FRIDAYS REVEAL ON FRIDAY!

It's true, it just occurred to me that it's Friday, and I'm about to reveal the cover of FRIDAYS WITH THE WIZARDS! So exciting!

I love this cover, I think it might very well be my favorite. No . . . it is. It's my favorite. It's another beautiful painting by David Hohn. He's done all my Castle Glower covers, and he's the artist behind my amazing new covers on the DRAGON SLIPPERS trilogy. (True story: when he sent me the sketch for the cover of DRAGON SLIPPERS, I started to cry. It's my Shardas, and my Creel, and his beautiful windows!) David is fantastic, and he really tries to capture both the heart of the book, as well as highlighting the little details. On the cover of TUESDAYS, you will note that Celie is carrying her atlas and colored pencils, but did you also notice that the Castle is sort of leaning in above her? That's because, as David said, "It's giving her a hug." Couldn't you just die? Did you notice that on the cover of WEDNESDAYS, Rufus' paws are too big for him and his tail is longer than his body? He's clearly a young, gangly, growing griffin! So fantastic!

Well, this one does not disappoint.

It's based on an early design that David and I both loved for TUESDAYS, which seemed mysterious and exciting, but didn't really scream: First book in a new series! There's also some little details that I'll discuss after . . .

I . . .

reveal . . .

the . . .

awesome . . .

cover . . . !

Are . . .

you . . .

ready . . . ?

Are . . .

you . . .

sure . . . ?

Of . . .

course . . .

you . . .

are . . . !

Shall we now discuss how much we love it? Because we all love it a lot, right?

I mean, for heaven's sake, look at that griffin! That's Lord Griffin, by the way, and he is NOT HAPPY. Look at that expression! He's about to rip somebody apart like a worn out chew toy.

Look at Celie! We decided that since she's now about to turn thirteen, she needed a more grown up gown, and I just adore it!

And behind Lord Griffin we see Bran, in full wizardly regalia. And what's in Bran's hand? Well, I won't tell you, but it's really key to the story. Webmaster Mikey pointed it out to me first, and when I realized what it was, I started jumping up and down. YES! IT'S ON THE COVER!

So, I won't drop any more hints, because I know that they're maddening, but I will say that it comes out February 9th, 2016!

Griffins Galore!

I dunno, that just felt like a good title.

You see, it's not so much griffins galore, it's mostly one griffin.  One AWESOME griffin, one Rufus by name!

Since last I blogged, you see, some things have happened.  WEDNESDAYS IN THE TOWER came out . . . and debuted at #10 on the New York Times Bestseller List!  I was on a cruise at the time, and didn't get the news for a couple of days, and when I did, my arms went numb!  It was quite weird.  I was sitting in our cabin with my feet up, getting my email, and I saw that email and just . . . went numb.  I sat there laugh-crying at my husband while he read the email, because I was too stunned to talk!  It is still so surreal to me.  Every so often it hits me that from now on, my books will all say, "New York Times Bestselling Author" across them, and I freak out a little all over again.

So, yes, I was on a cruise.  I was also on a book tour, so the month of May was a little crazy.  I lost track of how many flights I was on, now many times I got up at 4 am to get to the airport, and how many times I gave a school presentation.  But it was fun, all of it!  The schools were great, the bookstores were great, the cruise was great.  All great all around!  I highly recommend both cruises and book tours as vacation options in the future, if any of you are wondering.  (Although in all honesty, swimming with dolphins in Cozumel was slightly better than giving three school assemblies in one day.  Slightly.)

I also found out in May that TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE is one of the Summer Reading books for Barnes & Noble, and I could not be more delighted.  Kids who do their Summer Reading program and read 8 books this summer can pick a copy of of TUESDAYS as their free book!  Yay!

Now that WEDNESDAYS is out there in the world, allow me to take this opportunity to apologize for the ending.  It's not a bad ending . . . it's just a bit of a cliffhanger.  But don't worry, I'm working hard on THURSDAYS IN THE SOMETHING SOMETHING, and soon all questions will be answered!  (By soon, of course, I mean next spring.  Sorry.)

And now on to Other People's Books.

You know what time of year it is?  It's SUMMER READING TIME!

