Wednesday Flourish: Empire of Sand

Happy 2-More-Days-Till-Friday Everyone!

Back in March I revealed the cover for Love in a Time of Monsters which featured one of my favorite illustrations I've done, so I was beside myself when author Teresa Yea got in touch and said it was time to revisit this series with a prequel novella. Cue spastic happy designer flail.

While we of course wanted to stick with feel established by Monsters, keeping vibrant colors and bold texture as unifying elements, Teresa wanted this prequel to be a bit darker in tone and hark back to the spirit of adventure found in the likes of Indiana Jones. Teresa makes my job incredibly easy by putting together Pinterest inspiration boards that clearly point me in the direction she wants me to go, and then gives me the freedom to put my spin on her initial ideas. I'm always enormously proud of the work we do together, and our latest collaboration just might displace Monsters as my new Teresa Yea favorite.

Empire of Sand, a prequel in The Golden Age of Monsters series, releases December 1st, and I hope you guys consider adding this one to your lists!

EMPIRE OF SAND

Liam is a trained killer--meticulous, cunning, an artist with a knife.

Cat is his protégée–wild, reckless, a girl lost.

They're young.

They're beautiful.

They kill monsters.

Egypt, 1866. A terror is unleashed upon Cairo.

A predator that travels under a cloak of storms and
lurks amongst the dunes.
It reigns like a king in an empire of sand and
kills with human-like precision.
Its prey of choice: man.

Liam can't resist the allure of the ultimate kill.

Cat has a vendetta against all unnatural creatures.

They're deadly.

They're invincible.

They're being hunted.

From the author of Love in a Time of Monsters comes an electrifying prequel that invites you to live fast, die young, and shed a little blood.

Find Teresa & Empire of Sand!

Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon • Kobo • iBooks • Google Play

You can find more of my cover design work at Seedlings Design Studio!  

Friday Flourish: Black Heart, Red Ruby

Happy Friday Everyone!

I'm super excited today to share another of my recent cover designs, this one for author Teresa Yea who I had the privilege of working with on Love in a Time of Monsters. Teresa never fails to come to me with a project that makes me positively giddy at the thought of working on it, and given how madly in love I was with the way Monsters came together I couldn't wait to team up with her again on her newest release, Black Heart, Red Ruby.

Black Heart, Red Ruby is contemporary gothic horror, so we originally discussed a design that would be dark in nature–lots of blacks and reds combining to create a bold, heavy look–with the heroine as a focal point. After submitting the first round of idea boards, Teresa and I ended up back at the drawing board, realizing the direction in which we'd been heading just wasn't suiting the story the way we'd hoped.

We came to the conclusion that we needed to simplify, keeping the design very graphic, type-driven, and full of grit and texture. You guys already know how obsessed I am with typography, so I couldn't be happier with how the final design turned out. I hope you all love it and decide to add it to your reading lists!

BLACK HEART, RED RUBY

(releases June 30th)

Ava Nolan grew up in the shadow of her father's obsession with macabre artifacts. An elixir brewed from witches’ blood. A cabinet of mummified cats. And Arabella's Curse, the missing prize in his collection: a ruby with the power to resurrect the dead. With a father who resents her existence, a dead-end job, and her expulsion from school to live down, Ava sets out to recover the ruby and reclaim her self-respect. Luckily for Ava, local legend says the ruby is buried in a crumbling mansion by the sea, not far from her new home.

But life as an amateur relic hunter is not without its share of emergency room visits. Or cutthroat competitors. And nearly plummeting to her death doesn’t terrify Ava half as much as her uncle, a gentleman grave robber with a vendetta against her father and sinister plans for the ruby.

Entangled in a web of family treachery, Ava finds solace with a lonely boy who fills her nights with stolen kisses and her head with ruby lore. But there's something strange about Ben Wolcott. He's a bit too cunning, a bit too preoccupied with keeping Ava out of his basement, and much too interested in Arabella's Curse.

Find Black Heart, Red Ruby:

Goodreads • Amazon • iBooks • Kobo • Google Play

Find Teresa:

Website • Twitter • Facebook

You can find more of my cover design work at Seedlings Design Studio!   

Friday Flourish: Love in a Time of Monsters

Happy Friday Everyone!

I'm beyond excited today to share another of my recent cover designs, one I've been attempting to sit on patiently until I was given the green light to do a reveal here on the blog. You guys know by now that while I learn something new with every cover I work on, I have a soft spot for the challenges an illustrated cover presents.

When author Teresa Yea sent me an inspiration Pinterest board featuring vintage absinthe posters and gorgeous drawings of mythical sea creatures, I nearly fell out of my chair in my haste to tell her how much I loved this cover despite not having actually started it yet. We tossed ideas back in forth before ultimately deciding to move forward with an illustration of protagonist Cat in her signature wide-brimmed hat, complete with flowing locks that turned into tentacles toward the bottom. We're both thrilled with how the entire piece came together, and I hope if the cover and blurb pique your interest, you'll add this gothic historical fantasy to your lists!

LOVE IN A TIME OF MONSTERS

(releases March 31st)

 He has a monster problem

Scotland, 1867. When Rob Stevenson’s brother is killed—and eaten—in the forest outside their estate, Rob’s sheltered world is shattered by a monster infestation. Determined to keep his village safe, Rob's first duty as laird involves hiring a professional hunter.

She kills monsters

The sole survivor of a massacre in the Congo, Catriona Mornay is rumored to have lost her mind in the jungle. In Edinburgh’s gas-lit streets, Cat’s skill as a hunter is unmatched. Her reputation as a killer of unnatural creatures, legendary.

Two worlds collide

Faced with a rising body count, Rob takes a chance on Cat, hoping that somewhere inside this tortured yet charismatic girl is the hero he’s been searching for. But in this shadow realm of secrets, lies, and underworld crime, their lives overlap in more ways than one. And in an age where harpies flock the sky and serpents rule the sea, it’s even possible for a boy and his hunter to fall in love.

But can their love survive in a time of monsters?

Find Teresa & Love in a Time of Monsters!

Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon • Kobo • iBooks

You can find more of my cover design work at Seedlings Design Studio!