You absorbed the reviews of an engaging new novel. Heard the buzz on it from other readers. Then you stopped by your local bookshop to buy it—or you ordered online, or checked it out at the library. Now, at last, that book is in your hands. If you’re like me, you may cradle a new novel expectantly, trace its title with your fingertips, drink in the cover art and copy, scan the front matter—all in anticipation of your dive into a fresh, new fictional world.

And, also like me—before I wrote books—you probably give little thought to the raft of experts and artisans who helped create the magic of holding that new novel. Those behind-the-scenes craftspeople who design and format the actual book . . . and those who illustrate it.

That’s why, sometimes, one simply must bring that amazing work front and center. Acknowledge it. Celebrate the artists.

As Sugar Birds nears production, I’m delighted to call out She Writes Press‘s Art Director Julie Metz, who designed Sugar Birds‘s exquisite cover, Book Designer Tabitha Lahr, the graphic artist responsible for the book’s beautiful layout and formatting, and artist Emma VandeVoort, who drew the frontispiece map of Sugar Birds’ imagined PNW landscape.

True artists, these women. I think you’ll agree.

I’m grateful.

And advance reviews are starting to come in!

“Sugar Birds is a powerful coming-of-age story of betrayal and loss, rebellion and anger, friendship, forgiveness and redemption, all woven into a testament to the wondrous natural world. . . two heroines’ journeys packed into one heart-pounding read. Highly recommended!”

—CHANTICLEER REVIEWS

*****

Spring’s making her entrance! A few posts from earlier this week:

When you outgrow your jab.

“See! The winter is past . . . “

—Song of Songs 2:11

*******

Baldie Nuptials.

“I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.”

—Song of Songs 6:3

*******

Island dwellers.

“Sing a new song to the Lord; sing His praise from the ends of the earth!. . .you islands with your inhabitants.”

—Isaiah 42:10

*******

Ferrous gluconate.

(How to take your iron.)

*******

Thanks for stopping by, friends.

Watching Nature, Seeing Life: Through His Creation, God Speaks.