Deborah Kerbel's Blog

As every author will tell you, seeing one’s book cover for the first time is a really big deal.

Does the cover art suit your wonderful book? Will it make readers want to pick it up? And even better, actually buy it? Is your name spelled correctly???

Happy to report, I’ve got MAD cover-love for this one! My upcoming book, Bye-Bye, Evil Eye, is due out in April, 2014 and I think this cover is a perfect fit for the book — a little bit of mystery, a dash of summer intrigue, maybe even a hint of teen romance. What’s not to love?

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll have a new book coming out with DCB (Dancing Cat Books/Cormorant) in Spring, 2014!

It’s titled Bye-Bye, Evil Eye and it’s my first middle-grade novel. (Insert happy claps!)

Here’s a teaser:

13 year-old Dani Price has the kind of life every girl wants. She’s pretty, rich, and popular. But after spending three weeks vacationing on an idyllic Greek island, she becomes the innocent victim of a powerful old-world curse. As bad luck spirals into life-threatening danger, Dani becomes desperate to save herself, her family, and her new boyfriend from the curse. With the help of her best friend Cathy, she must discover how to break the ancient spell before she loses everything. But first she needs to figure out who it is she can really trust.

At this very moment, I’m busy polishing up the manuscript with my editor/publisher extraordinaire, Barry Jowett. Watch for Bye-Bye, Evil Eye to be popping up in bookstores next May.

Last week, I got the shock of my life when my publisher called with the news that Under the Moon had been selected as a finalist for the 2012 Governor General’s Literary Award (in the children’s text category). To be honest, having my book included on this most prestigious of lists is an honour I never imagined receiving.

Like, ever.

I think it’s safe to say I’m completely ‘over the moon’ about it ;)

Here’s the complete shortlist from the GG website:

Children’s Literature — Text

Rachel Hartman, Vancouver, Seraphina
(Doubleday Canada, an imprint of Random House of Canada; distributed by the publisher)

Deborah Kerbel, Thornhill, Ont., Under the Moon
(Dancing Cat Books, an imprint of Cormorant Books; distributed by Thomas Allen & Son)

Susin Nielsen, Vancouver, The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen
(Tundra Books, an imprint of Random House of Canada; distributed by the publisher)

Judd Palmer, Victoria, B.C., The Umbrella
(Bayeux Arts; distributed by Literary Press Group of Canada)

Allan Stratton, Toronto, The Grave Robber’s Apprentice
(HarperCollins Publishers; distributed by the publisher)

Huge congratulations to my fellow finalists! I’m absolutely thrilled to be in your company!

Back in the spring, I made my very own mini book trailer for Under the Moon (then promptly forgot to post it here…oops).

Here it is for your viewing pleasure, better late than never:

I was thrilled to be invited to read from Under the Moon at this year’s Word on the Street in Toronto. Lucky me got to share the ‘This is Not the Shakespeare Stage’ with brilliant, talented, super-funny YA authors Lesley Livingston (Starling), Mariko Tamaki ((You) Set Me On Fire), and Natalie Walschots (Doom: Love Poems for Supervillains).

‘Twas an afternoon made of so much awesome.

Lots people dream of writing a book. Some brave souls actually give it a try. And even fewer brave souls actually see it through all the way to the ending. Now that you’ve started your novel, how are you going to finish it?

Click here to read how some authors (including me) approach ‘The End’.

Lots people dream of writing a book. Some brave souls actually give it a try. And even fewer brave souls actually see it through all the way to the ending. Now that you’ve started your novel, how are you going to finish it?

Click here to read how some authors (including me) approach ‘The End’.

I have to admit, there are a lot of difficult things about making your living as an author (like the sporadic pay, long, solitary hours, less-than-stellar reviews, etc.). But thankfully, all of these are mostly offset by all the incredible bonuses this career has to offer (dictating your own hours, creating work you love and are proud of, better-than-stellar reviews, etc.).

But probably one of my absolute favourite things about being an author is getting mail from readers. Knowing that one of my books has moved or inspired someone to the point where they've made the effort to get in touch is definitely made of awesome.

Last week, I got a nice big package of fan mail from a book club near Ottawa called 'Tween the Lines' who'd read LURE as their fall book pick. The kids sent me some great letters, questions and artwork and my own children and I sat together on the couch, opened the package and poured through all of it. At ages 9 and 6, my kids are book-lovers too and watching their little faces light up as we looked over the fan mail was incredible — seeing how proud they were of their mom and watching the spark of inspiration in their eyes. Yeah, it sure makes all the hard parts of this job worthwhile.

No — thank you, dear readers! Please keep those wonderful letters coming!

To me, starting a new year is kind of like a opening up a fresh new document on a computer — so filled with possibilities and potential. Listen carefully…can't you just hear the energy crackling in the air?

As we all know, real life is often stranger than fiction. So whether you're writing a new manuscript, facing a new adventure in your life, or making resolutions for change, here's to each of us filling 2012 with strong characters, exciting plot twists, beautiful metaphors, a good dose of romance, and some mighty fine resolution.

xoxo

Here's a sneak peek at the new cover for my upcoming YA novel, Under the Moon!

Pretty awesome, isn't it? Makes you want to run out to the book store and buy a copy, doesn't it? Well hold your horses…it's not available until March, 2012. But because I love you, here's the back cover blurb to keep your curiosity satisfied until then…

"Lily MacArthur is a not-even-halfway-normal, forever-a-disappointment-to-her-mother, oxymoronically-named, and permanently introverted nocturnal freak of nature. On top of all that, she's probably the only fifteen-year-old in history to make friends with the moon. Although Lily's never been much of a sleeper, ever since her Aunt Su's sudden death, she seems to have lost her sleep completely. Convinced that death-by-exhaustion is around the corner if she can't figure out a way to find her sleep again, she sneaks out of her house, searching the moonlit nights for a way to cope with the long, dark hours of solitude. At the local drive-thru, Lily meets newcomer Ben Matthews working the graveyard shift. With the clock ticking away on the remaining days of her life, Lily has no way of knowing that this strange boy with the mysterious past holds the key to finding her sleep and saving her life. But only if she can figure out a way to save his first."