My New Cover!

I got the cover for my new book! I think seeing a cover for the first time is one of the most exciting parts of the publication process. The cover is designed by the publisher, not by the author (thank goodness, because I know about as much about graphic design as I do about nuclear physics). It's always thrilling and a little scary when that email arrives from my editor with the new cover attached. Here it is!!! What will it look like??? What has the designer created to convey the tone of the book and to hook potential book buyers? The cover is what people will see first when they browse a bookstore or flip through a catalog or scan through a website. This is their introduction to my story. This is a BIG DEAL.

Covenant's designers have always done a fantastic job with my covers, and I'm thrilled with this new one. Isn't it awesome? 

I love it! The book will be released in September.  Here's the backliner:

Gifted musician Catherine Clayton was born into a life of wealth and privilege. Following the death of her father, she makes a bold decision she hopes would make him proud: she’s using the family money to establish a music school and offer free lessons to the underprivileged. A providential suggestion from an old college friend leads Catherine to select Riley, New York, as the perfect location for her new school. Hit hard by the economic downturn, Riley personifies economic hardship: peeling paint, overgrown landscapes, and damaged buildings. But the damage runs much deeper than Catherine first realizes. 

Two years ago, Riley was rocked by weeks of vandalism, followed by the brutal murder of beautiful elementary school secretary Olivia Perry. Everyone in town loved Olivia—but especially the two men with whom she was caught in a love triangle. Though the murder remains unsolved, Catherine receives ominous warnings that one of these men, Adam Becket, is responsible for her death. Unimpressed by the lack of evidence against him, Catherine is drawn to the shy but endearing Adam. Could he really have been involved in Olivia’s murder? 

Just as Catherine is settling in and getting to know Adam, a vandal strikes again, and it’s eerily reminiscent of the events surrounding Olivia’s murder. The death threats splashed on the walls prove that the killer is back—and this time, it’s Catherine who wonders if she’s come to the wrong place at the wrong time.