Lucifer Spotlight~Guest Post

Lucifer (Sons of Old Trilogy, #1)

Author: Annabell Cadiz

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Synopsis: Have you ever wondered what could be hiding in the shadows?

Well, for eighteen-year-old Zahara Faraday, she doesn’t have to wonder. You see she comes from a lineage of Light Witches, those who have chosen to help protect and serve between the supernatural world and the human world. The only problem is Zahara, like her father Solomon, is as human as a human being can be whereas her mother, Mia, and her Aunt Catalina, were born as Light Witches. As a family they hunt down rogue supernaturals—creatures who harm humans or who have committed an act against their kingdom. 

Zahara’s hunting skills are usually kept dormant since her parents would prefer she live life as a normal human girl without knowledge of the supernatural world. She plans on doing just that—except when she finds a couple being attacked by fairies, she has no choice but to step in. Before she can return to pretending to be blissfully ignorant, Zahara encounters a problem she isn’t the least equip to handle: Bryan Hamilton, the good looking new co-worker she has to help train. In a heartbeat, her best friend, Becca King, has set her up on a double date with herself and her new crush, Rekesh Saint-Louis, who happens to be the most powerful leader of the biggest Imago Coven in South Florida –supernatural creatures with the ability to control water . . . and suck out human souls. 

Zahara has no time to focus on how she’s going to explain her double date with her best friend and the enemy they have a tentative truce with to her parents because soon one of the members of Mia and Catalina’s coven is found murdered with a strange tattoo of a snake with wings carved into his arm.

Zahara is then thrown into a whirlwind battle with an angel determined to have revenge against God, an Imago coven she doesn’t think they should trust, and slew of dream-eating fairies and powerful Nephilims, hybrid children of angels and humans, more than happy to rip her to shreds.

Normal just got a deadlier definition.

Quotes

“The girl is a means to an end. When the right time comes, she will be used and discarded as the rest.” ~Lucifer

“Nice to meet His Creepy-Ness. In case your douchebag of a boss has never told you, sneaking up on a girl with a blade is never a nice way of saying hello.” ~Zahara

“I promise to keep my perverse thoughts to myself as long as I don’t have to deal with the fury of Zahara” ~Bryan

“All those night long phone calls! All those secret visits to my house! All those secret walks! And you’re fond of me! You think I’m being over dramatic! How about I break your face open for over dramatics!” ~Becca

“Time to kick some demon arse!” ~Dustin

“He looks like the type that only wants to get into your pants.” ~Solomon

“Of course not, I am after all the irresistible-dangerous-Imago so that must mean I have a sordid plan.” ~Rekesh

“Enough with the games, I know what you are, Nephilim and if you make one move, I promise I will carve you open.” ~Zahara

“Time is endless for a being such as I. Power is the only master I trust.” ~Lucifer

“I will say I am impressed with all of you. Each of you willing to come here and sacrifice your lives for the one you love, how noble. It’s good you planned your own deaths because getting out of here alive will prove quite impossible.” ~Samuel

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Annabell Cadiz was born in the sweltering heat of South Florida. She was raised surrounded by Puerto Rican chefs and band of siblings that weren’t all related to her. A self-proclaimed nerd and book-a-holic (her room does hold much evidence to prove her claims are justifiable), she created TeamNerd Reviews to showcase her EXTREME love for novels where, along with her best friend, Bridget Strahin, she hosts book reviews, interviews, giveaways, Indie Shoutouts and much more. She also had the pleasure of being published in three separate issue of Suspense Magazine. She is currently attending Trinity International University to attain her B.A. in Psychology. She also adores Cinnamon Teddy Grahams, has an addiction to Minute Maid Orange juice, and is a proud Jesus Freak. Her debut novel, LUCIFER (SONS OF OLD TRILOGY, #1) was published January 2013 and the second book, MICHAEL, will be out Fall 2013 and the third book, NEPHILIM, will be out Spring 2014.

Where to Stalk Annabell:

 Website/Goodreads/Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest/TeamNerd Reviews



I wanna let everyone know that I SO enjoyed reading this Guest Post. It gave me a real insight to Annabell. Thank you!!

Is That Cover For Realz?!

Author Annabell Cadiz opens up about the power of a good cover, confesses to judging books by their covers herself and how she came up with the covers for LUCIFER and MICHAEL, the first two books in the Sons of Old Trilogy.

It’s that day of the week; the day when the cover to the book you’re still waiting to be released is finally being revealed all over the World Wide Web. You peek over your computer and make sure your boss is nowhere to be seen and your co-workers are preoccupied. Then you open your internet browser, type in Amazon.com or BN.com or Google.com and type in the name of the book. The cover pops up, you squeal as you click on it . . .  then you blink back in surprise. Your smile forms into a frown and the excitement in your eyes dwindles. The cover isn’t nearly as beautiful or colorful or amazing as you thought it was going to be. You sit and stare at it for a few seconds. Go on twitter and see what other people are saying and start nodding your head, finding you agree with how lackluster the cover turned out. Will you still buy the book? Now you’re not so sure. Yes, you were excited all of thirty seconds ago before looking for the cover to read the book, but now the cover has burst that happy bubble and you’re starting to see cracks in the synopsis; starting to question whether or not this is a book you really want to read.

Have you ever walked away from a book because of the cover? I know I’m guilty of having done it on more than one occasion. I’ve skipped over Indie and Self-Published books because of it as well. Regardless of the old adage, that you should never judge a book by its cover, we seem to believe that works better for people than we do for books. In a world where everything is available at our finger tips, we tend to judge something with a glance and books are no different. If the cover has a boy built like a Greek god, shirtless and his head is missing, usually readers chalk it up to either a scandalous romance or erotica. If the cover has a girl with lush, gorgeous hair and startling baby blue eyes with her arms wrapped around an equally gorgeous boy with lush, thick hair and startling grey eyes, readers imagine a story filled with taunt sexual tension and lots of romance. If the cover doesn’t fit in with what a reader already imagines going on in the story then they get disappointed or frustrated.

As a reader I know that a cover plays a role in whether or not I pick up a book. Is that shallow? Sure, in a way it is. But the cover isn’t the only element that makes me want to read a book. The blurb on the back has to also catch my attention and I like to read the last sentence of the final page to help me make my decision. But I have bypassed a book because the cover just looked too corny or too ugly or too average or too much like every other book in the same genre.

Does a cover play in a role in book sales and getting a reader enticed enough to pick up your book? The answer is yes. Will a reader refuse to give you’re a book a chance because the cover isn’t as strong as others? Yes and No. That would depend on the reader. I know I have gone back to books that I had passed over because of the cover to give them a chance and found that I enjoyed the read.

When having to figure out what I would want for the cover of LUCIFER and earlier this year for MICHAEL, I decided to go with specific details from scenes in the books. For the cover to LUCIFER, I knew I wanted Zahara (main character from Sons of Old Trilogy) to be featured, so the first step was finding an image that fit her physical description as closely as possible. The next step was figuring out the background. That took a little bit longer because there are several great scenes from the book I wanted to use and I couldn’t make up my mind. I decided on the cemetery in the background with the iron gates because it’s where a pivotal part of the book takes place. The symbol on the side is of a snake with wings because it signifies the tattoo that belongs to Lucifer who is essentially the main villain. With the cover for MICHAEL, I knew I wanted to stick close to the same formula I used with LUCIFER because I wanted the cover to kind of mimic each other and have the same vibe. Of course, Michael would be featured, that was an easy decision. The background was easier to decide than with LUCIFER because I already knew where I wanted to go. The tree by the lake isn’t a back drop as important as the cemetery backdrop for LUCIFER but it’s a place where a romantic scene takes place. Plus, it was my favorite background in the book ;) The large cross with the four crosses in the corner signifies Rekesh’s Imago coven and that plays a big role throughout the plot. Funnily enough, I hadn’t paid attention to the eye color being the same for Zahara and Michael’s characters until AFTER the cover was done but it actually fits quite well.

Did I go into creating the cover for LUCIFER with the mindset that people were going to instantly judge my book because of it? Truthfully, no, I didn’t. I kinda forgot people would. I just wanted to create a cover I really loved and one that stayed true to the story. As mock ups for the cover came back, then I started thinking about what readers would think of the cover and if it would entice them enough to read. Has it helped in sales? Truthfully, I have no idea. I have read tons of readers say they love the cover to both LUCIFER AND MICHAEL and it was what allured them to the trilogy first then the synopsis.

Is a really good cover the make or break of your book? I would say no. Readers can be fickle at times or like in my case, shallow, but readers are intelligent and are drawn to giving authors a chance. A good cover can open a door but if the synopsis sucks or the characters suck or the plot sucks, it can’t save the book. So yes, you do need a good cover but you need so much more to make sure your book keeps moving forward.

And covers can sometimes be very misleading. Sometimes books turn out to be so much better than the cover let’s on (the same can be said for the opposite but let’s try to stay positive people!), so the next time you contemplate giving a book a chance based on the cover, remember you may end up passing over a book that could change your life.