Two weeks to pub day, and a look beyond the cover
Getting ready for pub day is a frenetic time, when it feels like you just can’t do enough. You’re juggling a lot of balls, connecting with bookstores for in-person events, getting promo material ordered and printed, figuring out how to make a book trailer which a bunch of people will tell you is suuuuper easy (and which you strongly suspect is a bridge too far for your rudimentary Canva or IG Edits skills—if you have any at all), setting up a promo squad of incredibly friendly people who offer to help promote your book, answering requests for a new photo of you that has a very specific resolution, inviting folk to your launch party and really hoping they come so it’s not you and your immediate family and the bookseller who came on their night off to help sell books, and doing early publicity, if you’re lucky, to hopefully appear in the lead-up to the big day.
It makes you feel a bit like this:
There will also be a lot of people who in their deep and honest desire to be helpful—for which you are so thankful, don’t misunderstand me—will say “why don’t you just… [INSERT HELPFUL BUT FREQUENTLY NOT REALISTIC OR ATTAINABLE SUGGESTION HERE].” I’ve come to have feelings about the “why don’t you justs,” even as genuinely as they’re offered. Because… see meme above.
So—we do what we can. Small victories are thrilling, people’s assistance is a true kindness, mountains seem large, the terror and panic are real, and you can be feeling any one of these things at any point in the day.
And we drive on.
At Last Count’s 4th birthday is Sunday June 14—and if you haven’t read my first novel, celebrate its birthday by requesting it at your favourite bookstore or library branch. It was a Globe and Mail Best Book, a Toronto Star pick, and was a finalist in the 2025 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize competition. Those characters are still alive in my brain, and I adore them.
Lost in France’s publication day is Tuesday, June 23. I’ll be at Book City, 348 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, at 2-3pm to sign books.
Tuesday, June 30, 6pm-8pm is Lost in France’s launch party at Noonan’s Pub, 141 Danforth Avenue, Toronto. Author/host of the “What Happened Next” podcast Nathan Whitlock will be on hand to do a short Q&A with me, then we can share a drink and enjoy French nibblies together.
Monday, July 6, 6:00pm-7:30pm I’ll be at Hopeless Romantic Bookshop, 1080 Queen Street West, for a drop-in and book signing—come by and see me!
Thursday, July 16, 6:30-8:30pm, it’s “An Evening in France” at the Stirling Book Company, 22 Mill Street, Stirling Ontario. There will be a French IG photo booth, a make-your-own-bookmark station, French refreshments, and an author talk about the fun adventures Kirk and I went on to research Lost in France.
An interview with Lost in France cover artist, Matthew Laznicka
As we approach pub day, I’ve been reflecting on all the people who work behind the scenes to publish a book, so I thought it would be interesting to interview a few of them. First up is Matthew Laznicka, the cover artist for Lost in France.
CRD: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
ML: I studied illustration and graphic design at the Milwaukee institute of Art and Design in Milwaukee, WI. After working as an in-house designer and illustrator in Milwaukee and Minneapolis for about 13 years, I decided to become a freelance illustrator and do it full time. My work reflects my obsession with retro illustration from the past. I try to weave a contemporary perspective with a 50s B-movie poster flare.
CRD: How did you become a cover illustrator?
ML: I sent samples of my work to many book publishers in the early days. Many did not respond, but finally a UK small independent publisher reached out for covers for their science fiction books. I received some good feedback about those and was later contacted by an illustration representative from UK-based IllustrationX to join their team.
CRD: Can you show us three of your favourite covers, and explain why?
ML: This Wild, Wild Country by Inga Vesper.
I had such a wonderful experience depicting a woman contemplating her place in a scene set in the American West.
Iron sky, Dread Eagle by Alex Woolff.
Creating a world on the cover dreamed up by the author was a dream come true. I was also blown away by actual schematics done by another artist of my mechanical eagle.
Biggles’ Big Adventures by Captain W.E. Johns
This was the first larger published cover I created. I loved the history and character of Biggles and how it adapted to my style.
CRD: Can you tell us about the process? What’s the order of business? How do you get started?
ML: Typically, my rep sends me a quick e-mail giving me an outline and perspective of what the client is looking for. I play around with the ideas in my head for a day or two. I like to start with very rough small thumbnail sketches just to give me my basic shapes for cover work and layout. Rough sketches are just to define the look, and the several iterations of final sketches air out what's needed or not.
CRD: Right. I remember Alcove Press asked me for a big brain dump about the cover of Lost in France, what comp book covers I thought might be useful, even fonts I liked that I thought would be good for a book set in France, and also for the genre (contemporary fiction/romance). And then you sent back three pencil sketches. Here they are:
CRD: I picked number 1—I really liked the idea that the French village where Marlow buys her one-euro house is in the distance, with a hill to climb (both metaphorical and physical). To me, it evoked the journey that our two lead characters, Marlow and Sabine, undergo. I also mentioned that there is a romantic triangle in the book between Marlow, a rich vintner who lives in the valley, and a poor artist who lives in the village on the hilltop, and I loved that that part of the story ended up in the cover art. The foreground big French house has a vineyard behind it.
ML: Then we move on to the final sketch, with color.
CRD: And here it is:
CRD: I just loved the final cover the first time I saw it. The colours felt so dreamy. Aspirational. A perfect escapist summer read (well, a perfect anytime read, hopefully). And then we moved on to font discussions, and this is what I was sent from Alcove: a decision on the title font, and then three options for author name font.
CRD: I chose the middle one—and so we have the final cover. I have received so many compliments about it. Thank you for your great work. What’s your secret to a great cover?
ML: Finding a happy moderation in the details, a story begins to come forward visually and in an instant you have to know more.
CRD: What would you tell writers about the process – what are the most helpful things they can do to help you create a great cover?
ML: I feel like the writer should have some say in how a cover comes about. An art director or the person in charge of production all contribute input towards a great cover. Giving the illustrator a good idea of the visual tone, perspective of characters, anything that can inspire the artist to capture the story. I'm creating a small glimmer into a world in hopes the reader will want to get past that cover.
CRD: What artwork do you do other than novel covers?
ML: I create many company magazine covers, Popular Mechanics, money, Vanity Fair to name a few. Editorial magazine interiors, film concept sketches and illustration, record album covers and much, much more.
So that was my conversation with Matthew! Next up is a chat with actor Kate Udall on her experience recording the Lost in France audiobook.
One last thing: I had a great chat about Lost in France and all things book marketing/promo on the Imperfect Conversations podcast with host/writer/marketing brand specialist Lauren O’Malley. Check it out here.
Happy reading and writing, friends.
Claire