Tuesday, February 23, 2010

While You Wait for Lost...

Tonight I just have one thing for you, and it's something I'm very excited about. After watching the first episode, Barry Johnson (the man who designed my S5 cover that I love so much AND the guy letting me use his slingbox to watch the episode tonight) emailed me with a suggested cover, which was his rendering of the Temple surrounded by hieroglyphs. This was completely unbidden; he'd just gone ahead and done it. I told him I liked it a lot, but my idea for a S6 cover had been a chess board with two kings -- one black, one white -- standing in the middle, either fallen on the board, or maybe just one of them fallen. I was looking for a cover that was predominantly black and white, but maybe had another colour on it. I suggested red.

He emailed back that he liked that idea and could do it, and would incorporate the hieroglyphs from his Temple cover, and he'd created his own Dharma symbol that represented the do-over idea that we're seeing in S6. He thought the kings might be better standing, looking like they're facing off, and he also wanted to try adding the beam of light on there from the hatch (since so much of S6 is reminiscent of S1). He then send me a rendering, and after some back and forth, we have what I think is the cover that was in my head all along, and he somehow pulled it out of there and put it on the page.

So, without any further ado, this will be my season 6 cover for Finding Lost!! I hope you love it as much as I do. :)

50 comments:

JennM said...

Oh Nikki! I love, love, LOVE this cover! Great, I can't wait to have my very own!

JS said...

I like it a lot. Very compelling.

Gillian Whitfield said...

AHHH!!! I love it!!!! When is the release date, Nikki? I can't wait to get it!

VW: Lasquid- A French squid

Joshua said...

Fantastic! If only writing them was so easy, eh?

Erin {pughs' news} said...

Oooooh. I LOVE IT.

Ashlie Hawkins said...

It looks fantastic! I can't believe it's the last one! Boo! When can we expect it? I'm kind of sad that the DVD's are coming out soon early this time (in August apparently) because your book might not be ready in time! Not to rush you or anything...

Zari said...

Barry Johnson did
Nikki’s “FL6" cover:
Wow! Spectacular!

Word Verf: staxe : 1. Patron Saint of wood choppers; 2. How the choppers store the wood.

The Question Mark said...

I like it! Excellent work, both of you!

I remember when Season 4 was still airing, I thought that RED would be the perfect colour for the DVD box art, since the season featured so much bloodshed & destruction. Then it got released and it was...Blue. Kinda like Season 1. Hmm, okay. Whatever. I can dig it.

Then Season 5 aired, and I thought. Oooh, the box art for this DVD should be pure white, because the season revolved around the time-flashes, when everything faded to white (either that, or it should be the tan colour of the Dharma jumpsuits). Then it got released and it was...Blue. Kinda like Season 1. And kinda like Season 4.

So, who wants to make another friendly bet as to what colour they're gonna choose for the season 6 DVD? I'm hoping either red, deep purple, or jet black. Just please, PLEASE, no more blue!!! LoL

Once again, great cover, Nikki!

Fred said...

Dynamic cover art. But I would have liked to have seen the other choice--perhaps on the inside flap, or on the back (yes, fans always want more). I must admit, so far the most amazing one has been for Season 5. But I am partial to Season 1/2, the jungle with the numbers. Even the back was fun, a snapshot reminiscent of a travel brochure. Season 5's cover sure captures the island world and the LA world nicely. And will you pull a J.K. Rowling--Season 5 was a wonderful read of some 270 pages; can we expect more as plot points can be linked from all previous seasons? Awaiting, with baited breath, the release of Season 6.

Maggie Dixon said...

Aaaah! This is so awesome! I love the heiroglyphs on the edge of the chess board.
Love love love it!!!!!! I simply cannot wait to read this and complete my Finding Lost collection with this.

Nic said...

I love it! they should make it the dvd cover!

asiancolossus said...

Mega love it Nikki! Black and White, how appropriate for this ultimate season! What are we gonna do without you after this season? We better have a wrap party!

Adam David Dodd said...

i know i'm gonna get torn apart again for going against the grain, but it's kinda generic... I dig the aspects, but it looks like the cover of a computer game from the early nineties.
It would be cool to see our lost-mates facing off as the actual pieces.
but that's just my opinion.