I am not even going to try and challenge myself to a certain number this year.  I mean, on Goodreads I've challenged myself to read 160 books this year, and I'm falling a wee bit behind, but no specific number for the summer.  I do have a large stack of books on the bedside table, as per usual.  I probably have close to 50 other books in my house that I haven't read yet, but this is my method for this summer.

1. Find fun book.
2. Read fun book.

Basically, I've decided to choose my books this summer by whatever pops into my head as being the Most Fun This Second.  Let's face it, we all have books we know we SHOULD read, like OUR MUTUAL FRIEND or EAST OF EDEN, but I'm putting those aside this summer.  I took a look at my Goodreads to-read shelf last night, then I went onto my library website, and put the five books that jumped out at me on hold.  I might reread a few things, I might very well decide to read OUR MUTUAL FRIEND, but I'm going to take it one book at a time.  Right now I'm reading FRAGMENTS by Dan Wells (which is awesome).  And I read some very fun things on my cruise and book tour (like TIMELESS, TOURIST SEASON, and CRUCIBLE OF GOLD), and so I think I will include those on my summer reading list.  So let's say that Summer Reading this year starts on May 1st, shall we?  And goes until September 3rd!

Which means that thus far I have read:

CATE OF THE LOST COLONY by Lisa Klein
NEED by Carrie Jones
TIMELESS by Gail Carriger
TOURIST SEASON by Carl Hiaasen
THE HERO AND THE CROWN by Robin McKinley (a reread, obviously)
LET'S EXPLORE DIABETES WITH OWLS by David Sedaris
CRUCIBLE OF GOLD by Naomi Novik
THE BLUE SWORD by Robin McKinley (reread)
THE HERO'S GUIDE TO SAVING YOUR KINGDOM by Christopher Healy
DEAD EVER AFTER by Charlaine Harris
ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL by James Herriot
THE SPINDLERS by Lauren Oliver

I have also read CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG and ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND aloud to the kids.

Go forth and read!  And if you feel like picking up some copies of WEDNESDAYS IN THE TOWER for your friends and family, I'm not gonna object.

WEDNESDAYS on a Sunday

News, news, news!  (Also, more news!)

I haven't blogged much lately, so there is lots to cover!  Strap yourselves in!

First of all, WEDNESDAYS IN THE TOWER will be out on May 7th!  Mark your calendars, kids!  And how much do you love this cover?  Because, personally, I love it a LOT!  I will be going on a book tour to celebrate the release, which is super exciting!  There are no firm dates/locations yet, but places being bandied about include: Chicago, Florida, Philadelphia, Houston, and Washington DC.  That's in addition to places around Utah, of course.  As soon as we get fixed dates and details, I will post them.  Please remember that if you are in a place where I will NOT be signing, you can always order a signed and personalized copy of any of my books through The King's English in Salt Lake City.  They are wonderful, and they will be happy to help you!

Second: Lots of people have been telling me how much they loved PRINCESS OF THE SILVER WOODS, and I thank them for their very kind words!  It's a great book, if I do say so myself!  So please remember to show it some love!  But then they want to know when the next princess book is coming out . . . and, um . . . there isn't one.  They all live happily ever after!  The end.  (Sorry!  But a twelve book series just isn't my style.)

Third: TUESDAYS IN THE CASTLE is nominated for a Beehive Book Award.  HOORAY!  So all you Utah peeps, head over to the library and vote for Celie and Castle Glower!

Fourth: This fall SUN AND MOON, ICE AND SNOW will be released with a brand new cover!  I have seen this cover, and behold, it is beautiful!  It's by the same artist who did the Princess covers, and I screamed and jumped up and down when I saw it.  As soon as it gets finalized with titles and pretty shiny things, I will be sure to post it.  It will only be available as a paperback, both beautiful AND affordable!

Fifth: In February of 2014, the DRAGON SLIPPERS trilogy will be released with new covers as well!  The new covers are by David Hohn, the fantastic talent behind the Castle Glower covers.  I've seen some of the sketches, and I actually burst into tears.  Tears.  Burst.  Into.  No shame.  The new DRAGON SLIPPERS cover, even as a pencil sketch, is . . . is . . . Okay, I love Peter Ferguson's original painting for the DS hardcover.  I bought it, it's hanging in my house, I love it.  He also does the Sisters Grimm books, and he's wonderful.  But seeing the sketch for the new cover reminded me of what it was like to be writing that book, eight years ago, and I wept.  I can't wait to show you these covers, guys.  Shardas lives!

