newsletter issue #8; cover and giveaway

:willy wonka voice: this year was really weird

There are probably other things I should talk about but, like, you’re subscribed to a shallow Narcissus type here, and pretty things consume my focus entirely. So, of course, the cover.

THIS IS, AND I STILL GET SO GIDDY TYPING THIS, THE ACTUAL REAL COVER OF MY BOOK. THIS IS THE COVER THAT WILL BE ON SHELVES AT BOOKSTORES. WHO TF LOOKS AT THIS COVER AND ISN’T AT LEAST 99.5% NOT IMMEDIATELY INTRIGUED.

Look at the details. The ears, the grooves on the horns, the water droplets reflecting the patterned design. I’m goneeeee.

Anyway. I actually was extremely, dramatically nervous about having a cover from the very start of this whole process. Every time my agent mentioned that she can’t get wait to see what kind of cover this book will get, I’d be like RIGHT? But internally I was like ohmygodhelp.

This is also my first solo book, I would not and did not expect much input. So when my editor asked if I had ideas/images/elements/favorite covers etc, I was kind of caught off guard? The design team was very considerate, too. It turned out I had no special requests because my brain: empty.

I did send over a pinterest boards of some covers. Most of them had a sidekick animal feature and the standard Girl In Badass Pose, but I genuinely couldn’t think beyond that except for Susan Dennard’s UK paperback covers:

AS IT TURNS OUT, the artist who was hired to do my cover, Sasha Vinogradova, was the one who did these! Who is also the person, if you haven’t yet heard me yell about it from rooftops, is the artist who did the Game of Thrones house sigils. HOW FUCKING COOL IS THAT!!!!!!!!

I got two drafts to look over. They were similar with design differences. And I loved both of them so much. I told my editor that, and at the end, the final cover that I got actually combined the best of both elements.

It genuinely amazes me every day that this beautiful cover is mine. The creature on the cover is a maristag, the aforementioned sea monster that draws the chariot in the tournament. Its body is a velociraptor, but bigger, with a head of a stag. I made some changes in the description after getting the cover–to the eyes, in particular. I love how intertwined the art of this creature and the text in my head are.

ANYWAY. Monsters Born and Made is now available to preorder at Amazon US, Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound (if you can, please consider ordering from Oblong Books in Rhinebeck or Loyalty Bookstores in the DC area because they’re run by booksellers truly dedicated to writers and readers alike).

If you’re outside the US, for now you can order via Book Depository!

For bloggers and other reviewers, if you would like ARCs of the book, please sign up here!

My agent-sib Alicia Jasinska’s second YA book, Midnight Girls, is out now. It’s a sapphic enemies-to-lovers witches story!

Happy new year, everyone. I really, sincerely wish you a happier and healthier year ahead.

Love and light. Take care <3