Adam David Dodd said...

congratulations, all the same...

Hunter said...

I really like the idea. Very cool. My only suggestion would be to blow up the entire chess board and kings layer. They just seem so tiny.

Joan Crawford said...

I love it - it is very dramatic! We go from a jungle to a desert to a city and then BAM - things have gotten serious! I really like the Dharma logo he made too.

Anonymous said...

Cool cover but after last week I think the numbers should be in there somewhere.

-Tim Alan

Joan Crawford said...

@Adam Lester Bloog (or whatever your name happens to be) -

Why is it you never have anything at all to say, ever, except when you see an opportunity to be petty? Did this stunt work for you last time? Did you gain any followers on your blog after your "Ima def check it out" review of Nikki's book?

Anonymous said...

Oooooo... aaaaah!

Tanyam

Michele said...

I love it!!! Perfection!! Can't wait to have my very own copy. Wait....I take that back. In order for you to finish your book, LOST has to be over! I'll start again. Nice cover, Nikki....wish I didn't have to see it! LOL

Anonymous said...

That's really beautiful!

And I'm glad you got a sling box (which I assume has nothing to do with Billy Bob Thorton.

Anonymous said...

Very nice. I love the glyphs on the edge; I have a T-shirt with those glyphs on it; love the mystery of them. The chessboard is a cool idea, but would a backgammon board have been better, maybe with one black & one white stone a la Adam & Eve? Maybe not as impressive...I know you've given this a lot of thought! Are you going to be offering autographed copies again? I treasure my autographed Season 5!

Red said...

But LOST's game of choice is backgammon, not chess.

Jonathan said...

It's awesome!!!

Jazzygirl said...

Congrats Nikki! I feel comfortable enough to say that I like it, but I don't love it. I agree that backgammon has been the game of choice. I love the black and white idea and the two kings. I do like the new Dharma logo too. I just think it needs a "wow" factor and for me, it's not there.
Now, don't get me wrong. I will buy it no matter what the cover looks like! And it's YOUR book, not mine. But I'm just throwing my thoughts out there.
The caveat here is that we don't know where we're going this season so there could be something SO huge to be revealed that it would be prudent for a cover. I realize this isn't practical since you have to get the ball rolling NOW, which is unfortunate.
But again, congrats on completing this milestone! :)

Unknown said...

Ooh! )_( That is amazing!

Rebecca T. said...

That is so great! I love the Dharma symbol at the top with the arrows. Perfect! and the glyphs around the board are great :) Very exciting

Blam said...

Fan-freakin'-tastic, kiddo!

Nikki Stafford said...

Tim: Actually... the numbers ARE in there... can anyone find them?

And anyone who thinks backgammon is the Lost game of choice hasn't been watching closely enough. FAR more chess references than backgammon.

JS: Love the new avatar! :)

I'm so glad everyone's liking it!

By the way, the release date will be the same as S5... November 1, but available October 15.

Pamalamb said...

Great cover Nikki! I really like the idea of a chess board. I know that backgammon has been the game mentioned on the show, but if this really is a game, it is much more like chess then backgammon. And having the two kings face off like that is awesome! Someone mentioned that it was too simple or too generic, but I'm of the opinion that less is more! Too much stuff on the cover would ruin it. Love it!!

Jonathan said...

Now I see the numbers. Very well placed.

Joan Crawford said...

I don't see the numbers :(

LoyallyLOST said...

AWE~SOME! What a great cover! CanNOT wait til it comes out! Oh, wait~then the series will be over! Ah, bittersweet life!

Jazzygirl said...

It took a while but I see the numbers! Very hard to see on my laptop screen! I had to pick it up and move it around at different angles. LOL Very cool!

jeff heimbuch said...

love it!!

Unknown said...

very clever cover! love the hatch light shining up into the logo. i just looked at this after seeing the episode tonite and the first hieroglyphic i noticed was the lighthouse - did you plan that?! nice!

'ovatho' - a military coop captain with a speech impediment

Stan said...

