I’m #2 on Cody Kennedy’s Blog Tour for Omorphi! Welcome Cody.

Thanks for hosting the second stop on Omorphi’s blog tour, Will! I am excited to be here and very excited about the release of Omorphi! I’m also seriously nervous. So nervous I asked Will to hold my hand. He promised he would. Yep. True. Will is holding my hand. I’m going to try, emphasis on try, to distract myself by telling you about the creation of Omorphi’s cover. Doubt it’ll calm my nerves but I’m going to give it my best shot.

 

Will has nice hands.

 

Reese Dante [www.reesedante.com], book cover artist extraordinaire created both Omorphi’s cover and the cover for Will’s novel, Pitch. She is an absolutely amazing artist and a true visionary. She is also extremely patient, a good listener, thoughtful, easy to work with, and gives authors many choices.

 

Will has freckles on the back of his hand.

 

The author begins the creation process by filling out a Cover Art Request form. Talk about a true test as to how well you know your story. Yikes! You must summarize your entire story so the cover artist can envision your story. The blurb isn’t good enough. Next, you must describe your main characters to the nth degree. Then you must list every possible “important element” in the story. Every one? Holy mackerel! Then, you must answer a series of questions about your preferences. What don’t you like, what do you like, what is your favorite color, and so on. I bet you can tell from Omorphi’s cover what my favorite color is. Go ahead, guess. You know you want to.

 

The cover artist then proposes a couple of renditions, otherwise referred to as mock-ups. Reese is terrific at doing this because she not only provides several renditions to choose from, but the renditions look very different. You aren’t left sitting there wondering, “What is the difference between these two?” Once the two of you settle on a concept, you’re off to the races!

 

Will’s hand is warm. Mine is sweaty. Sorry, Will.

*Will tosses a box of tissue to Cody*

Cody does not catch said box because Cody is epically awkward.

*Cody glares at Will*

I gotta let go of your hand?!? But, you promised!

 

Book cover art is made by creating layer upon layer of art and color. Reese tells me that Omorphi’s cover is made of one hundred and forty layers of art. Seventy layers for the front cover, and seventy for the back. WOW! I didn’t know that.

 

1. Our first step in the creation of the cover was to create the blue background and Christy. The blue background is made of two layers and Christy is formed of fifty layers. The cover model we chose was dark complected and the image was black and white. Reese went through layer after layer to color the image, change eye color, add long, blond curls, and change facial features. Then she added the scarf around Christy’s neck.

 

Give me your hand back, Will!

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Our second step in the creation of the cover was to add elements that represented the story. Christy was held captive near the sea and the only recreation he was allowed by his captors was to paint. He created painting after painting of the sea, so Reese added the sea behind Christy and my favorite color – six layers. Then, we added the staircase – one layer. At the risk of a spoiler, Christy lives in a cabin at a specialized facility in upstate New York. The cabin has a loft. Christy uses it as his art studio and the staircase you see in the cover leads to the loft. Michael, Christy’s boyfriend, eventually comes to regard the staircase as Christy’s staircase to both heaven and hell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. The third step was to add Michael – three layers. Michael is a champion track and field hurdling athlete and, truthfully, I couldn’t find a hurdling athlete that matched Michael’s description. Yet, magical Reese was able to locate an image of exactly what I envisioned Michael to look like. Except I didn’t like his hair. I put poor Reese through two or three, or maybe even five hair revisions. Truthfully, I was surprised she didn’t quit and tell me to go pound sand.

 

*Will snorts at Cody*

 

 

 

 

 

4. The fourth step was to add the title and author’s name. There are actually three titles on the cover. Omorphi in the Roman-Latin alphabet, omorphi above it in the Greek alphabet, and the English translation, Pretty, beneath Christy’s face. The titles and name are made of eight layers due to coloring, shadowing, and offset with brightening and darkening the letters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. The final stage of the cover creation was to create the back cover. The back cover is actually one of the mock-ups Reese provided at the start of the process so I could choose whether I wanted half of Christy’s face or his full face on the cover. With the back, and given the busyness of the blurb, I opted for a half face and I also opted to remove my name from the back cover. Reese did a beautiful job of carrying the sea from the front back cover and keeping the blues and teals vibrant all while keeping Christy’s image light enough so as not to interfere with the blurb. And voila! Here is the entire cover for Omorphi!

 

 

 

 

Thanks for joining me and Will on Omorphi’s blog tour! Stay tuned for much more information about the creation of Omorphi and a second chance to win an ebook copy of Omorphi at the end of the blog tour!

 

Will, I’m hungry. Can we order a pizza? I want meat on my half.

(Vegan. No meat. No cheese. I’ll watch you eat. I hope you don’t mind me staring.)

—

MORE ABOUT CODY & OMORPHI!

 

Omorphi by C. Kennedy from Harmony Ink Press September 19, 2013

 

High school senior Michael Sattler leads a charmed life. He’s a star athlete, has great friends, and parents who love him just the way he is. What’s missing from his life is a boyfriend. That’s a problem because he’s out only to his parents and best friend. When Michael accidentally bumps into Christy Castle at school, his life changes in ways he never imagined. Christy is Michael’s dream guy: smart, pretty, and sexy. But nothing could have prepared Michael for what being Christy’s boyfriend would entail.

