Look, I managed to get two teases in one photo.
As you can see, Rachel Rising 10 is in hand. The release date is set for August 22. This is a Global Release Date, meaning all stores (well, all the stores that carry my books) and Comixology will have it available the same day. We do this to avoid wide-spread panic and rioting. So, August 22. Write that on your arm with a Sharpie.
This cover art has been on the web for all the world to see for months. It has received a lot of positive responses. Actually, all positive responses, except one. One gentleman suggested the image could be racially offensive, because it depicts a noose. As you can imagine, I was very concerned about his opinion. We exchanged emails. I told him there were no elements of racism in Rachel Rising. This story is about one thing, the 16th century witch trials. They hanged women for witchcraft back then. In Rachel Rising, the town of Manson hanged real witches who come back 300 years later for revenge. This cover depicts the execution of one of those witches. The defiant smile on her face and the symbols of witchcraft she wears all give the same message: you’re making a big mistake. That’s the crux of the story. But you have to read the book to find out. The gentleman admitted he hadn’t read the book.
I know, judging a book by its cover and all that. Still, it happens.
In all fairness, he was just talking about the image or, to be more precise, the noose. So I want to reassure him, and you, this cover and this story are about the witch trials. They hanged witches back then. Please don’t associate it with anything else. The French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition hanged the accused, among other nasty forms of execution. It had nothing to do with American racism. Rachel Rising is meant to be seen the same way.
So, I am running with this cover because it is integral to the story and the story has nothing to do with racism. If you want to know the truth, all my stories are about victims surviving an angry world and all my covers are about boobs. Boobs sell. And I love them.
Please keep doing what you do because we love them too.
Brilliant cover–even more so considering your intent.
I’m more confused by the fact that that’s a Star of David around her neck, not a Pentagram. Which doesn’t preclude her being a Jewish witch (*waves to Willow Rosenberg*) but it’s not per se a symbol of witchcraft.
I too am confused by the fact that I drew a Star of David instead of a pentagram. I’ve always had a form of dyslexia where I easily confuse two similar options—such as names, faces, symbols—but this is ridiculous! I’ll fix this before the final print, but you make a good point. Why not a Jewish witch? If witchcraft is only possible in the anglican community, that wouldn’t fit with the whole earth mother thing. It can’t belong to one group. I do recall the apostles encountering a witch in the New Testament (in Acts), walking behind them yelling curses. Although a woman yelling curses at you is usually called something else. She may have been Jewish, considering the territory they stuck to. But the necklace on my cover is a mistake on my part. I meant to draw the pentagram. I’ll fix it. Aren’t you glad I don’t work at a nuclear power plant?
I like boobs. Boobs rock. And jiggle.
I am very glad you don’t work at a nuclear power plant. You’d have so much less time to write and draw!