Monday, February 1, 2010

Whaddya think??

Confession time: right now I'm knee deep in revisions for my debut YA release (HAVEN, Jan. 2011, Simon Pulse). Which means I'm not working on anything historical at the moment. As soon as the revised manuscript is turned in, I have to get back to working on my next hot historical for Kensington, but for now, my brain is firmly in "teens and paranormal" mode, so bear with me as I temporarily hijack the proceedings here....

Some background--HAVEN is set in a fictional boarding school in New York's Hudson Valley, right in Washington Irving "territory" (in fact, Irving is supposedly the school's founder).

Everyone at Winterhaven--every kid, every teacher, even the headmaster--has psychic abilities, or "gifts and talents," as they call them: precognition, clairsentience, telekenesis, telepathy, astral projection. The school provides a haven for them, a place to explore their abilities and learn how to best use them in the "real" world. When the heroine, 16 yr. old Violet McKenna, first comes to Winterhaven, she has no idea that the school holds such secrets--or that some of the kids are hiding even *deeper* secrets than she ever thought possible.

I wanted to create a school crest for Winterhaven, an image to represent the school that I could use on my website and in promotional materials (like t-shirts), so I gave a graphic designer all the pertinent details--year of founding, school motto, emblem, colors, etc.

And this is what he came up with:



I must say, I LOVE it!! There are other, less "flourish-y" versions, but I can totally see this one on a solid black web page.

So...what do you think??

8 comments:

Cecile Smutty Hussy said...

I like it, sets the tone of your style book!
Your designer did an awesome job!

Rebekah E. said...

I like it. Very pretty crest.

Charlotte Featherstone said...

I think it's gorgeous! I like the old world feel with the crest. Every private school needs some heraldry, and with the purple, it lends it that magical element. Plus it feels current and hip for a YA.

I'd say it's perfect. Now...if only the cover art were available.....

Kristi Cook said...

I know...I can't wait for the cover art! I think this graphic designer is *awesome*! I might use him for my new web site. :o)

Jane said...

I like it, too. Kind of reminds me of an English soccer team logo.

Lila DiPasqua said...

I think it's great! I really like it!

Lana said...

Oooh, I like it. My first thought? Would look great on a sweatshirt when the book takes off!
Also, it evokes a bit of Avalon High (which can't be bad).

I'm really looking forward to reading Haven!

Unknown said...

It's great! I love the idea of having the crest associated with the books! How cool! I can't wait to take a peek at your new YA! Sounds great!

Dottie :)