I was recently contacted by Genevieve Graham to be a part of the cover reveal for her upcoming release, Come From Away. It's releasing April 2018 and is a companion novel to Tides of Honour. She also has graciously written up a guest post in honour of the reveal! It's always a delight to work with Ms. Graham. THE COVER IS GORGEOUS, but you'll have to read her guest post before you can see the cover. Cheers!
The Story Behind the Cover
Throughout the months it takes me to write one of my novels, I try not to envision what the cover will look like. I’m not sure how many people know this, but in the traditional publishing process, authors have very little to no say on their cover art. As you can probably imagine, that’s pretty terrifying. After all, an author spends the better part of their days/weeks/months putting their soul into a book, but they have no idea how it will eventually appear when it sits on bookstore shelves.
Well, when this cover appeared in my email, I cried.
Really, I shouldn’t have been surprised. My cover designer at Simon & Schuster Canada, Elizabeth Whitehead, is a creative genius. The first cover she designed for me was for “Tides of Honour”, and I fell in love with it. You see, I describe my novels as historical fiction brought to life through a love story, but they’re not what you would call typical “romance” novels. When I saw the cover for “Tides of Honour”, I saw a powerful love story threatened by dangerous times, turbulent emotions, and uncertainty—all of which are in the book. Then I wrote “Promises to Keep”, a heartbreaking, very real story of the Acadians, set over 150 years earlier, and incredibly, Elizabeth maintained the same beautiful level of creativity with that cover. Then I saw what she’d done for “Come From Away”, and I couldn’t wait to share. I think I love it best of all.
Think of the challenge presented to a cover designer. They have a single opportunity to encapsulate an entire story in one image or design. That image must rise to the top of a sea of books to attract a
reader’s attention, and it must engage them to the point that they are curious enough to take the book off the shelf and open it to the first page. After that step, of course, it’s up to the author to
reward the reader with a story they will—hopefully—love.
When you look at the young couple on the cover for “Come From Away”, you see so much. The 1940s is evident in their dress, the cold Atlantic looms before them, and the skulking shape in the water
reminds us of the state of the world at that time. You also see the couple’s uncertain attraction to one another, and their trepidation. Something is keeping them apart, but you don’t yet know what it is. And there’s something else ... I don’t know about you, but something about this couple has me rooting for them before I even pick up the book.
Here’s the synopsis for “Come From Away”, which will be published in April 2018. It is the companion novel to “Tides of Honour”, but the two are standalone books. If you have read “Tides of Honour”,
you will recognize some of the characters, but this is twenty-five years later, so a lot has changed. I hope you enjoy the story as much as I loved writing it.
From the bestselling author of Tides of Honour and Promises to Keep comes a poignant novel about a young couple caught on opposite sides of the Second World War.
In the fall of 1939, Grace Baker’s three brothers, sharp and proud in their uniforms, board Canadian ships headed for a faraway war. Grace stays behind, tending to the homefront and the general store that helps keep her small Nova Scotian community running. The war, everyone says, will be over before it starts. But three years later, the fighting rages on and rumours swirl about “wolf packs” of German
U-Boats lurking in the deep waters along the shores of East Jeddore, a stone’s throw from Grace’s window. As the harsh realities of war come closer to home, Grace buries herself in her work at the store.
Then, one day, a handsome stranger ventures into the store. He claims to be a trapper come from away, and as Grace gets to know him, she becomes enamoured by his gentle smile and thoughtful ways. But after several weeks, she discovers that Rudi, her mysterious visitor, is not the lonely outsider he appears to be. He is someone else entirely—someone not to be trusted. When a shocking truth about her family forces Grace to question everything she has so strongly believed, she realizes that she and Rudi have more in common than she had thought. And if Grace is to have a chance at love, she must not only choose a side, but take a stand.
Come from Away is a mesmerizing story of love, shifting allegiances, and second chances, set against the tumultuous years of the Second World War.
Release Date: April 2018
Pages: 256
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Canada
And now the BONUS! The giveaway - a chance to WIN an ARC (advance reader copy) of Come From Away! Enter using the rafflecopter below.
About the Author:
Genevieve Graham graduated from the
University of Toronto in 1986 with a Bachelor of Music in Performance
(playing the oboe). While on a ski vacation in Alberta, she met her
future husband in a chairlift lineup and subsequently moved to Calgary
to be with him. They have recently settled in a small, peaceful town in
Nova Scotia with their two beautiful daughters.
