Cover Reveal For My Next Book!

It's that time again--cover reveal time!!!!

This time it's for my new YA contemporary that will be out March 30, 2021. It's called WITH YOU ALL THE WAY, and it's about family and sisters and, well, sex. (Although I would say that it's a fairly clean book--it's meant to discuss sex, not, uh feature it.)

Here's the official description:

A Forever for a new generation. Bestselling author Cynthia Hand’s funny and frank coming-of-age story is the perfect read for fans of Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han.

Ada’s life is a mess. She just caught her boyfriend cheating on her after a humiliating attempt at losing her virginity, and she’s had it up to here with her perfect older sister trying to give her advice about, well, sex.

But things really hit the fan during a family vacation in Hawaii, where Ada makes a heinous discovery: her mom is having an affair. Apparently, no one can keep themselves from falling into bed with people they shouldn’t, so Ada decides it’s time for her to stop trying and start doing—sex, that is. But her best laid plans don’t quite leave room for the truth: feelings, romantic or not, always get in the way.

And here's the cover:

This one is an eye grabber, isn't it? I love that it reflects the tropical/jungle idea and the Hawaii setting.

What do you think?

Cover reveal for THE HOW AND THE WHY

This post has been a LONG time coming. The folks over at HarperTeen have been working on the cover of my newest book, THE HOW AND THE WHY (out in November 2019) for over a year, people. And now it is finally ready to show to the world.

But first, the description:

A poignant exploration of family and the ties that bind from New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand.

Dear X,

Today Melly had us writing letters to our babies. I can't imagine you as an actual baby, let alone an eighteen-year-old person reading this letter. I'm not even eighteen yet myself.

-S.
Cassandra McMurtrey has the best parents a girl could ask for. They’ve given Cass a life she wouldn’t trade for the world. She has everything she needs—except maybe the one thing she wants. Like, to know who she is. Where she came from. Questions her adoptive parents can’t answer, no matter how much they love her.

But eighteen years ago, someone wrote Cass a series of letters. And they may just hold the answers Cass has been searching for.

Alternating between Cass’s search for answers and letters from the pregnant teen who gave her up for adoption, this voice-driven narrative is the perfect read for fans of Nina LaCour and Jandy Nelson.

And now (drum roll, please!)

THE COVER

I am so in love with this cover. I cried the first time I saw it. It is extra personal for me, as the building shown here is the real Booth Memorial Home For Unwed Mothers (what is now Marian Prichett High School for pregnant teens and new mothers). On the left is S, who write a series to her unborn baby, and on the right, Cass, the headstrong girl that baby would grow up to be, gazing at each other across time. (Can you tell that it's summer on the left side, and autumn on the other? SOOOOOOOO COOL!)

Here's where you can find the book:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Indiebound

BooksAMillion

HarperCollins


So what do you think?

News, Covers, Movies, and Mitts

I've got a big news build up for you this time, so brace yourself. There's a lot.

1. THE AFTERLIFE OF HOLLY CHASE is going to be out in only TWO WEEKS! I had the idea for this novel years ago, so I am so excited for it to be finally seeing the light of day. Holly is the modern-day Ebenezer Scrooge, which was so fun to write. I can't wait for you to meet her. Go here to the book page where you can find out more and click one of these links to pre-order: HarperCollins / Amazon / Barnes & Noble /  iBooks / Indiebound

the first hardcover has arrived and it is soooooo shiny

Look at the back! Gah!

I'm going to do a special pre-order giveaway-- the first hundred people who preorder the book (email me at writercynthiahand@gmail.com with a screenshot of your completed order) will get a personalized Holly Chase card, signed by me, and something from a fun selection of Christmas-oriented swag.

Show me that you're spreading the word about THE AFTERLIFE OF HOLLY CHASE, by tweeting about it, adding to your To Read pile on Goodreads, doing a post on your website or blog, or Instasharing, (again, email me with your screenshots or tag me in the posts) and you'll be entered to win even more great prizes, like:

a Christmas hat, knitted by moi

a pair of Christmas fingerless mitts, also knitted by yours truly

a special Holly Chase themed Christmas ornament

a signed and personalized hardcover of The Afterlife of Holly Chase

signed copies of some of my other books

signed bookplates and bookmarks

and a bunch more!

So spread the word! And keep checking back, because there are going to be a lot more giveaways and fun events as we get closer to Christmas.

2. The Afterlife of Holly Chase is also coming to Australia on 10-23-17. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the cover--look!

Squee! It captures the book so perfectly! I can't even!

3.  I've also spent a big chunk of the past few weeks trying to get Holly Chase on the road to becoming a movie, which has been so exciting and stressful. (No movie news I can share yet, but I've got my fingers crossed.)

Me hanging out with Napoleon on the lot at Fox, where we were pitching TAoHC

So yeah, I have Holly Chase on the brain.

But . . .

4. The Janies also have a new book coming out--in June 2018, to be exact. And it now has a COVER. We will be revealing the cover TOMORROW, so head over tomorrow to www.ladyjanies.com to check it out.

5. It's fall! (Okay, this is only going to be news to people in, say, California.) Fall is my favorite season: I love sweaters, leaves, and KNITTING. I have been knitting up a storm.

You too, could have fingerless mitts, but these are mine.

6. I got a puppy. Her name is Poesy. The cats are not thrilled.

Poesy also clearly digs fall.

7. I'm going to be doing a few events around the release of Holly Chase, mostly in Idaho, but also in Miami and some other places. Check out the Events tab to find out where and when.

That's it--all the news I can think to share right now. Don't forget to enter the giveaway, and look for the MY PLAIN JANE cover tomorrow.

xoxo

C

Cover Reveal

As promised, today I'm going to show you all the cover to my new book, THE AFTERLIFE OF HOLLY CHASE, which is coming to bookstores on November 7, 2017.

But first, here's the description:

On Christmas Eve five years ago, Holly was visited by three ghosts who showed her how selfish and spoiled she'd become. They tried to convince her to mend her ways.

She didn't.

And then she died.

Now she's stuck working for the top-secret company Project Scrooge--as the latest Ghost of Christmas Past.

Every year, they save another miserly grouch. Every year, Holly stays frozen at seventeen while her family and friends go on living without her. So far, Holly's afterlife has been miserable.

But this year, everything is about to change. . . .


Woohoo, so exciting! So, ready to see???!!!!!


Here you go:

I love this cover so much!!!!! I should point out that it's going to be printed on foil, so everything that is white here is actually going to be a sparkly silver color. I love the symbols: the coffin, the roses, the snowflakes, the candle, the stars, the tiny lightning bolts, all of which are so important to the story. I also love the way the detailing on the edges hearkens back to that older style of book, like my own tiny copy of A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

*in cover love*

*swoons*

So what do you think? Let me know in the comments below. And be sure to take part in this giveaway, where I will give one lucky reader my first copy of the ARC. (One of the ways to enter the contest is to comment below. . .)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cover Reveal

The day has arrived! I have finally been given the green light to share the cover of my latest novel, THE LAST TIME WE SAY GOODBYE.

Here it is:

And here's the description from the book jacket:

There's death all around us.

We just don't pay attention.

Until we do.

The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.

Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be.

As Lex starts to put her life back together, she tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there's a secret she hasn't told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.

Lex's brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn't have to be real to keep you from moving on.

From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand, The Last Time We Say Goodbye is a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and letting go.

So there you have it! A cover! A description! A release date: February 10, 2015! It's all coming together!

I feel that I hit the jackpot with this cover. It's gorgeous, first of all --the colors, the image!--but beyond that, I feel it truly reflects what happens in the book. And that is a rare thing. Covers, you see, are meant to be advertisements--their sole purpose to to get some poor unsuspecting reader to pick up the book and then buy it. So often what's on the cover is more a reflection of marketing than what's at the heart of the book. That's okay--it's meant to be like that. I mean, I loved my covers for UNEARTHLY, but at no time did my main character Clara ever stand around outside in a formal gown. But the covers did their job--they got people to buy my books.

But this cover does both so beautifully. It is pretty and enticing and just begs to be picked up. And it FEELS like the story. I can feel Lex in that room, looking at that note.

