And now, some news from Christian McKay Heidicker:
Welcome back, scavengers! Glad you survived that crazy, pixelated city.
It would be exhaustive to list everything discovered on the CURE cover, so I’ll just name the top ten things I didn’t even know were on there (and a few that made me chuckle):
1. “Six barber-pole swords”
2. “A man reading a love letter written with invisible ink”
3. “A lucha libre parade float falling in the street” alternately “Just the sweetest, fattest, blue-haired little baby chubbo that better end up on a t-shirt or I'm going to scream and cry at the same time. Scry? Cream? Hmmmm.”
4. “A camouflage helicopter blasting David Bowie music (obviously)” alternately “the Quad City DJs copter blasting tunes to the neighborhood”
5. “1/10 of a robo-squid”
6. “The bottom of someone's leg, wearing a purple-striped sock. This person must be a giant.”
7. “Two happy green tripods talking about the upcoming presidential election (they're both rooting for Trump).” alternately “A couple of gleeps having a sweet convo”
8. “A rather muscular wrestler standing under a purple umbrella with his favorite child (everyone has a favorite).”
9. “A potted succulent on a balcony.”
10. “That yellow dog head is totally licking its own eyeball.” alternately “A dog-head sculpture. Maybe it's a vehicle... If people ride in these, do they stick their heads out the window?”
And, of course, they can all by seen now, by you, in full, on the cover of Cure for the Common Universe:
Pretty nifty, eh?
This eye candy of a book was pitched by John Cusick, bought by Simon & Schuster BFYR, edited by Christian Trimmer [that's me!], and designed by Greg Stadnyk with art by eboy. I feel obscenely lucky to work with such talented people and to have such a jaw-dropping luscious cover. I only hope the words inside live up to it.
As my friend Korey Hunt, who actually came up with the idea for a story about a video game rehab in the first place . . . MISCHIEF SCAVENGED.
But that’s not why you’re here.
You’re here to see if you won one of our five elite prizes, which, to remind you, look like this:
Our five Manic Pixel Dream Reveal winners are . . .
1. Krys McCintyre
2. Yamille Mendez
3. Annette Weed
4. Alicia Van Noy Call
5. Tim Campbell
The Cotton Floozy will get stitching and Simon & Schuster will get printing and we’ll hopefully have your stuff out to you by December.
Thank you for hunting. I hope you enjoy the inside of the book as much as I enjoy the outside.
See you in June,
Christian McKay Heidicker
P.S. Thanks to all of the bloggers who participated: Christian Trimmer, John Cusick, Elana Johnson, Jennifer Bardsley, Valynne Maetani (friend and agent-getter), Brooke Lark (who designed my website and shot the prizes!), Carol Lynch Williams (who taught me a thing or eight about writing), and finally, Marie Davis Brian, The Cotton Floozy, who made the embroidery-posing-as-cross-stitch that elicited just as much drool as the cover.
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How fun! Congratulations to the winners! Don't forget to add Cure for the Common Universe to your "Want to Read" shelf on Goodreads. The novel will be available for pre-order beginning this weekend--why not order it now so that you receive a surprise package early next summer?