LOOK! BOOK! (and a surprise)

My powers of speech desert me. You see the post title.

It was all I could do not to write: LOOKEE!

A package arrived for me yesterday morning.

Oh, one touch and I knew what it was.

Oh.

FINALLY.

There are the days -- the months -- when it feels like it will never happen. Like it will never achieve its true form, its essential bookness. But it does. The day does come. (You know, unless you quit. Don't do that.) Keep working, and the day will come when someone will stick a nice solid cover on your book, wrap a gorgeous dust jacket around it, and prepare to steward it out into the world.

(Thick! My longest book. 100 pages longer than Daughter!)

Deepest, deepest thanks to the wonderful team at Little Brown. I cannot imagine a happier publishing home. I'm so excited for the coming year!

And ...

I hesitate to link this. I don't know why. Nerves? Preparing for widespread readership is SCARY. But here it is. If you want to read the first seven chapters of DAYS OF BLOOD & STARLIGHT, you can do that here.

Ulp.

But don't do it if you haven't read DAUGHTER yet. 

What?? You haven't read DAUGHTER yet? Well now's your chance. One month until DAYS. Your timing is perfect!