as quickly as her savings. Desperate for work, she answers an unusual ad. The Durandeau Agency provides its clients with a unique service?the beauty foil. Hire a plain friend and become instantly more attractive. — Monsieur Durandeau has made a fortune from wealthy socialites, and when the Countess Dubern needs a companion for her headstrong daughter, Isabelle, Maude is deemed the perfect adornment of plainness.

But Isabelle has no idea her new "friend" is the hired help, and Maude's very existence among the aristocracy hinges on her keeping the truth a secret. Yet the more she learns about Isabelle, the more her loyalty is tested. And the longer her deception continues, the more she has to lose.

Inspired by a short story written by Emile Zola, Belle Epoque is about that beautiful time in Paris, when the Moulin Rouge was at its peak of decadence, the city's men and women were the most beautiful, and morality was at its most depraved.

Fabulous Covers

Some of my colleagues over at The Lucky 13s got to reveal their covers recently. That means their pub dates are drawing near! I happen to love book covers--a good cover is a work of art. I think these qualify. Here they are, with summaries from Goodreads.com:

The Cadet of Tildor by Alex Lidell
January 10, 2013, Dial Books for Young Readers

"Having already survived six years at the Tildor's top military academy, sixteen-year-old Renee De Winter is determined to graduate, training day and night to compete with her male classmates. When the boys overpower her parries, she works harder. When a bully sabotages her gear, she fights without it. But when an underground crime group captures her mentor for its illegal gladiatorial games, she must choose between her career and her conscience. Determined to penetrate the group's inner circles, Renee will leap from academia to the crime filled streets, pick up a sword, and weigh law against loyalty."

 Dualed by Elsie Chapman
February 26, 2013, Random House

"The city of Kersh is a safe haven, but the price of safety is high. Everyone has a genetic Alternate—a twin raised by another family—and citizens must prove their worth by eliminating their Alts before their twentieth birthday. Survival means advanced schooling, a good job, marriage—life.

Fifteen-year-old West Grayer has trained as a fighter, preparing for the day when her assignment arrives and she will have one month to hunt down and kill her Alt. But then a tragic misstep shakes West’s confidence. Stricken with grief and guilt, she’s no longer certain that she’s the best version of herself, the version worthy of a future. If she is to have any chance of winning, she must stop running not only from her Alt, but also from love . . . though both have the power to destroy her."

The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
January 2013, Balzer + Bray
 
 "London, 1894. Juliet Moreau has built a life for herself—working as a maid, attending church on Sundays, and trying not to think about the scandal that ruined her life. After all, no one ever proved the rumors about her father’s gruesome experiments. But when she learns her father is alive and continuing his work on a remote tropical island, she is determined to find out if the accusations were true.

Juliet is accompanied by the doctor’s handsome young assistant and an enigmatic castaway, who both attract Juliet for very different reasons. They travel to the island only to discover the depths of her father’s madness: he has created animals that have been vivisected to resemble, speak, and behave as humans. Worse, one of the creatures has turned violent and is killing the island’s inhabitants. Juliet knows she must end her father’s dangerous experiments and escape the island, even though her horror is mixed with her own scientific curiosity. As the island falls into chaos, she discovers the extent of her father’s genius—and madness—in her own blood."

Prophecy by Ellen Oh
2013, HarperTeen

"The greatest warrior in all of the Seven Kingdoms . . . is a girl with yellow eyes.

Kira’s the only female in the king’s army, and the prince’s bodyguard. She’s a demon slayer and an outcast, hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And, she’s their only hope. . . .

Murdered kings and discovered traitors point to a demon invasion, sending Kira on the run with the young prince. He may be the savior predicted in the Dragon King Prophecy, but the missing treasure of myth may be the true key. With only the guidance of the cryptic prophecy, Kira must battle demon soldiers, evil shaman, and the Demon Lord himself to find what was once lost and raise a prince into a king.

Intrigue and mystery, ancient lore and action-packed fantasy come together in this heart-stopping first book in a trilogy."

Taken by Erin Bowman
April 16, 2013, HarperTeen

"There are no men in Claysoot. There are boys—but every one of them vanishes at midnight on his eighteenth birthday. The ground shakes, the wind howls, a blinding light descends...and he’s gone.

They call it the Heist.

Gray Weathersby’s eighteenth birthday is mere months away, and he’s prepared to meet his fate–until he finds a strange note from his mother and starts to question everything he’s been raised to accept: the Council leaders and their obvious secrets. The Heist itself. And what lies beyond the Wall that surrounds Claysoot–a structure that no one can cross and survive.

Climbing the Wall is suicide, but what comes after the Heist could be worse. Should he sit back and wait to be taken–or risk everything on the hope of the other side?"


So, you got a book cover, or what? They just gonna wrap it in burlap?

Actually, yes, I have a book cover, but my pub date is a ways out still, so there's no point buzzing about it too soon. In a few months, maybe I'll reveal it. Bwa-ha.