The Office of Letters and Light Blog

30 Covers, 30 Days: Day 19

Today’s cover, put together in 24 hours, is brought to you by the deft and dexterous Jon Contino:

Switch by caropuig

In a world where body switching is not only possible but also highly illegal, Ann Porter is a federal agent in charge of pursuing rogue switchers — that is, when they survive. Ann and her partner, Jeffrey, are thrown into an investigation of a series of odd cases. Seemingly unrelated at first, they slowly begin to find small clues and similarities tying them together.

By pure luck and chance they find themselves after an underground ring of switchers. Their leader claims they only help people perform consensual and agreed upon switches, but a rebellious enemy group has decided to use the technology for their own means. Kidnappings and forced evictions (switching bodies without consent) are only a few of the things they are willing to do to get their plans in motion.

It is now up to Ann and Jeffrey to find the group and bring them to justice. But will they be able to find them in time? Or will they get sucked into the dangerous and almost lethal game of switching? 

New York native Jon Contino is known for his unique illustration style which combines old and new world aesthetics into a modern, minimalist style. His work reveals the influences of historical New York, contemporary street art, and the lost art of hand-drawn lettering. He serves as a designer and consultant for brands large and small, and as co-founder and creative director of CXXVI Clothing Co. Jon recently won the ADC Young Guns award.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 18

Today’s cover is brought to you by the talented Elena Giavaldi, who designed this image in 24 hours:

Letters to a Root-Beer Flavored Moon by Evangeline Crow

Casper “Copper” Denali is your average guy; well, your average guy with a male-oriented love life, and an eccentric best friend and on-and-off boyfriend, Tomas “Tom” Raynor, whom he’s known since he was eight. There are some major problems, though. The first on the list in October of 2013 is the fact that he’s just found out that his younger sister is pregnant (by Tom), that his other childhood friend, Alice Lidden, is about to move away, and that his favorite bookstore just closed. 

To top it all off, Casper picks up a small bottle at the beach, a bottle which contains a postcard with a fantastical looking device on it, the words ‘wish you were here’, a small journal entry, and a return address from some place called ‘Atlantis’.

As Copper’s family slowly disintegrates around him, he’s forced to make a leap of faith, and try to meet up with his Atlantean penpal. 

All this while the bridges that hold the water out of Atlantis are slowly cracking, and one Atlantean discovers that his penpal is suddenly making a trip to the world of the deep to come see him.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 17

Today’s cover was brought to you by the incredibly multi-talented Bráulio Amado, who designed this cover in less than 24 hours:

WANTED: Monster Making Apprentice by Ayesha123Play

Adrienne Vaudelay, a teenage girl, is desperate for money to go on a safari. After searching through newspapers she comes across a strange advertisement in the job section: 

“Interested In Working With Fascinating and Unique Creatures? I seek a diligent young adult to assist me with working with these amazing creatures. The faint-of-heart need not apply. Must be unafraid of fangs, and venomous, dangerous living things. Must have high level of curiosity. Contact J. Delerone”

Assuming it’s just snakes, Adrienne goes ahead and applies for the job, without looking closely at the contract. Until she realises this isn’t any old job. She just signed on to be an apprentice in making the strangest and most DANGEROUS monsters that only myths spoke of. Well, they WERE myths until now…

Bráulio Amado is a young Portuguese graphic designer & illustrator currently working at Pentagram NYC. He also runs a small DIY record label named Sleep City and travels around the world with his band Adorno. He actually doesn’t use Comic Sans anymore – www.iusecomicsans.com

30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 16

Happy Donation Day to you! We are on a mission to raise funds for NaNoWriMo and the Young Writers Program to keep projects like 30 Covers, 30 Days, and stories like the ones we share on this blog possible. There are some fun prizes being given away each hour to our donors; keep an eye on our Twitter feed! Today’s cover is by the worldly and wonderful Chin-Yee Lai:

The Other Side of Visible by jobydog

Thomas Wright is a resident of a nursing home who finds a red silk cloak lying in a chair in the facility’s dayroom. Just looking at the cloak causes the elderly man to become invisible. More importantly, it takes his failing memory back to when he first began to experience the sense of being invisible to others. 

Given up in his infancy by a myserious woman wearing a red dress who may possibly have been his mother, he was raised in an orphanage run by Sisters, with other children possessing odd powers. His maternal grandfather arrives for the first time on Thomas’s seventh birthday to reveal a story to him but then leaves him there in the home. Every year thereafter, the grandfather returns with a new tale, until Thomas’s twenty-first birthday, when the visits cease.

At each important milestone in his life, Thomas is saved by his ability to become invisible. His grandfather’s ramblings seem to impart some sort of wisdom regarding this ability, but Thomas is never sure of the meaning. He has led a solitary life and feels he has missed out on the most important thing of all: love and emotional attachments. He wonders what he has been saved for all these years, as he outlives all the people around him.

In the end, the enchantment seems to have left him only with his declining health and advanced years. He has begun to doubt the reality of his invisibility over the years. He has lost each red article of clothing that has imparted the magic and he awaits his end in a home for the elderly. But just when he has resigned himself to the fact that perhaps it was all in his imagination, he finds the red cloak and feels the power across the room once again…

Chin-Yee Lai is a designer who enjoys all aspects of book design.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 15

Happy Tuesday to you! It’s officially the midpoint of NaNoWriMo—craziness, I say. To mark the occasion, take a look at today’s cover, designed by Christopher King:

The Wonder Room by MrHeywire

In the 1940s, Hazel is a strange woman who has an obsession with time travel and wants to spend an eternity exploring the far reaches of time. A deal with the devil looks like it will make her dreams a reality. But, of course, there’s a catch.

In the 1970s, Fletcher is a lonely child whose only friend is a stray dog. When the dog is caught in a house fire, Fletcher goes in to save it, only to need to be saved himself. After his rescue, he becomes strangely disturbed.

In 2009, Andrew meets an old homeless man who seems completely insane, but the things he says seems to make more sense than they should. The friendship that forms between the two leads Andrew closer towards understanding more about the nature of his existence.

The story of an eternal soul that enters a new body when the person dies. Each person the soul possesses is strangely drawn to The Wonder Room. Inside, the soul is temporarily freed from the body and its host fully understands their existence in a moment of ecstasy before dying and the soul is thrust through time and space into another body. Fletcher, however, accidentally breaks the cycle by being rescued from The Wonder Room before dying when he is a child and so spends the rest of his life understanding his existence, though it makes him sound deranged to everyone until he meets Andrew, his next incarnation. And so, a battle with fate begins.

30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 14

Happy Monday! I hope you had incredibly productive weekends—Paige, our intern of the highest caliber, had an 11K day! Today’s cover, set to inspire and amaze, comes from Jesse Marinoff Reyes:

Society: Female by Megatron14

After the third world war (also known as WWW, the Women’s World War), society is run by females. All surviving men are imprisoned in different facilities, or work as slaves in factories. The most troublesome men are sent to a place called The Institute, where unspeakable things are done to them, after which the men are never seen again.

But Cassandra Grayson has secretly been in contact with her father for years, and she’s not happy with the ways things seem for him. When all messages from her father cease suddenly and she comes across a boy who makes an interesting proposition, Cassandra must make a hard choice; perhaps one that could mean life or death for many people, including herself. Can she overcome a world where the best and worst sides of women, the sweet and the ruthless reign, or will she settle into complacency?

Jesse Marinoff Reyes is a freelance designer. The former art director of The Rocket (Seattle), Guitar World magazine and The Village Voice, he was an associate art director in the Penguin Books adult trade division for 12 years. He is the author of Next: The New Generation in Graphic Design (North Light, 2000). He lives in the hamlet of Maplewood, NJ, with his wife Amy and little daughter, Melina.

Mondays are now 30C30D’s Young Writers Program days! Megan is our very first Young Writer, and has set a word count goal of 30,000. Give both her and Jesse a boost below!

30 Covers, 30 Days: Day 13

It’s lucky Day 13! No better day to pepper your writing with hoaxes, pranks, and misfortune. Today’s cover is brought to you by the very talented Edel Rodriguez:

Clash of the Pulps by nbcabaniss

1947. The war is over, and the heroes are gone. Once shining and glorious and everything humanity aspired to be, the heroes of the 1930’s are now either retired, missing or dead; their golden age brought to a screeching halt with the advent of the Second World War. Now, three of the world’s greatest adventurers must return:

There’s Alexander Steele, III, one of the smartest men in the world and an Olympic-level athlete, someone on whom the war has taken its toll. He spends his nights now alone - waiting, hoping for a chance to restart his glory days.

Albrecht Engel, a German-born fighter pilot - some say the best in the world. He carries the burden of the destruction of the Phantom Legion, his own private army of pilots and airmen, for which he feels responsible.

And Dusk, the masked vigilante who haunted Depression-era Manhattan, cleansing the mean streets of the dregs of society. But is he really who he claims to be? Just who exactly is it under that mask?

Now, all three must put aside their personal demons and return to stop one of their oldest, most powerful foes…

Edel Rodriguez was born in Havana, Cuba in 1971. He graduated from Pratt Institute in 1994 and began working regularly as an illustrator for the New Yorker, TIME magazine, and a variety of other clients. His work is regularly selected to appear in the American Illustration, Communication Arts and The Society of Illustrator’s annuals. Edel’s artwork has appeared on numerous book covers, Broadway show posters, U.S. postage stamps, product designs and ad campaigns. He has illustrated six children’s books, two of which he has authored.

30 Covers, 30 Days: Day 12

I don’t know about you, but I’m hoping for a Saturday, free and clear, and ready to be filled up with at least 5000 words! Get your typing fingers at the ready, but first, take a gander at today’s cover, designed by the fantastic Chris Silas Neal:

The Seawrack Wars by tomato-greens

The first time Zee Khalil saw a mermaid scalp for sale, she was ten. Six years later, the mermaid tourist trade is the only thing standing between her small island fishing town and its absorption into one of its larger mainland neighbors. Though the town has received some negative press, Zee’s never seen a problem––mermaids are legal prey, and traps have come a long way since the first mermaids were netted. She should know; after all, her dad was one of the first fishermen to adopt and promote the new humane policies.

Then his body washes up on shore, wrapped carefully in mermaid hair. All of a sudden, the town is flooded with big city reporters and the governor’s being pressured to shut them down. Someone’s not following the rules. And Zee plans on finding out who.

Chris Silas Neal is an illustrator and designer whose work has been published by a variety of magazines and publishers and, featured on television. His book jackets and posters have been recognized by the AIGA, Type Directors Club and American Illustration. His first picture book titled, “Over and Under the Snow” with author Kate Messner has just been released by Chronicle Books. He keeps a studio in an old Pencil Factory located in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn.

Keep an eye out next week for a blog post from John Gall, art director at Vintage / Anchor Books and helmer of 30C30D, checking in on our project as we approach the halfway point. And please let Chris and T.E. know what you think!

30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 11

Happy Friday! And for those of you who celebrate it—Happy Veteran’s Day! Thank you so much for making 30 Covers, 30 Days such a success as we end this second week of November. Today’s cover was created by Chip Wass, designer extraordinaire:

Les Contes de Fées Enchantées de Maître Chevalier by Ryanna Coleman

From Cinderella to Thumbelina, with Snow White, Peter Pan and King Arthur in between, as well as many many other famous and popular fairy tales, this collection of retold fairy tales is darker than most.

And with five new fairy tales that will delight the reader and a foreword and conclusion by chronicler Master Chevalier, Les Contes de Fées Enchantées de Maître Chevalier will be a timeless classic.

Chip Wass has created characters, illustrations and logos for Disney, Nick at Nite, Cartoon Network, Target, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly among others. He is currently writing and illustrating a novel for young readers. Visit www.chipwass.com.

Thank you again for all of your insight and discussion of these covers this week! In case you’re curious, we’ve posted the letter that goes out to our writers upon selection in our forums here. Have a wonderful, novel-full weekend!

