Category Archives: urban fantasy

From Concept to Final Design

This month, my award-winning YA urban fantasy novel, I Was, Am, Will Be Alice, is on sale for just $0.99 USD! To celebrate, I’m looking back at how its cover evolved from initial concept to final design.  

My Inspiration

Because I planned to market the book to fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife (TTTW) and Alice in Wonderland (AIW), I used their iconic covers as a starting point.

I fell in love with the image’s vintage aesthetic, from the soft focus to the retro clothing and battered. I also loved how the cover zoomed in on a partial image rather than showing the full scene.

Ever since the classic Disney animation, Alice in Wonderland has been defined by her iconic blue dress and white apron. I knew I needed to weave that recognizable colour into my own cover.

Version 1

Version 1 captured the vintage feel of TTTW through the frame, clothing, and worn shoes, while adopting AIW’s classic blue dress. I experimented with different images inside the frame, but ultimately decided to discard the framing concept.

Warped Time

Next, I toyed with the concept of distorted time. This version kept the cropped perspective, focusing solely on the girl’s hands, and introduced a pocket watch. This represented time travel while channelling the White Rabbit from AIW.

In the end, I returned to the blue dresses to tie back into Alice’s blue dress and strengthen the allusions to AIW in the book.

Refining the Dress: Lace and Petticoat

This version featured a blue dress with black lace and a petticoat, paired with shoes, which was a nod to TTTW. It was also the first iteration where I introduced colour banners to make the title text pop.

Refining the Dress: School-Day Style

I liked this dress style sightly more because of it’s white lace, which calls to mind AIW’s iconic white apron. The shoes were also more utilitarian, something a child might wear to school on picture day.

The Final Cover

This is the design I ultimately chose! Like TTTW, it focuses tightly on a single detail, but in this case, it’s the hands instead of the shoes. The girl wears a dress in that signature AIW blue, offset by delicate embroidered flowers that break up the background colour blocks.

I Was, Am, Will Be Alice is available for just $0.99 USD all month long. Head over to my BookFunnel group promo  to grab your copy, and be sure to check out the 12+ other incredible fantasy reads featured in the sale! 

Revisiting Inspiration for Alice

I Was, Am, Will Be Alice is on sale for $0.99 USD for the month of August. To celebrate, I’m looking posting about my inspiration for writing the novel that made me an award-winning author.

READ ALL ABOUT MY BOOK ON BOOKFUNNEL

In I Was, Am, Will Be Alice, 9 year old Alice Carroll disappears from her classroom during a school shooting. She later learns she is able to time travel when under extreme stress, a situation she is determined to learn to control in order to go back to the day of the shooting to save the lives of her teacher and classmates and to discover the identity of the woman who sacrificed herself so Alice could live.

Here are some excellent read-alikes, books with similar themes or in similar genres that have inspired me and my writing, especially with respect to I Was, Am, Will Be Alice. If you liked these books, you are sure to love ALICE (and vice-versa):

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Life Henry, Alice travels through time, but due to a different genetic anomaly. Also like Henry, Alice’s episodes of time travel centre around the most traumatic event in her life: being caught in a school shooting. Unlike The Time Traveler’s Wife, Alice eventually learns how to control her traveling and tries to use it to prevent the shooting from happening.

My novel is not primarily a romance, but rather a coming of age story in which Alice learns that the curves life has thrown her do not have to define her. It is about a young girl coming to terms with her disability and using it to empower herself.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Names and phrases were borrowed from Alice in Wonderland, but aside from my Alice feeling as if she’s stepped into the bizzaro world of the looking glass, the story does not compare. I include Wonderland in this list with the hope that it might inspire my readers to go back and take a look at the classic work that inspired me, if not the story.


The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

In The Shining Girls, Kirby is the victim of a time traveller. She uses her traumatic event—nearly being murdered by serial killer, Harper—and her job as a reporter to turn the event around and bring her attacker to justice. Like Alice, Kirby uses the curves life has thrown her to empower herself and overcome her past. In The Shining Girls, it is Harper who does the travelling through a door in a magical house. Kirby is assisted by fellow reporter, Dan, in her investigation and there are hints of a romance, much like Alice is assisted by Pete, and there are hints of a romance.


The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

In The Lovely Bones, Susie has been raped and murdered. She spends the book in heaven, looking down on her friends and family as her murder investigation unfolds. Susie must come to terms with her death as she hopes her murderer will be caught. As the story progresses, Susie comes of age as she accepts her fate and learns of a clue that has been uncovered that will ultimately lead to the capture of her murderer.

Alice is very much alive throughout the novel. The parallel here is the trauma and the need to come to terms with how the character’s life has changed as a result of the trauma. As the character comes of age, she learns to use her trauma as a tool for empowerment, rather than defeat.