Happy sigh.

So what do you think?

Novella!

Guess what? I've written an Unearthly novella! And it will be out December 4th, in ebook only! Here are the cover and the description:




 
 From New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Hand comes a riveting original novella (available only as an ebook) set in the world of the Unearthly series.

Clara is desperate to get away—from the memories that haunt her in Wyoming and the visions of a future she isn't ready to face—and spending the summer in Italy with her best friend, Angela, should be the perfect escape. . . .

For as long as she can remember, Angela has been told that love is dangerous, that she must always guard her heart. But when she met a mysterious guy in Italy two years ago she was determined to be with him, no matter the costs. Now she must decide whether she can trust Clara with her secret, or if telling her the truth will risk everything she cares about.

Alternating between Angela and Clara's perspectives, Radiant chronicles the unforgettable summer that will test the bounds of their friendship and change their lives forever.









I of course am super excited about the whole thing! It's a part of the story I always wanted to tell, but one that didn't fit neatly into Boundless. So I was soooo happy when my editor suggested an ebook. You guys, Angela was wicked fun to write. And, I also have to mention, there's a new hot guy in the Unearthly universe. Yay for new hot guys!

Go here to pre-order from Amazon and here from Barnes and Noble. Only $1.99!

Boundless, Aussie style

I'm up tonight, putting the finishing touches on Boundless, which goes into production tomorrow. Whew, it's been a long haul. So happy to see it done.

But before I press send on that, I thought I'd share the AUSTRALIAN cover for Boundless, which is too beautiful for words--one of my favorite covers EVER.

Enjoy!

Boundless Cover Reveal

Wow, am I ever excited! My editor has given me the go-ahead to share the cover for BOUNDLESS!!!!

First off, I want to say that this might be my favorite cover out of all of them, and I love all my covers. But this one. . .  I love her expression, I love her dress and the way the wind is moving it, I love the lake rocks under her feet, the suggestion of water, the parting of the clouds, and I love the color. It's all LOVELY.

Squee!!!!

Ready to see?

Okay!

Ta-dah!

What do you think?!!!!

And again, in honor of Boundless, I'd like to share another song that I listened to a LOT to get me in the Boundless frame of mind: Human, by Civil Twilight. Let this play and stare at the cover for a minute, I dare you. See if you don't feel what Clara feels. . .

Hallowed for Halloween Cover Entries

Below you'll find a video I made of the entries (so far) for my Hallowed for Halloween contest. You guys. This has been CRAZY. There have been more than 60 submissions to the cover part of the contest alone, and they are wicked awesome. I have no idea how I'm ever going to choose two. Thank you so much for making my Halloween so fun and showing such support and excitement for Hallowed. You make me proud!

Enjoy!

Library Time, Nixed Covers, and Sequel Syndrome

I am into the hard-core writing to get a draft down for Book 3, so I don't have much time to blog these days, but I wanted to tell you that today, I put M in daycare for a half day, and I drove to Malibu and spent 4 hours in the Pepperdine library, writing my brains out. And it was wonderful. So quiet and uninterrupted. I got loads done. I plan to do it again on Thursday.

Things are heating up for Hallowed, the release date creeping closer and closer. I want to have some sort of ARC giveaway tied with Halloween (Hallowed on Halloween, get it?) but haven't hit on a great idea for how to do this yet. For as creative of a person as I believe myself to be, I am dreadful with contest ideas. Any suggestions on a contest that would be fairly simple where I could give away, say 3 or 4 copies of Hallowed? I am all ears and eager to give some away. . .

And there is one piece of news regarding the UK version of Hallowed. The publisher nixed the Christian cover. I am, of course, disappointed. I loved that cover. It was my favorite of all my covers to date, I think because it channeled the feeling of Hallowed so well. But the booksellers were nervous about a boy on the cover, so Egmont UK completely redesigned it with a girl. And it's very nice. But it's not Christian. Sigh. Oh well. Such is life in the publishing world.

