Marvelous COVER REVEAL Monday: Donna Galanti's THE LIGHTNING ROAD series

Donna Galanti is one of the most industrious authors I know. A stalwart of Project Middle Grade Mayhem, she has written middle grade novels and adult paranormal suspense. Her middle grade series, The Lightning Road, has new awesome covers!

Donna talks today about how she loves scary stories and shares an excerpt from Joshua and the Lightning Road.


Plus enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card at the end of this post and get the first e-book in Donna’s series, Joshua and the Lightning Road, on sale now through October 15th for just $0.99cents.

Playing on Our Fears
by Donna Galanti

Do you love to be scared? I do, ever since I was a kid, as long as I know it’s safe. Haunted houses. Hayrides. Adventure rides. Cemeteries at night.

And when I write, I return to the magical – and fearful – worlds of my youth, where monsters and faeries roam the land. Through my stories I can become these characters, good and evil, and wield their powers. My favorite stories as a kid were thrillers that made my heart race and my fingers keep turning the page to see if the good guys would win over the bad guys.

I grew up an only child on a mountain with only nature as a playground, so my time was spent roaming the woods with my notebook and pen. I wrote in secret fields and beside hidden ponds. The woods were my home. My favorite room with a view is still one strewn with fields, rock walls, and looming mountains.

So, you can see that I was never scared to be alone and I think we as readers like to see our beloved characters alone to face scary challenges. It makes us wonder – what would I do in that situation if I were all alone without any help? Would I be too terrified to act, or would I face danger head on and conquer it?

And these are the kinds of situations I thrust Joshua into in The Lightning Road series while trying to blend just the right amount of scariness and tension for a children’s book. I love it when an author takes my beloved characters to the edge of no return and gives me that spine-tingling rush of “oh, nooo!” This is what I aim to write in my own books.

I am drawn to stories that play on our fears because I am fascinated by how people act when put in dire circumstances. And I love the challenge of writing a tortured hero. It forces me (and the reader) to step out of our safe world for just a bit and be uncomfortable, while in the safe place of a book.

I love to see how much torment we can pile on a character, how lost they become, how near the brink of desperation they reach, and then redeem them or not. We can relate to their pain because they are flawed, like we are all wonderfully flawed – and this reveals our humanity.

So, in reading scary stories, for a short while we can live among monsters without the fear of facing them in real life. Our heart pumps. Our fingers grip the pages. Then we close the book and go out again in the sunshine.

Do you like reading scary stories? What’s your favorite?

JOSHUA AND THE LIGHTNING ROAD EXCERPT:

“One hundred. Ready or not here I come!” I said with more courage than I felt, pushing the attic door open.

Inky black swallowed me up. I darted my flashlight about, but its small, round light didn’t reveal much. The mustiness of old things hidden away filled my nose. Bo Chez, hurry home. The hair prickled on my forearms as the stairs screeched with each step and the landing loomed in front of me. Could a ghost with an axe be waiting to chop off my head? I took a deep breath, waiting for a blade to fall, but the only thing lying in wait was a dusty bookshelf.

“Finn-man, I know you’re up here.” I flicked the flashlight around the room, its cold metal warming in my sweaty palm. Thunder crashed over my head and my ears popped.

One more step forward.

“Got ya!” Finn jumped up, his shadow against the window. I tripped and landed hard on my butt. My flashlight twirled across the floor.

Then a blue arc of light struck the window. Glass exploded. Finn’s mouth froze in a wide ‘O’. I yelled and reached out to pull him down, but another zap of light blinded me. Finn screamed. Rain splattered my face, stinging with each drop. White dots floated in the air. Something gray billowed past me carrying a familiar, rotten stench that made me gag. A knobby hand grabbed me. I bit it and shoved it away, gagging again, and the hand dropped me back on the floor with the taste of salty dirt on my tongue. An angry howl blasted the air.

Zap. Zap.

Daggers of light shot everywhere as sharp glass cut into me.