30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 10

It’s already been 10 full days of writing wonder, and 10 full days of designer goodness. How are you all holding up? Today’s cover is from the prolific and paramount Tal Goretsky:

A Maddening Science by Vega

Bullets fired into a crowd. Screaming. Blood. Police sirens in the distance, coming closer, making me cringe against old memories. Making me skulk into the shadows, hunch down in my hoodie. The last place I want to be is the centre of attention for the cops again. I sink back into the fabric, shying from the broad helicopter searchlights. But there are people bleeding into the gutter. Children screaming. Women crying. Men crying, too, not that any of them would admit it. The scent of gun powder, rotting garbage, vomit, and misery.

If this had been before, I might have leapt into action with one of my trusty gizmos. Or, failing that, at least with a witty verbal assault that would have left the moron too brain-befuddled to resist when I punched him in the esophagus.

But this isn’t before. This is after, and I am a supervillain no more.

… Let me tell you about before.

Tal Goretsky is a senior designer at The Penguin Press 

J.M. Frey is writing from the great nation of Canada! We love our international Wrimos, even if they’re a hop, skip, and a jump away. Let J.M. and Tal know what you think!

30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 9

Shoot, these covers are kind of a master class in how to turn an incredibly creative work around in 24 hours, aren’t they? I know it’s inspiring me to get busy on my novel with only 21 more days ahead, though I am glad I won’t have to share my first draft with everyone at the end of the month. Today’s cover was designed by the one, the only Paul Sahre:

Oh God, the Aftermath by detailsofthewar (Allie O’Bannon)

Medical science had made so many leaps and bounds that people were living well into their hundreds. Four or five generations all using the same resources and living on the same land was putting a major strain on the economy. There wasn’t enough money to go around, enough jobs or enough food and definitely not enough space. The economy weakened and then collapsed entirely. No one but a very small percentage of the world’s population was spared from plunging into abject poverty. 

This is the world Tosh Brandt is born into, a world without hope. The government is having trouble keeping up with the demand of the engorged population and the food supply is dwindling with very little possibility to grow more in the polluted, over crowded environment.

Out of desperation, the government develops a secret campaign to thin the herd. They begin by limiting food supplies to certain areas of the country, except that those in rural areas begin to flock to the cities and the promise of all they can eat. When that doesn’t work, the government’s militia strike in the dead of the night, taking whole families. Despite their best efforts, disappearances are widely talked about. But very few people understand what’s going on. Those who do decide to fight back.

Paul Sahre is a graphic designer working out of his own office in New York City. He just finished building a life-size paper monster truck hearse.

Let Paul and Allie know what you think!

30 Covers, 30 Days 2011: Day 8

Good morning! If you’re enjoying 30 Covers, 30 Days, you might also dig our NaNo Artisans forum—loads of awesome art created by and for other Wrimos! Today’s cover was designed by the superlative Mark Abrams:

Marigold Man by Argyle Schield

A regular joe named Paul, anonymous office worker by day and gardener by other times, discovers the incredible fecundity of marigolds: one plant produces hundreds of seeds, each of which can produce hundreds more.

He hatches (or plants) a plan to change (or at least brighten a bit) the world with marigolds. He starts his little revolution solo, planting seeds wherever he can, but soon discovers his noble but (frankly) pathetic efforts barely make a dent. The world is still the useful, practical, prosaic place it has always been. He finds a group of (somewhat) like-minded people who, next planting season, join the quest.

The small group, by the third year, becomes almost an army (a word Paul hates because it’s the antithesis of everything marigold), a veritable congregation of marigold planters, determined optimists who only want a world with a dab of color and poetry. His revolution grows to sizes and takes him to places he never dreamed he’d get to, so much so that he almost loses himself and everything he values most in the process.

Mark Abrams designs covers for Vintage Books and lives in Brooklyn, with his wife and baby.  His first full-length work was “A History of the Jewish People,” written at age six.

Let Mark and Gary know what you think! Best of luck with all your writing this week—we’re wishing you a veritable thunderstorm of words.