Happier news: Kristi at The Story Siren blog, which is indisputably one of the best blogs, like, ever, read Hallowed! And liked it! Her exact words on Goodreads were "Holy shiz!!!! AWESOMESAUCE!!!" I laughed at that and breathed a huge sigh of relief. It's crazy how much more pressure I feel about whether people will like Hallowed, not because I don't think it's a good book--in many ways, I feel it's a better book than Unearthly, more sophisticated in the telling, more powerful and more emotional on all kinds of levels, but because it isn't Unearthly.

I'm that way about sequels myself. I fall in love with the first one, and then I'm all "meh" about the second one because what I really loved about the first one was being introduced into the world, meeting the characters, discovering what the story is about with them. And the second book is a middle book, typically. A book full of struggles, but not usually solutions. The book where the characters get hurt, they fall, and then they're going to have to get back up. Not saying that Hallowed is a bummer, mind you. Clara is still Clara, after all; she's still got her sense of humor, her sarcasm, her dumb jokes. She makes me laugh as much as she makes me cry. But she is absolutely smack in the middle of her emotional struggle in this book. And some people don't like middles. They like beginnings. They like endings. But not middles.

*Refrains from biting nails thinking about it. Refers you to a blog post by Kiersten White where she basically says the same thing but way more articulately here. Tells myself to STOP READING the FREAKING reviews!!!!!

Lol. I need sleep. And some more time in the library. That is all.

UK Cover for Hallowed

I am allowed to share my UK cover for Hallowed! I love it so much! It has CHRISTIAN on the cover!

SQUEE!!

Okay, I should stop squealing over it and just SHOW YOU, right?

All right, if you insist.

Here:

Seriously, I am in total love with this cover. Swoon, swoon, swoon.

First off, I love that it's Christian. I wish that more YA books had boys on the cover; it'd be a change-up from all the pretty girls in their pretty dresses. I do love my covers with my pretty dresses, but still. . . Christian! Which is awesome because Hallowed is so much about us getting to know Christian better.  (Not to worry though, Team Tucker, because Tucker gets his fair share of page time.)

I love that the clouds behind him are parted like wings.

I love his expression and his stance, hands on the pockets, very much the way that Clara sees him in her vision of the fire (except she always sees him from the back).

In short, it's beautiful. It rocks my world.

Cover Reveal

Yay! I get to reveal the cover for Hallowed!

I woke up this morning to discover that the cover had been loaded to Goodreads and was floating all over the web, which is kind of a bummer, since usually these cover reveals are a big deal and the publisher very carefully times when you can reveal them. :( No idea how it leaked out, but it leaked, so now I've been given the green light to show you all!

Yay! I get to reveal the cover!!!

So here it is:

Of course it will be all silvery and shiny like the UNEARTHLY cover was, so this image won't really do it justice. And it's blue this time. I will have to get me some blue sharpies.

I love it.

Mountains and lake in the background. Pretty cloudbursts. Pretty girl. Pretty swirly lettering with a feather.

Love.

Hope you love it too!

What color is Clara's hair, anyway?!

So some of you may of seen the UK cover floating around the internet. It's beautiful, ethereal and provoking, I think, but when I first saw it some months ago, it kind of made me laugh. I've had four covers designed for Unearthly, and each one shows Clara with a different hair color! This kind of makes sense, since in the book, Clara is a blonde but dyes her hair (disasterously, I might add) to red in Chapter 2. But now I have them all.

Check it out:

Clara as a platinum blonde, in the UK.

Then there's:

Clara as a red-head. What I love most about this one is the orange, smoky forest. And, of course, the dress.

Then we have:

Clara in purple. Ha ha. Okay, so we can't quite tell what color her hair is, but she seems to me like a brunette. (That and I know the model has brown hair. . .)

And finally:

The raven-haired Portuguese Clara. I was drinking a glass of milk when my husband showed me this cover, and I literally spit milk all over the counter. It's a cool cover, that I will give it, but Clara was showing a bit more skin than I expected. Hee hee. My husband reminded me that everything is more exciting in Portugal.

So, what do you think? Which model seems the most like Clara to you?

I am waiting with bated breath to see what they come up with for the Hallowed cover.

In other news, Unearthly is coming to ebook (yes, I mentioned this before) on April 19, so just a few days now! You can pre-order it from Amazon here.

