Kelly Parra's latest novel is about a former criminal who turns undercover agent in order to avoid jail time—and she may just end up falling for the powerful drug lord she's supposed to take down. I love action-romance! The cover is dark and intriguing; Kelly is here to talk about how it came to be:
"I did have a general idea on the cover. Criminal Instinct takes place on the streets of San Francisco, CA so I thought it would be great to have a dark city backdrop, with an edgy feel since my character is an undercover narc.
"I was able to fill out an Art Fact Sheet, which Harlequin requests from their authors, and I was grateful Carina Press followed the same procedure. I added a synopsis of the story, physical descriptions of my main characters, as well as any specific details I thought would help the artist. In my case, it was Ana Moreno’s physical description which I felt the artist really worked hard to match and added her weapon of choice—a switch blade.
"I’ve been really lucky in the cover department with my writing career. I’ve loved both my young adult covers, Graffiti Girl and Invisible Touch, and I wasn’t sure what to expect for my first adult title. But when I saw the cover for Criminal Instinct I felt a tiny chill. The artist was able to find a photo of a young Latina in a short black dress and designed her with a switch blade, just as I had written in the Art Fact Sheet. I was surprised how well the artist matched my vision!
"The art department contacted me, wanting to know how I felt, and encouraging any and all feedback. Really, all I could say was how much I LOVED it. It was actually they who told me two things they'd liked changed that made sense to me, and I went along with the changes.
"My character Ana has short hair. The first mock-up (right) had the woman with longer hair. Also there was a mysterious man leaning on the wall backdrop of the cover. The art department felt he was drowned out by the title so he would be removed and they wanted Ana’s hair shorter like it was portrayed in the book. I was thrilled with the results!
"The cover is designed by the talented Frauke Spanuth."
Thanks, Kelly! I like the subtle changes the art department made, especially regarding her hair. It may sound silly, but I really like the cover model to look like the character who's described, right down to hairstyle, so I appreciate that attention to detail.
What do you guys think of this cover?
Melissa Walker is the author of four Young Adult novels, including the Violet trilogy and Lovestruck Summer. She is co-creator of the popular teen newsletter I Heart Daily and the new awkward-stage blog Before You Were Hot. Her author blog, where Cover Stories originated, is melissacwalker.com.
