Cover Talk: interview with Bella Kotak

I am super, super excited today to introduce you guys to the totally awesome Bella Kotak. I managed to wrangle Bella into doing an interview with me (thanks, Bella!)

Bella is the cover model on the UK edition of The Lost Girl, which is now officially available - yep, that's her face below! - and she also happens to be the photographer too. Which seems twice as cool to me. I'm normally so intrigued by cover models, and the process behind designing book covers, so when my editors at Random House Children's Books told me about Bella, I jumped at the chance to find out more.

Hi, Bella! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

Hi Sangu! Alright, well my name is Bella and at the moment I work as both an architect and a photographer. 

Did you always want to work in photography? Or was it just something that happened?

Photography for me began really as a hobby. I'd always been interested in taking pictures and in 2006 discovered Flickr and the incredible amount of talent on that site. I came across a few people who were doing a 365 project ( a self portrait a day for a year) and that inspired me to pick up a camera and see what I could create. It was this project that really challenged and fuelled my passion and by the time I bought my first dSLR I was completely hooked. After that it really was a case of friends seeing my work and either hiring me or recommending me to new customers. I wouldn't have come as far as I have if it wasn't for their support.

The photo on the UK cover of THE LOST GIRL is a self-portrait, right? So you were the photographer and the cover model. Can you tell us what that was like?

Yes it's a self-portrait. Taking one is relatively straight forward, it's just a simple case of setting the camera up on a tripod and using a wireless remote to release the shutter. The edit is later done in photoshop.

I was given a synopsis of the book as well as several precedents of the style / look the publisher was going for. They'd already been through my work so were able to tell me what they liked and wanted me to provide expressions that was akin to the concept of feeling lost, watchfulness and so on. 

I provided them with a selection of images and we then began discussions.

What are some of your favourite books?

I guess anything with an element of fantasy and adventure. I love Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and South of the border, West of the sun both by Haruki Murakami and of course Harry Potter! I also love flicking through photography books, my favourite is Pictures, by Tim Walker. It's huge and bursting with creativity!

And finally: you're stranded on a desert island. What three things would you take with you?

Shampoo, ipad, hammock. If I had to be stranded at least I could be comfortable ;)


Isn't she fab? Hope you're all having a fantastic week!

EEEK ANOTHER COVER!

Happy Friday, all! The UK cover of THE LOST GIRL is out. And below. This is (I think) the cover that will also be used in Australia, New Zealand, India, etc. The book is in stores in the UK on 3 January 2013 from Random House Children's Books. It's on Amazon here.

So let's recap the covers, shall we? 

 

I think I've been incredibly lucky. They all ooze incredible amounts of loveliness, don't they?

Also: THE LOST GIRL Blogpalooza starts Tuesday. Woo!

Covers, Conversations and More!

I can't begin to tell you how glad I am the last few days are over. I was ill, stressed out and generally not in any way happy with the world. But all that's over now, hooray! And I have lots of fun stuff to show off today. And yes, most of it is a bit behind the times, but better late than never, right? 

Last week I popped over to Manga Maniac Cafe for an interview. Julie asked some really great questions and I talk plenty of THE LOST GIRL, so check that out when you get a chance.

THE LOST GIRL has a German cover! I was super-excited to see it and really do love it - it's so strange that it's so different from the US cover, but they're both amazing and both capture the spirit of the book.

And finally, two fantastic reviews to share with you guys. I've mentioned before that Lauren DeStefano (y'know, NYT bestselling author of WITHER, FEVER and the yet-to-be-released SEVER?) blurbed THE LOST GIRL, but she's also recently posted a lovely review on Goodreads.

"Grief is a shadowy road that nobody wants to tread; it's a journey we'd all rather not take, and for that reason, I say that there are really no villains in this story. There are nightmarish measures, and there's cruelty, and things that would disturb Mary Shelley's ghost, sure. But beyond that, it's all about the measures parents would take to hang on to their child, what it means to die, what it means to be alive, and that terrible moment when you realize your loved one is not coming back."

The complete review's up on Goodreads here. Also, Kirkus reviewed THE LOST GIRL, prompting much squealing and excitement, so here's a little from them too:

"Both an interrogation of bioethics and a mesmerizing quest for identity, this debut succeeds through its careful development of the oh-so-human Eva and those around her. A provocative and page-turning thriller/romance that gets at the heart of what it means to be human."

As you can probably tell, I'm having a great day! Happy Tuesday, everybody. Anyone reading anything fun right now? Any fabulous reads to recommend?

...and the Winner is

It's the 20th of April, which means MY GIVEAWAY ENDS TODAY! Eight weeks ago I revealed the cover of THE LOST GIRL and promised a signed ARC of the book to one commenter. To everyone who commented, Tweeted, blogged and generally shared my cover-love: thank you so much! I wish I could give you all an ARC, but I fear my editor would kill me. (Don't panic, Sara! I'm not actually proposing a massive ARC exodus.)

Before I announce the winner, though, I think I need to ramble on about my day, and also tell you about my new project, and while I'm at it, I really think it's important I tell you all about what the weather was like in this corner of the world...

...no? Not even a little bit interested?

I stuck all the entries in one of those random number generator thingies that Google is so very good at finding, and the winner is

Britta !!!

Congratulations, Britta! And thanks again, everyone. Your support and enthusiasm mean the world to me.

Have a great weekend!

COVER REVEAL! Yay!

It's time! Finally! Chances are you're not going to give a hoot about what I'm saying up here, so I'll get straight to the good stuff.

My gorgeous cover.

Are you reading this part already? No, no, go back and take another look. You must. Honestly, my publisher's got me the bestest cover ever. Isn't it beautiful and haunting and don't you just want to stroke it to death? (If the answer is no, don't tell me.)

Okay? Looked at it? Twice? Three times? Now you can read on.

Eva's life is not her own. She is a creation, an abomination - an echo. Made by the Weavers as a copy of someone else, she is expected to replace a girl named Amarra, her 'other', if she ever died. Eva studies what Amarra does, what she eats, what it's like to kiss her boyfriend, Ray. So when Amarra is killed in a car crash, Eva should be ready.

But fifteen years of studying never prepared her for this.

Now she must abandon everything she's ever known - the guardians who raised her, the boy she's forbidden to love - to move to India and convince the world that Amarra is still alive. 

"The most honest portrait of grief and loss that I've read in a long time. Filled with heartache, love, and things that would stir Mary Shelley's ghost, this is not a story to be missed."

-Lauren DeStefano, bestselling author of the Chemical Garden trilogy

THE LOST GIRL will be out August 28th, which seems like forever away, but the book is already available for pre-order! A few of the links are below.

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Barnes and Noble

Can I just say? I could have fainted on the spot when I saw Lauren DeStefano's blurb. FAINTED. I read WITHER several months ago, not long after it first came out, and loved it so much. It was just the most exciting thing that Lauren read(!) and liked(!!) my book too.

And now for the other part of this post: ARCs. More specifically, an ARC giveaway! A signed ARC, no less. Because, while it will be a wrench to part with one of my shiny copies, I love you all that much.

Yes, one of those!

So, to enter to win, leave a comment on this post, including some way for me to contact you (ideally an email address), and obviously with many, many swoonings over how pretty the cover is. I will pick and announce a winner on April 20th. The giveaway is open internationally.

And this isn't necessary to enter, but it would be very very lovely if you could tweet/blog/somehow get the word out about the cover and giveaway - I'm so excited about this and I just want to show my amazing cover off to the world!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone.