Geek Bat Signal, Same Dress, Different Book, What's in a Name?

GEEK BAT SIGNAL! I'm trying to transfer my wwww.martaacosta.com domain from SquareSpace (nice site but not simple enough for my tiny brain) to Blogger, because I know how to use Blogger. But I've pretty much screwed the whole thing up. Can someone tell me how to do this? Help me, Mr. Wizard!

SAME DRESS, DIFFERENT BOOK

Yes, I watch Fashion Police and, yes, "Actress or Streetwalker?" is my favorite segment, but I also like "Bitch stole my look!" Well, when a dress is as fab as the one on the cover of Dreaming Awake by Gwen Hayes, you can see why someone else will want it.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Dreaming Awake features a character named Haden Black. Now, some authors like these obviously symbolic names (black hell!). I love silly names when used in comedies, and I love distinctive names. (Like Kurt Russell as Snake Plisken hissing "Call me Snnnake.") However, I tend to step back from names that sound too self-serious in their import. I'm listing a mess o' characters from new or upcoming paranormals and urban fantasies. Whaddaya think?

Shaedes of Gray by Amanda Bonilla (12/6/11): Darien, a shaede, and Xander Peck, a Shaede king. 

The Shadow Reader by Sandy Williams (10/25/11): McKenzie Lewis, a college student who hunts rebel fae, and Kyol, a fae swordmaster. Yeah, that's what they all say.

Blood Rights by Kristen Painter (09/27/11): Chyrstabelle, a vampire's concubiney thing, and Malkolm, an outcast vampire.

Cold Touch by Leslie Parrish (07/05/11): Olivia Wainwright, who can bring back the dead, and Gabe Cooper, a police detective. Olivia Wainwright is a name that I'd remember easily, and yet it's not common. 

Sins of the Angels by Linda Poitevin (09/27/11): Alexandra Jarvis is a detective and Aramael is a hunter of fallen angels.

Killing Rites by M.L.N. Hanover (11/29/11): Jayne' Heller, a magical heiress, and Ex, an ex-priest. Okay, in this age of the internets, I have issues with any names with accents. Because I'm not going to learn the code to do an accent.

I'll also admit to occasionally deciding not to mention a book simply because the characters' names are a pain in the neck to spell.

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

It was Britney Spears' 30th birthday this week, can you believe it? Britney's songs always add a little something special on videos.

Website Re-Do & Purply Upcoming YA Covers

I have to get my new author website design transferred and set up, so I'll be busy with that. Here are a few things to amuse you.

Suzanne Johnson has a brand spanking new Reader's Choice Contest at Preternatura with a mess o' releases including Nancy Collin's Left Hand Magic, Amanda Bonilla's Shades of Gray, Jennifer Colgan's Uncross My Heart, and Stephanie Julian's How to Worship a Goddess. Honestly, the list is too long to include here, but it's awesome.

She's also offering some YAs with purply covers like Laurie Faria Stolartz's Deadly Little Voices and Ellie James' Shattered Dreams.

Amanda at Love Vampires gives a rave review to the Karen Marie Moning's latest in her fae series, Bloodfever.

Karen Moning came up with a complex mythology and discovering her world along Mac proves to be rewarding. As the events unravel, certain details mentioned in the passing, click into place and the reader starts to understand how some things may play out in the future. I know, I sound awfully cryptic, but Bloodfever is a kind of book where secrets are piled up thick and spoilers would just suck the whole fun out.

If you want another chance to win Stephanie Julian's How to Worship a Goddess, with it's purply cover, she's guest blogging at Anna's Book Blog and has a contest for her new book.

 GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

I'm going to try to find videos set to songs with something about purple, pink, mauve, in the titles or band names. It might all be songs by Pink, but that's not a bad thing.



Terrific little vid set to Pink's "F*cking Perfect."







This one's for Jane!

Contest Winner & "and your mama dresses you funny!" Part Two

The winner of the contest for the signed cover flat of Dark Companion, my upcoming YA, is:

THE STYLE VAMP

Congratulations, Vamp, and I'll be heading to your fun website to see what style crimes I'm committing. (Okay, I already know, since I'm wearing my old, too-short jeans with Clarks muckers, which seemed fine for a walk with the dogs.)

I thought I'd continue with my analysis of WTF? book covers. Please know that I have suffered from my own WTF? book covers, so my sympathy is with the authors of these novels.


Bloodrose by Andrea Cremer (01/03/12)

Why it doesn't work: Whenever I see the smaller jpg of this cover, it always looks like a page torn in half. You have to enlarge it to see the wolf on one side. The photo of the girl's face in black and white with the clipart of a generic wolf just looks cheezy. This is a bestselling author and you think the art department would invest in a better cover. I loved the beautiful old covers of her series and really hate the new ones.

Why I should reconsider: The series gets raves from critics and blog reviewers alike. Bibliopunkk says, "Cremer's writing style is, as usual, phenomenal. And what she has concocted with this series at large, that is driven home beautifully with this book, is a damn near perfect trilogy."

Andrea Cremer's Website

Cinder by Marissa Meyer (01/03/12)

Why it doesn't work for me: The shoe's high heel leaves the angle of the foot too steep even for a robot or android. It's an ugly shoe, too shiny and the wrong color red. I actually like the title font, but not enough to say ugh whenever I see this cover. If they'd gone just a few steps farther, it could have been funnier.


