Smugglerific Cover

A Smugglerific Cover: The Spark by Susan Jane Bigelow (& Giveaway of Broken)

Susan Jane Bigelow’s Extrahumans series is one of Ana’s current favourite Science Fiction series. The first book, Broken was one of her notable books of 2011 and the recently released Fly Into Fire, a tremendous follow-up. As such, we are delighted to be unveiling the cover of third book in the series, The Spark – check it out:

THE SMUGGLERIFIC COVER:

THE SUMMARY:

Deirdre Burns White clings desperately to her normal life. She has a job, a boyfriend and an apartment in the city of First Landing. She’s made sure life is normal… because Dee is an extrahuman. She can make fire with her mind and she has the devil’s luck, but because of that, she was once imprisoned and tortured by the ruthless Confederation military. All she wants is to bury the past and blend in.

When an old friend shows up bearing a letter and a command, though, Dee finds she can’t run any longer. The ghosts of her past have come back to haunt her, even as the first cracks finally begin to show in the Confederation’s smothering oppression.

Now First Landing is in a state of open, wild revolt, and Dee has to make a choice: to hide herself away, lost to guilt and regret, or to embrace her past and her dangerous powers to help save the people and the city she loves.

Dee could set the world on fire; all she needs is a spark.

DESIGNING THE SPARK COVER:
by Kate Sullivan, Candlemark and Gleam

Occasionally getting to do cover design is one of the great treats of working at a small press. For the most part, we commission outside artists and designers to work on our covers—there are just so many talented people out there that we’d be remiss in not finding the perfect artist for each book! Sometimes, though, I’ll get an idea in my head that I simply have to run with, and I jealously guard my right to design the occasional cover.

The Spark comes from that; it’s the third in the Extrahumans series, and the third cover I’ve designed for these books. In some ways, this was both the easiest and the hardest cover in the series to do. After reading the manuscript, I just knew that the cover had to be as electrifying and dynamic as the book itself—but it also had to tie in with the visual design of the two earlier books in the series. Broken started out as a visually interesting cover, but one without a lot of colour impact—just the punch of bright red from the title. We kept the same “feeling” in the second book in the series, Fly Into Fire, but added more colour in; there’s tans and golds, in addition to the red of the title. Plus, there’s that silhouette, echoing the silhouette of a woman on the cover of Broken.

For The Spark, I wanted to start moving even further away from the stark neutral colours of the earlier books’ covers. The series has started moving on—we’re not on Earth anymore, and we’re following a different set of primary characters than we were in the first novel, although some of the series’ most beloved characters are still around and checking in. I wanted to show a little of that new direction in the first encounter you have with the novel, immediately upon seeing it on a shelf. So instead of going with a grey or a gold for The Spark, I dove into using a highly saturated purple. We still have the now-traditional silhouette—this time, of Dee, exercising her abilities—but we’ve gone from somber, muted colours to this really wild, popping electrical storm, all toned into deep and vivid purples, with a crackle of white.

The font and some of the other elements, like that silhouette and the Extrahumans logo on the spine, tie the book back into the earlier ones, but now, with this shot of colour and moving on from the red titles, we’ve got room to play and develop even more nifty covers for possible future books in the series!

THE GIVEAWAY:

We are giving away ONE copy of Broken, the first book in the series, so that one lucky winner gets to read from the start. The giveaway is open to ALL and to enter, just leave a comment here. Contest will run till Saturday April 21 11:59PM (PST). Only one entry per person, please! Multiple entries will be disqualified. Good luck!

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59 Comments

  • Michelle
    April 12, 2012 at 12:09 am

    Oouuu I’ve been meaning to read these since you guys started pimpin’ them out back in 2011. Thanks for the sweet giveaway!

  • Carrie
    April 12, 2012 at 12:09 am

    I really want to read this series now!

  • Stuart
    April 12, 2012 at 3:29 am

    Looks good, definitely on my too read list!

  • Tina
    April 12, 2012 at 4:23 am

    This looks like a great series!

  • Mandivenard
    April 12, 2012 at 4:36 am

    Sounds amazing,please enter me in the giveaway.

  • Sara
    April 12, 2012 at 4:44 am

    I really want to read this, thanks for giving us all a chance to win a copy!

  • JC
    April 12, 2012 at 5:05 am

    Oh, I love seeing how different covers are made, and the thought process that goes into them. This one is simply lovely.

  • Sabrina
    April 12, 2012 at 5:26 am

    The new cover looks great, I especially love the colours that are used.

  • Elle
    April 12, 2012 at 5:54 am

    Ooh pick me!

  • Myanmar
    April 12, 2012 at 7:17 am

    This cover is amazing!!! 🙂 Thank’s for this giveaway! 🙂

  • Misti
    April 12, 2012 at 7:18 am

    Hmmm… sounds good. Count me in.

  • Pippi55
    April 12, 2012 at 10:36 am

    Looks like a great series!

  • Chenise Jones
    April 12, 2012 at 10:45 am

    I’ve wanted to read the first book for a while, and the second one looks awesome!

    Thanks for the giveaway!

  • Kay-Kay-Bay
    April 12, 2012 at 10:49 am

    I really liked “Broken”. Unfortunately, I haven’t got around to reading the sequel yet.
    This development of colour in the covers is really interesting. I hope they look good all in a row!

  • Tatiana (The Readventurer)
    April 12, 2012 at 10:52 am

    Never heard of these books before, but looks like they are worth checking out.

