BITTER MEDICINE cover reveal
Mic check, mic check . . . is this thing on? Okay!
For those of you who subscribed to Buzzfeed Books, I apologize for sending the cover out twice (they're particular about their exclusives, so essentially this info was embargoed until the day after the reveal). But for those of you who didn't, here it is - the cover for Bitter Medicine!
Descriptive text: The cover for BITTER MEDICINE. The background is mostly an evening blue. There is a white man facing forward at a 3/4 angle; directly in front of him, her back to the camera but her profile visible, is a Chinese woman. His hand is hovering over her arm. She's holding two pieces of paper with illegible Chinese characters on them, and coming off her waist is a disk of jade tied with Chinese knot embroidery. The background image is a sketchy outline of San Francisco landmarks. The bottom reads Bitter Medicine in a handwriting-like typeface.
As a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine, ignored middle child Elle was destined to be a doctor. Instead, she's underemployed as a mediocre magical calligrapher at the fairy temp agency, paranoid that her murderous younger brother will find her and their elder brother.
Using her full abilities will expose Elle's location. Nevertheless, she challenges herself by covertly outfitting Luc, her client and crush, with high-powered glyphs.
Half-elf Luc, the agency's top security expert, has his own secret: he's responsible for a curse laid on two children from an old assignment. To heal them, he'll need to perform his job duties with unrelenting excellence and earn time off from his tyrannical boss.
When Elle saves Luc's life on a mission, he brings her a gift and a request for stronger magic to ensure success on the next job - except the next job is hunting down Elle's younger brother.
As Luc and Elle collaborate, their chemistry blooms. Happiness, for once, is an option for them both. But Elle is loyal to her family, and Luc is bound by his true name. To win freedom from duty, they must make unexpected sacrifices.
Preorder link (with excerpt!): https://tachyonpublications.com/product/bitter-medicine/
It's been a journey getting here. After multiple cover drafts and a complete overhaul, this is our final. I can't state enough the importance of having an editor and agent who listen to you and then fight for the book even if you think you're being really crabby and annoying about the cover design. Truthfully, though, the second process was much more transparent than the first, and I'm glad to have gone through it, though fewer tears would have been nice.
But that's all behind me! Now we get ready for the final leg prior to publication. I'll have pass pages coming my way at some point, and boy, do I have a bunch of corrections to make and additions to slot into the acknowledgments. Blurbs are coming in and the machine is revving up. I did an email interview last week and I expect there'll be more things to take care of in the future. Maybe even a launch party? I had considered not doing one at all, but Pi Day is too good to pass up for someone like me, who loves hand pies of all kinds.
In other news, I have officially sent my agent the manuscript and all other submission materials for Key & Vale. That ball will get rolling before the end of the month, probably! Subbing in summer is definitely a craps shoot since publishing slows down so much, but given how long it's been taking for editors to respond, we might as well get a leg up on fall, right? I'm very much full of worry about Key & Vale and its anticolonial themes, but once that manuscript is pushed out on its first submission leg, I will have the Viking funeral for it and move on to the next project . . .
RED ENVELOPE HUSBAND.
That's putting the cart before the horse, though. I'm spending almost all of July in Pittsburgh, back in my old stomping grounds at my alma mater, attending a Dalcroze eurhythmics conference. July is the month of no writing, only music. To that end, I refuse to do anything writing-related until August 1, or maybe a little after August 1 because that's the first day of school down here. I'll still be reading, though - there's slush to slash, manuscripts to evaluate, and a very patient critique partner whose work I have neglected for too long.
Until next time!
What I'm listening to:
- Alyssa Cole's How to Catch a Queen
- Yebba, Dawn (back on my bullshit. Her Tiny Desk is on repeat a lot)
- Gen Hoshino, "Comedy," on repeat, because chill vibes are in high demand right now.
Got any recs for me?