Nail Art Inspired By Becoming Brigid

Yesterday, I got this image tweeted to me:

See what she's done?  It's the cover of Becoming Brigid.  Look:

She's done the watercolor wash and the tree.  I bet that tree was hard.  :)

This lovely fan art/nail art was done by Leslie Redmond.  I feel so validated as an author now.  :)

Cover Reveal!! Secret by Brigid Kemmerer

I'm so excited to be part of a cover reveal for a famous author!  (And I got to see the cover 2 days before the rest of the world.  Neener, neener!)
Let's not waste any time.  Here it is, the cover for the 4th book of the Elemental series!

Secret by Brigid Kemmerer
Kensington Books
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Goodreads link: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17149088-secret
ISBN: 0758294379

Summary:

Nowhere is safe. Not even home…

Nick Merrick is stretched to the breaking point.
Keep his grades sky-high or he’ll never escape his hometown.
Keep his brother’s business going or the Merricks will be out on the street.
Keep the secret of where he’s going in the evenings from his own twin—or he’ll lose his family.
Keep his mind off the hot, self-assured dancer who’s supposed to be his “girlfriend’s” partner.

Of course there’s also the homicidal freak Quinn has taken to hanging around, and the Elemental Guide counting the hours until he can try again to kill the Merrick brothers. There’s a storm coming. From all sides. And then some.

Nick Merrick, can you keep it together?


Brigid Kemmerer is the author of The Elemental Series, about a family of four brothers who control the elements, and their battle with those who want them dead. Storm, Spark, and Spirit are available now wherever books are sold. To read the novella introducing Nick’s story, be sure to check out Breathless, available as an e-book only from major e-book reteailers. You can learn more about Brigid and the Elemental boys at www.brigidkemmerer.com.

(Link to Breathless: http://www.brigidkemmerer.com/books/elemental-novellas/breathless/)

The Pulp-O-Mizer

I really wish I hadn't discovered the pulp-o-mizer website the weekend of midterms.

You can create your own tacky magazine covers for retro sci-fi stuff.  And you can have them printed up on notebooks and mugs and such.  And they have their own retropolis brand of hilarious sci-fi items for your shopping pleasure.
Oh my.
This was responsible for at least 15 tests that didn't get graded yesterday.
Sigh.
And yeah, I made and ordered my own notebook (with the above cover) -- because I am a sucker for spiffy notebooks and making my own was just tooooooo tempting.
*hangs head in shame*  *goes off to grade more papers*

Update: Becoming Brigid

I will not kid you: January's been rough.
I've been dealing with the end-of-semester grading, getting ready to train a student teacher, and the sudden death of my friend's son.  I've been dragging home in the bitter cold at 6:00 PM for days now, after working close to 11 hours a day.  Really, I haven't had much time for writing, and I'm WAY behind.
However, I'm pleased to announce that I finished my fourth edit of Becoming Brigid since I got the first proof last June, and today I submitted the files for the updated cover and interior to create space.  Soon, there will be a new proof copy available.  It's now time for me to hand it over to someone to copy edit.  And then, about 5 more edits/copy edits, and it should be ready!!  Yea!

So, soon I'll be ready to reveal the actual cover of the book online.  (Okay, so my students have already seen it -- since I've been dragging the old proof around for months now.)  I spent an hour today (yes, it takes THAT LONG) researching possible bloggers to ask if they'd do a cover reveal sometime in the spring, but if any of my readers happen to be interested in doing a cover reveal for Becoming Brigid, do leave a comment so I'll know.

In case you've forgotten, Becoming Brigid is a paranormal adventure book with a hint of romance, aimed at girls 14-17-ish.  I began work on it not long after I started Confessions of an Average Half-Vampire, but Brigid doesn't have any vampires in it; it has Celtic gods.
Here's the (current) blurb:


Pepper Kircy has definite plans for her future.  And she thinks she knows everything about her life -- at least until she meets Dougal, a man with way too much knowledge about a past she doesn’t remember.   Suddenly, her geeky, ghost-hunting dad and her mortician neighbors aren’t quite as ordinary as they seem.  But then, neither is Pepper.