  • Yeti
    April 12, 2012 at 11:02 am

    Live the new cover is lush 🙂

  • Yeti
    April 12, 2012 at 11:03 am

    Love, I meant love! This is not a multiple entry, promise, argh!

  • Nella
    April 12, 2012 at 12:42 pm

    This series seams amazing, I really nead to read it soon!

  • Hannah w
    April 12, 2012 at 12:46 pm

    This sounds brilliant =] and i love the covers <3

  • Heidi
    April 12, 2012 at 1:14 pm

    Oooh, I’ve been wanting to read this series ever since I first saw Ana talking about it. It sounds awesome, and I’d love to start from the beginning, especially with Spark coming out this summer! Thanks for hosting. =)

  • Vanessa
    April 12, 2012 at 2:15 pm

    I want

  • Justine
    April 12, 2012 at 3:15 pm

    The color saturation on the cover of The Spark makes it markedly feel different from the grim grayness of Broken. Only the silhouettes and consistent fonts indicate to me that these books are linked.

  • Raina
    April 12, 2012 at 4:03 pm

    Oh I didn’t realize this was part of the same series

  • Allison
    April 12, 2012 at 4:20 pm

    That’s a pretty cover! Sounds like a fantastic series

  • Kelley
    April 12, 2012 at 4:57 pm

    Always excited to try a new series!

  • Jamie
    April 12, 2012 at 5:05 pm

    Please please me!

  • Jennifer Jensen
    April 12, 2012 at 5:22 pm

    I haven’t read very much science fiction as of late, so I would love to give this series a try. Thanks for the giveaway!

  • Bee
    April 12, 2012 at 5:35 pm

    Sounds interesting, thanks for the giveaway 🙂

  • Stephanie K.
    April 12, 2012 at 5:38 pm

    Cool cover. Thanks for the giveaway!

  • Jen B.
    April 12, 2012 at 6:06 pm

    I think the covers are great. I tend to look for movement in covers. Both of these covers feel like they are alive.

  • Dana
    April 12, 2012 at 7:04 pm

    Yay! A giveaway! This one had been on my list for a while now!

  • Catherine
    April 12, 2012 at 7:26 pm

    Just read the reviews for the first two books and would love a chance to read them. My library doesn’t have them and I’m on a fiscally(lack of)imposed ban on buying new books for a year. Thank you for offering this giveaway. Looking forward to reading this series.

  • draconismoi
    April 12, 2012 at 7:34 pm

    There is already a 3rd book in the works and I haven’t read the second?! Eeek!

  • Llehn
    April 12, 2012 at 7:38 pm

    I’d love to play please.

  • Megan
    April 12, 2012 at 7:47 pm

    I need to read the second book. I am so behind! D=

  • erinf1
    April 12, 2012 at 8:02 pm

    Thanks for a great giveaway! This series sounds awesome! Definitely going to have to check them both out 🙂

  • jenn
    April 12, 2012 at 8:10 pm

    Looks AMAZING! =D

  • Laura T
    April 12, 2012 at 8:26 pm

    Thanks for the giveaway, the series sounds great!

  • Helen
    April 13, 2012 at 12:00 am

    Looks amazing!

  • JenM
    April 13, 2012 at 2:03 am

    This sounds like a great series. I’d love to give it a try.

  • Audra Holtwick
    April 13, 2012 at 7:09 am

    I love series books– i would love to have a copy of this one

  • Victoria Zumbrum
    April 13, 2012 at 8:02 am

    Thanks for the giveaway. I would love to read this series. It sounds very good. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com

  • Maureen
    April 13, 2012 at 8:36 am

    It looks like an interesting series.

  • Simona
    April 13, 2012 at 11:08 am

    Dystopian novel, that’s my cup of tea! Please count me in 🙂

  • sweety
    April 13, 2012 at 12:02 pm

    I would love to read it!!

    Thanks for the international giveaway!!

  • Suz Glo
    April 13, 2012 at 12:44 pm

    Thanks for the giveaway! Count me in —-

  • Serena
    April 13, 2012 at 1:52 pm

    Thanks for the giveaway! These books are somewhere in my long TBR list…

  • sk
    April 13, 2012 at 4:56 pm

    cant wait to read this — it sounds fantastic!!!!

  • Rachael L
    April 13, 2012 at 7:06 pm

    Thank you for the giveaway!!

  • Abigail @ The Story Factory Reading Zone
    April 15, 2012 at 9:39 am

    This sounds really interesting, I’d love to win a copy!

  • Laura D.
    April 15, 2012 at 11:07 am

    I’d love to win this – it sounds very interesting. 😀

  • Harini
    April 15, 2012 at 12:11 pm

    The book really seems interesting. Would love to win a copy.

  • Ashley
    April 16, 2012 at 12:50 am

    hmm seems interesting I want it now!

  • Sassie
    April 16, 2012 at 11:51 am

    This sounds like a good read! 😉 Hopefully I will be lucky! =)

  • Jesse A.
    April 16, 2012 at 12:38 pm

    I would love to win the book, the series sound very interesting…and im always trying to find a new series to begin reading 😮

  • Elizabeth
    April 16, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    Sounds fascinating, going to have to put it on my to-read list.

  • Martha M.
    April 16, 2012 at 1:26 pm

    Sounds like an awesome read!!

  • lindsaycummingsauthor
    April 18, 2012 at 5:37 pm

    loooove this cover and WANT! 🙂

  • Jodie
    April 19, 2012 at 11:41 am

    I want to win a book.

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