The HarperCollins Canada 2014 catalogue!
The main reason for this post is to share a great blog post on writing and publishing.
“25 steps to being a traditionally published author: Lazy Bastard Edition”—a post by Delilah S. Dawson—is an excellent overview of the writing and publishing process, as good an overview as I’ve ever read. I just sent the link to four friends who are working on novels. (Heh. By mistake I typed “wording” on novels.)
To give you the funny-but-hard-hitting sense of it, Step #1 is: If you’re actually lazy, GTFO.
Amen.
On the home front:
THE SHADOW QUEEN has a pub. date: April 8, 2014. I’ve sent off the corrected 1st Pass pages and I’ve only the Acknowledgements and the very last sentences of the novel to tweak. I’ve a storage box on my office floor where everything to do with The Shadow goes now, labelled “archival.” (I.e. my crowded basement.)
No more surprises, right?
Wrong! Yesterday evening, I got this Tweet:
@Sandra_Gulland it’s Claude. I wasn’t sure if you came across this. http://t.co/svwdofnDVo— Christine Wright (@mllechristine1)
I was speechless! A portrait of my Claude? I didn’t think one existed. (I Googled for it when I began my research and came up with nothing.)
Look familiar?
I’ve emailed Doubleday to find out if they used the portrait as a basis for the cover.
I was pleased when I first saw the cover because the woman looked like how I’d imagined Claude to look. (Eyebrows!)
And now: well! To find out that it looks like the real Claude: I’m blown away.
Late breaking news (two days later): my editor at Doubleday, Melissa Danaczko, checked: the cover designer had never seen a portrait of Claude, much less this one.
Is that spooky-amazing or what?!
I love spooky stories like this! They happen when I’m writing too. It’s a good sign!
Yes, Lilian, there is something about the heightened writing state … Spooky and exciting, indeed.
Wow! That is spooky. Your new book cover is gorgeous. Can’t wait for its release!
Thank you, Michelle! I’m so pleased you like the cover. I’m giddy about it!
Thank you, Michelle—I feel the same way!