“Finn!”

He floated in the shadows. Light erupted all around him, his eyes round with fear. The sky boomed overhead, and a deep laugh bellowed out as if the thunder itself were taunting me.

“Next time it’s you, boy,” a raspy voice said.

Wind shrieked around me in a ferocious wail, pulling me with it. I flattened myself on the floor and clung on tightly to the foot of a chair. The angry wind finally stopped. Rain pelted me through the broken window.

All was quiet. I lifted my head.

Finn was gone.

 WATCH THE JOSHUA AND THE LIGHTNING ROAD BOOK TRAILER!

ABOUT JOSHUA AND THE LIGHTNING ROAD:
Twelve-year-old Joshua Cooper learns the hard way that lightning never strikes by chance when a bolt strikes his house and whisks away his best friend—possibly forever. Armed with only luck and his grandfather’s mysterious crystal, Joshua must save his friend by traveling the Lightning Road to a dark world that steals children for energy. New friends come to Joshua’s aid and while battling beasts and bandits and fending off the Child Collector, Joshua’s mission quickly becomes more than a search for his friend—it becomes the battle of his life.

PRAISE FOR JOSHUA AND THE LIGHTNING ROAD:
 "Vividly imagined characters in a gripping action fantasy that never lets you go until the very last page." —Jenny Nimmo, New York Times bestselling author of the Charlie Bone series.

**$0.99 DEAL!**
Joshua and the Lightning Road is available now through October 15th for just $0.99cents on e-book from these book sellers:
Amazon   Barnes & Noble  Kobo  Apple iBooks

ABOUT JOSHUA AND THE ARROW REALM:
Joshua never thought he’d be called back to the world of Nostos so soon. But when his friend King Apollo needs his help in the Arrow Realm, Joshua braves this dark world once more in order to save him. With Joshua’s loyalties divided between Nostos and Earth, he must rely on his courage and powers to restore magic to this desperate world and to free its people. Abandoned by his friends in his quest, unarmed, and facing great odds, can he survive on instincts alone and not only save those imprisoned—but himself?

PRAISE FOR JOSHUA AND THE ARROW REALM:
“Fast-paced and endlessly inventive, this is a high-stakes romp through a wild world where descendants of the Greek gods walk beside you, beasts abound, and not everything—or everyone—is as it seems.” –Michael Northrop, New York Times bestselling author of the TombQuest series

Joshua and the Arrow Realm is available through these book sellers:
Amazon  Barnes & Noble  Kobo  Apple iBooks

ABOUT DONNA:
Donna Galanti is the author of the bestselling paranormal suspense Element Trilogy and the children’s fantasy adventure Joshua and The Lightning Road series. Donna is a contributing editor for International Thriller Writers the Big Thrill magazine, a writing contest judge at nycmidnight.com, and regularly presents as a guest author at schools and teaches at writing conferences. She’s lived from England as a child, to Hawaii as a U.S. Navy photographer. Donna also loves teaching writers about building author brand and platform through her free training series at yourawesomeauthorlife.com. Visit her at donnagalanti.com.

CONNECT WITH DONNA:

Website: http://www.donnagalanti.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DonnaGalanti

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DonnaGalantiAuthor

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20983429-joshua-and-the-lightning-road

$25 AMAZON GIFT CARD RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY!

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Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: Cover Reveal for ETHAN MARCUS STANDS UP by Michele Weber Hurwitz

One of the Don's and my favorite authors is the talented Michele Weber Hurwitz. We've loved (and reviewed) both her previous novels, Calli Be Gold and The Summer I Saved The World in 65 Days.

So we were thrilled when Michele contacted us and asked if we'd be interested in revealing the cover for her new novel, Ethan Marcus Stands Up. You bet your socks we were!!!

Michele also told us what she liked about the cover.