Nikki... May I make one suggestion? I love the idea of the two kings facing off, but once we know the final answers, maybe one king should be standing and one laying down (white or black?). Unless your date for committing to the cover comes before the May Finale, of course.

Fred said...

The numbers, for those who can't see them, are to the left of the white night (4), to the left-in front (8) and in front of the black (15) . . . after that you'll see the rest.

The Question Mark said...

I also have one small suggestion I just thought of: since the letters in "Finding Lost" were also silver last time, I wonder how they'd look if they were red this time?

But either or, it looks fantastico, and I can't wait to read it! Miss Stafford, you've done it again! ;)

genevieve said...

Great job! Only thing is it kinda resembles "Breaking Dawn" from the "Twilight" saga and I know from your posts how you feel about "Twilight"! Tee-hee.

Batcabbage said...

The best cover yet. Simple, and gets the point across. Can't wait to own it.

Anonymous said...

It looks just like the Breaking Dawn cover, it looks like you<re trying to imitate it.

Lisa11171 said...

LOVE IT Nikki!! It's the perfect graphic for Season 6.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic!

I'm from Brzil, but I'm thinking on buying it!

crazyinlost said...

I really like your cover, Nikki, but I'm a big fan of the Twilight Series, so I can't for the life of me figure out why you would want to look ANYTHING like that, since the black/white/red theme was used in all 4 books, and since the gist I've gotten from you is you dont like anything Twilight. But I think it's neat, and I like the red gliphs around the outside of the chess board. But I can't, for the life of me, find those numbers!
I'll have to try a different computer!

Nikki Stafford said...

Stan: I love the idea of the two kings facing off, but once we know the final answers, maybe one king should be standing and one laying down (white or black?).

I definitely thought of this (and that was the original idea, that we'd knock one over now and then change it to whomever triumphs in the end) but then I realized that might be a spoiler... i.e. if white ultimately triumphs and I put it that way on the cover, it might spoil the end? Of course, it's not like any of us can figure out what side is actually white at this point!! ;)

And to everyone talking about Twilight (UGH)... one of the things I'd said to my editor early on was, "I want black and white, and maybe some red, but it can't -- CAN'T -- look anything like the Breaking Dawn cover." And we had that in our minds the entire time. If I thought this looked like a rip-off of that cover (and I notice the only person who came right out and said that was anonymous... once again, showing such courage...) I wouldn't go for it, especially knowing how much I hate those books.

Breaking Dawn had one white queen in the foreground. The chessboard fades off the page, where you can see our entire one. I'd had an idea right from the beginning of the Finding Lost series that the last one would have a chessboard on it (way before Breaking Dawn was even written, much less had a cover to it) and this one encapsulates the idea of Lost perfectly, in my mind.

And really... do you honestly think someone is going to pick up a book that's called Finding Lost, turn it over and see it's all about a show on LOST and say, "Gee... I wonder if this is the new book from Stephenie Meyer? I will have to go read it. I hope Edward's back in a big way." If they're really "tricked" into buying my book, then... they kinda deserve it.

I think Barry's done a brilliant job, and I'm glad that the vast majority of you think so, too! :)

EvaHart said...

I love it! And as I sadly have to see Breaking dawn's cover quite a lot, thanks to load of Twilight obsessed friends, I think it not only nothing like it but also 10 times better!

Christian said...

Hi Nikki. I love the Season 6 cover. Less really is more. I can't for the life of me see the numbers but that's okay. As for the red, white and black colour scheme, I find it hilarious/disappointing that people don't realise those colours have been used together long before the the Twilight books ever existed! Sucks to be Edward.
Does the first 'Finding Lost' book combine the first two seasons? Also, I've noticed some online shops are selling a 'Finding Lost - 2 pack' Do you have any idea what books that would include? You have a real eye for detail. Keep up the great work. I'll be buying your books soon. Thanks

Zari said...

@Fred: thanks for the hints on where the numbers are, but I'm with JoanCrawford & Christian -- I still can't see them. :{

Fred said...

@zari: click on the picture to enlarge it. It will take a little time to find them, but they are there, once you've enlarged the picture.