Cover art

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    When Darkness Falls calendar by Tony Mauro …

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    So I was perusing through the calendars at my local Books-A-Million a few weeks ago looking for holiday presents, when I spotted a name that I knew on one of the calendars — Tony Mauro.

    Tony is a well-known fantasy artist who (among many other things) creates books covers, including those for my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. Curious, I picked up Tony’s When Darkness Falls calendar and turned it over.

    When Darkness Falls calendarAnd what do I see but the cover art for Heart of Venom, Elemental Assassin #9, featured in the calendar. Woot! Woot! Gin is featured during the month of October.

    I thought this was super-cool, and I e-mailed Tony about it. According to Tony, he’s been creating the fantasy art calendars for about eight years now.

    If you order the calendar through his website (as the above photo says), Tony will sign it for you. Again, how cool is that? I always buy a couple of calendars for Christmas, so if you’re looking for a holiday gift for someone, this would make a pretty neat one. The calendars are $13.95, plus shipping and handling.

    The calendars are also available at retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million. But please note that those calendars are not signed by Tony.

    CALENDAR GIVEAWAY

    Tony has generously offered up a signed copy of When Darkness Falls for giveaway, and I’m including a print copy of Heart of Venom, along with some bookmarks and other swag. You can enter using the form below. The giveaway is open to those 18 and older, U.S. only, and will run through midnight, EST, Thursday, Dec. 5.

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

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    Spartan Frost cover revealed …

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    Spartan FrostI’m happy to share the cover for Spartan Frost, an e-story in my Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series.

    Please note that even though Gwen is on the cover, the story is actually from Logan’s point of view — not Gwen’s. In fact, the whole story is from Logan’s point of view. I can’t really say any more without getting into spoilers, but I wanted to make it clear that this is a Logan story.

    Here’s the description. Again, this does have spoilers for earlier books in the series, especially Crimson Frost, so if you haven’t read that far, you may want to skip reading the description:

    I’m Logan Quinn, the deadliest Spartan warrior at Mythos Academy. At least I was — until the day I almost killed Gwen Frost.

    Professor Metis and Nickamedes say that I’m fine, that Loki and the Reapers don’t have a hold on me anymore, but I can’t risk it. I can’t risk hurting Gwen again. So I’m leaving Mythos and going somewhere far, far away.

    I know Gwen wonders what’s happening to me, whether I’m safe.  I can’t tell her, but this is my story …

    Basically, Spartan Frost tells what happened to Logan after the events of Crimson Frost and leads up to the events of Midnight Frost (book five, which is due out in July 30). I got several e-mails asking what happened to Logan, so hopefully, the e-story will fill in some of the gaps, as well as giving folks a better understanding of Logan.
     
    Spartan Frost is about 14,000 words, and it will be priced at $1.99. It will be released on June 25 as an e-book only. Spartan Frost is up for pre-order at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It will be available in all the usual e-book formats, and if it’s not up for pre-order yet with your favorite e-bookseller, then it should be going up soon.

    Hope everyone enjoys the look at the cover.

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    More foreign covers for Mythos Academy …

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    Crimson Frost German coverToday, I thought I would share some more of the foreign covers for books in my Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series.

    At left is the cover for Crimson Frost, the fourth book in the series. According to the information that I have, Crimson Frost will be published on Oct. 1 in Germany. Dark Frost, book three, will be out on March 12.

    I had gotten some e-mails from German readers asking when those two books would be released there, so now you know.

    Kiss of Frost, book two, actually hit the German best-seller list when it was released last year, which I thought was really cool. I guess I can officially add international best-selling author to my bio now. LOL.

    I always think it’s interesting to see the various covers from different countries and all the different interpretations. I think this cover for Crimson Frost is quite striking, with the close-up of the girl’s eyes and the pops of crimson against the white background.

    Kiss of Frost Polish coverAnd in other foreign cover news, here’s the Polish cover for Kiss of Frost. According to my editor, Kiss of Frost will be out in March in Poland.

    This cover almost looks like a high-fashion magazine to me. But I think it’s really cool, and I like the mix of green and gray. I think that the colors will look quite striking in print.

    Anyway, hope everyone enjoys the look at the covers, and I hope that the folks overseas enjoy the Mythos Academy books when they are released.

    Happy reading, everyone!

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    Heart of Venom cover …

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    Heart of VenomSome of you have seen this already over at Heroes and Heartbreakers, who did a cover reveal last week (thanks so much, guys!), but I thought I would also post it here on my blog.

    Today, I’m sharing the cover art for Heart of Venom, the ninth book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. Huzzah!

    Once again, the cover was done by Tony Mauro. He always does such a fabulous job with the covers, and this one is no exception. I think it looks really, really great, and it fits a scene in the story well. I especially love the spider rune on the tombstone. I thought that was a really cool and clever way to use the rune on the cover.

    Here’s the description of Heart of Venom. As always, if you don’t want to be spoiled, you may want to skip reading the description:

    When a terror from the past threatens Gin’s friend and body-disposer, Sophia, Gin will stop at nothing to protect her, even if it means walking straight into a killer’s trap. Meanwhile, the rocky romance between Gin and Owen reaches a turning point — can they reunite and rekindle their love? Or will the things Gin has been forced to do in her line of work as the deadly assassin the Spider keep them apart forever? Assuming, that is, she survives long enough to find out …

    Heart of Venom is set to be released on Aug. 27 (it’s a September book). There will be at least one more book in the series after this one.

    Heart of Venom is up for pre-order at Amazon and Books-A-Million. It should be up for pre-order soon at Barnes & Noble and other booksellers.

    Anyway, hope everyone enjoys this look at the cover.

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    New cover for Deadly Sting revealed …

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    Deadly StingI have some news to share — there has been a change in the cover art for Deadly Sting, the eighth book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series.

    Originally, Deadly Sting was going to have a step-back cover, just like Widow’s Web did. You can check out this blog post that I did about the old step-back cover.

    But now, there will only be one cover for all of the Deadly Sting books — print and e-books. Basically, the new cover sort of combines the elements of the two old covers. The new and final cover art is shown at left.

    Also, here is the book description for Deadly Sting. As always, if you don’t want to be spoiled, you may want to skip reading the description:

    Red is definitely my color. Good thing, because in my line of work, I end up wearing it a lot.

    Most people shy away from blood, but for an assassin like me — Gin Blanco, aka the Spider — it’s just part of the job. Still, it would be nice to get a night off, especially when I’m attending the biggest gala event of the summer at Briartop, Ashland’s fanciest art museum. But it’s just not meant to be. For this exhibition of my late nemesis’ priceless possessions is not only the place to be seen, but the place to be robbed and taken hostage at gunpoint as well. No sooner did I get my champagne than a bunch of the unluckiest thieves ever burst into the museum and started looting the place.

    Unlucky why? Because I brought along a couple of knives in addition to my killer dress. Add these to my Ice and Stone magic, and nothing makes me happier than showing the bad guys why red really is my color.

    Deadly Sting will be released on March 26, 2013. The book is up for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Books-A-Million. You can read the first chapter here, although please note that this chapter has spoilers for Widow’s Web, so if you haven’t read that far in the series yet, you may want to avoid reading the chapter.

    Anyway, hope everyone enjoys seeing the new cover.