I got the idea for my third book, Death by Pumpkin, watching a You Tube video of the pumpkin drop at the Damariscotta Pumpkin Fest, held every year in Maine (add link). Since the book opens with this event, but this time in my town of Pequod, I decided this event had to be the cover.
Since the car on which the pumpkin is dropped is crushed, I called around and found Raleigh Metal Recycling, where they kindly agreed to let us use a crushed car for the photo-shoot.
The day of the shoot was again bitterly cold – and since my daughter was once again posing, the usual complaints filled the car on the way over, along with the several pumpkins we bought to smash.
When we got there, they had to find a car that was crushed, but not so badly that we couldn’t get Cameron into the passenger seat.
Once they’d hauled it up, we smashed the pumpkins all over the car using a hammer, then squeezed her in and closed the door.
As you can see from these photos, the pumpkins didn’t quite create the image I wanted to portray. 
This last one was the closest.However, my clever daughter found a place in LA (99 Designs) that for a reasonable price put several of their artists to work enhancing the basic photo.
Last spring I let you followers pick from the two final designs, and this is the cover I ended up with:
What am I going to do for my next book (Death in a Mudflat), you might ask? Stay tuned. I’ll have a cover choice sometime toward summer.
Oh, brilliant! I love the cover of this book and I thought it was entirely photoshopped, to be honest. It is so much better knowing that so much of it is actually real! It looks like such fun making your book covers. I can’t wait to hear about the next one 🙂
Stay tuned. The next one has quite a story behind it!
Marvellous! But, knowing you, Noelle, why doesn’t that surprise me? 😉
I love how you share these photoshoots with us! That book is such a great read, too1
Thank you, thank you. I appreciate your kind words!
I love the way this turned out! Amazing!
Thanks! I like to be the visual force behind my covers. My daughter doesn’t seem to mind being a body part and my husband always gets just the right photo!
Most people don’t seem to be this creative when it comes to book covers. I’m amazed by all the trouble you went to, and your hard work really paid off. The cover is amazing!
Wow! I had no idea that you actually set up that cover. How cool is that! Make sure it’s summer when you make Cameron roll in a mudflat! Ha ha
Diana, she absolutely refused the mudflat! But I had an idea….
Ha ha ha. So funny. I can’t wait to see.
Wow! I wondered how you managed to find that photo… I never dreamed you had staged it all yourself! Clever you, it worked perfectly!
Well, thank you! The next one will be much harder, since my daughter refused to pose!
Oh no! Why has your model gone on strike? Who is your stand in? Hope it all comes together for you, looking forward to seeing it! 😁 Any teeny weeny clues? I mean what can top a giant pumpkin???
A gruesome arm in a nice setting…can’t say more. I do think the pumpkin cover was inspired – this next one will be harder to do without my striking daughter.
Excellent post and cover. Looking forward to the cover for ‘Mudflat’
x
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Great cover and amusing method to producing it!
Thank you!