In my childhood, I used to ride water buffaloes and wade in swamps. When I discovered books, I would go adventuring with Anne of Green Gables, the Pevensies, Bilbo Baggins, or Alanna of Trebond. I incurred my mother’s displeasure for reading too many romance novels, so I learned to hide them and read underneath covers with a flashlight late at night. Nowadays, I travel and write dark fairy tales and romantic novels about adventurous women. And I still stay up too late reading, even though I don’t get in trouble for it anymore.
I seized the chance offered by the wonderful Kristin of Book Sniffers Anonymous so I can share with you three behind-the-scenes secrets of Rosethorn, a breathtaking new contemporary romance of love lost and found again that culminates in stunning end you won’t soon forget.
1. I only thought of the title Rosethorn three weeks before publication. I had a list of possible titles but nothing seemed right, either too long and forgettable (A Distant and Imagined Hour) or already taken (Time after Time). Finding the perfect title was like falling in love – I just knew Rosethorn was the one.
2. There is a so-far unsubstantiated rumor going around that I devoured massive amounts of chocolate while writing Rosethorn. Well, as an exclusive to Book Sniffers Anonymous, I am here to state unequivocally that rumor is….absolutely correct.
3. The cover for Rosethorn went through a dizzying number of incarnations. At first I wanted tons of roses to echo the title but that particular cover ended up looking like a nursery catalog. It got better from there, until I arrived at one that I adored – it had Sera, the necklace, and Rosethorn in the background. Then I had a daydream at work and so the cover changed again to its final state today. Below is the almost final cover. The same elements, but different colors and typography, which give it a very different mood, don’t you think?
Which cover do you prefer? (Who knows, I might change my mind, yet again!)
Rosethorn
By: Ava Zavora
Published: May 1, 2013
Genre: RomanceRosethorn is a breathtaking debut novel of love lost and found again that culminates in a stunning end you won’t soon forget.
“I know I could be happy with someone else . . . But it was decided a long time ago. It was always going to be you.”
From Morocco to Paris, Sera has traveled the world over but she never forgot Rosethorn, the beautiful, abandoned mansion where she and Andrew used to meet for trysts. Until the day Sera found her mother’s diary. Sera’s obsession with the shocking secrets it contained tore them apart and sent Sera fleeing to New York with a devastated heart.
10 years later, Sera revisits Rosethorn, only to run into Andrew, all grown up and handsomer than ever. Politeness gives way to a heated confrontation over their painful past. Yet unable to resist each other’s lure, both surrender to the undying power of first love.
Fate has brought them together once again, but will an old tragedy destroy Sera and Andrew’s second chance – forever?