Sixth: I am planning not one, but several giveaways in the next few months, so be warned.  The best, easiest way for me to do a giveaway is through Facebook.  Make sure that you have liked my author page, please!  I usually ask for likes or comments as entries into the contests.  If you don't have a FB account, get someone you love to check my page for you!

Seventh: If you want to see my crazypants to-read shelf (currently clocking in at 321 books) and my reading challenge over on Goodreads, make sure and friend me over there!  I love Goodreads, because I'm one of those nuts who loves lists anyway.  I am trying to read 160 books this year, and I've currently read 26!  I'm about to finish the awesomely twisty thriller MIND GAMES by Kiersten White, and next up will be TIMELESS by Gail Carriger!  Love me some good books!

And now, to eat some chocolate!  Farewell!

WE ARE IN ORBIT

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE was launched into the world this last month! Huzzah! And it's doing very well, if rumors can be believed. . . Thanks to all of you who were able to come to my signings!

For those of you who weren't able to come, you can now order any of my books, signed and personalized, from The King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City. They will ship them right to your door, signed, stamped, and bookmarked! For more information on that, go here: http://www.kingsenglish.com/localauthors/290663

The other big news around here is that I am having baby number three in January. And it's a boy! Which is why you may have noticed fewer blogs, more ranting on Twitter, and why I have no signings scheduled after December . . .

This month is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. I keep getting asked if I'm participating, and the answer is: Well, EVERY month is NaNoWriMo around here! There's plenty of encouraging blog and information out there if you do a search, so I really have no wisdom to impart to any of you who are participating, other than to say Good Luck! And don't forget to revise AFTER November and BEFORE you send the novel out to an agent or editor.

And for those of you who weren't able to attend my signings, I now answer the two most Frequently Asked Questions:

1. What will your next book be?

It's PRINCESS OF THE SILVER WOODS, the third and final book about the Twelve Dancing Princesses of Westfalin. It will be out next fall.

2. Will there be a sequel to TUESDAYS?

Yep! I'm working on it right now. It will be out some time in 2013, and has no title yet.

So how's that for news?

And some good news for those of you in Idaho: Next week I will be in Rexburg and Idaho Falls. I'll be speaking and signing at the Madison County Library in Rexburg from 7-9 pm on November 17th, and signing at the Idaho Falls Barnes & Noble on November 18th in the evening (we're still settling on a time, either 4-6 or 5-7.)

New Website Look For A New Booky-Wook!

Hello!

Have you seen it? Did you notice?

There's a brand new look over here at Jessicadaygeorge.com! And it's all in honor of my brand new book, TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE!

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE will be out officially on October 25th, but there will actually be two events prior to that where the book will be available. One will be my official launch party at The King's English in Salt Lake City. That will be on October 15th from 2-4 pm, and there will be cake and readings and a giveaway and all good things! The other will be the Fall Authorpalooza at the Orem, Utah, Barnes & Noble on October 22nd from 1-4 pm.

There are other events planned after the launch date, so please see the events page for more details!

Now I'm sure that this raises other questions, so let me answer a few right here:

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE is the first book in a new series, and is a middle grade book about a young princess who lives in a magical castle. There will be at least three books about Princess Celie and her castle, and there is more information about this specific book on the book's page.

My next book will come out next fall (roughly) and is the third and FINAL book about the Twelve Dancing Princesses. It is entitled PRINCESS OF THE SILVER WOOD. It is Princess Petunia's story, and is based on Little Red Riding Hood.

That is all the news that's currently fit to print!

Editing- The Mystery Revealed!

