Your book is NAKED! Cover it!
This is a collection of YA short stories from Lemorn Literary Works. Book unreleased, but forthcoming. [Read more…] about NEXT YEAR THINGS WILL BE DIFFERENT
“Whether your tentacle monster is listless and unresponsive, or if it’s molesting the wrong sorority sister, there’s one woman who can help.
Meet Dale Clearwater. No monster is beyond her skill; she rejuvenates monsters, and educates the people who love them.
She is the Monster Whisperer.
This ebook is the first episode of a continuing serial.” (via the listing on Amazon.com)
***PLEASE NOTE: This story is very NSFW and is not meant for anyone under 18!!!***
And now for something completely different.
Nobilis Reed never fails to surprise me in the things he commissions me to design. You can definitely mark this one under the “Things Starla Never Thought She’d Be Creating Artwork For” category.
Tentacle erotica? Sure. Why not? Challenge accepted!
Admittedly, I enjoyed creating this one. SpecFic always present a problem in that the stories within contain elements that don’t exist in reality (that we know of yet), and so are not photographable. Basically, it’s my job to present a visual for the make-believe using special effects and bits and pieces from things that do exist. I get to make the unreal, real. Who wouldn’t enjoy that?
I also had to take into account the fairly recent rash of online retailers taking down content they deemed “unacceptable”. This cover had to conform to certain guidelines about what is allowed to be on display. Basically, I had to create an image that hints at the highly sexual nature of this story, as well as include the monster element, all without being blatant with the imagery. It’s another one of those things a designer has to be aware of when going into any job.
So, that’s that then. I wonder what new challenge Nobilis will send me next?
“Bad things always happen to Quinn in threes. First her mother gets involuntarily committed to the behavioral disorder unit of the hospital. Then Quinn moves in with her new college roommates, only to find out that they are each as different as night and day. But the worst is yet to come: if Quinn can’t support her eleven-year-old sister, Tara will go into the foster care system, and she will never see her again.
Quinn devises a plan. She brings Tara to the dorms, telling her resident assistant and the desk attendant that her little sister is only spending the night. At first no one notices that Tara never actually goes home, but after a few days, Quinn’s roommates get suspicious. Tara’s social worker could stop by their house at any time and take Tara away forever. Quinn has to choose between her dream of living the college life, or Tara’s safety.
Crazy Comes in Threes is a New Adult drama for twenty-somethings, and is the first novel in theComes in Threes series.” (via the author’s website)
The New Adult category seems to be populated with covers focused on romance. While I have no problem with romance, I do think this trend is giving the impression that all New Adult books center around steamy relationships, which is very much untrue. So when Ms. Barone contacted me about creating a new cover this book, I jumped at the chance to do something a little different for the category.
This particular story centers around the themes of sisterly bond and mental illness, and I wanted this cover to focus on the relationship between Quinn and Tara. If you look closely, you’ll also see a third figure, the shadow of a woman reaching out, her impact felt while not actually present. Quinn and Tara’s mother is committed for mental illness, and that moment is a turning point in Quinn’s life. It affects everything she does, every choice she makes, from that event and going forward with her life.
It was a nice change to do something outside the realms of speculative fiction, and I’m glad Ms. Barone contracted me for this cover. She was very pleased with the results, and so am I. :)
“Candace Bristol has always been obsessed with comic books, but in a world where the nightly news often mirrors these inked stories, her dreams of becoming a real superhero could actually come true. After being rescued by members of the government’s AdvaNced Genetic EvoLution (ANGEL) Project four years ago, getting recruited for this elite team is all she’s wanted.
Now 18, she’s finally reached her goal after years of study and physical training, but little could have prepared her for life as a genetic experiment. As though coming to terms with her new ability to manipulate water isn’t tough enough, she never expected to be swept off her feet by one of her fellow recruits.
With genetic alteration, the threat of physical and mental instability hangs over every superhero like a shadow. When one of their own tumbles over the edge of madness, Candace will have to choose between protecting the world, and saving the one who holds her heart.” (via Goodreads)
I am really excited about this one. This is the cover for the first in the new series of Superhero Romance novels I’ll be releasing this year! March 6th is the release date for this one, and books 2 and 3 will follow on its heels at two-month intervals!
I sometimes struggle with concept ideas for my covers, and this was one of those times. While it is a Romance, the story has a much wider appeal than that audience only. I wanted to come up with a design that reflected that, something that gave it the softness of an emotional story without plastering it with half-naked people almost kissing. That’s not what kind of book this is. A design like that would do the story a disservice.
What I came to was what you see above. It’s a hint at the other-worldly nature of what the characters become, with a specific focus on the main character. This concept also easily carried over to a series concept, which was pretty crucial as I knew going in that there were three books to this.
The execution was much higher on the difficulty scale for me, so I went in search of tutorials and tips on how to get the watery look for this hand. If you’re curious, this is the photo that I altered for the Evolution: ANGEL cover:
So how does the above hand turn into the one on this cover? Well, if you’re up for a challenge, and want to learn some new Photoshop skills, you can find a tutorial for this effect right here. Be warned, however, this one is time consuming and not for a first-time PS user. I did tweak that tutorial for my own purposes, so keep that in mind as well. Your results may vary.
I will say this about the other two books: they did not require nearly the work that book 1 did. But I think that’s generally the case with series books. Sometimes the hardest part is coming up with the idea. Once you’ve got that, the rest will usually fall into place.
You can read the prologue and view teasers and other extras for this book at starlahuchton.com.
“Amid the expansive plains of Montana, the Lykos Ranch stretches for miles. The inhabitants who live in near isolation from the outside world are members of the most powerful clan of werewolves in North America. Among them lives just one human: Indiana Teller.
Grandson of the clan’s leader and offspring of a werewolf father and a mysterious yet human mother, Indiana is rejected by his peers and heads to the University of Montana to find a normal life. Despite warnings from his grandparents, he falls in love with a beautiful human, Katerina.
Before too long, he is the victim of an accident that would have killed him had he not miraculously vanished at the moment of impact. Are these strange occurrences just chance or the machinations of a hidden enemy out to destroy him? Facing his destiny, Indiana will have to choose who to believe, and who to love.” (from the description from Entangled Publishing)
“Between Earth and Arcturus is a 28th century adventure following Commander José Aguire of the Exploration Corps, and Lynda Stokes, an heiress who has a bad temper and superhuman strength, as their Captain’s mind slowly becomes unhinged.
The Earth government has been taken over by a ruthless, evil power, and the Captain conspires to start a rebellion. The one thing nobody counted on was running into an alien civilization, which becomes a game-changer, and further pushes the captain’s sanity towards the brink.
The alien king needs contact with Earth, but the political opposition in the alien government will stop at nothing to ruin his plans and take control. Commander Aguire and Lynda Stokes are the last hope for both the aliens and the suffering people of Earth.” (from the page at Amazon.com)