Cover Stories: Playing Blue by Holly Schindler

Holly Schindler is here to talk about two of her novels, A Blue So Dark and Playing Hurt. They have really different feels (Playing Hurt makes me want summer back!--and A Blue So Dark has a much eerier feel--I love underwater covers lately).

Here's Holly to talk about each cover:

"While the covers of my YA novels—A BLUE SO DARK and PLAYING HURT—are both stock images, the end result is pretty night-and-day different, as is the content of the books (A BLUE SO DARK explores the possible link between mental illness and creativity, and PLAYING HURT features a romance between two former athletes.)

"The covers have two completely different functions. A BLUE SO DARK is a metaphorical cover; it speaks to the emotional content of the book. It’s a poetic representation of what happens in the book. PLAYING HURT is a literal interpretation.

"I love both covers—but of the two, PLAYING HURT’s my favorite, because I think it better steers the book toward the right readership.

"When A BLUE SO DARK was released, it was frequently purchased on Amazon by readers who also purchased paranormal titles..."

Read the rest of Holly's Cover Story at melissacwalker.com.

LIVE Chat 8pm EST/5pm PST: Holly Schindler!

Check out tonight's Live Author Chat on Reach Out Reads! 8pm EST/5pm PST (that's really soon!):

Learn more about the month-long chat series here.

Story Secrets: A BLUE SO DARK by Holly Schindler + Giveaway!

How happy I am to be able to introduce you to my friend and fellow "2K10 Debut Holly," Holly Schindler!

Holly's debut novel, A BLUE SO DARK, releases on May 1st and just garnered a *starred review* from Booklist. Hooray, Holly! So I invited her to visit us to spill some of her story secrets (and A BLUE SO DARK has many of them)...

Welcome, Holly!

*****

Fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose has been hiding a secret. Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her sole caretaker ever since Aura’s dad left them. Convinced that “creative” equals crazy, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination. Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked—and together may offer an escape from her fears.

And here is Holly's story behind the story:

…I decided to devote myself full-time to my writing as soon as I got my master’s degree back in the spring of ’01. By the winter of ’06, I’d already endured almost (yikes!) five solid unpublished years…To pay my pesky bills, I taught piano and guitar lessons and offered English tutorials out of my home—which turned out to be fabulous YA author training!

Maybe some instructors get annoyed by their students’ interruptions, but my absolute FAVORITE parts of the lessons were the times my students would just TALK to me…tell me funny stories about their days, or blow off steam about a teacher, or let me in on something hurtful that had happened with one of their friends. And it hit me how similar they were to the kids I’d gone to school with. Sure, the cut of the jeans are different now, kids might listen to iPods instead of Walkmans, but so many of our experiences are the same…

Read the rest and enter to win here!