Between surviving high school and working at her aunt’s dumpling shop, all Zhi wants is to find time for her friends . . . and make sure no one finds out she’s half spider-demon.
But when she accidentally kills and eats a man in front of the most popular girl in school, she discovers she might not be the scariest thing in the shadows. . .
I’ve spent the better part of the last five years wondering if I would ever manage to finish writing this book, so it’s very surreal to be here right now, posting a cover reveal.
At some point last year, between rounds of edits, my editor asked if I had cover requests I’d like her to note. Authors rarely get a say in their book covers — this is a fact that' I've always been conscious of.
I told her if I could have anything, I’d like my main character, Zhi Leong Yao, on the cover. Seeing a Southeast Asian character on a YA book would have meant the world to me as a teen. It means the world to me now as an adult.
My editor said she would see what she could do—but whether the artist she had in mind was keen and available wasn’t in her control. She told me to cross my fingers.
I did.
Next thing I know, I’m being told my cover artist is Jessica Cruickshank (@jesscruicky), who happens to be the artist of the Beyond Blue postcard campaign I am (extremely) fond of, who happens to be the cover artist for several books I already own, and who happens to have a Malaysian Chinese background, just like me.
I am sure the planets must have aligned for me, because I cannot otherwise explain how I could possibly be this lucky to have a book cover I adore, by an artist I adore.
Thank you, Jess, for bringing Zhi to life. All my love to Michelle Madden and Penguin Random House Australia for making this all possible.
#TheSpiderAndHerDemons is available to preorder now from all Australian bookstores.