Ava Glass
@avaglassbooks.bsky.social
'Queen of spy fiction' - the Guardian. Author of the Emma Makepeace series, and other books using other identities. Former gov't comms. Many names – Not a spy.
https://linktr.ee/avaglass
https://linktr.ee/avaglass
Things are getting interesting, no?
November 18, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Things are getting interesting, no?
November 18, 2025 at 12:23 PM
If anyone ever wanted to sneak up on California, now is the time.
November 15, 2025 at 4:43 PM
If anyone ever wanted to sneak up on California, now is the time.
However, I am putting it in my next novel, as you can imagine…
November 11, 2025 at 4:02 PM
However, I am putting it in my next novel, as you can imagine…
Tom Waits's version of Heigh Ho on that album is as dark as Disney ever got. 'There ain't no trick to get rich quick. You just dig dig dig with a shovel and a pick.' Sweet dreams, kids...
November 3, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Tom Waits's version of Heigh Ho on that album is as dark as Disney ever got. 'There ain't no trick to get rich quick. You just dig dig dig with a shovel and a pick.' Sweet dreams, kids...
I have genuinely wondered this at times, especially for re-releases of old books.
October 27, 2025 at 1:58 PM
I have genuinely wondered this at times, especially for re-releases of old books.
Increasingly, life is like an episodes of the Simpsons in which Amazon owns literally everything.
October 27, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Increasingly, life is like an episodes of the Simpsons in which Amazon owns literally everything.
Blimey, that is INTENSE.
October 27, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Blimey, that is INTENSE.
Dear god. How did these get released? How?? Good graphic designers are worth their weight in gold if this is what happens when you don't have one.
October 26, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Dear god. How did these get released? How?? Good graphic designers are worth their weight in gold if this is what happens when you don't have one.
It's so not hard that it puzzles me that these awful covers are released. I don't see how any graphic designer could have made these. It's a genuine mystery.
October 26, 2025 at 3:33 PM
It's so not hard that it puzzles me that these awful covers are released. I don't see how any graphic designer could have made these. It's a genuine mystery.
This kills me too, especially if I loved the original design. However, it shifts a LOT of copies, so I'm sympathetic to publishers on this. But I – and many readers – have become adept at finding a good used copy with the original book cover on AbeBooks…
October 26, 2025 at 2:23 PM
This kills me too, especially if I loved the original design. However, it shifts a LOT of copies, so I'm sympathetic to publishers on this. But I – and many readers – have become adept at finding a good used copy with the original book cover on AbeBooks…
In summary: Book jackets are an art, and with re-issues I fear publishers can get lazy, but if you are paying for a design, publishers, please insist on a good one. As a reader as well as a writer I have no shelf space for ugly books. Let's make lovely things!
October 26, 2025 at 2:03 PM
In summary: Book jackets are an art, and with re-issues I fear publishers can get lazy, but if you are paying for a design, publishers, please insist on a good one. As a reader as well as a writer I have no shelf space for ugly books. Let's make lovely things!
This is the cover from 1977, and I would argue that it's the last time this excellent novel actually had a worthy cover. It's brutal, it's clean, and it relates to the plot. I can't believe I have to go this far back to find a good design.
October 26, 2025 at 2:03 PM
This is the cover from 1977, and I would argue that it's the last time this excellent novel actually had a worthy cover. It's brutal, it's clean, and it relates to the plot. I can't believe I have to go this far back to find a good design.
Ok, this is not from the 2000s, it's actually the 1986 cover and I'm just putting it up because WTH does a sexy statue and a purple sky have to do with a murder? This jacket should give some comfort to modern publishing as it at least indicates bad cover designs are not new.
October 26, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Ok, this is not from the 2000s, it's actually the 1986 cover and I'm just putting it up because WTH does a sexy statue and a purple sky have to do with a murder? This jacket should give some comfort to modern publishing as it at least indicates bad cover designs are not new.
2000. I just need someone to explain what this is, and what it's doing on the cover of a novel. It looks like a photo someone took by accident when picking up their phone. How did this get approved?
October 26, 2025 at 2:03 PM
2000. I just need someone to explain what this is, and what it's doing on the cover of a novel. It looks like a photo someone took by accident when picking up their phone. How did this get approved?
2010. A typewriter again. Maybe they're trying to say she typed her investigation? Where is the obsession with a typewriter coming from? Would they put a typewriter on the cover of a crime novel about a male detective? Is everyone Ok?
October 26, 2025 at 2:03 PM
2010. A typewriter again. Maybe they're trying to say she typed her investigation? Where is the obsession with a typewriter coming from? Would they put a typewriter on the cover of a crime novel about a male detective? Is everyone Ok?