reading – Neve Maslakovic

Let’s jump right to it, the cover for my new mystery series starter, That Murder Feeling!

This is my sixth book and the first one that belongs more on a mystery shelf than a sci-fi one.

When I started writing it, I knew it would land somewhere between a classic whodunit and something a bit stranger—imagine if Inspector Gamache wandered into a Stuart Turton novel—and that it’d likely be tricky to nail the right tone for cover. And… it was. Ebook Launch handled the design and I think they did a fantastic job of capturing the genre-bending aspect. The color scheme, border, and the four medallions in the corners were locked in early, but we had a devil of a time getting the vine to look JUST right, so much so that I considered dropping it altogether at one point, but felt the cover would be too stark without it. I particularly like how the vine twists around the R with a bit of attitude.

This is the ebook cover, which is always done first. Why, you ask? For the print book, the designer needs to know two things: first, the chosen dimensions (5.5 x 8.5 inches, or 6 x 9 inches, or whatever) and second, the EXACT number of pages in order to be able to calculate the spine width. Even with the text finalized, there’s still the front and back matter to add, which affects the final page count. Same with the book’s interior formatting, from the choice of font to the paper type. (White and cream paper have slightly different thicknesses. The formula, if you’re curious, is Spine Width = Page Count ÷ PPI, where PPI is pages per inch for the type of paper selected.)

Next, here’s a brief introduction to the book:

Meet Rodrick Gray, PI…

Rod Gray has a gift that’s both a blessing and a curse: he can see other people’s emotions. And hear them, touch them — even smell them. He’s given a name to the inside-out realms he encounters, with their strange botanical growths, weather, and creatures: soul gardens. It’s a noisy way to walk through life, but in his small 1980s Minnesota town of Two Lakes, it helps him see what others can’t.

There’s one soul garden he’s never wanted to enter. A killer’s.

Until now. When the town’s richest man is found dead in a blizzard, suspicion lands on Rod’s childhood friend Clementine Baker. Someone sabotaged the victim’s car, stranding him in the woods. There are plenty of suspects, but Rod’s hunting blind — the feeling left behind in the culprit’s soul could be a thorny vine, a lurking serpent that hisses I did it, or something entirely unexpected.

Meanwhile, old feelings for Clem clash with growing doubts about her innocence. The police are closing in, his heart’s getting in the way, and time is running out. Rod must find murder’s mark before his oldest friend pays the price.

The first Soul Garden Mystery. A genre-bending 1980s whodunit of snow, small-town secrets, and a whole lot of tangled feelings.

Preorder links have started to pop up — the ebook will be available on Kindle, Nook, and other retailers. The current list is here and will expand as the book shows up in additional stores.

I’ll be sending out a call for ARC readers in early November, so keep an eye out for updates on my website, or check your mailbox if you’re signed up for my newsletter.

Finally, if you were a beta reader for the book, be on the lookout for a separate email — I’ll be sending them out to ask if you’d prefer an e-book or a signed print book.

Thanks for reading,

Neve

A Fortress, and How We Choose Books

This is a cellphone picture I took back in mid-December of Belgrade’s fortress, Kalemegdan. The fortress stands on a ridge above where two rivers, the Danube and the Sava, meet. That’s a view to the south, from along a fortification wall. It’s one of my favorite places to walk around in and explore. Every cobblestone drips with history, starting with Romans in the second century and with many a battle, siege, and transformation since then, layer upon layer.

It got me thinking about a subject with much smaller stakes, at least compared to all that history: the first stone that connects a book to a reader.

Something nudges us into deciding to jump on and spend hours on a reader journey—a journey we know is made up, fictional, just marks on a page. Does the cover pull us in? The Goodreads rating? Word of mouth? Stacks of books beckon as we walk into Barnes & Noble, as do suggestions from Amazon’s recommendation algorithm. So much to choose from!

I tend to jump around in genres as a reader and what I’m in the mood for depends on many a thing. I don’t really read reviews. Some covers catch my eye more than others. I’ll glance at the back-page blurb or the Amazon description. From all that possibility floating by, I lay the first stone. It’s pretty basic: I read the opening paragraph, maybe the one after it too, and some kind of magic happens and that’s how I know I’ll reach for my wallet. I used to do it right there in the bookstore, open to the first page and read. Nowadays I download a sample on my Kindle, which takes all of thirty seconds, and take a look.

Judging a book by a single paragraph seems akin to judging it by its cover. And, yes, I do occasionally end up DNF-ing a book (Did Not Finish). But generally speaking, if I connect to the book from the first page in some undefinable way, I’ll end up reading it to the last page.

I tend to avoid fiction while doing my own writing or editing because sometimes the other author’s rhythm starts to seep in and I find myself spelling honor as honour and so forth. I did, however, just finish a two-week edit of the book I’ve been working on — it’s getting pretty close to where it needs to be; this is the polishing stage — which means that it’s time to be a reader again. I happened to see Sulari Gentill’s The Woman in the Library mentioned on social media. The cover caught my attention, or maybe it was the title, or the quote at the top, “A treat for readers who love books about books.” Definitely promising. I downloaded a sample and read a bit. Houston, we have a go.

How do you choose your next read? If you received this in your mailbox, you can reply and let me know, or leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading!

Neve

p.s. If you are on the lookout for a book to read, check out these BookFunnel promos: