Saturday, August 22, 2009

Lips Touch! Now a real book!

Here it is! A real book! Within a space of little more than a week, Jim's and my three eagerly awaited *collaborations* have arrived at our home. One by stork delivery, two by UPS :-) This is a good month!

It's so exciting to see the genuine Lips Touch because the ARC doesn't really prepare you for the beauty of the actual book. Jim's illustrations are gorgeous, and the designer, Chris Stengel, did a phenomenal job making this book look like a GIFT. We were thrilled when Scholastic green-lit the two-color printing, so the art would have more nuance and hue. And it's not just the art. The details! Look at the frontispiece:
Juicy redness. And here:
Isn't it lovely? The page numbers are in red, and the chapter titles, and each chapter begins with a beautiful elaborate capital letter in lurvely red. I want so badly to post art photos RIGHT NOW, but I'm still waiting for the okay. Hopefully that will come soon, and I'll put up some art later this morning. Can't imagine why it wouldn't be okay to show it now, at long last, but we'll see.

Anyway, yayayayayay! Lips Touch is an actual book, and a gorgeous one! Funny to think back to those early Sunday Scribblings when I was just beginning to write some short stories for fun, with no expectation that they'd ever see the printed page, and now here they are! Remember, release date is October 1, and it's available for pre-order HERE (Amazon) and HERE (Powell's), or you can ask your local independent or your library to order it. You know, if you don't mind :-)

Book events:
I'll be doing a book talk/signing at Powell's Books (the Hawthorne location) on Monday, October 5 (7:30 pm) and I'll be reading/speaking at the Wordstock Festival, here in Portland, on Saturday October 10 (3 pm) -- both events will feature Silksinger too. I love my children equally :-) (Well, okay, I love Clementine more.)

19 comments:

Realm Lovejoy said...

Looks beautiful! Can't wait to read LIPS TOUCH!

tone almhjell said...

Oh, it's so beautiful! Can't wait to see it in real life. Congratulations!

BJW said...

This is awesome. Wish I could go to the Powell's signing/talk especially. I'm very excited to read both of these new books. What great collaborators you both are> Exhibit A: Clementine.

Seriously this book sounds amazing. Arthur gave a bunch of us at Reed a coming soon tease about Lips Touch. Everyone was impressed. Brilliant Laini. Jim's illustrations too, whew. Can't wait.

Natalie Whipple said...

Wow, it really is just beautiful. I can't wait to see it in person:)

Annie Jeffries said...

How I wish that I could be in Portland in October to have the doubleheader pleasure of see my own kids and hearing you at your speaking engagements.

Shelli (srjohannes) said...

yay!

Lexi said...

Ohmygosh! I can't wait to see the illustrations that go with the stories!

Major, major excitement!

Commander Kip said...

Must... buy... boooook... *drools* Totally gorgeous cover! Can't wait to read it (or Silksinger, for that matter.)

Suzanne Young said...

WOW! The inside looks beautiful!!!!

persnickety_jen said...

Love the two-color printing... it's always adds something special when a book has a little unexpected design element. I can't wait for to the release!

Stella said...

Congratulations on both the birth of your daughter and your new book! They're both beautiful.

I LOVE that cover illustration. Book design is a real art and something is lost when a story is translated into ebook format. Can't wait to read it.

Liana said...

Oh Laini!! I wish I lived closer so I could hear your talks!

However, I CAN buy Silksinger and Lips Touch when they arrive at my local Barnes & Noble (and they'd BETTER!!!) and just revel in your glorious writing and beautiful worlds.

Sarah said...

Thanks for the glimpse at the desgin--it's soooooooo pretty. I can't wait to see it in person :D

Anonymous said...

Hi Laini - I'm the crazy fan in the neighborhood that ran into Jim at Safeway today! So fun to have real world and blog world collide! He was most gracious. Love your blog - congrats on Clementine! In case you want to take a peek...my blog is: www.lauraseverydayblog.blogspot.com

Best - Laura

Lisa Schroeder said...

It is LOVELY! Can't wait to get my very own copy!!

Carrie Harris said...

CANNOT wait to get this!

BTW, I realized the other day that we have something in common. I wrote a book (or part of one) that Jim illustrated too. Was looking through my old White Wolf stuff and found something that we both worked on.

I found it amusing, but then again, I'm easily amused.

Stephanie Perkins said...

[That's so cool! The Carrie/Jim/White Wolf connection, that is.]

And so is . . .

YOUR BOOK! Ooo, it's sooo pretty. I love the red. And I'm looking forward to seeing Jim's final illustrations!

AND . . .

You're signing at Powell's! YAY!! I'm so happy for you!

Em said...

Lovely book, Laini! I can't wait to buy a finished copy and see the beautiful artwork.

And congratulations on your baby girl! I've been enjoying your posts. :)

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