Dougal’s tempting.  He quotes poetry and insists on calling Pepper by the name she never uses: Brigid.  Soon, she can’t get him out of her dreams.  So, in spite of all his weird talk about a missing goddess and a long-lost stone, she could really like this guy.  Maybe even enough to change her precious plans.

If he'd just stop trying to kill her....

Soon, My Pretties, Soon There Will Be A New Cover

This is the WIP cover for my novella, The (Dis)Appearance of Nerissa MacKay.

I love this idea, but I can't make it work on a vertical book cover.
Fixing this problem has been in the back of my mind for months now, and today, what I think/hope will be the solution dawned on me.
Max has agreed to help.
The new cover will involve iridescent royal blue taffeta.  And Flamenco shoes.  And a tiara.
Oh, and an iPod.  The iPod is extremely important.
Unfortunately, my only tiara doesn't match my iPod too well.  (And I doubt that Max has a tiara.)
Hmmm.....
Soon, my lovelies.  Soon.

Working Book Cover And Blurb For The Chocolate Smuggler's Notebook

So, yesterday when I should have been editing All in the Half-Vampire Family, I got messing about to make a cover for my newest WIP, The Chocolate Smuggler's Notebook.

Like it?
It's not the final cover, of course.  But it gives me something to visualize while I write.
(Yes, it's a couple of  my old pens and a bottle of ink spread out on a paper sack with some steampunk gears and clockfaces I had for making my altered books.  I just photographed it and added the text.  But it'll do for now.)

Here's my first book blurb for this one:

Oliver Laird is not what he seems.
True, he's the brilliant clockmaker's apprentice who invented the ClockOx and the Pulley Delivery System.  And, yes, he is that very same young man whom Brother Lyle Carter Oswald himself asked to see.  And certainly he's the lad who clandestinely meets with that gypsy rascal, London Sunday, to smuggle the cocoa powder in for the ladies of the town.  The boy who saved handsome James Whittaker's reputation after that graveyard incident.  The one who travels with Doctor Ephraim Paine.  The chap who studies languages with Bertie Haven.  Yes, that fellow.
Except that Oliver is really Olivia.
And it's getting harder and harder to hide that fact.  Especially around all those handsome men.  Especially when she suddenly has more power than any of them.
Especially when her life might be the cost if her secret is discovered.

What's New For The New Year

While CreateSpace was having issues figuring out what they did wrong to chop 95 pages out of my proof for Half-Vampire, I was busy working on Half-Vampire Family and Becoming Brigid.  Yes, I've now actually gotten BOTH of those two manuscripts ready to try at proof stage with CreateSpace -- as soon as I can get together with Max to put the covers together.
I tried to work on it myself, even uploading a trial version of pixelmator for the occasion, but iPhoto won't do what I need it to do, nor will picnik.com, color splash studio, or image tricks lite.  Pixelmator will, but I'm feeling very pixel-retarded on that app, and, after, 30 minutes, I couldn't even get the size of trial photo to where I wanted it, let alone put on text or fix the colors!  Grrrrr.
So, Max, I am in your hands once again for cover help.  Are you up for it?
And to the rest of the blog readers, I would still love your comments on this back-of-the-book hook for HV Family.  Only Tempppo, Brigid Kemmerer, and Martin have shared their thoughts so far.  What does anyone else think???

Think you’ve got a weird family?

Eric’s mother is clearly in love with Patrick, who just happens to be Eric's first cousin once removed.  And a vampire.  Eric thinks Patrick would be the world’s coolest step-dad, but Mom’s in no mood for matrimony.  Worse than that, her side of the family hasn’t spoken with her in Eric’s entire lifetime -- at least not until Eric and his way-too-attractive cousin Ari both win a piano competition that takes them to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  And into the path of Eric’s biological father, a vampire who’s recently taken to attacking the locals at night.  Eric's creepy dad finds Ari attractive.  Not to mention tasty.

Can an accidental family reunion get any stranger than this?  Eric doesn’t think so.  And neither does the self-proclaimed vampire hunter staying right next door to him in the dorm.

It’s going to be one heck of a summer vacation.

Oh, and what about this hook for Brigid?  Comments on this anyone?  Suggestions?

