Cover art!

Paperbacks!

Look what arrived at my house today:

Paperbacks!

(They are considerably spiffier than my expression might lead you to believe.)

I really really like that little apple on the spine. Don't forget to peek at the very backest back, where you'll find a teaser chapter from The Lost Crown:*

(*Yes, the title's changed again. Daughters of the Tsar -- formerly known as OTMA -- is now THE LOST CROWN. Once and for all.)

WFMAD Challenge-fail?

Over at Madwoman in the Forest, Laurie Halse Anderson is hosting her annual Write Fifteen Minutes a Day Challenge. So far, I think I'm flunking. I just left this comment:

So...if I've spent the first 5 days of WFMAD submerged in copyedits, does that count? Clearly it's writing-related, but even when I'm tweaking a scene it doesn't feel like "real" writing -- it mostly feels like clerical work. At the end of a day of copyedits, the last thing I want to do is compose something new, and I end up rationalizing for waaaay more than 15 minutes:

This is necessary work, real-live-published-author-work. The deadline is Friday; that takes precedence. You've been at it for hours, give yourself a break. (ad nauseam)

Maybe I do need to quit being so literal and give myself a break. Pirate Code of Writing, and all that. But the daily rationalization bugs me -- isn't that exactly the sort of procrastinatory baloney that WFAMD aims to conquer? Isn't rationalizing a signal of guilt? Because for the record, I KNOW DARN WELL ANOTHER 15 MINUTES WON'T KILL ME. I just don't *want* to....

What do you think? Should I atone with make-up days in September? Or am I being too hard on myself?

(In the interest of full disclosure: a couple days ago I did squeeze in my 15 minutes. It felt FABULOUS -- when it was over, that is.)