new adult

Evolution: SAGE

April 6, 2014 By Starla Huchton Leave a Comment

Evolution: SAGE (the Evolution series, book 2), by S. A. Huchton

“Devastated by her choices, Candace Bristol is on the brink of losing it all: her mind, her hope, everything she thought she was.

But from the ruins rises new purpose. An enemy has emerged and it will take everything to combat this new threat. Broken as she is, picking up the pieces and carrying on might be the hardest battle to win, but it’s either fight, or lose what little she has left.

Amongst the wreckage, hope still burns. The flicker of a flame kindles something within her she thought was dead.

Love can break you.

So, too, can it bring you back to life.” (via Goodreads)

I’ve already posted about book 1 in this series, Evolution: ANGEL, and now it’s time to show you the second in the series!

I established the series look with the first book, and, where that one is water (to speak to Candace’s hydrokinesis ability), this one had to be equally representative. It wasn’t hard for me to pin down what element to feature on this cover, and folks who have read book 1 will know exactly who the cover speaks to.

A hand is featured on all three of these covers (spoilers, lol), and that’s for a very good reason. The superheroes in these books all have enough power in one hand to destroy everything. Their actions and decisions are magnified beyond what most normal human beings experience, but these characters are just as flawed as any normal person, so mistakes happen. What makes them heroes is what they choose to do after their worlds crumble to the ground.

This book is about picking up those pieces and finding a way to keep going.

Releases May 6th, 2014. For more information, as well as an excerpt, see this post.

CRAZY COMES IN THREES

February 8, 2014 By Starla Huchton Leave a Comment

Crazy Comes in Threes, by Elizabeth Barone

“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. :)

Evolution: ANGEL

February 6, 2014 By Starla Huchton 1 Comment

Evolution: ANGEL by S. A. Huchton

“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:

female hand, stock via despositphotos.com

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.