Is She or Isn't She?

... only her editor knows for sure!

Yesterday Herself (my redoubtable editor) sent me preliminary cover art for the Miss Birdie book, The Day of Small Things!

I've been wondering what they would come up with as this book isn't part of the Elizabeth series -- and also because Jamie Warren Youll, the talented woman responsible for my previous covers, is no longer with Random House. Jamie always read (and said she enjoyed) the books before designing the cover and I think it showed.

But I was delighted with what Herself sent . . . as was my agent. It's a striking image -- a photo showing a young girl in a white old-fashioned dress, balancing barefoot atop a rail fence and looking at a misty pasture and deep woods beyond. You don't see her face but her long dark hair tumbles down her back.

As I said I loved it immediately. There was just one little problem. In the Birdie book, the young Birdie has pale blond hair -- moony . . . silvery-gold -- were two of the ways I'd described it.

But this cover was so compelling . . .

I immediately emailed Herself, pointing out the problem and offering to change the young Birdie to a brunette.

Herself responded by asking Art (a department, I believe, not a guy) if the image could be manipulated to make the hair blond.

But not too blond, I cautioned -- not golden blond!

Herself responded that they'd do the best they could but I might have to accept a compromise if I didn't want the figure on the cover to look like an old woman with long white hair.

Meanwhile I was skimming through my copy of the manuscript, trying to see just how much would have to be changed if Birdie went dark-haired. About six or seven references were all I found -- not bad.

I had a feeling that a blond girl on the cover wouldn't have near the impact that the dark-haired one had, that she wouldn't stand out against the muted background -- but I was certainly interested to see what Art came up with.

A few hours later Art emailed Herself to say that the change to blond looked too manipulated and Herself asked if I was willing to bring the text in line with the picture.

Out went the silvery-gold hair, in came a shining dark waterfall; out went pale, in came dark.

Herself said that this was the first time she'd asked an author to change the text to fit the art but she thought that it was worth it.

And so do I.

Of course I wanted to show you the cover but for various legal reasons I'm not allowed to just yet. But I really think it's a goodie.

Hallelujah!

It's the light at the end of the tunnel! It's a new day dawning!

It's clouds rolling away and blue skies ahead!

It's an email from Herself saying that the pruning away of excess material in The Day of Small Things (aka Birdie's book) worked for her and that the results were "spellbinding!"

The manuscript is in copy editing now -- when that's done, I'll get it back and address whatever further small changes are required. But for now . . .

O happy day!

(If I could turn a cartwheel, I would!)

A Challenge

So, I'm back home (just barely) and I've heard from Herself who feels that while Miss Birdie's story is "magnificent," there are other elements that throw the story out of balance. There is more work to be done. We will have a phone conversation on Thursday.

To me, this is good news. I have an editor who wants to wring the best out of me rather than just accepting something that's 'good enough.' There are lots of editors out there, so I hear, who don't actually edit -- just say yea or nay. Herself is not one of these. On the contrary.

I have every confidence that when we're done, this book will be a hundred percent better than the book I sent her. And you faithful readers, waiting patiently (or not), will be the beneficiaries of our work.

"Aren't you disappointed?" someone asked.

Not really. It feels like a second chance.