Sunday, November 9, 2014

Arcana by Jessica Leake [Blog Tour & Givaway]

A themed tour through Prism Book Tours.

Arcana
by Jessica Leake
Adult Historical Fantasy
Hardcover, 288 pages
November 18th 2014 by Talos


Amid the sumptuous backdrop of the London Season in 1905, headstrong Katherine Sinclair must join the ranks of debutantes vying for suitors. Unfortunately for Katherine, she cannot imagine anything more loathsome – or dangerous. Through her late mother’s enchanted journal, Katherine receives warning to keep hidden her otherworldly ability to perform Arcana, a magic fueled by the power of the sun. The machinations of the fashionably elite are a constant threat, but worse still are those who covet Katherine’s Arcana, seeking the power of her birthright. They could be hiding behind the façade of every suitor, even the darkly handsome Earl of Thornewood. With so much danger and suspicion, can she give her heart to the one who captivates her, or is he just another after her power?


Or, would you like a special personalized/autographed copy of Arcana? You can purchase one from Fiction Addiction HERE.

Guest Post


I've had so many compliments and interest on the cover of Arcana. It was a surprisingly hands-on process for me, which is pretty unusual in the publishing world. Most authors don't get to give much input in the cover, but Skyhorse and my lovely editor, Nicole Frail, asked me for my ideas for the cover from the very beginning.
The cover was created by Rain Saukas, who's just genius at bringing a few vague ideas together into a beautiful design. When I was first asked by Nicole to tell her what I'd always pictured for the cover of Arcana, I actually drew a blank! Part of it was still being in shock that this was about to be a REAL book, but also because writers are a superstitious lot. During the long journey of writing, scoring a fabulous agent, and landing a book deal, it seemed to be tempting fate to picture what my book would look like the moment I finally got to hold it in my hands.
There again, though, Nicole helped me through it. She had me pick out covers I liked, and after digging through my bookshelves, I sent her one of my favorites:

I've always loved the ethereal quality to it, and Nicole suggested we recreate something like it by merging the picture of a girl over a photo of London or a forest scene or some other magical element. Here was her idea for an ethereal forest scene:



Since sunlight is such an important element in the book, we decided to focus on that for the cover design. It didn't take long before the designers sent me their finished product:

Not what you were expecting, right? Well, that's because after seeing this version (although it's beautiful, too), I asked if the girl on the front could more closely match my idea for Katherine (who has blonde hair). I also asked if some of the title fonts could be tweaked, and if the "A Novel" could be moved underneath "Arcana". My kind editor rolled with my crazy nitpicks, though, and asked me to comb through some of the stock photo sites to find an image more in line with how I imagined my main character. The best I could do was find this image:


And somehow, Rain magically brought it all together:
    
  


And that, my friends, is how a cover is made*.

*At Skyhorse. With Nicole Frail as your editor. And Rain as your cover designer. And the author being obsessive and nitpicky.

About Jessica Leake

I’m a stay-at-home mom of three beautiful children (two toddlers and a newborn, in fact, so I think you can begin to see why my blog may be a bit neglected) and author of Arcana: A Novel (Skyhorse/Talos, November 4, 2014), my debut historical fantasy with a heavy dose of romance. I have a particular obsession with blending different genres, but almost everything I write has an element of fantasy and romance. I’ve been in love with historical England ever since my first literary crush: Mr. Darcy (I can’t even count the number of times I watched Pride & Prejudice–the A&E version, of course!!) I’m represented by the fabulous Brianne Johnson of Writers House, and I live in Greenville, SC.

Before I was a writer, I worked as a psychotherapist. I spent several years working at a psychiatric hospital in Birmingham, AL, but after my husband graduated as a pharmacist, we moved back to Greenville. I claim Greenville as my hometown now since I spent most of my childhood here, and I’m a proud alumna of St. Joseph’s Catholic School and Winthrop University.


Tour-Wide Giveaway

- $25 Amazon gift card & personalized hardcover of Arcana (INT)
- Two personalized hardcovers of Arcana + swag (US only)
- One ebook of Arcana (INT - Mobi or Epub)
Ends November 23rd

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)