I hate editing. And I love it. It's one of those things that most authors love to complain about, but take it away and we'd all have to admit that boy howdy do we need our editors! I am currently editing my upcoming book, TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE, and tweeted and posted on Facebook last week that my brain was broken, and I didn't know how to begin. The tweets and comments that I received indicated that, frankly, nobody knew what I meant. Admittedly, none of the people who replied were published authors. The published authors of my acquaintance were probably all busy with their own cursing/pacing/snacking/napping method for dealing with edits. Or possibly in Cabo . . . Wish I was in Cabo . . . Anyway! I decided to take a little breaky-poo here and clarify:

What is editing? What does an editor do?

And, as per usual, I feel the need for a disclaimer. I am one person, who has only dealt with one editor. Your editor may be different. Your "style" maybe be different. It's all good. But this is what my editor and I do. Also my agent. It's a whole process.

So we begin!

Phase 1:

I write a rough draft. I love rough drafts. I run screaming through my rough drafts like a sugared up toddler in a meadow full of chocolate eggs and puppies. I rarely stop at this point to check or revise anything, I just start with Chapter 1 and babble on until I hit The End. Then I congratulate myself, loudly and frequently, and eat some chocolate. (Actually, the eating of chocolate is a daily if not hourly ritual, but let's just say I eat MORE chocolate.) Then I take a day or two off, to refresh the mind, then I plunge into reading the draft. I make some changes, I mull it all over . . . and I usually pronounce it a Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. I can rarely find fault with my own manuscripts. This is why people should send frequent thank you and condolence cards to both my editor and agent.

Phase 2:

I send this to my agent. I tell her it's my Best. Book. Ever. Not to mention Completely. Finished. She reads it over and makes a couple of general suggestions. It's too long in the middle, I didn't think the romantic element happened naturally, the ending was too abrupt, etc. I go back over the manuscript with this in mind and do some fixings, and she looks at it again and usually pronounces it Ready For the Editor. Sometimes it needs more work, but let's not discuss that.

Phase 3:

Off it goes to my editor! She reads it and often has her assistant (who is also an editor) read it and give her thoughts as well. My editor mulls it over, reads it again, makes notes, etc. In the case of TUESDAYS, she also sent a copy to an editor at Bloomsbury UK, and then combined this editor's feedback with her own. I meanwhile usually move on to gleefully shriek my way through another rough draft, because I have the attention span of a toddler.

Phase 4:

Time to edit! Long about the time I've become so obsessed with my new project I don't even remember writing any other book, I suddenly get a package from my editor containing a printout of my manuscript covered in tiny neat little pencilled notes. These range from grammar and spelling corrections to big picture things like adding in paragraphs and chapters to give more background for a character or event, or taking out paragraphs and chapters that are unnecessary to the story. There is also a 2-3 page letter giving her overall thoughts. This is usually a nice balance of praise for what is working well in the book (Loved this or that character, loved the interaction here and here), and cautions about what isn't working (this character is inconsistent, that part of the ending is confusing).

Now. Here is the thing that a lot of people don't realize. This is MY BOOK. I don't actually have to take one word of my editor's advice. They cannot fix a typo or move a comma without my approval. A lot of people seem to think that I turn a rough draft over to my editor, she fixes it all, and then the book is printed. Nope. I can choose to take her advice or not. She can refuse to publish the book if I do, however, because if she doesn't feel like it's something she and the publishing company would be proud of producing, then they can break the contract. Seems fair. I can also look at her notes, say, No way, this changes the entire point of the book, and break the contract myself. That's why you need to understand and trust your editor, and feel that your editor understands you and your book. I have been lucky enough to work on seven books now with this same editor, who I believe has the same vision in mind for my books that I do. Her suggestions are almost always right on the mark, and as soon as I see them I think, YES! That's what was missing here!

