I Could Just About Burst

You'll have to wait for further entries on horses and Queen Victoria for another week. Today I am pleased (aw, heck, thrilled) to present to you...my cover!

Regina speculated that based on the cover of her upcoming book, La Petite Four, readers would think it was about pink. I'm not sure what they'll think Bewitching Season is about, based on mine (though I know they'll be thinking that the designer, Henry Holt's Assistant Art Director Laurent Linn, is a genius and knows his historic costumes), but I hope they'll think it's intriguing enough to pick it up and read it and...oh. What is it about, you ask? Well...

Twins Persephone (Persy) and Penelope (Pen) Leland are facing the prospect of their first London season with mixed feelings...sort of. Pen can't wait for the dozens of balls and parties and handsome suitors, but Persy would far rather stay home with their governess, Ally, and continue her magic studies. The only thing drawing her to London in this spring of 1837 is the prospect of seeing Princess Victoria, her and Pen's idol.

But then Ally disappears from a busy London street and the twins are drawn into searching for her...and find that her disappearance is linked to a dastardly plot to enchant the soon-to-be Queen. Persy also discovers that a good lady's maid is hard to find, that one should never cast a love spell on anyone after drinking too much punch at a party, that pesky little brothers can sometimes come in handy, and that even boys who were terrible teases when they were twelve can mysteriously turn into the most perfect young men...

I love my cover. I hope you'll love my book. It'll be out April 1, 2008 from Henry Holt Books for Young Readers.