The awesome guys over at FictionAddictions.com have put together four awesome t-shirt designs to let you show your Maxfield Academy gang colors. Each shirt is styled after a gym uniform, and then you can get it tagged with one of the three gang logos. (Or you can get a plain one.)

I have one of each, and they’re awesome. I like to think it influences my mood. Also, my wife always wears Havoc–what does that say about her?

You can find out more details and order here.

So, one of my favorite things about working with HarperTeen (and I have a LOT of favorites) is that they produce some amazing covers. You’ve already seen my Variant and Feedback covers, but I wanted to show you the cover that we were originally going to use.

It’s by photographer Martin Stranka, who does some amazing work. (His website is here, where you can see this and other great book covers.)

I love it because it’s so bleak. While the final cover (the blue cover) invokes thoughts of action and desperation and fear, this original cover invokes feelings of depression and paranoia.

On the other hand, I don’t like that Jane’s face is visible, or that her hair color is even identifiable. One of my favorite parts of the final cover is that you’re not certain who the girl on the cover is: it could be Jane or Becky.

Ultimately, however, focus groups and marketing/sales teams decided that this original cover didn’t feel YA enough, and a new cover was commissioned, this one by photographer Mark Tucker (who ultimately did both the final Variant and Feedback covers).

I really love both covers–the original and the final. It’s fascinating to see how different artists interpret my book.

My friend, Christy Dorrity, has just released The 2012 Book Blogger’s Cookbook, a blend of recipes and reviews inspired by recently released books.

Some of the recipes are very literal interpretations of foods in the books. For example, The Beyonders, by Brandon Mull, features a Lumba Berry Pie, described as “a delicacy so addicting that the diner will never want to eat anything else ever again”. As Lumba Berries are fictional, they’ve been replaced here by boysenberries, and they look fantastic.

Other recipes are more of the “inspired by” variety, such as the Chocolate Violet Creams associated with Sarah Eden’s Courting Miss Lancaster. (The main character loves violets, and this recipe uses edible flowers.)

One of my particular favorite associations was the Caramel Crack (a kind of brittle) inspired by Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me. I also got a kick out of the Wind-Whirled Ice Cream Cake, based on Leigh Fallon’s Carrier of the Mark (the main character in that book can control the wind, and the recipe requires a lot of whipping).

Variant is also included, featuring the Hidden Ham and Cheese–kind of playing on the big twists and surprises in Variant. (Sort of a “Soylent Green is ham and cheese” type of thing.)

Anyway, the book is a lot of fun to browse, and all the food looks delicious (the photography is great). Best of all, it’s available right now for only $0.99 on Amazon. Go, buy, and eat.