Any relevant content warnings are included in the tags/notes of each work. Please check tags and full synopses for more details. Inspirations/prompts are credited in the relevant fic.
And I Burn Contently (2k words) [Nick/Charlie] - Nick joins Charlie and his family at their local 5th November fireworks display. Wholesome autumnal fluff. Written as part of SOFTober 2020.
Half a Slice (2.4k words) [Nick/Charlie, general relationships] - Nick, Charlie, and Charlie’s friends take a break from playing board games to have lunch. Charlie struggles, but Nick finds ways to help him. Includes discussion and depiction of eating disorders. Written as part of SOFTober 2020.
The First Time Nick Noticed Charlie’s Eyes (2.3k words) [Nick/Charlie] - Charlie experiences anxiety before his first rugby match. Nick finds himself comforting Charlie, although he’s unsure why he wants to take care of him so much. Written as part of SOFTober 2020.
Any relevant content warnings are included in the tags/notes of each work. Please check tags and full synopses for more details. Inspirations/prompts are credited in the relevant fic.
Boozy Hot Chocolate (3.2k words) [general relationships, Rooney/Pip] - Georgia and the rest of the Loveless gang attend the Durham Christmas Market and have a lovely time. Written as part of SOFTober 2020.
Trending (2.6k words) [general relationships, Rooney/Pip] - Rooney decidesto become a TikTok star and avideo goes unexpectedly viral.Written as part of SOFTober 2020.
Ugly Living Room Cushions (1.7k words) [general relationships, Rooney/Pip] - Georgia and her friends have a movie night in their student house.Written as part of SOFTober 2020.
Hi! I’m author and illustrator Alice Oseman, and I got to design the cover for the US edition of my latest YA novel, Loveless. I’m here to tell you all about that design process, from the first sketches to the finished cover!
THE FIRST SKETCH
I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted the cover to look like right at the start. Lovelessis set at university, and its protagonist, Georgia, is thrust into a world of packed college bars, sweaty clubs, lecture halls, and busy dorms. Students are everywhere, but the main characters of Lovelessare all little alone in their feelings. So my idea for the cover of Lovelesswas to feature the five main characters of the story amidst a tightly packed crowd of students at a college bar, to try to capture that feeling of being alone in a crowd.
LINE ART
Scholastic liked my idea (YAY!) but their suggestion was to bring Georgia to the foreground a little more, so she’s clearly the protagonist of the story. I did this in the next stage of my cover design process – the line art stage. I transformed my sketch into a much tidier line art illustration, and I was super happy with how it was looking!
COLOUR EXPERIMENTS
Next up was colour. I’ve always considered colour to be one of my weaker skills as an artist, so I wanted to try out lots of rough ideas before settling on a colour scheme for the cover. I knew I wanted purple to be a big feature – it’s the colour of the UK cover, which I fought very hard for, because it’s the main colour of the asexual flag.
I started with some rough studies:
And then I went ahead and coloured the illustration. I still wasn’t happy with my colour choices, so I edited the colours a lot and created a new spread of colour ideas. There were a lot of them, so here are just a few:
THE FINISHED COVER
Eventually, and with Scholastic’s help, I settled on the colours I liked. I added in some final tweaks and details, and then the illustration was complete! I handed it over to Scholastic to create the typography for the text and to add on all the final bits and bobs. And then… we had a cover!
Valentine’s Day is almost here, and so are so many upcoming books that celebrate love of all kinds! Check out these books that you should pre-order and save the date for
From the marvelous author of Heartstopper comes an exceptional YA novel about discovering that it’s okay if you don’t have sexual or romantic feelings for anyone … since there are plenty of other ways to find love and connection. Pre-order and start reading!
For the first time, Gemma has everything she’s ever wanted: friends, big family dinners, and Griff—a boy who she can be herself around. But how can she embrace her new dream life when everything is built on a lie? Pre-order and start reading!
It’s a hot summer, and life’s going all right for Jackson and his family on the Mish. Just like every year, Jackson’s Aunty and annoying little cousins visit from the city – but this time a mysterious boy with a troubled past comes with them. As their friendship evolves, Jackson must confront the changing shapes of his relationships with his friends, family and community. And he must face his darkest secret – a secret he thought he’d locked away for good. Pre-order and start reading!
In this Pride & Prejudice retelling, Leela is ALWAYS #1 in speech and debate competitions. But when she meets Firoze Darcy, more than just her winning streak is at stake…her heart is, too. Pre-order and start reading!
Charlie and Nick’s relationship has been going really well, and Charlie thinks he’s ready to say those three little words: I love you.
Nick feels the same way, but he’s got a lot on his mind – especially the thought of coming out to his dad and the fact that Charlie might have an eating disorder.
As a new school year begins, Charlie and Nick will have to learn what love really means.
An exceptional novel about discovering that it’s okay if you don’t have sexual or romantic feelings for anyone…since there are plenty of other ways to find love and connection. Read an excerpt!
Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. A sweet and charming coming-of-age story that explores friendship, love, and coming out. This graphic novel series features stunning, two-color artwork. Read an excerpt!
I really didn’t think Loveless would make me emotional. But my eyes welled up at this line. So ridiculously relatable.
“And the worst part of it was—even though I’d longed for these things, I knew that they’d never make me happy anyway. The idea was beautiful. But the reality made me sick. How could I feel so sad about giving up these things that I did not actually want?”
Currently reading: I am really loving this book. I have just over a hundred pages left and I am enjoying it as much as I did Solitaire. I definitely think this will be another five star read.
Watching Heartstopper twice in the last week and rereading volumes 1-4 of the novels makes me:
1. Really miss Aled Last
2. Want to reread all of Alice’s books
It’s been four years since I read radio silence and it’s definitely time for a reread !!
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