Monday, November 17, 2008

Cover Art Interview with Saundra Mitchell and Shadowed Summer


I actually happened onto Saundra Mitchell's myspace this afternoon while digging around for some *cough* new friends. ANYWAYS, I immediately saw this cover and fell in love with it. The girl just has this look of frightened wonder and it makes me want to rip open those gates and find out what is going on with her. The coloring of the cover, the blues in the background, the harsh blacks, and the red of her shirt, all jumped out at me, giving me a sense of walking in the shadows on a bright day...which, of course, I connected with the Title (so sue me, I have dumb moments). So with out further puns and such from me, I give you the Cover Story with Saundra Mitchell.

1. How did the cover of SHADOWED SUMMER come to be?

Mostly, it's a mystery to me. But it turns out that the Internet is an amazing place- after I found out who my cover artist was, I popped his name in Google to take a look at his portfolio. Well, not only did I find his portfolio, I found his blog.

Reading through his entri
es, I found the post he made advertising for a model for my cover art! He included a bit of the art director's instructions, and it was amazing to see how carefully she'd described my character Iris for him- down to an outfit she actually wears in the book!

2. Were you apart of the decisions about the cover of SHADOWED SUMMER?

I wasn't, but it's a funny story. I sold my book almost 2 years ago. During that first summer, my editor and I were sending a lot of e-mail back and forth. In one of them, she said I should get my ideas together for my cover, because I would be assigned a designer soon.

I thought that meant I would be talking to the designer. But she never wrote, she never wrote, and finally in February of *this* year, I started to wonder. Did my editor perhaps mean I should get my thoughts together and send them to *her* to pass on to the designer?

And that's *exactly* what she meant. Because when I wrote to clarify, my cover art was already done. D'oh!

3. Is the final cover what you had in mind for SHADOWED SUMMER?

I never had anything specific in mind for my cover- though I did suggest (way too late, obviously!) considering
Loraine Sammy as an artist for it. Somehow, I expected it to be blue, but everything else was open possibility.

4. Is there anything you would want to change about the cover of SHADOWED SUMMER?

I used to think I wanted a more classic typeface like Trajan for my cover, but I have grown to love the typeface they used for my title. It's called Cult, and it's so distinctive. I think it makes my cover really stand out. I use it on everything now- even my business cards!

5. Are you happy with the final product?

I am, definitely. When I got my first look at the art, the face they created for Iris didn't startle me at all- I recognized her. She was familiar to me, and I felt like everybody at my house really got who she
was. That's a good place to be as an author!

--
~ Shadowed Summer ~
Coming February 10, 2009 from Delacorte Press
www.shadowedsummer.com

In a town as small as Ondine,
every secret is a family secret.

2 comments:

Angela said...

I love this idea of interviews about the book covers!

Saundra is great, her cover is fabulous and her story is page-turning!

Melissa Walker said...

Great cover story! I did one this week on Greg Logsted's new book about teacher-student love, SOMETHING HAPPENED Scandal!