Co-authors Carrie Jones and Steve Wedel are here to talk about their joint reactions/opinions of the cover for After Obsession, their new Young Adult novel:
Steve: I really didn't have any idea for a cover. But I'm not much of a visual arts person. I can tell you if I like it when I see it, but a publisher would go broke waiting for me to conceptualize a book cover.
Carrie: I wanted it to features cute kittens frolicking, but everyone vetoed the idea and said it didn't fit in with the quote-unquote theme of the book. I have no idea why. Cute kittens? Possession? Totally works. I think perhaps my kittens comment frightened them a bit.
Steve: [The first time I saw the cover] Ummm. I thought it was very girly and wondered why the chick was floating. But I showed it to some of my students and the girls -- the target audience -- loved it, so I knew beyond a doubt I am an old man and that the folks at Bloomsbury know what they're doing.
Carrie: I thought - WHAT? NO KITTENS!?! Then I thought the floating girl was creepy and cool. Then I asked if they could maybe dress her in one of those embossed sweatshirts featuring a kitten. You know... the kind grandmothers wear at Christmas? They said no. I pouted. Steve talked me out of my depression. He is good like that.
Steve: When I saw the reaction of my high school students, I just went with it. So, really, I had no suggestions.
Carrie: Other than the use of kittens, I had no suggestions.
Steve: I thought it was a photo of Carrie from her high school days.
Carrie: DUDE! You are not supposed to tell people that.
Steve: [The cover has] sold books, and that's what it's supposed to do. Reviewers love it. I'm still not really sure why the girl is floating, but compared to a couple of my other covers, I love it!
Carrie: I have heard mixed things about the cover, and the negatives are almost all about the length of the girl's arm, which some people think is a bit too long. Since I come from short-limbed people, I like her long-armed status. Most people rave about it though, which is so nice of them.
Thanks, Steve and Carrie! I think the cover is in the stop-and-stare category, and I'm also a long arm fan. Also, I would like to have her hair, and possibly that dress.
