Anna Mackenzie has everything covered in her latest novel, Ebony Hill.
Not only is the story beautifully crafted, intriguing and exciting - the cover features Anna's children Callum, 17, and Madeleine, 13.
A sequel to The Sea-Wreck Stranger, Ebony Hill continues the story of Ness and Dev after they make their
escape from Dunnett.
"I knew exactly what I wanted the cover to look like," Anna, who lives near the tiny Hawke's Bay settlement of Raukawa, said. "My publishers sent me six covers to choose from and, although they were all nice, they just weren't right for Ebony Hill."
So Anna took matters into her own hands. "I asked my children to come outside with me. Gave Callum a rifle to sling over his shoulder (unloaded of course) and a backpack. I said 'you stand up there and Madeleine, you stand there, both facing away from me'."
Anna then took a photo and sent it off to her publishers. They liked it so much they used it.
"I wanted the cover to depict the dangers that begin to dominate Ness' life, hence the rifle," Anna said.
And dangerous it does get.
It's a surprise when the guns come out in this action-packed adventure and even Anna said she surprised herself when writing the story. "I got to a point where I asked myself 'where to from here?' Suddenly I knew - the first shot is fired and all hell breaks loose."
The story starts with Ness and Dev in Vidya, a city in ruins, where Ness finds herself thrust into the company of Ronan, a teenager rescued from a boat and an "outsider" like herself.
As the community tries to move away from tragedies of the past, violence intrudes into its calm way of life. Ness finds herself in the midst of a war and, as she struggles to come to terms with life, death and what is right and wrong in a world of war, she also must battle a sense of loneliness and not belonging.
The language in the story is lovely and Anna says the characters in her books determined how she writes. Ness is young, and even though the story is set in the future, Ness doesn't know the way of a modern world.
"I haven't quite finished with Ness yet. There is one more book which will, hopefully, be published early next year, "Anna said.
I, for one, am looking forward to it.