But first, here's what ETHAN MARCUS STANDS UP is about:

Seventh-grader Ethan Marcus is fed up with sitting in school, and one day, enough is enough. He doesn't cause trouble or wander around, he just refuses to stay seated in class. His spontaneous protest doesn't go over so well with his rule-oriented teacher so Ethan is sent to the principal's office, and then is given two days of "Reflection" -- McNutt Middle School's answer to detention. When the faculty advisor suggests Ethan channel his energy into the school's Invention Day, at first Ethan says thanks but no thanks. He's never been a science-y kid. That's his Irish twin sister Erin's department. Except when Ethan and his friend Brian decide to give it a try, they realize they might have something. And it's good. Maybe great. But can they actually pull it off? 

Ethan Marcus Stands Up -- narrated by five different kids -- shows how we all may have labels that define us, but that doesn't mean we can't step out of our comfort zone and attempt a new challenge. And, along the way, we may just learn from someone who sees the world from a different perspective. 

Middle Grade Mafioso: Well, I certainly can relate. Sitting is hard!

The Don: What are you talking about? You sit around all day long. By the way, what's an Irish twin?

MGM: (Googling) It means a pair of siblings born less than 12 months apart.

The Don: Mamma Mia. I feel for their poor mother!

He was, I could see, on the verge of a sermon. I whipped out Michele's new cover. Dear Readers, we are all seeing it for the first time.

 Here's what Michele has to say about it:

The cover was designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena and Hugo Santos. There are three elements I love about the cover. First, the bright colors really jump out and give it a fun, bold feel. Second, I like the double image of the boy. He's obviously unhappy sitting at the desk, then he's all smiles with his arms in the air and the chair knocked over, so I think readers will want to know what happened to change the situation. And third, I love the font for the title. If you look closely, there are nuts and bolts and a fun springy thing, as well as a wood grain look to some of the letters. This was meant to convey the feeling that making something is part of the story.

I can't wait for ETHAN MARCUS STANDS UP to be released. The big day is August 29, 2017 from Simon & Schuster/Aladdin Books (hardcover). A sequel will be coming out in 2018.

You can find more information about Michele Weber Hurwitz on her website, micheleweberhurwitz.com

Cover Reveal for Kate Ristau's CLOCKBREAKERS

I love Greek Mythology as well as time travel, so when Portland author Kate Ristau asked me if the Don and I would like to reveal the cover of her second novel, CLOCKBREAKERS, we jumped at the chance. Here's what CLOCKBREAKERS is about:

On her eleventh birthday, Charlie receives a key to go back in time. But before she blows out her candles, she rolls her wheelchair right into Ancient Greece with her best friend Maria and her former best friend Trent. She’s a Clockbreaker on an action-packed adventure with a mission: to save her father, and perhaps even save the world.

Doesn't that sound terrific?! The cover art, by Portland artist Lee Moyer is also breathtaking. Drum roll, please:

I'd snap that off the shelves in a heartbeat. (That minotaur's stare sends shivers down my spine!) CLOCKBREAKERS release date is October the 1st from Indigo Sea Press. If you'd like to read an excerpt, Kate Ristau has one on her website.

Thanks, Kate, for giving Middle Grade Mafioso the honor of revealing this great cover. We look forward to reading CLOCKBREAKERS.

About the Author:

Kate Ristau is a folklorist and an author. After working for AmeriCorps, she moved to Oregon, where she completed her Masters Degree in folklore at the University of Oregon, where she also taught.

She is the author of Commas: An Irreverent Primer, a grammar handbook co-written with her fellow professor, Maren Bradley Anderson. Anderson and Ristau also edited an anthology of poems, essays, and short stories titled Coarse Grounds: A Coffee Anthology.

Her first novel, Shadowgirl, was released by Lycaon Press in May of 2015. Her second novel, Clockbreakers, will be released on October 1st by Indigo Sea Press.

Kate also spends a lot of her time with Willamette Writers, where she is the Communications Director. She lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, her son and her dog.
Twitter  Facebook  Website

About the Illustrator:

Lee Moyer served as Art Director for Electronic Arts, Concept Lead for Hasbro, and collaborated with many best-selling-authors for his trilogy of Literary Pin-Up Calendars. He co-created and was lead designer of games Sanctum, Star Chamber, and 13th Age. His board game, with Keith Baker and Paul Komoda, The Doom That Came to Atlantic City was published by Cryptozoic in 2014. He paints more than a dozen posters for film, theatre, and musical events annually. He spent an hour every day for a year painting his series Small Gods.

Lee lives in Portland, Oregon and travels widely for work, gallery shows, teaching and lecturing.

He plays a mean game of Scrabble. Website

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday: COVER REVEAL for H.M. Bouman's A CRACK IN THE SEA

Friends, the Don and I do love a good cover. And we also love being the first to know things. So a cover reveal is right up our alley!

We are thrilled to be able to reveal the cover art (and some inner illustrations) for H.M. Bouwman's A CRACK IN THE SEA. The back cover contains the inscription Three families, two worlds, and one magical portal. Sweet!

Here's the cover:

Isn't it gorgeous? And here's what the novel is about:

No one comes to the Second World on purpose. The doorway between worlds opens only when least expected. The Raft King is desperate to change that by finding the doorway that will finally take him and the people of Raftworld back home. To do it, he needs Pip, a young boy with an incredible gift—he can speak to fish; and the Raft King is not above kidnapping to get what he wants. Pip’s sister Kinchen, though, is determined to rescue her brother and foil the Raft King’s plans.

This is but the first of three extraordinary stories that collide on the high seas of the Second World. The second story takes us back to the beginning: Venus and Swimmer are twins captured aboard a slave ship bound for Jamaica in 1781. They save themselves and others from a life of enslavement with a risky, magical plan—one that leads them from the shark-infested waters of the first world to the second. Pip and Kinchen will hear all about them before their own story is said and done. So will Thanh and his sister Sang, who we meet in 1976 on a small boat as they try to escape post-war Vietnam. But after a storm and a pirate attack, they’re not sure they’ll ever see shore again. What brings these three sets of siblings together on an adventure of a lifetime is a little magic, helpful sea monsters and that very special portal, A Crack in the Sea.

The novel includes some stunning interior art by illustrator, Yuko Shimizu. Here are two of the pieces:

What do you guys think? I received an ARC from the publisher, G.P. Putnam's Sons, and can't wait to read it on my hols in British Columbia (the closest to a trip to Britain I seem to be able to make.) A review will be forthcoming. Publication date for A CRACK IN THE SEA is January 3rd, 2017.

About the Author:

H. M. Bouwman is the author of The Remarkable & Very True Story of Lucy & Snowcap. An associate professor of English at the University of St. Thomas, she lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her two sons. A Crack in the Sea is her second novel.

About the Illustrator:

Yuko Shimizu is a Japanese illustrator based in New York City and an instructor at the School of Visual Arts. In 2009, Newsweek Japan chose Yuko as one of the “100 Japanese People the World Respects.” Yuko is the illustrator of the picture book Barbed Wire Baseball, and her work can also be seen on Gap T-shirts, Pepsi cans, Visa billboards, and Microsoft and Target ads, as well as on numerous book covers and in the pages of The New York Times, Time, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker and many others.

Big Cover Reveal for LANDFALL by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

Isn't this a great cover? It is Book One of Jennifer Lynn Alvarez's THE GUARDIAN HERD SERIES--and today I also have the pleasure of revealing the cover for Book 3: LANDFALL.

But before we get to that, Jennifer has given me permission to reprint the interview she did on her blog with the cover artist, David McClellan. Here it is:

Please enjoy my inspiring and informative interview with the Guardian Herd book series cover artist and illustrator, David McClellan. Not only will you get a "behind-the-scenes" peek at what goes into making a book cover, but you'll also learn tips for making your own amazing art!

1)      At what age did you know you wanted to be an artist?