Pepper Kircy isn't quite sure why she's never managed to attract the attention of a guy before.  It could be because her father's into ghost hunting.  Or that she lives across the street from a mortuary.  Or maybe it's because she wears a "nearly-A" bra.  But she's never even had a date, at least not until she meets Dougal at a fantasy faire.

Dougal's not at all what she's dreamed up for herself; he's too short and probably too old.  But he quotes poetry and compares her to a goddess.  He's tempting.  Tempting enough that Pepper can't seem to get him out of her dreams.  So, in spite of all his weird talk about going through portals and finding the Stone of Odin, Pepper could really like this guy.  If he'd just stop trying to kill her.

And now I'm off to start what I hope is the FINAL proofread for Half-Vampire.  If the cyber gods are willing, that book just might be for sale in POD form in a few days!!

Cover Work

Today Dad and I worked on the covers for two of my upcoming releases.  I think we made some definite progress, even given the limited photo software I own.  (I've got to get the pixelmator app.)

Here's the temp cover of All in the Half-Vampire Family:

And here's how it looks now:

Since I already know what the back needs to look like, it shouldn't take Max long to get this one into form for me.  And then, seriously, I'm maybe one more revision away from getting this thing into a proof copy at Create Space.

Here's the old cover of Becoming Brigid (with lettering I never really liked):

And here's how we fixed it up today:

Much improved, don't you think?

Now, if I can just figure out how to get the back cover for Brigid to look like I want it to, then Max can set it up for the 6"x9" for me, and I'll just about be ready to start making proof copies on Create Space.

In other fantastic news, the 5th proof copy of Half-Vampire -- the replacement one for #4 where they left off 95 pages -- arrived today.  This means that over the weekend, I've got to grade papers, have academic team practice, clean the house, copy edit Half-Vampire ONE MORE TIME, revise Brigid, edit/revise HV Family, and read a galley copy of a book sent to me by an author who needs a review.  Hey, no sweat.  (NOT.)

Judging Books By Their Covers

There's no doubt about it; a flashy outside can really change how even an ordinary product is sold.  Advertisers have known this for decades.  And book covers and/or dust jackets have been playing this ad game for the last century or so, too.
But sometimes we get fooled.  Sometimes the cover is far, far better than the book.
I was totally blown away by this cover, for example:

Isn't that gorgeous?  It's stunning.
But I wasn't at all drawn into the book.  After a few chapters, I tossed it aside, grateful I'd only gotten it from the library and hadn't spent money on it.
Also, the book labels itself as YA, but it isn't; it merely has a youngish protagonist.  The first few pages alone have so many sexual references in them that it ruins the book for school bookshelves.  Really, it's more appropriate for college-age beach reading.

In contrast, there's this book:

The cover's not really great.  It's not bad, but it's not fantastic.
But the book is totally and completely wonderful.  It's not labeled YA, but it's completely appropriate for young teens -- if you can get them past the cover.

As an indie author, I had to go through designing a book cover that I hoped worked well with the book, knowing very well that a lame cover would turn kids off, no matter what the book was like inside -- because kids especially DO judge a book by its cover.
What about you?  Have you ever mis-judged a book by its cover, either for good or for ill?

A New Page!

I've added a new page or tab to the top of the blog today.  I thought it'd be nice to show my WsIP.
My current "to do" list for writing is as follows:
1) Publish Half-Vampire and the prologue as e-books (tomorrow!).
2) Publish Half-Vampire as a physical book (we'll work on that tomorrow).
3) Revise and edit Brigid (only part of the ms has been returned by my latest beta reader buddy who's been touching up the overly-wordy spots for me and having a look at the antagonist).
4) Get Brigid out for copy editing (I have a victim volunteer in mind for this).
5) Publish Brigid as an e-book and as a paperback.
6) Revise Half-Vampire Family.
7) Finish Nerissa MacKay.
8) Edit Half-Vampire Family.
9) Revise Nerissa and get beta readers.
10) Begin sequel to Nerissa.
11) Copy edit Family.
12) Publish Family as e-book and paperback.
13) Continue work on Nerissa.

Yeah, I know.  That's pretty ambitious.  But that's the PLAN.  To be honest, I'm just hoping everything goes well tomorrow when Max and I try to format the first book.