A new cover coming soon for Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret

So I've been a bit busy lately working on a bunch of technical details to move my author website and blog to a new site, esivy.com. If you're interested in crafts and other things that occupy my mind, hop on over and check it out.

But we've also been busy with a whole new cover design for Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret! I still love the old cover, but when we were trying to come up with a cover for Book 2, Miri Attwater and All that Glitters, things just weren't working. Among other things, we wanted to make the books look friendlier and more colorful.

This, of course, has the drawback that it's slowing down the release of All that Glitters. So in the meantime I thought I'd show you some progress on the new covers.

TechnoTim started by drawing a bunch of different sketches for Miri using pencil and paper. I critiqued them and he tweaked them. Here's the one we finally decided looks just like Miri.

Let me know what you think. Does the drawing look like Miri to you?

Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret named one of Reads4Tweens best books of 2012!

I'm a bit late announcing this on the blog, but I was so thrilled when Reads4Tweens came out with a best books of 2012 list during the holidays. Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret made the list!

Reads4Tweens says Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret is ... "a wonderful book for young readers who love mermaids and princesses. It’s in a modern setting, so it’s easy for them to put themselves in Miri’s shoes (fins?)."

Reads4Tweens is a fantastic book review resource aimed specifically at parents and teachers trying to find books for kids to read. If you haven't seen it yet, you really should check it out! The logo pretty much says it all, "because you want to know what they're reading." The reviews cover anything and everything you might be concerned about or want to discuss with your child.

Reads4Tweens was started by a mom trying to find good books for her kids. But she also happens to be very qualified to talk about children's books. She has a degree in children's literature, she's taught literature in middle school and high school, and she's currently a freelance editor. Needless to say, a great review from this caliber of reviewer was especially gratifying. You can see her full review of Miri Attwater and the Ocean's Secret here.