Last Days + Interview

Posted on by scott

This is NOT going to be the cover of The Last Days (sort-of sequel to Peeps) but I thought you’d want to see it anyway.

You see, we’re still dithering about how to crop the image and how scary/pretty the vamp should be. Probably the skin tone will be made a bit less blue-ish, and a bit more of the picture revealed. (See here for the whole thing.)

But please, give your opinions here! The powers-that-be are watching . . .

Also, Cynthia Leitich Smith just posted an interview with me for the SCBWI conference in Bologna (see previous post). And here’s an equally riveting interview with Justine.

And one more also: I’m now finishing the re-rewrites on The Last Days, adding a layer of facty goodness to the story, much in the spirit of Peeps‘ parasite factoids. Except these are about extinctions.

Extinction is a very intriguing topic, it turns out. You’ve got your meteorites, your gamma-ray bursts, your supervolcanoes, and all manner of human-made apocalypses. So explodey.

21 thoughts on “Last Days + Interview”

  1. Scott Westerfeld, companion to peeps! I imagine you happily cohabiting with little marshmallow bunnies. You have probably drawn bloody little fangs on their faces with black and red magic marker.

  2. oh no you shouldn’t get rid of the guitar – the pick isn’t obvious enough. Maybe the guitar could be out of focus in the forground then eye’s and lips coming though out of the dark … but I do like that she’s closer in frame – much more intense – yes please get rid of the blue skin she looks too much like chiana out of farscape..

  3. its cool, i like the red font and everything. just that the guitar is no longer in the picture!! and i love the guitar!! but besides that its a pretty intense picture and awesome cover i’d totally buy it!!

  4. I think the image is great and incredibly eyecatching and atmospheric and sexy, but to ME as a purchaser (some 24 years older than target audience), it differs from Peeps in that the Peeps cover is completely and totally tasteful.

    This one is more lowbrow — in a good way, yes. But like, I might hesitate to read a book with this sex-bomb vampire cover on the subway, say. I might hesitate to read it if I were a BOY because it looks a little girlie, which Peeps did not.
    I think there is a reason that most vampire stories (The Historian, Interview with a Vampire, Twilight, etc. ) go for the low-key, fangless cover. Thirsty’s cover is fangs but no body.)

    It not only preserves the mystery, but when there are sexy biting things going on on the cover, you risk camp. Which again, can be good. But it is what it is.

    (I loved Peeps, by the way. You cost me a night’s sleep.)

    –E

  5. The eyes are great. The hair, also good, gives it that edge. I liked the previous cropping of the image which included the guitar neck, to incorporate the music. The blurry lips/teeth aren’t my favorite. I would say, if you want to match the Peeps cover, go for gender neutral intrigue and crop it so just the eyes/hair show, and the black/red accent would work for it like the black/blue works for Peeps, making the eyes really POP.

  6. The cover’s awesome. My friend thinks it’s scary, but I think it’s supposed to be, right? Anyway, I love it.

  7. Same as what Little Willow says. The eyes are great, and so intense that it’s (IMO) not necessary to show the mouth and fingers. The eyes are telling me more about what I think the novel may be about than the mouth, so there’s no need for it. And I think it’ll make for a “crisper” and cleaner cover, one that really pops on the shelves.

    The wording below your name makes me think that you, Scott Westerfeld, are A Companion to Peeps. Heh.

  8. Oh–without the guitar neck, a casual glance made me think the pick was lipstick, which contributes to the “girlier” feel of the close-up. So if that’s not wanted, you could either alter the color of the pick or go with a clip that included the guitar neck.

  9. when i first saw the guitar pick, i really thought it was her tounge sticking out, or an apple peel, but other than that, i love the cover, bery, freakyyy!

  10. Overall, I love it, but changing a few elements could make it really kick ass:
    1. I don’t dig the blurriness…
    2. All your faithful fans that monitor the cover’s project on her will now that that is a guitar pick in the picture. The others? I doubt they’ll have a clue. So including the guitar neck may be a wise choice.
    3. The pupils… It really did mention in Peeps that their pupils were huge in the darkness… (page 8, in fact… thanks to Amazon SearchMe!) So is this cover in normal lighting? It certainly adds a more cat like vibe… which certainly adds to the spooky element…
    4. Maybe tone the red lettering down a bit, so they don’t take center stage over the eyes… or make that the darker accent and the background brighter… hmm… just a thought…
    5. I think the guitar pick may look better black…
    6. Her teeth could be a bit whiter…

    Don’t be wrong, I still love the cover… Think of these as suggestions for improvements… as opposed to complaints…

  11. yeah i liked the guitar neck in it, it jadded to the pic. but the cover looks cool! i like how it kinda got blurred near the bottom,it adds and exrta ‘umf'(kinda makes me dizzy tho), i really like it.

  13. oh yea and soon globel warming :] even though that’s happening now.. Some people say that my grandkids are the ones in trouble, future wise.. ( I’m 17 ) 😛 That’ll probably knock a few things over…

  14. Oh please bring the guitar neck back! it looked so good! I love this cover, it is really great, i dont have any critiques that others havent stated, so I just wanted to say, great job, and the guitar needs to come back. Thx for reading! love your books, and i hope to read more really soon!

  15. Maybe a slightly more apparent rotational blur about the point between the peep’s eyes, and then perhaps a re-pasting of the original ublurred eyes? (The eyes are amazingly rendered/painted, by the way.)

    That said, I just recently finished reading Peeps–I’m looking forward to this new publication a lot.

  16. I like the this version (and the original). Personally I would prefer very pale skin, brilliant white teeth, and smooth, smooth skin, airbrushed airbrushed skin. Not sure what the purpose of the blurring is?

  17. i just looked back at the original cover and i agree w. what people have said that theres no point to have blurring. it looks so much better and creepier without it.

  19. Wow, I didn’t know there was going to be a companion (I only just found this website 🙂 ). I’m so excited!!! I LOVE THIS COVER IMAGE!! But I agree, the guitar needs to be in there, because otherwise I wouldn’t have known just from looking that it was pick between her teeth. (Is it supposed to be Lace?)

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