Cover Matters

A Smugglerific Cover: The Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney

Our good friend, Honorary Smuggler, and Altogether Awesome Individual Karen Mahoney has her debut novel, a young adult fantasy titled The Iron Witch scheduled for release in February 2011 – and it is with the deepest, most profound JOY that we unveil her MOST EXCELLENT COVER! Behold!

The Most Excellent Cover:

Seriously, isn’t it GORGEOUS? The fonts, the color, the girl’s pose. It is all pretty awesome and we cannot wait to read it (is it February yet?).

For now, we have a few extra tidbits for you to feast your eyes upon.

The Blurb:

Freak. That’s what they called seventeen year-old Donna Underwood in high school after a horrific fey attack that killed her father when she was just a child. Her injuries and rehabilitation resulted in magically enhanced strength, thanks to the iron tattoos branding her hands and arms. As a child of the alchemists, she is both blessed and cursed with a magical heritage that permeates her life with duty and sacrifice.

Now, after ten years of wishing for a normal life, she finally has to
accept her role in the centuries-old war against the darkest outcasts
of Faerie: the Dark Elves. Aided by a gorgeous half-fey dropout, Donna must race to save her best friend’s life – even if it means betraying the secret of immortality and confronting the very thing that destroyed her family.

The Exclusive Excerpt:
Please note: excerpt is pre-copyedits and subject to change

They let themselves out of the house and Donna toed an empty beer bottle out of the way as she glanced across the street. And then she gasped as she saw a skinny shadow duck down behind the low wall surrounding the opposite house’s front yard.

Her mouth was suddenly dry and she stopped walking.

“What’s up?” Navin had his hand on the heavy iron gate, ready to step out onto the sidewalk.

“Wait,” she replied, grabbing his arm and wincing as she squeezed too tightly.

He frowned and made a big show of rubbing his arm as she released him. He studied her face for a moment. “Donna, what is it?”

She scanned the street, swallowing past the lump in her throat. Her
heart was pounding. There! There it was again.

A small silhouette moved with uncanny grace, sliding through the
shadows as it climbed over the wall into the next yard.

“Do you see that? Something just went over that wall, I saw it.” She was whispering and knew she must sound like she’d lost the plot, but she couldn’t help it. Donna was certain that whatever she’d just seen slithering through the shadows was something a lot more sinister than a Really Big fox.

“There’s nothing there, Donna.” Navin fixed her with a strange look.
“Are you sure you haven’t been drinking?”

“Shut up, you know I haven’t.”

“Actually, I have no way of knowing that considering how you decided to spend most of the evening wandering around upstairs in a strange house. On the roof.” He raised an eyebrow, something Donna had always wished she could do. The single-eyebrow raise was, sadly, not something she had ever been able to master. Not even with Nav’s expert tuition.

“Oh, just forget it.” She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d
been holding. “Maybe I really am going nuts.”

Going nuts? I’m sorry to inform you that it’s far too late for that, Underwood.”

Resisting the temptation to demonstrate just how strong she really
was, Donna couldn’t hold back a sigh of relief when their cab pulled
up. At least Navin was teasing her again. The tension between them
from moments before seemed to have lifted. But she still couldn’t help
looking over her shoulder as she climbed into the backseat of the cab,
and she knew she wouldn’t feel happy until they’d gotten out of there.

Donna was almost certain that something had been watching them from across the street, and the crawling sensation in her stomach stayed with her all the way home.

The Iron Witch will be published by Flux in February 2011 and Random House Australia in March 2011.

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42 Comments

  • katiebabs
    June 22, 2010 at 10:58 am

    Awesome! *Ninja joy*

  • Tricia Sullivan
    June 22, 2010 at 11:02 am

    Wow! That cover is stunning, and I can’t wait to buy this book. I am so excited about Karen’s debut!!

  • Amanda Isabel
    June 22, 2010 at 11:03 am

    Oh wow – that is an AWESOME cover! I am so glad! The excerpt was too too short! But any longer and I would not be able to wait until February – seriously? February!? 🙁

  • Vania
    June 22, 2010 at 11:07 am

    LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!!

    And what a funny excerpt! Cant wait!

  • Courtney Allison Moulton
    June 22, 2010 at 11:10 am

    Karen, it’s beautiful!! I can’t wait to get my hands on it!!

  • Riinda Elliott
    June 22, 2010 at 11:11 am

    You already know how I feel about this cover. So Much LOVE!!!! I’m so excited for you, Sweets!!!!

  • Jackie Kessler
    June 22, 2010 at 11:12 am

    RAH!!! So thrilled for Karen — and I can’t wait to buy THE IRON WITCH!

  • KMont
    June 22, 2010 at 11:13 am

    Congratulations, Karen! That’s one sweet cover. 😉 I can’t wait to read it!

  • Elie N
    June 22, 2010 at 11:14 am

    OHHHH- I like this one. I am going to link back here for my Saturday post. Thanks for sharing Smugglers.

  • Two Huge Things!! | Rinda Elliott
    June 22, 2010 at 11:20 am

    […] hurry over to The Book Smugglers  now. They released the absolutely stunning cover to a book I’m pretty excited about. Karen […]

  • Sabrina @ about happy books
    June 22, 2010 at 11:25 am

    Wow, the cover really looks awesome and the blurb sounds great!

  • Miss Remmers
    June 22, 2010 at 11:28 am

    I love this!!! It looks fantastic!