The Half-Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Molly suffers from split-personality disorder. The book opens with a trauma—Molly witnesses a boy on a motorcycle as he is hit and killed in a car accident—and she doesn’t know what to make of it. Because life around her goes on and each of Molly’s personalities are only aware of half of it, she must learn to overcome her disability in order to figure out who the boy on the motorcycle was, to regain her memory, and to get better. In other words, like Alice, she must learn to come to terms with her disability, and she eventually uses it to piece her life together, thus empowering herself so she can get well.

Purchase I Was, Am, Will Be Alice for only $0.99 this month on BookFunnel’s Fantasy Book Sale Promo. Click on the button and scroll to find my cover. While you’re there, be sure to check out the work of 12+ bestselling authors in the promotion.

CLICK HERE FOR LIMITED TIME FANTASY DEALS

Featured Book: The Depth of Water

I’m being featured on the Kindle Book Review Website today and tomorrow. Check it out!

cover for The Depth of Water by Elise Abram

Hours after her father drowns, Liesel Drummond sees him in a vision. In it, her father touches the child within her womb and vanishes.

Years later, Liesel’s son, Owen, is haunted by an inexplicable fear of water. When he falls into a pool at the tender age of eight, something shifts within him. Owen is plagued by horrific night terrors, clawing at the air as if trying to swim to safety, gasping for air, coughing up water, reaching for an unseen lifeline, and choking on phantom waves. As Liesel witnesses her son’s mental and physical well-being deteriorate, her anxiety mounts, but it reaches a breaking point when Owen starts recounting memories of being the parent when Liesel was the child. Convinced her father’s soul has been reincarnated within Owen, Liesel embarks on a desperate quest for answers.

Liesel’s mother’s health is failing, and their relationship is strained at the best of times, adding another layer of complexity to her life. With nowhere else to turn, Liesel seeks out Carson Knox, an expert in reincarnation and the transmigration of souls, but discovering that Owen has indeed been reincarnated is only the beginning. The true challenge lies in freeing her father’s soul from her son’s, forcing Liesel to confront the unfathomable depths of water, both literal and metaphorical.

The Depth of Water will transport you to a world where the past and present intertwine, exploring themes of family, loss, and the power of love.  Prepare to embark on a suspenseful journey that will leave you questioning the boundaries of life and the ties that bind us all.

Buy The Depth of Water at Amazon, Apple, Rakuten-Kobo, and wherever eBooks are sold.

Featured Book: The Depth of Water

The Depth of Water is being featured on Pretty-Hot Books today. Check it out!

The Depth of Water featured on Pretty-Hot Books.
cover for The Depth of Water by Elise Abram

Hours after her father drowns, Liesel Drummond sees him in a vision. In it, her father touches the child within her womb and vanishes.

Years later, Liesel’s son, Owen, is haunted by an inexplicable fear of water. When he falls into a pool at the tender age of eight, something shifts within him. Owen is plagued by horrific night terrors, clawing at the air as if trying to swim to safety, gasping for air, coughing up water, reaching for an unseen lifeline, and choking on phantom waves. As Liesel witnesses her son’s mental and physical well-being deteriorate, her anxiety mounts, but it reaches a breaking point when Owen starts recounting memories of being the parent when Liesel was the child. Convinced her father’s soul has been reincarnated within Owen, Liesel embarks on a desperate quest for answers.

Liesel’s mother’s health is failing, and their relationship is strained at the best of times, adding another layer of complexity to her life. With nowhere else to turn, Liesel seeks out Carson Knox, an expert in reincarnation and the transmigration of souls, but discovering that Owen has indeed been reincarnated is only the beginning. The true challenge lies in freeing her father’s soul from her son’s, forcing Liesel to confront the unfathomable depths of water, both literal and metaphorical.

The Depth of Water will transport you to a world where the past and present intertwine, exploring themes of family, loss, and the power of love.  Prepare to embark on a suspenseful journey that will leave you questioning the boundaries of life and the ties that bind us all.

Buy The Depth of Water at Amazon, Apple, Rakuten-Kobo, and wherever eBooks are sold.

Featured Book: The Depth of Water

The Depth of Water is being featured on Awesome Gang today. Check it out!

cover for The Depth of Water by Elise Abram

Hours after her father drowns, Liesel Drummond sees him in a vision. In it, her father touches the child within her womb and vanishes.

Years later, Liesel’s son, Owen, is haunted by an inexplicable fear of water. When he falls into a pool at the tender age of eight, something shifts within him. Owen is plagued by horrific night terrors, clawing at the air as if trying to swim to safety, gasping for air, coughing up water, reaching for an unseen lifeline, and choking on phantom waves. As Liesel witnesses her son’s mental and physical well-being deteriorate, her anxiety mounts, but it reaches a breaking point when Owen starts recounting memories of being the parent when Liesel was the child. Convinced her father’s soul has been reincarnated within Owen, Liesel embarks on a desperate quest for answers.