Why I should absolutely reconsider: The story sounds terrific -- a Cinderella retelling with a cyborg-mechanic as the unwanted stepdaughter. It sounds playful, imaginative, and exactly like something I'd enjoy. Publishers Weekly gave Cinder a starred review and wrote: ""First in the Lunar Chronicles series, this futuristic twist on Cinderella retains just enough of the original that readers will enjoy spotting the subtle similarities. But debut author Meyer’s brilliance is in sending the story into an entirely new, utterly thrilling dimension."

Marissa Meyer's Website

Embrace by Jessica Shirvington (03/01/12)

Why it doesn't work: Seriously, wtf is going on with this model? It doesn't look like an embrace and I have no idea why she's wound braided hair extensions around her neck. I have no idea what kind of book this is -- is it one of those books you find in the hair salon with style examples? Why is her body cut off at her pointy elbows? The title font seems to say "retro cocktail lounge." Okay, I like retro cocktail lounges, so I'd be really disappointed if I read this book and there were no mentions of gin gimlets or angostura bitters.

Why I should reconsider: The book was a big hit in Australia, where it was first released. Reviewers are raving, like SJH at A Dream of Books, who says, "I picked it up almost as soon as it fell through my mailbox and I was glued to the pages for the rest of the day!...Paranormal fans will love this exciting new series which really puts angels back on the map!"

Okay, I just found the new cover (below) and it's much better, with the subtle wings in the back for this angel/demon book.

Jessica Shirvington's Website

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

Today is beautiful, gorgeous, warm, so the theme is videos set to songs with beautiful, gorgeous, any of those words in the title.







It's Eminem so be warned about the language.



Love this little video. Have a great weekend!

And your mama dresses you funny!

When I'm surfing through book sites, looking for upcoming releases, there are some covers that just make me go WTF? Generally, I ignore them, which isn't fair to the authors who had little or no say in the covers. I don't know about you, but I've been seduced by beautiful covers and bought books that were dreadful. So let's visit some soon-to-be-released books that fall into the category of  "and your mama dresses you funny!"

At top is the cover for Fever (Chemical Garden #2) by Lauren Destefano. The book will sell a gazillion copies, but the cover is all kinds of ugly, from the faded-bruise color scheme to the cheezy (bad cheezy) rocking horse, to the nodding-off smack-addict model who is not rocking her messy hair. I thought the cover for the first in the series, Wither, was quite lovely, so I don't know what's going on here.

A Beautiful Evil by Kelly Keaton

What doesn't work: Is it just me or does this snake look too phallic? I mean, snakes are always used as phallic symbolism, but do I want to buy a book with a metaphoric weiner on the cover? No.

Why I should reconsider: Bestselling author Melissa Marr says, "“If I could become a character in a fictional world, I would pick this one. Action and romance combine with good storytelling and an alluring world. More, please!”

Kelly Keaton's Website

Dark Victory (Lady Lazarus #2) by Michele Lang

What doesn't work: I dunno. The color of red looks "off." The composition is pretty basic photoshop and doesn't tell me anything about the book. Is it a book about jewelry? Or a romance? Is it contemporary family drama or what? Actually, it's a WWII era pararnormal with witches, werewolves, and demons.

Why I should reconsider: NYT bestseller Rachel Caine calls it "the best entry yet in a groundbreaking, rich, enthralling series that combines the darkest days of World War II with magic, very human characters, and stakes that couldn’t be higher. A tour-de-force!”

Michele Lang's Website

Incarnate (Newsoul #1) by Jodi Meadows

What doesn't work: I'm pretty sure everyone else absolutely loves this cover, but to me, it just looks like someone who collects ceramic unicorns designed it. It's got that rainbows and fluffy bunnies aesthetic that warns me of super sissy things to come. I blame this attitude on being raised with a pack of brothers.

Why I should reconsider: popular author Jeri Smith-Ready says, "One word: Breathtaking. More words: Heart-melting. Soul-feeding. Mind-blowing. Incarnate captured all of me and won’t let go."

Jodi Meadows' Website

Lothaire (Immortals After Dark #12) by Kresley Cole

What doesn't work: The model looks like a cross betwen Alexander Skarsgard and Luke Wilson, but without the interesting broken nose. ("Hansel! He's so hawt right now!") The red eyes? Ugh.

Why I should reconsider: I don't need to because Kresley's devoted fans will always buy her books, no matter what the cover.

Kresley Cole's Website

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

What doesn't work: This is the UK cover and I'm so glad it was changed for the US publication, because, seriously, what the heck is going on here? Rainbow bunny colors, some freaky creature spooning (if that's what he's doing -- I don't want to go there) an albino girl. Too much pinky pink stuff. This cover gives me nightmares. The interesting US cover is below.


Why I should reconsider: Karin Librarian at Karin's Book Nook says, "Under the Never Sky is intoxicating. Full of mystery, adventure, romance, and betrayal it is practically impossible to put down."

Veronica Rossi's Website

GRATUITOUS VIDEOS OF THE DAY

I really love Adele's voice and songs. That's the theme.