  • Carolin
    June 22, 2010 at 11:40 am

    So excited for you. Gorgeous cover and great excerpt. Let February ’11 come! :mrgreen:

  • Nadia Lee
    June 22, 2010 at 11:41 am

    The cover is just stunning. Wow! Congrats!

  • Jo
    June 22, 2010 at 11:47 am

    I want to frame this cover and hang it on my wall!!! And the story sounds so cool….. can’t believe we have to wait until February….. *sigh*

  • Karen Mahoney
    June 22, 2010 at 11:52 am

    Dudes, thank you SO much for celebrating with me. 🙂 Ana, Thea… I <3 you both. You're like my book-loving soulmates and I can't imagine a world without The Book Smugglers.

    I'm so happy that people like it! Flux have done an incredible job. *beams*

    Kaz
    xo

  • Has
    June 22, 2010 at 12:09 pm

    That is a very lush cover! Cannot wait 😀

  • Schneider
    June 22, 2010 at 12:17 pm

    That is a gorgeous cover! Funny though, I didn’t see any mention of it on Karen’s livejournal or blog…Eh, maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough.

    Also, awesome teaser is awesome. 😀

  • Karen Mahoney
    June 22, 2010 at 12:19 pm

    Schneider, it’s not there yet because the fabulous Book Smugglers offered to do an Official Launch. 🙂

    I’ll put it up elsewhere in the next couple of days. Thanks for the teaser comment, too! *g*

    Kaz

  • Roxy
    June 22, 2010 at 12:25 pm

    The cover is gorgeous!!! *wipes drool off floor*

  • Maria Lima
    June 22, 2010 at 12:54 pm

    Holy gorgeous cover art, Batman. WOWZA!! Karen, you totally scored with this one. BEAUTIFUL!

    Can’t wait to read the book, too. 🙂

  • Maria Lima
    June 22, 2010 at 12:54 pm

    Oh, and I shall totally pimp on my blog, etc.

  • Angie
    June 22, 2010 at 1:07 pm

    *gasp* It’s gorgeous! I really can’t wait. Congratulations. 🙂

  • cynthial11
    June 22, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    I love the cover, and it sounds really awesome. I must add it to my list! =)

  • midnightblooms
    June 22, 2010 at 1:29 pm

    Oh, wow, that cover is hang-it-on-the-wall gorgeous! Congrats, Karen!

  • Lenore
    June 22, 2010 at 2:24 pm

    I generally don’t read faerie books, but I’ll make an exception for Karen!!

  • Karen Mahoney
    June 22, 2010 at 3:11 pm

    Lenore – haha!! Thanks. 😉 I have to say, there’s actually more alchemy than fey stuff in the book (and the fey stuff is very um…different).

  • orannia
    June 22, 2010 at 4:36 pm

    Ohhhh! That is one stunningly gorgeous cover and I love the excerpt! Thank you! How long until February?

  • catie james
    June 22, 2010 at 5:49 pm

    Congratulations again Kaz! I couldn’t be happier for you!!!

  • Beth
    June 22, 2010 at 6:58 pm

    Omg…so excited to read the. The cover is beautiful. Thanks for sharing and for the tease…Feb is so fat away!!!

  • Anonymous
    June 22, 2010 at 8:46 pm

    I love it! Love it, love it, love it!

    *runs off to Kaz’s blog to squeal*

  • Shveta Thakrar
    June 22, 2010 at 8:47 pm

    D’oh, that last anon was me. 😉

  • Christine
    June 22, 2010 at 10:38 pm

    This is such an amazing cover!
    I love it so much that I had to show it on my blog if that´s okay with you?
    It´s gonna be such a long wait until February.

  • Lenore
    June 23, 2010 at 12:09 am

    Karen – Good to hear! Sounds fascinating 🙂 I do like alchemy.

  • danielle
    June 23, 2010 at 9:55 am

    DUDE, how do I get in on this?

    That’s one gorgeous cover.

  • Sophia
    June 23, 2010 at 3:16 pm

    Oh, that is so gorgeous! I could look at all that detail for ages. Yay, Karen!

  • Lois Lightweight
    June 23, 2010 at 7:29 pm

    Your review of Iron Witch by Karen Mahoney is a very intriguing story that I look forward to reading. Thank’s for showing this book
    review. 😆

  • Debuts & Reviews
    June 24, 2010 at 2:45 am

    It’s an awesome cover and looks like an even more awesome story! I’ll add it to my Debut Calendar right now!

  • robin
    June 24, 2010 at 3:56 pm

    Sigh- I want this lovely book in my hands RIGHT NOW!

  • Karen Mahoney – Writer of Urban Fantasy for Young Adults » Blog Archive » Random Kaz Updates
    June 27, 2010 at 10:28 am

    […] on LJ. I was trying really hard to do the adult rewrite of DOL, but then the World Cup started, I got my cover, and my inbox exploded. Not literally, but I honestly don’t know how Big Time Authors manage […]

  • Lisa Novak
    June 29, 2010 at 11:49 am

    Hay all, I designed Karen’s cover here at Flux. Thanks for all the fabulous props!

  • skyela
    February 12, 2011 at 6:37 pm

    hey i brought the book nearly a week ago and im just about finished i just have 1 question whens the 2nd one coming out coz its the next one i wanna buy please get back to me as id really like to know 🙂 🙂

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