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Yay! I'm so happy to participate in this blog tour. You guys know how much I adore Cicada and that Firefly was one of my most anticipated books published in 2013. Today I have a guest post from Belle's daughter Linda who designed the covers for Cicada and Firefly, and who also organized this great tour. Belle and Linda have a ton of surprises for you on this tour, so keep reading to see how you can win an awesome prize pack.
Firefly (Cicada #2)
by
Belle Whittington
published February 2nd 2013
“The darkest days are ahead of us,” Andrew whispered as the drape of shadows slipped away, allowing Blair to awaken. And in her heart of hearts she knew it was true. The unmistakable signs were all around her, growing within her. She was becoming something more than human. All she could do was accept the inevitable.
“I’ve become a freak … an alien. I no longer belong to the human world,” Blair told her true love, and he held her close, determined never to give her up.
“I’d stay in this darkness forever as long as I could be with you. Wherever you are … that’s my home.” Everett meant every word. In fact, he’d willingly give up his own life to protect the girl he’d always loved.
But there was a storm brewing … a firestorm so strong and catastrophic that it could keep them apart forever.
That storm roared into town wearing a brown leather bomber jacket and riding a motorcycle.
Ash was like a secret in human clothing … a dangerous secret. Everything about him was mesmerizing – right down to the swirls of ink that flowed over the smooth muscles across his chest and around his arms. Being with him was like playing with fire.
Blair knew all about playing with fire.
She knew something else, too. A small quiet voice deep within whispered that she really would be separated from everyone and everything she’d known and loved.
Because some secrets run too deep.
About Cicada
PURCHASE LINKS:
Meet Belle Whittington:
Belle resides somewhere north of Houston, Texas in a small inconsequential town with the smallest most inconsequential name. There, in the shady reaches of the pines, elms, and oaks, she daydreams of adventures and secrets that she weaves throughout her stories.
Having studied literature at University of Houston, Belle has been known to consider teaching at the college level someday.
WATCH THE TRAILER:
GUEST POST:
The Importance of Book Covers
“Don’t judge a book by its cover”, how many times have we all heard that? But, despite the wisdom within the saying, it’s hard to avoid doing that very thing. How many times has a cover caught your eye and you said “Oh gosh, I have to read that!” I know I’m guilty of this carnal reader’s sin. What caused me to pick up the first Harry Potter book when I was in fifth grade? The cover, of course.
It’s important that we’re aware of this tendency both as writers and readers. And once we reach that conclusion, perhaps it will illuminate the importance of The Book Cover. It is often the first impression readers have of a book. As readers, we should understand what that impression is and why it’s important. To do that, we should be able to tear away the veil of the combined design and novel as a packaged entity. Thusly, we can begin to see the book cover and the novel as two separate pieces of art that complement each other to enhance the storytelling experience.
The book cover is a piece of art that is created around a story with captivation, design, and visual appeal in mind. It is the first and last thing the reader sees when experiencing a story. I emphasize on the last part because it’s often thought that “The End” is the last of what a reader sees. It’s not. The reader reads the very last page, author bio, and then turns the book back over to look at the cover again.
This is the outlook I took when designing the covers of Cicada and Firefly by Belle Whittington. I wanted to create a unique piece of artwork that could completely stand alone as art, however, be even more impactful when combined with her amazing story. I spent months looking for the right images to combine to create exactly the right message that not only she wanted, but had my unique fingerprints that so many seem to really enjoy.
I learned a lot after creating the first book cover, Cicada. As a reader and as a designer, I began looking at other covers and questioning what about them made me want to read those books. Mostly it was the central impact of the images, the colour schemes, and (strangely) the font choices. I took all that I learned and observed a year later to apply to Firefly and to recreate the Cicada cover to reveal during this book blog tour. I think once you understand the outlook of covers I’ve presented, you’ll be able to appreciate the art of book covers more as both writers and readers.
Now we're sending you on the Easter Egg Hunt!
There are several Easter eggs hidden somewhere on my blog. Whenever you find one, copy the url of the page and enter it into the Rafflecopter. You can enter up to 15 eggs that you find across all participating blogs (but remember that the url must be unique, you cannot enter the same page twice).
There are more fun things planned for the tour, check them out HERE!
