Guess what I got in the mail on Friday!  Two copies of the book itself. Here is what it looks like (propped on my mission-style futon chair, against the William Morris pillow).

At least, that’s the slipcase. If you turn it around, this is what the back looks like. The sticker can be removed. Under it, I’ve been told, is an image of a Green Man, but I don’t want to remove the sticker. The book looks so pristine that I barely want to touch it.

Here’s what it looks like when you pull the actual book out of the slipcase.

The first side you will see is Evelyn’s story, but of course you can read either story first. At the beginning and end of each story are beautiful illustrations by Scott McKowan, who also illustrated the slipcase and the two covers.

Even though the book is arranged as an accordion, it’s very easy to read. I pulled it apart here to show you how it works, but when you hold it in your hands, the pages turn as though it were an ordinary book.

And here is the other side, Brendan’s story.  The editor, Stephen Segal, and I have a disagreement about which story you should read first, Brendan’s or Evelyn’s. I think you should read Evelyn’s first. Stephen thinks you should read Brendan’s. But of course, you will have to decide for yourself.

I love this illustration.  But I’m not going to tell you what it’s an illustration of.  That would give the story away.

And here it is in Quirk’s spring catalog: a two-page spread!  I can’t wait for it to come out.  I just hope people love the story, as much as I loved writing it.

Tomorrow, I’ll tell you how I wrote it, because before it was a beautiful book, it was a feat of story engineering. Definitely the most challenging writing project I’ve ever undertaken, and I hope I’ve done a good job. But this book presented unique challenges. I’ll tell you more about how I dealt with them, soon.