How We Became Intergalactic Superheroes - Rough Cover Sketches

Hi All! I figured I'd show the first rough sketches of what will eventually be the cover of my next book, a humorous middle-grade science fiction novel (or maybe technically novella) called How We Became Intergalactic Superheroes. As any author will attest to, one of the most fun parts of releasing a new book is the beaauuuutiful cover art (if you're fortunate enough to actually have beautiful cover art, that is, haha). Anyway, I work with Atreyu Studio, and below are the rough sketches they recently sent for the book.

I personally like the first one (with the stars/outer space behind the kids), since I think it's kind of hard to see what's behind them in the second one (it's supposed to be a spaceship). I just think it's simpler and easier on the eyes, which will hopefully bode well for the book. So, I told the studio I prefer that version.

I also think the kid on the left and the one in the middle look a little too scary/intimidating, and while this book does have a bit of a horror thread to it, it's mostly a comedy at its core, so I've asked them to make their expressions less eerie and more overly proud/cute. So, we'll see how that looks!

My only other change is regarding the kid on the left - he looks a bit like an ugly male space witch haha, but he's just supposed to a normal kid who's not overly attractive. So, I've asked the artist to chop down the size of both his head and nose and add some hair to his head.

Anyway, we'll see how that all looks and perhaps I'll post the updated version here! Stay tuned - it's always exciting working on new cover art!

Upcoming New Release - How We Became Intergalactic Superheroes

I'm very close to releasing a new book!! (Cue the "Yay!") Just need to do some final edits and get the cover art nailed and then it's pretty much ready to go, though to be honest that could still take several months from now. It totally depends on how both those processes go, as they can sometimes take much longer or much shorter than expected. In any case...

How We Became Intergalactic Superheroes

The new book is called How We Became Intergalactic Superheroes and it's not part of my recent Between Dark and Light series, which for the time being will be put on hold while I explore other projects and creative ventures. Ironically, though, this new book is somewhat of an "inverse" of a Between Dark and Light book, if you will (and I hope you do!). For example, it's an upper-middle-grade book (though I'd say it's for kids nine and older rather than ten) and is about the same length as the l-o-n-g-e-r Between Dark and Light books (around 170 pages or so). Nevertheless, it's actually a comedy at its heart, though it does have a strong thread of horror woven throughout (Between Dark and Light is a horror series); it's just clearly more focused on humor than horror.

Regarding the Humor

The humor in How We Became Intergalactic Superheroes is very silly and zany, something I think both kids and adults, though especially kids, will enjoy. Indeed, both the premise and plot are incredibly quirky, which I think help make this book one of my most unpredictable to date. Heck, even I had no clue where the story was going until I was literally writing the next sentence or the sentence after that, which I have to admit was actually pretty fun and a pretty fun change of pace as well. For most books I have a pretty strong core plot skeleton in place to work off of - I like to mostly plan it out in advance to make sure I stay on track - but this book was clearly all about pure spontaneity from the get-go. Wherever the comedy and silliness took me in the moment is where I went with it, as that just felt right for this particular book.

Anyway, while we all wait for the final product to finally rocket off the presses, I figured I'd reveal the working back-cover copy (see below). As you can see, it's a pretty quirky, strange premise/story, and I'm hoping both kids and adults alike will enjoy the book when it's all said and done and finished.

The Back-Cover Copy

All his life, twelve-year-old Ben Grishop has been practically nonexistent. Hardly anyone knows who he is, he’s not good at anything no matter how hard he tries, and he blends into all chairs and benches. But when he and his friends Joe and Dana are abducted by aliens one fateful summer night, they have the chance to become famous for saving the universe. That is, if they can survive a planet full of giant, man-eating, French-speaking crabs, a pair of tuxedoed, gibberish-spouting men with handlebar mustaches, and the mysterious “immensely powerful, evil force from The Realm Beyond.”

Jampacked with action, humor, and heart, How We Became Intergalactic Superheroes will have middle-schoolers and the young at heart alike hopping the closest spaceship to their own next cosmic adventure.