Starting the Countdown
Ta Da!
See? It's a real book! Somehow there's something not-quite-real seeming about a novel that's working it's way through the publishing process — I mean, months can go by when it's just off in limbo somewhere. But once there's an actual cover, and it's in the catalogue — then it feels real.
So here it is, my spooky new story, due to be released (sooner than I thought!) January 17, 2017!
What's it about, you ask? I'll let the catalogue copy fill you in:
Fairy tales can come true. And not in a good way.
One minute Jack’s in math class. The next, he’s on a dark, cobble-stoned, empty street. Empty,that is, except for a skinny girl wrapped in a threadbare shawl. “Matches, mister?” she asks, and just like that, Jack’s life collides with one of Hans Christian Andersen’s grimmest tales. And as soon as he has almost convinced himself it was merely a weird dream, it happens again.
Suddenly, Jack’s ideas about what is “real” or “possible” no longer apply. While he and his new girlfriend, Lucy, struggle to understand who or what the Match Girl is, they come to realize they must also find a way to keep Jack away from her. The Match Girl is not just a sad, lonely soul; she’s dangerous. And each time Jack is drawn into her gray, solitary world, she becomes stronger, more alive… and more attached to Jack.
She wants to keep Jack for her very own, even if that means he will die.
I've heard from a reviewer for the School Library Journal who will be covering it, so the nerve-wracking review process is gearing up as well. Time to start thinking about book launches and author talks and all those author good things!
