Are you ready for it…?

EVERY TIME YOU GO AWAY is a special book for me for so many reasons, not the least because this is the first book that I’ve written featuring a protagonist who, like me, is a wheelchair user. It was uniquely challenging to write but also uniquely satisfying too. There’s always a lot of myself in my characters—good and bad—but this time I wasn’t just imagining a character and how different experiences would have shaped them, I have lived with a spinal cord injury, paralysis, and becoming a wheelchair user since I was seventeen. That’s not to say that Rebecca’s story is anything like my own—it’s not (nothing about this book is autobiographical), but I am intimately acquainted with the pain and joy and struggle and success that comes with those particular realities.

And so, I felt very protective of Rebecca and her portrayal when it came to creating the cover for EVERY TIME YOU GO AWAY (and Ethan too, since it’s just as much his book). This is the most involved I’ve ever gotten to be with a book cover and I could not be more thrilled with how it turned out. I was adamant about conveying a textural element with the art design since so much of this story deals with the ability to feel (literally and figuratively). We talked about a lot of different options everything from floral petal art to impasto/palette knife painting, but we kept coming back to cut paper illustrations because of their ability to present shadow and depth through layering. It’s a style I absolutely love and when we found Eiko Ojala, and saw some of his work, it was the perfect match.

 

We went through a few different concepts, and adjustments to accurately portray Rebecca and her wheelchair (something I was very specific about because we don’t often see people with physical disabilities on book covers) but when we saw this type-driven option, we all knew it was the one.

Everything from Ethan’s hair to Rebecca’s dress and the cat that I cannot wait for you to meet! And the flowers. Those are a big part of the book and I think they turned out so beautifully.

…REALLY ready for it?

Cause I could keep talking and gushing…

or you could just keep scrolling if you haven’t already….

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…And here it is!

 

I hope you love it as much as I do and I really hope it makes you want to read about Rebecca and Ethan (and Ethan’s cat). Here’s the official book description and all the details about when and where you can get your copy:

Every Time You Go Away by Abigail Johnson

Illustration: EIKO OJALA, Art Direction: KATHLEEN OUDIT

Book Description:

After three years apart, can they find their way back to each other?

Since the moment Ethan first arrived at his grandparents’ house, Rebecca and Ethan have been drawn to each other. But even as children, they knew their time together was limited. Time and time again, Ethan’s mom would sober up and take him away—only to bring him back when she relapsed.

Three years have passed since Ethan last lived with his grandparents, and Ethan and Rebecca are no longer the same people they once were. Ethan embraced his role as his mother’s caretaker long ago and blames his grandparents for tearing him away from her. Meanwhile, Rebecca is racked with survivor’s guilt after a car accident killed her father. She’s been learning to navigate life as a wheelchair user ever since.

Now that fate has brought them together, they’ll have to learn if the time apart created too much distance between them—or if they can finally find happiness together.

 

And, of course, I had to do a semi cover recreation photo. Go check out my Instagram to see more!

 

I would love it if you could help share the cover for EVERY TIME YOU GO AWAY on any of your social media accounts. And don’t forget to pre-order your copy and add it on Goodreads!

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About Abigail

Abigail Johnson was born in Pennsylvania. When she was twelve, her family traded in snowstorms for year-round summers and moved to Arizona. Abigail chronicled the entire cross-country road trip in a purple spiral-bound notebook that she still has, and has been writing ever since. She became a tetraplegic after breaking her neck in a car accident when she was seventeen but hasn’t let that stop her from bodysurfing in Mexico, writing and directing a high-school production of Cinderella, and riding roller coasters every chance she gets. She is the author of several young adult novels including If I Fix You and Every Other Weekend. She is represented by Kim Lionetti at BookEnds Literary Agency.

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2 Comments

  1. Lynn June 24, 2022 at 9:06 am - Reply

    I can’t wait to read this. I love your books. You may want to fix the big bold words “Book Description” to correctly spell the word description since it’s missing the “S”.

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