Publishing News, COVER FIASCO, and artwork

So, TOUCHED publishing progress news: 

Hardcopy of manuscript was sent to publisher and we've discussed about the covers. I was thinking, since Stacey K. Wall had done such a great job in turning my ideas into three great covers--

--we might as well just used hers! Look at it, isn't it awesome???

And editor has agreed but then one of my readers, @allyinthemoon (and fellow writer) stumbled upon something that shattered my dream of having such awesome covers. What did she find? 

Well, this:

Do you see it?

YUP, it's the same girl on it!!!!

Evidentally, we got our model picture at the same place (which is completely legal and fine since we got from a site that if you buy the printing rights, you can use it) and I figured no one would even notice but--

--I really don't want a mess with it, you know, especially since this would be my first published novel...

...so I told my editor and she told me that it would be fine, we could just make a different cover.

BUT I DON'T WANT A DIFFERENT COVER, because these covers are like, BAM, perfect in every way already (Stacey, I love you!!!) and notice how it had an overall theme.

So, my editor said, we could just change the models but how would Stacey feel?

So, I told Stacey the problem and I ask her whether it was okay for us to use her implementation of my idea, and change the models--she will get her credit of course--and she said yes (again Stacey, I am blessed with having meeting you). So, we're currently in the process of making the covers.

That's all for publishing news.

On other news, hey, #TOUCHED art. 

What happened with this is that I befriended CC, a person on facebook who was a reader of my story (no matter what people say, facebook is an awesome place to me...although Tumblr is where I find soulmates) and I saw that she'd been doing wonderful sketches and artwork and I was like, hey, you fancy doing some artwork for TOUCHED?

And she was like, YEAH!!

So, I gave her two scenes to work with and then we were like, "GAME ON, BITCHES!"

I gave her this JustinxLeah scene to do her magic to:

When I blinked I found myself on Justin’s lap, his arms trembling around me, his breath hot on my neck as he breathed me in. The pain inside my chest disappeared with every ticking second and the pounding inside my head was replaced with our heartbeat; fast and strong and steady.

His palm pressed against my lower back while his other hand curved around my shoulders and he held me like I was a touchstone. His touchstone. 

Right now I was his connection to himself and to the world. The urge to reach out to him, to rub his back and comfort him was strong but I kept myself rigid against him. I was doing this because I had no choice and a small part of me couldn’t stand to see him or anyone in pain. And he was in pain, I could feel it now. It was the displaced feeling I felt times a billion. He was so lost, so lost without me and no matter how much I resent him for putting me in this position, I couldn’t let anyone feel that way when I could do something about it. 

He held on to me, not just with his hands but with everything inside him, everything that made him what he was. I could feel it like a blanket, a web wrapping around me, absorbing me. There was a hole inside him too and he filled it with everything about me; of how I smelled, how I smiled, how I talked, how I laughed and how I fought. Of everything he had come to know about me, of my scars and my loneliness and my pain. Of how I looked like in his eyes and how I felt against him. These little simple facts he catalogued and fed it into the emptiness inside him, using them to piece himself back together.

So I let him touch me, let him hold me, let him press his face against the curve of my neck but my two hands remained in my lap.

“Thank you.” He whispered against my shoulder. 

My shoulders twitched against his arm. “Sure.”

“Just give me a minute.”

“Take your time.” I said and focused my eyes on the spice rack above the stove instead of the calm feeling of belonging that I felt. 

And resented it.

Copyright © 2012 by D.F. Jules

And then she came up with this:

I love this black and white version because it worked more with the scene, it has an almost menacing atmosphere because of the smudges at the background, contrasting greatly with the softness of his expression and the gentleness in the way he was holding her. It even almost looked like he was protecting her from the darkness behind them (or inside him *evil smile) and that worked.

Granted, the scene was supposed to be a little more intense and desperate for Justin, but...to be fair, I did let the artist to have free rein and I was intrigued by how she interpreted this scene.

In this color version there is a lot more gentleness because of the colors, and it looked more alive than the black and white ver. but what really sold me about this one was the shattered glass all around them; it was the perfect way to convey how Justin was feeling. How he was all broken up inside and was very vulnerable and delicate and the only thing that could save him was Leah. 

And most of all, I loved that she didn't draw Leah holding him back, because she's not supposed to. 

In short, I LOVED BOTH FOR DIFFERENT REASONS and I'm SO EXCITED TO SEE WHAT SHE WOULD MAKE OUT OF THE GABExLEAH SCENE!!!

You can see her other work on HER SITE!