Thursday, March 20, 2008

I'm Alert!

The other day I signed up for Google Alerts on two topics, one of which was my book Sixth Grade Style Queen (Not!). I'd heard other people talking about how handy the alerts were, so I thought I'd give them a try.
Imagine my surprise when I started getting alerts almost immediately, and it was an even bigger surprise when one of them led me to the Australian Publishers' Association site. The big news is that my book has been shortlisted for the Book Design Awards - twice! Once for the cover and once for the whole book.

Now I can't claim any credit for the design of the book, apart from my first suggestion that perhaps the inside could have kind of doodle-like drawings in it, as if my main character had drawn them herself. From this, the amazing designer, Elissa Christian, went ahead and created a pretty stunning and unusual book. For a start, everything inside is green, including the text, and the cover you can see above is like a colourful doodle too.
Go, Elissa! Hope you win.

With Easter coming up, that means lots of writing time for me. We don't have family obligations (as in visits to in-laws and out-laws) so it's pretty much a time to relax, and for me to write. I'm in revision mode on a novel, and am writing lots of poems, and plotting out a new novel. I'm sticking to quite a few of my 2008 resolutions, amazing for me, which means walking every day, sleeping more, eating well, doing the stretches and exercises for my neck/shoulder problem, and working steadily on two-monthly goals. Thinking about that is a great encouragement in itself. I might have to splurge on some chocolate! Just a little bit.

4 comments:

Snail said...

But not alarmed, I hope!

I hope the book does splendidly.

Kristi Holl said...

I'm glad you found out that good news about your book. I loved that book--I think I told you I taught a workshop using your book with its great similes and metaphors. The design goes so well with the book subject itself too. Congrats!

Sherryl said...

I hope it wins because it is so unusual. When I first saw the design I was a bit taken aback, but now I can see that it really adds to the feel of the story.
Do you think they'll invite me to the dinner? (only kidding).

Tracey said...

Hope they do. I hope it wins too. It's a fun book, both in its design and in the way the story unfolds. And, of course, all publicity is good publicity, and that book deserves its share!