I knew from a pretty early age. It was probably around 4th or 5th grade, when I realized that becoming a professional basketball player was out of the question. I guess it was really in college, when I chose to major in illustration, that I actually solidified the decision. 

2)      What is your favorite medium for expression and has it evolved over the years?

In high school it was Prismacolor pencils. Then, in college I did most of my illustration assignments in acrylic paint because the fast drying time meant I could get the assignments done on time. After college I got introduced to digital painting and never went back to the acrylics again. Everything that I was trying to achieve with the acrylics worked so much better with the digital media. So now all of my illustration work is done in Photoshop. But I do try to keep one foot in the door of traditional painting, so I do a lot of studies in oils to keep my skills up.


3)      How did you turn your passion for art into a career?

Basically, it’s been about getting an education and then continuing to learn my whole life. I studied illustration in college, so I learned some good fundamental principles about drawing and painting, as well as communicating ideas through images. And I learned about being a professional and meeting deadlines and keeping clients happy. After college, I knew that illustration jobs would be inconsistent so I got a job as an artist at Disney Interactive Studios, a video game developer, which has been great because that has meant working with many other talented artists as a team and learning from them. And of course, working with 3D software is a different animal than 2D art, but much of it overlaps in terms of what you need to know. I’ve basically had to learn how to be a landscape painter, except that the landscapes are virtual 3D worlds. So I think the knowledge and skills I’ve gained as a video game environment artist have helped my illustration career and vice versa.   

4)      How did you become the cover artist for The Guardian Herd series? 

The art director at Harper Collins had hired me before, but on a completely different kind of subject matter. As she considered me for this job, she asked if I was any good at painting animals and asked for some examples, and I told her that I was okay, but that I was probably weakest at horses. Of course, horses were exactly what she needed. And she agreed with me that my horses were not my best work, but for some reason she took a chance on me anyway. I immediately went and got some books on horse anatomy and started trying to figure it out. In hindsight, I think I was probably equally bad at drawing all animals. It’s just that horses are animals that humans are really familiar with, and have such specific proportions and musculature, that people can always tell when artists get them wrong. If you draw a dog wrong, you can just say it’s a different kind of dog.

5)      Please describe your process, from conception to delivery, for creating a Guardian Herd book cover. 

The art director gives me a description of what they want to see on the cover as far as characters and what kind of setting they want. Then I do several sketches to try and turn all those elements into a composition, taking into account where the title and author’s name will be. Those first sketches are usually so rough that no one else would understand them. Lately I have been doing those kind of sketches on my phone. I then pick out a few that have the most potential and make more finished sketches of those ideas to send to the art director.  She will then review the sketches with the editor and author (you!) and then either ask for changes or give the go ahead on the one that they like best. Then I will do color studies and work out the big picture before rendering any details.  I will have to do research and gather reference materials, in this case, lots of pictures of horses and wings. I have used toy horses for reference too since the photos usually don't have the right kind of lighting.  So sometimes I set up the toy horse with some makeshift paper wings to help me figure out what the shadows need to do. Then, from that point on, it’s just a lot of hours of painting time to refine and finish it off.


6)      Your perspectives on the covers are dramatic! Can you give readers any tips on how to draw interesting pictures?

As far as perspective goes, on both of these Guardian Herd covers so far I have dropped the horizon line lower so it feels like you are looking up at Star which makes him feel more heroic. There are so many potential answers to the question of how to make interesting pictures. Coming up with an interesting idea that is worth the time spent creating it is certainly crucial. Doing several rough sketches to get at the best possible idea helps. Making your image clear and legible helps. For example, it helps to have a clear focal point that is the most important thing in your picture and then have all the other elements complement rather than compete with that main focal point. I believe that contrast is a big key to making things interesting. Our brains naturally look for contrast to make sense of things. And not just contrast of light and dark but just about everything you can think of has an opposite that you can use to set it apart and make it stand out. Of course, not everything should stand out. Only the important things. But if you want something to feel light, surround it with some dark. If you want something to feel big, put something small next to it. Try to keep variety in your shapes and not make everything too similar or monotonous.