Liesel’s mother’s health is failing, and their relationship is strained at the best of times, adding another layer of complexity to her life. With nowhere else to turn, Liesel seeks out Carson Knox, an expert in reincarnation and the transmigration of souls, but discovering that Owen has indeed been reincarnated is only the beginning. The true challenge lies in freeing her father’s soul from her son’s, forcing Liesel to confront the unfathomable depths of water, both literal and metaphorical.

The Depth of Water will transport you to a world where the past and present intertwine, exploring themes of family, loss, and the power of love.  Prepare to embark on a suspenseful journey that will leave you questioning the boundaries of life and the ties that bind us all.

Buy The Depth of Water at Amazon, Apple, Rakuten-Kobo, and wherever eBooks are sold.

#BookTok

Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 1: Wendigo BookTok

What is a booktok, you might ask?

A booktok is a video posted on TikTok in which readers discuss books they’ve read. This is supposed to be a great marketing tool, as well, so I’ve decided to dip my foot into the TikTok waters.

Creating this video was no mean feat. First, I had to write the script. Next, I filmed myself which necessitated getting used to seeing myself on the screen. After more than twenty takes, I managed to de-sensitize myself to this phenomenon. Lastly–and perhaps the most daunting–I had to figure out how to edit the video. This meant learning how to use Adobe Premiere Pro. If you’ve ever used any Adobe Suite products, you know just how complicated and confusing a task this can be. I managed to find an amazing video describing the basics (Thanks to Justin Brown an Saj Adibs for their amazing YouTube how tos).

The result is fairly successful (I think), particularly for a first try. Take a look for yourself (see video embedded above).

Here is the transcript for this booktok:

Hey, there.

Author Elise Abram here with what I hope will be one of many more BookToks to come.

Today’s book is Braelynn’s Birthright—Book 1: Wendigo. If you’re a fan of Supernatural, the Nancy Drew television series, or Legacies, you’re sure to be a fan of this book.

In the book, Braelynn inherits her grandmother’s ring, but the ring has been cursed, making her a magnet for supernatural entities. As she learns to navigate her new powers, she’s joined by her friends Sommer, Shannon (who happens to be a werewolf), and Winona, an Ojibwe shaman-in-training. The four of them band together to vanquish the wendigo threatening to destroy the local watershed.

This book explores what It’s like to feel as if you are different from everyone else and you don’t belong. It shows how powerful you can be when you embrace your differences instead of try to fit in and be like everyone else.

Braelynn’s Birthright is available at all major online retailers.

I hope you’ll let me know what you think if you read it.

Until next time, goodbye!

To buy Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 1: Wendigo, please see my list of YA books for purchase links.

New Release!

Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 1: Wendigo

I am proud to have published Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 1: Wendigo. This is the first in what I hope will be a series of books featuring the same set of characters. Book1: Wendigo is a young adult supernatural/horror urban fantasy novel.

Book 2: Fallen Angel is near completion. This book is a new adult novel, taking place a few years after Book 1. It also unites characters from a number of my books including Phase Shift, The Revenant, and Revamped. Look for the release of Book 2: Fallen Angel in November of this year.

If you’re a fan of Supernatural, Nancy Drew (current TV series), or Legacies (Vampire Diaries spin-off) you will love the Braelynn’s Birthright series, as well as the other books mentioned here.

Here is a closer look at what Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 1: Wendigo is about:

Imagine a world where the creatures of nightmare are real. This becomes fifteen-year-old Braelynn Hanlon’s world once she inherits her birthright in the form of her grandmother’s ring and is tricked into putting it on. You see, the women in her family have been cursed, doomed to defend humanity from things that go bump in the night. On the upside, the ring comes with super-healing powers, but it also makes her a magnet for all things supernatural. Her mother has had years to come to terms with her fate, but Braelynn’s about to get a crash course on how to be a hunter of all things paranormal.

Her boyfriend, Seth, turns out to be a vampire. When Braelynn vanquishes him, the leader of Seth’s gang sends a bugbear to seek revenge. If that’s not bad enough, her best friend, Shannon, is a werewolf, and Shannon’s girl crush is enchanted. To make matters worse, the school’s activist, Winona, is an Ojibwe shaman in training, hot on the trail of a wendigo disguised as a local businessman who is threatening to destroy the local watershed. Braelynn and her friends agree to help Winona vanquish the wendigo, but will her ring and her new-found powers be enough to keep her safe?

Braelynn’s Birthright–Book 1: Wendigo is available at Amazon (paperback and eBook), B & N, Apple Books, and Rakuten Kobo.