The folks on my newsletter already saw the cover for my newest book, and so now it’s the internet’s turn! The cover was done by Bookfly Designs, where James has once more done a lovely job incorporating the elements from my story to create an evocative cover. Again, he used a painting by John Atkinson Grimshaw, partly to be consistent in the look and feel of the series, but also because Grimshaw’s paintings are masterpieces of Victorian atmosphere.
And now, without further ado, here it is!
I asked him about the spoons. “What’s with the spoons?” says I. Well, according to James at Bookfly Designs, I’ve got spoons all throughout the text, like a little trail of silver utensils. Plus, the image of spoons in a drawer adds texture to the cover and will intrigue the reader. Going to look at the book again, I found that I did have a lot of scenes with spoons in them, as well as other Victorian items, like candle-lanterns, washbasins (a terrible lot of those, there are!), boot laces, suspenders, hats, fish-gutting knives, and buckets. But spoons suit the cover best, I think.
As soon as all of the links come in, I’ll be posting about where you can purchase.
Just bought my copy of Oliver & Jack! Excited to read it.
Yeah!! You are the first person to buy the book! And the first person to read it who is not also my editor (Gabriella) or beta reader (Wendy). I thank you for your custom, and wish you the most enjoyable of reads. : D
Awesome! I’ve never been the first person (besides the editor and beta reader) to read a book before!
Enjoying it so far. The role reversal between Jack, who’s always been the one taking care of Oliver, and Oliver, who’s always been taken care of, due to Jack’s illness is so interesting to read.
Well, you deserve to be first for saying such kind things to me! I did enjoy turning the relationship between the characters a bit, as that’s always fun to do. Hope the rest of it’s as entertaining as the first bit!
Question about the red scarf:
For the last book and the beginning of this one, I’ve been having fun guessing exactly what the red scarf symbolizes. Is it meant to symbolize Oliver’s old life? Oliver and Jack’s relationship?
But now that the scene with the vomit and the coach has happened and the scarf is, at least for now, out of the picture, my desire to know what it really symbolizes has increased tenfold.
Can you tell me? Or would it give away too much?
I would happily tell you, for I do have ideas about it. But the more interesting thing to me is what you think it means. Which you did; I think you got it right. : D
Part of the red scarf represents Oliver’s old life, a life with many creature comforts in it for which he had to do no work. Had Uncle Brownlow been alive, a lost (or stolen!) scarf or change purse would have troubled Oliver not at all; those things would simply have been replaced. But now that Uncle Brownlow has passed on, the loss of a scarf is a bigger issue. Underlying that is the issue, I think, that Oliver can no longer expect anything to be given to him. It might even be taken from him. He’s going to have to work for it, and work hard. He’s been a bit pampered up to this point, so it’s like a dash of cold water in his face to come up against it.
Then, the red scarf could represent Oliver and Jack’s relationship, as I had always thought of red as a fairly sexual color. Often the scarf is seen not around Jack’s neck, but along the headboard, or tangled amongst the sheets of the bed they share at The Three Cripples. When the scarf goes out the door of the coach, even without the vomit, it’s dirty and ragged and stained, which I thought, in the back of my mind somewhere, represented the loss of playfulness between them. That is, now their relationship is serious, more serious than a quick kiss or a drunken encounter. Jack’s been in it for keeps from the start; for Oliver, the way is more slow going, and as he travels with Jack to Lyme, he not only becomes more attached to and affected by Jack, he loses those things he once thought were so important. But, next to Jack, they are unimportant.
As for the rest, I reckon you’ll find out soon. : D
Wow. That was…wow. In my opinion, at least, AT LODGINGS IN LYME is even better than FAGIN’S BOY.
(I have a lot more to say, but rather than posting it here and spoiling the book for those who haven’t read it yet–which is basically everyone besides Gabriella, Wendy, and me–I sent it all in an email to christinapilz@yahoo.com.)
Better? Truly? Oh, you have really made my day! Thank you. I’m so glad that you enjoyed it. When I was writing it, I wasn’t sure how it would all work out in the end, but it did. : D
PS. You read fast!
Currently I’m in a weird insomniac/jet-lagged state which I’m trying to remedy, but it meant that I was able to read for an hour or two in the afternoon and then from 10 p.m. to about 5 a.m.
But yes, I do read fast. 😉
Is it really true that AXMINSTER is coming out this summer and OUT IN THE WORLD is coming out this autumn?
Yes it’s true. : D
Axminster is due to the editor at the end of July, which is when the cover designer enters the scene. With the back and forth between my lovely and talented team, I anticipate no later than the end of August for Axminster.
For Out In the World, I have an end of November date for my cover artist, but since I’ll have more time between end of July and then, me and my editor will be able to finish up the work quite nicely before the cover artist even sees the book. Which, alas, is not the case with Axminster; there’s some overlap there. So I guess for Out in the World that’s really November, which is winter. I should have said “winter” but “autumn” is one of my favorite words. : D
I’m flattered that you inhaled it so! Fingers crossed that you won’t have to wait too long for the next one.
Is Axminster finishing up well? Is it treating you alright? 😉
Thank you, you are sweet to ask. I’ve sent the first draft to my editor, and have a cover artist in the midst of doing final tweaks on the cover, and it all seems to be coming together fairly well. I attribute this to my well-mannered outline, and, of course, the years of research I did on Victorian-era workhouses!
I anticipate that the book will be available around the end of August, fingers crossed. I also plan to do pre-orders and have the book available for 2.99 in ebook format.
I’ll pre-order ASAP. 😉
I’m sorry it’s taking longer than I thought.
The cover for Axminster is gorgeous! So excited for its release. Where can I pre-order? 😉
You are very kind to say so!
I took a little road trip to clear my head, instead of working hard, so it has thrown my schedule off a little bit. Currently, I’m working to catch up, and anticipate getting my edits back to my editor this weekend, where she will then do a copy edit. So the preorder should be available early September, which means the regular available date will be September 15. Fingers crossed!
Great! And don’t worry about the schedule being thrown off—head-clearing road trips and your sanity are more important than getting the book out exactly on time. 😉
It’s coming along nicely, but be warned, it’s rather dark. Much darker than the Lyme Regis story.
Quick update for you. I’ve uploaded book #3 for pre-order, at a cost of $2.99. General availability will be 9/27, at which point the price will be $4.99.
It takes Amazon 72 hours for a book to go live in pre-order status, so check this weekend, and I’ll be sending out a newsletter with the links when it goes live, also.