Lucy
Snyder writes some kick-ass horror, along with dark, twisted science fiction
and fantasy. She’s won multiple awards and probably given nightmares to a lot
of people. Yet the first time I met her, I actually wondered if this quiet,
unassuming woman was the same person who wrote such hard-hitting fiction. Then
I got to know her, and realize that Lucy is one of those people who speak
softly but carry a big stick—in her case, that stick is the words she puts on
paper.-----------------------------------------------------------
A Tale of Three Covers
by Lucy A. Snyder
Raw Dog
Screaming Press published my newest book While
The Black Stars Burn a few months ago. It’s the follow-up to my previous
RDSP collection, Soft Apocalypses,
which won the Bram Stoker Award. Most of the stories in this collection are
tales I’ve written in the past two years. The book is a mix of horror, dark
science fiction, and dark fantasy. Many of the stories have Lovecraftian and
King in Yellow mythos themes, and the stories all feature female protagonists,
most of whom are struggling against terrifying family situations.
And so
far, While The Black Stars Burn has
been noticeably outselling Soft
Apocalypses.
I’d like
to think that the comparative popularity of my latest collection is because
people have found my stories in anthologies, enjoyed what they read, and wanted
more. I’d like to think it’s because my name is getting out there and people
are recognizing that I can spin a good, dark tale. I’d like to think it’s
because I’m getting better and better as a writer.
But
really, I think it’s because of the cover.
This is to
cast no aspersions upon the fine cover that Brad Sharp created for Soft Apocalypses. It’s mysterious,
cleanly designed and subtle. It conveys menace without employing gore. It’s a
good cover, and I like it quite a lot:
But the
cover Italian artist Daniele Serra created for While The Black Stars Burn is nothing short of gorgeous:
Serra’s
been creating covers for a whole lot of Lovecraftian and weird fiction books
lately, and it’s easy to see why. He’s an amazing talent, and I’m thrilled that
the folks at Raw Dog commissioned his work for my book. This cover is even
prettier on the trade paperback than it is on screen.
Serra’s
style is unmistakable. Further, because he has done so many weird fiction
covers lately, seeing his work on a book is a clear cue to readers about the
kind of fiction they’ll find inside. Aesthetics aside, it’s likely that his art
simply does a better job of conveying to potential readers that my collection
has the type of stories they’ll enjoy.
Cover cues
to readers are hugely important. I love the cover Deena Warner created for my
first collection Sparks and Shadows.
It’s beautiful. If you look closely, you’ll see that she created a very subtle
demonic figure rising against the starry sky in the background:
Do you see
the demon? It’s there, and it neatly conveys the dangers my characters face.
Trouble is, it’s too subtle for many readers who just glance at the cover and
see the girl dipping her hand in the water. As a result, at book fairs I’ve had
more than one parent pick up my book and say “Oh, is this young adult? I might
get this for my kid.” Whereupon I have to explain that no, it’s got graphic sex
and violence both, and isn’t suitable for most 10-year-olds.
Creating
good cover art is difficult enough when you’re dealing with a novel. But
collections with their many plots and themes are even tougher challenges. I’m
in utter admiration of artists who can look at a collection, find a unifying
image that conveys the contents to the right set of readers, and bring it to
expert life.
###
Lucy A.
Snyder is a four-time Bram Stoker Award-winning writer who wrote the novels Spellbent, Shotgun Sorceress, and Switchblade Goddess. She also authored
the nonfiction book Shooting Yourself in
the Head for Fun and Profit: A Writer’s Survival Guide and the story
collections While the Black Stars Burn,
Soft Apocalypses, Orchid Carousals, Sparks and Shadows, Chimeric Machines,
and Installing Linux on a Dead Badger.
Her
writing has been translated into French, Russian, Italian, Czech, and Japanese
editions and has appeared in publications such as Apex Magazine, Nightmare
Magazine, Pseudopod, Strange Horizons, Weird Tales, Steampunk World, In the
Court of the Yellow King, The Library of the Dead, Seize the Night, and Best
Horror of the Year, Vol. 5.
She lives
in Columbus, Ohio and is a mentor in Seton Hill University’s MFA program in
Writing Popular Fiction. She also writes a column for Horror World. You can
learn more about her at www.lucysnyder.com and you can follow her on Twitter at
@LucyASnyder.
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