 

Christy needs to heal after years of abuse and knows he needs help to do it. After the death of his notorious father, he leaves his native Greece and settles in upstate New York. Alone, afraid, and left without a voice, Christy hides the myriad scars of his abuse. He desperately wants to be loved and when he meets Michael, he dares to hope that day has arrived. When one of Michael’s team-mates becomes an enemy and an abuser from Christy’s past seeks to return him to a life of slavery, only Michael and Christy’s combined strength and unwavering determination can save them from the violence that threatens to destroy their future together.

 

Pre Order Omorphi here: http://harmonyinkpress.com/coming-soon-omorphi-by-cody-kennedy/ or https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-omorphi-1271473-149.html

 

About Cody:

 

Raised on the mean streets and back lots of Hollywood by a Yoda-look-alike grandfather, Cody Kennedy doesn’t conform, doesn’t fit in, is epic awkward and lives to perfect a deep-seated oppositional defiance disorder. In a constant state of fascination with the trivial, Cody contemplates such weighty questions as: If time and space are curved, then where do all the straight people come from? When not writing, Cody can be found taming waves on western shores, pondering the nutritional value of sunsets, appreciating the much maligned dandelion, unhooking guide ropes from stanchions, and marveling at all things ordinary.

 

Find Cody:

 

Cody’s Blog – http://www.ckennedyauthor.blogspot.com/

Cody’s Free Serial Story, Fairy – http://www.fairybycodykennedy.blogspot.com/p/about-fairy.html

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/CodyKennedyAuthor?ref=hl

Goodreads – http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5816900.C_Kennedy

Twitter @CodyKAuthor

 

 

Follow Omorphi’s blog tour for two chances to win an ebook copy of Omorphi!

 

September 15th – The Novel Approach – Pre-release Q&A with Cody and a chance to win an ebook copy of Omorphi

http://thenovelapproachreviews.com/

 

September 18th – Author Will Parkinson – Will holds nervous Cody’s hand the day before Omorphi’s release because he promised to and Cody’s talks about Omorphi’s Cover and Bringing Omorphi to Life

http://willparkinsonauthor.wordpress.com/

 

September 19th – September 19th – Mrs. Condit & Friends Read Books – Cody writes Perils and Pitfalls of Post Production Public Relations and a SECOND chance to win an ebook copy of Omorphi! http://mrsconditreadsbooks.com/

 

September 19th – Smile, Somebody Loves You – Announcement post and Cody shares Omorphi Trivia with Beverly and Tamara

http://sslyblog.wordpress.com/

 

September 20th – Author Shira Anthony – Why I write the kind of stories I do by Cody

http://www.shiraanthony.com/

 

September 21st – Author Jamie Mayfield – Why Omorphi and A Broken Kind of Life are Same but Different

http://jamiemayfield.com/

 

Also on September 21st – Harmony Ink Press on Facebook: Meet Cody Kennedy and Jamie Mayfield

https://www.facebook.com/HarmonyInkPress?ref=br_tf

 

September 22nd – Cody’s Blog – Tony Edmondson, Fan Extraordinaire, interviews Cody

http://www.ckennedyauthor.blogspot.com/

 

September 27th – Author Wade Kelly – Character Interview with Christy Castle

http://www.writerwadekelly.com/

 

September 28th – Author Iyana Jenna – Fairy Fan Extraordinaire, Q&A with Christy Castle

http://iyanajenna.blogspot.com

 

September 29th – Author Zoe Lynn – The Notes Behind Omorphi’s Play List

http://zoelynnebooks.blogspot.com/

 

October 4th – Sid Love’s Blog – Why the title Omorphi?

http://sidlove.wordpress.com/

 

October 5th – Author Madison Parker – What makes Omorphi unique?

http://madisonparklove.com

 

October 6th – Author John Ames – Q&A with Michael Sattler

http://jhabooks.webs.com/

 

October 11th – Boys on the Brink – Omorphi: Writing Sex and Violence in Young Adult works

http://www.blog.boysonthebrink.com/  

 

October 12th – Author Jamie Fessenden – Cody shares Omorphi Trivia with Jamie

http://jamiefessenden.com/

 

October 15th – Granny Irene – A week in the Life of Christy Castle before Michael Sattler

http://grannyirene.wordpress.com/about/

 

October 18th – Author Sara Alva – A week in the life of Michael Sattler before Christy Castle

http://saraalva.com/

 

October 19th – Author Sam Kadence – Cody Talks About Writing Action and the Suspension of Disbelief

http://samkadence.com/

 

October 20th – Cody’s Blog – Omorphi’s One Month Anniversary Trivia Contest and a THIRD chance to win an ebook copy of Omorphi – In order to enter this contest you must:

1) have visited and commented on each stop on Omorphi’s Blog Tour – please be sure to leave your name and email address in your blog comment. “Anonymous” comments won’t qualify; and

2) you must correctly answer the trivia questions posted on Cody’s Blog by placing your answers in the comments section beneath the questions; and

3) along with your answers to the trivia questions, you must leave a comment about Omorphi’s Blog Tour.

The winner will be selected by Kismet, Cody’s greenwing macaw. The winner to be announced on October 21st.

http://www.ckennedyauthor.blogspot.com/

 

To make things even more exciting, a new contest will begin on October 21st on The Novel Approach Reviews Blog to win an ebook copy of Cody’s novella, Safe, due out October 24th from Harmony Ink Press!