And it will be available in the UK on May 2. Woohoo! I got my box of UK editions this week, and I am completely charmed by the way they changed the word "Mom" to "Mum," as in "I find Mum standing at the kitchen stove. . ." Love it.

And tomorrow (takes deep breath) I am showing my face to the public again, at least in the authorial sense. I am thrilled to be taking part in the Ontario City Library Teen Book Fest in Ontario, CA along with Katie Alender, Nancy Holder, Alyson Noel, and Marlene Perez from 1-4 pm. There will be a question and answer session and a book signing, so if you live nearby, come by and see me! I will also (takes another deep breath) have my baby girl Maddie with me, as she does pretty well strapped to my chest (I taught my novel-writing class with her in a carrier on Wednesday, and she was fabulous and quiet and just looked at my students all perplexed while they cooed at her).

Cross your fingers for me that she cooperates this time.

News from Carlsbad

So, all this time that I was in my writing Carlsbad Caverns, I accumulated a bit of news. We're seven weeks out from Unearthly's release on January 4th, and it seems like every few days something amazing happens. Reviews are pouring in like crazy on Goodreads, people are pre-ordering the book on Amazon, and all kinds of fun stuff like the completion of the book trailer is happening in the meantime. So keep checking back, because these things are all going to go live very soon.

The rights to Unearthly have sold in a number of foreign countries, bringing the total list up to:
Germany
Portugal
Spain
Poland
the UK
and Australia/New Zealand, which will publish in January as well, with this lovely cover:

Squee! I love my US cover oodles, but the Aussie cover really took my breath away! Just look at that smoky forest!

This past week a few of the big reviewers have run their reviews of Unearthly, and they've all been positive.

Kirkus Review said:
After receiving visions of saving a teenage boy from a forest fire, 16-year-old Clara Gardner (one-quarter angel-blood), her half-angel mother and her younger brother relocate from their suburban California home to Teton County, Wyo., so Clara can find this mysterious boy and realize her angel purpose. Despite the ever-growing surge of angel stories and its hefty length, this solid debut novel stands out with even pacing, fully developed characters, vivid descriptions of the West’s rugged beauty and Clara’s independent spirit. As she learns more about her gifts and angel lore—particularly fallen angels known as Black Wings—from her evasive mother and a fellow angel-blood classmate, Clara struggles with her mother’s expectations of her purpose (is she just a heavenly puppet?) and her desire to acknowledge her human side (does she have any control of her own life?), as well as her feelings for both Christian, the boy from her visions, and rodeo star Tucker. The cliffhanger ending, with an unexpected twist, leaves plenty to ponder until the sequel. A divine supernatural romance. (Paranormal romance. YA)

And Publisher's Weekly also gave Unearthly a STARRED review, which is beyond awesome.

To top it off, my author page on HarperTeen went live this week.

I've sent my draft for Book 2 to my editor now, which means I'm no longer caught in the tunnel vision of writing all the time--so I can actually pay more attention to all this stuff. I know I've said this before, but it's incredibly surreal. Yesterday I was chatting with fellow debut writer Courtney Allison Moulton, whose book Angelfire is coming out this spring from HarperTeen, and she said, "When are we going to wake up?" I knew exactly what she meant. This feels like the best dream ever.

Now to catch up on my emails. . .

My Cover is Showing

Okay, so my cover has started to float around a little, up on Goodreads and the Harper catalog, so I think the time has come to reveal the cover myself. But here's the thing: the cover that's floating around is the cover for the ARC, not the official cover. My people at HarperTeen tell me that they're working on creating a digital copy of the REAL cover, which reflects how the image will appear when it comes out in hardback this January. The cover is being printed on silver foil with a violet overlay, which means that everything that shows up as white in the ARC image, will, in fact, be silver, and it's shiny and sparkly and when you turn the book in your hands you will be able to see much more of the background behind Clara.

So here's the unofficial cover:

Even this way, I think it's gorgeous. If you agree, please vote for it in the Goodreads Beautiful Covers of 2011 list here.

SQUEEE!!! I've been waiting for ages to share this cover! So glad I finally can! When I get the new and improved pic I will post that too!