7)    Do you have any specific tips/advice on how to draw horses and feathers?

Well, start by getting the best reference materials you can get. You may not be able to see all that you need to understand in a photo of a horse, so a book on horse anatomy or a diagram of the muscles of the horse can be helpful. With feathers, it seems to be a little like drawing fingers or hair. If you are drawing a hand, it works best to mass in the fingers as a group first before trying to depict each individual finger. And with hair, it’s the same thing. You draw the mass of hair and then define only as many strands of hair as you need to in order to show that it’s hair and no more. With the feathers, start with the shape of the wing as a solid mass with the structure of the bones underneath in mind, and then add the feather detail on top of that foundation. And remember that you don’t have to define each feather with equal importance. Pick a few main ones to be the ones that tell the story.

8)      How important has the computer become in the world of art? 

It’s extremely important. And along with computers I would list smart phones and tablets and any electronic device that can be used to either create art, or view it. But the thing to remember is that the hardware and the software are just tools. The music is not in the violin. It has to come from the musician. So a software expert with no artistic training probably won’t create something as beautiful as a good artist with little software training might be able to. So I always tell people to use the software to express their designs rather than to let the software dictate the design.

9)      Can you recommend any software programs that budding artists might want to learn?

I really only work in Photoshop for my illustration work, although I sketch in the Sketchbook Pro app on my phone. I have messed around with the Brushes and Art Rage apps on my iPad. I think the kids probably know better than I do what the cool new painting apps are. I always recommend that kids get really good with real pencils and paints before getting into digital art because I think that foundation really helps.

10) Parting thoughts from David
I just want to say thanks Jennifer, and that I have really enjoyed doing the illustrations for the Guardian Herd series, and I’m excited for the next book! I hope that the fans of the books enjoy the illustrations and feel like they do justice to the characters. I look forward to seeing some cool fan art soon!

About the Artist
David McClellan grew up near Portland, Oregon and then studied illustration at Brigham Young University in Utah. In addition to illustrating books he works as an artist for Disney Interactive Studios, where they make the video game, Disney Infinity. He still lives in Utah with his wife and four boys. 
You can see more of his work at mcclellanart.com and @mcclellan_art on Instagram.

Please visit the author’s website to see the amazing fan art created by readers of the Guardian Herd book series.

Cover for Book 2: STORMBOUND

And now for the big reveal. Here's the official book blurb for LANDFALL:

It has been many moons since Star received his starfire power. He has gone from being born a dud—unable to fly and shunned by the five herds of Anok, including his own—to becoming a strong yearling, ready to lead his own herd as an over-stallion. But now he will face his toughest challenge yet. Nightwing the Destroyer, Star’s eternal rival, is amassing an army to destroy him and all of Anok. The only way for Star to defeat him is to learn how to fight like a warrior—without using his starfire. For if he uses his power, even to heal, Nightwing will know where to find him. As the threat of war looms over Star’s head, he can’t help but wonder if the current peace among the united pegasi is strong enough to defeat the powerful Destroyer once and for all.With increasingly difficult challenges and brand-new areas of Anok to explore, Jennifer Lynn Alvarez will thrill readers with this epic and exhilarating third installment of the Guardian Herd series.

I love the light in this one, and the way it melds with the green of the forest. Jennifer Lynn Alvarez has offered a prize package for one lucky winner. Here are the details: Guardian Herd Swag Prize Package—a Guardian Herd tote bag; a series poster for Book #3, LANDFALL; and a sheet of character trading cards. Leave a comment to be entered in the drawing. (US,UK, and Canada only, please.)

Guardian Herd Tote Bag for one lucky winner!

More Information about Jennifer:

You can find lots more information about Jennifer Lynn Alvarez on her WEBSITE. She's also on Twitter @JenniferDiaries

Her books can be found on IndieBound, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon.