Wednesday, October 21, 2015

5 Reasons I Love the Cover for WHISPERS IN THE MIST

By Lisa Alber


Woohoo! I almost feel like not writing a post and letting the cover stand on its own. On the other hand, I'm so proud of my book baby in its finery that I can't help but gush.

In July I wrote my first Inkspot blog post as a Midnight Ink author. I didn't get into many details about my novel (coming out August 2016) because everything was new and in process. And now here I am loving the new title (my working title was Grey Man) and the cover. Let me tell you all the reasons why:

1. The title works on so many levels, and I love it when titles reflect the layers within a story. The word "whispers" implies hidden or secretive things, right? There's the past whispering at one of the characters, tormenting her. There's guilt and regret and betrayal, all which can whisper at you, eating away at your well being. There are literal whispers--manipulations and threats spoken aloud. There's the atmospheric shush, like a whisper, within literal mists.

2. And speaking of "mist" in the title. The novel is set in Ireland, where atmospherics abound. In the novel, mist has descended on my fictional village, further obscuring already murky goings on. I mean, it's moody, right? I like a moody mystery myself, which is probably why I write them that way.

3. I adore the way the path and figure draw you into the cover and thus the story. It's the pictorial version of drawing in readers with a verbal, Once upon a time ...

4. There's my name. My name! Aspiring novelists dream of having their names on the covers of their books. I'm heartily grateful to see mine on Whispers in the Mist. Thank you, Midnight Ink!

5. Last but not least, I love the color teal. The Midnight Ink art department didn't know this, of course, but I feel like they chose that color just. for. me. :-)

A short and sweet post for me this month, because in the case of my cover, a picture really is worth a thousand words.

If you're curious about who the figure could be (and who I think it is) and want to read some short excerpts from Whispers in the Mist, please check out my Facebook author page. It's open to the public, and you don't have to be signed up for Facebook to view it (I don't think). Just scroll down a little to view the posts with the word GIVEAWAY in them.

Let me know what you think!

Question for you, dear readers: What do you look for in a cover? Do you pick up books based on their covers?

2 comments:

Jeanine Cronin said...

Lisa, I LOVE your cover. It's very atmospheric -- and reminds me of the covers of my favorite author, Louise Penny. Pretty good company, I'd say. I will look forward to reading your book next year.

Lisa Alber said...

Hi Jeanine, thanks for visiting the blog. And huge thanks for even thinking of me in the same sentence as Louise Penny! :-)