Final Book Cover and Story Summary

I recieved a sneak peak at the final version of the whole dust jacket for Forbidden Sea. (Front and back.) I LOVE the design! The color is this deep aquamarine blue-green. There are gold foil designs edging the sides. On the front flap is this description:

"When, one stormy night, a mermaid comes to take Adrianne Keynnman’s sister, Cecily, down into the depths of the sea, Adrianne knows she must fight with every ounce of her strength to protect her little sister. On land, Adrianne toils away, trying to eke out a living for her mother, sister, and aunt, after a tragic accident stole her father. Now, life takes a strange and frightening turn as Adrianne’s dreams are filled with the mermaid’s singing."

There was more, but I felt it gave away too much of the story so I'm not going to put the rest of it here. I just wish I didn't have to wait another year for everyone else to see it.

First Pass of Printed Pages

I received my first pass of typeset pages for my book. After the typesetters get the book ready for printing, they print off one copy and check it one last time to make sure there are no mistakes before they begin printing copies of the book. I have to okay any changes made at this point. I like the layout of the book. It's quite elegant, with beautiful patterns behind the heading of each chapter. I can't wait to get my first ARC (Advanced Reader Copy)! There was one page in the book where the typesetter had written "Nice!" beside one particularly effective description in the book. It made me feel good all the rest of the day. : )

And the Bad News Is . . .

I recieved an email from my editor today and she had some unhappy news for me. They are moving back the release date of my book from May 1, 2010 to July 1, 2010. The marketing department felt that would be a better time slot for sales. The Scholastic Book Fairs has decided to wait and start selling my book at the same time instead of ahead of time, so it will now be another year before my book comes out anywhere. It's enough to make a hard working author weep with discouragement. I sometimes think the book will never come out. I guess I should look at the bright side--I'll have more than enough time to finish the sequel between now and then. And maybe even the ghost story I've started working on as well. We'll see.

*SIGH*