There has been one exception to this, which I think illustrates how we both work together. SUN AND MOON, ICE AND SNOW, and the four winds. In the original fairy tale, EAST O' THE SUN, WEST O' THE MOON, the Lass travels on the backs of the four winds to get to the trolls' palace. This is one of my favorite parts of that story, and in my original manuscript, her experience is pretty much word for word with the fairy tale. My editor thought this was a bit vague, and with it happening four times, repetitive. She suggested combining it all into one wind . . . and, actually, making it a person like a tinker or trader who had traveled the world rather than a magical being. Now, this is fine . . . except. I had read EAST by Edith Pattou, a lovely retelling of EAST O' THE SUN that came out about ten years ago. My editor knew of the book, but had not read it. In EAST, the winds are compressed into one person, a boat captain. It's very well done, and her boat captain is a great character . . . but this is MY version. I didn't want to copy Pattou, and I really wanted those four winds. I called up my editor, and we chatted about it for a bit. She asked me to find some sort of middle ground: they are the four winds, but they look like people, just to give the scenes something more easy to visualize. I paced and snacked and mulled and thought . . . and ended up with what I think is some of my Best. Writing. Ever. I came up with a concrete personification for each of the winds, and a slightly different way of carrying the Lass for each one as well. Cheers from me, and cheers from my editor when she saw what I'd done.

So that's how this works. She suggests things, like: Could we get a paragraph here to explain the history of the castle? Or: could this be rephrased to make her seem more decisive? Or even: I can't get a grip on these four winds, do we need all four? And what about making them into something else, like a tinker who accidently stumbled on the trolls years back?

Then I take her suggestions, and I make them my own. I turn sentences around, I correct typos, sew up plot holes, rewrite dialogue, cut out redundant paragraphs. Or not. Sometimes fixing A and B makes C work better, and C doesn't need to be fixed after all. Sometimes changing chapter 2 inspires me to rewrite chapter 3 (or even 7. Or 11.) all on my own. That's what an editor does. They coach you, but they don't jump in and play the game for you.

When I feel that I've addressed all her concerns, and I've read it over and over until it's a big blur, checking that the changes are seamless, I send it back. Then comes . . .

Phase 5:

Usually, if the initial edit has gone well, this is just a couple of minor suggestions. There may be a new paragraph or chapter that feels a little choppy, but at most this is something that can be fixed in an hour. Then we go to copyedits, which is where someone whose expertise is grammar and spelling comes in and goes over the manuscript and makes sure that every comma is in its place and every hyphen is really supposed to be there. Once again, I approve everything here, and I can disagree with this person as well. I may be using Regency syntax or spelling, or inventing new words, and I need to explain what they are, and maybe see if they are really adding to the overall book or just confusing the reader. This is also when I usually put in my acknowlegements and such, if I haven't already. And it goes back to the editor again!

Phase 6:

We're in the homestretch now! This is the galley phase usually. Galleys are unbound pages that have been printed exactly as the book will be printed. The font is the same, the margins, page numbers, and any fancy doodads are all in place. I read over this, making sure that I don't see anything horrible that we've all missed before. The trick is: if I do, I have to write it on the galleys, and try to make it work without changing the page numbers. If I take a sentence out, I usually have to find a sentence to replace it that is the same length, etc. It's a bit like making a jigsaw puzzle with words, and I sweat harder over these things than I do with anything else. There was a problem with the galleys of DRAGON SPEAR that took me three days to figure out how to correct. It. Was. Awful.

Phase 7:

Hello, beautiful new book! I love you!

TA DA! Working with an editor!

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE

Every day I get emails urging me to write another book. This baffles me, because it would not occur to me to STOP writing books! OF COURSE I'M WRITING ANOTHER BOOK! In fact, I'm usually working on several books at once, which can be very confusing and probably isn't very efficient . . . but oh well! That's just how my brain- SQUIRREL!

Right now I am about to begin editing a fabulous book, the first in a series, called TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE. It's the story of young Celie, a princess who lives in a magical castle that is, in truth, alive. Bloomsbury, my publisher, has come up with the perfect description of this, calling it a mix of Home Alone and Hogwarts' Room of Requirement. I am jazzed about this description, and jazzed about something else: the cover of the book! Isn't it AMAZING?! How much do you love this cover? I cannot wait to hold this book in my hands, it's going to be beautiful to look at as well as fun to read!

Those of you lucky enough (and also smart enough) to attend my reading at Life, The Universe, and Everything in Provo last week got to hear the first three chapters. I was very pleased with the reaction that I got to those chapters, and I cannot wait to read them at upcoming events. So be sure to check the events page in the next few months, because I will be reading this every chance I get!

The official release date of this book is, magically, my birthday! October 11, 2011! (I will not tell you how old I will be.)

So, coming somewhat soon to a bookstore near you: TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE!