NYC was . . . amazing. Where to even start? I think we'll go chonologically and make ample use of the cut tag, because this might get long. As soon as you get bored or start to see flickering lights, feel free turn away from the computer and have a lie-down until things seem more normal.



( NYC, baby! )
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Well. My publisher had the title and cover meeting for my novel today and I have now learned . . . uh, that I can't tell you anything. Well, I could, but I'd have to kill you. Seriously, I can't even hint what's happening yet. It's driving me crazy!

Um, on the other hand, though, the idea of a bunch of people spending an hour and a half discussing my novel is just so many different shades of cool.

Last night was my first night sleeping on a mattress paid for by fairies. Regular blog readers will know that I recently sold the rights to my first fairy novel to Flux and that I was going to use part of the advance to buy my husband and I a new mattress. Well, I did just that, and last night was the first night on it.


It took a bit of getting used to last night. For starters, it's one of those pillow tops, which means it's taller than our old mattress. A lot taller. But it looked comfy, so I pole-vaulted on up there and gasped a bit, my lungs adjusting to the thinner atmosphere.



Huh, I thought. This is strange. Where's the dying animal sound that normally accompanies my arrival in bed? This new mattress, unlike our old groaning one, was silent and glad to see me. I could almost hear it saying in a pleasant air stewardess voice: welcome to your new mattress bought by fairies, maggie stiefvater. we hope you have a pleasant night with us. we're planning a nonstop trip to morning.



So then I lay down to find my first comfortable spot of the night. Then - gasp - I didn't wake up until eight this morning. That freaky air-stewardess voice in my head hadn't been kidding on the "non-stop" part. And my eyes didn't feel gritty when I opened them. Could it really be morning? As strange as the painless awakening was, imagine my shock when I looked in the mirror and discovered I had no bags under my eyes. I was beginning to think those babies had moved in for good.

And the best part? My hair looks fab. I couldn't figure out why this was until I looked at the neat and tidy sheets. Sheets that hadn't been tossed and turned in. Hair that hadn't been teased into a rooster fro by fretful pillow rolling.

I almost don't feel bad that I bought this mattress instead of a Camaro project car. Almost.

Anyway, you're probably wondering what the images are all around the text. Well, my lovely publisher Flux is having my cover and title meeting on the 16th and they've invited me to send in cover and title concepts for consideration. Of course this has led to me creating a great deal of digitally pleasing trash (you've seen some of it here) and depositing it in my editor's inbox. "Stolen" and "The Midnight Bird" are my latest two suggestions and the rest are ones that I made look slightly more official from before.

The girl with the key was the most popular one last time -- how about now? And which title grabs you the most?

Oh . . . the formatting on this post is going to be a nightmare, isn't it?

Yesterday, my editor (the charming Andrew Karre of Flux) sent me an e-mail to let me know when they were holding the meeting to discuss my cover and my title. Whooooo . . . does it not sound so real? So . . . posh? Not only will my novel have a cover it will also have a title. Anyway, Andrew went on to tell me to get my brain thinking of any title or cover ideas that I might have (which is very cool, because a lot of authors don't get any say at this point).

So even though I have over two weeks to hatch brilliant ideas, I had to try out my brain right away. Will you guys give me your thoughts? Dedicated readers of my art blog will remember what my novel's about, but for those just dropping in, it's a young adult urban fantasy, and this is how it was described in the deal section of Publisher's Weekly: A shy 16-year-old finds herself infatuated with a mysterious boy who enters her dull, suburban life seemingly out of thin air — trouble is, he’s a soulless fairy assassin.

So. With that in mind, I sketched out four quick ideas (thanks to Kate for one of the concepts). Whatdya think? Keep sketching? Or does one make you want to grab it off the shelf. And yes, four leaf clovers are important in the novel; the main character can't see the faeries unless she has one.



And this last one is what happens when I run out of ideas and just go for the obvious.