Blue Sky Days cover reveal!

Today is a very exciting day for me. I have the cover of my novel finished and I want to share it with you guys! When I first wrote Blue Sky Days seven years ago, I had a very distinct cover in mind. I didn’t know how to go about making it happen, short of hiring a photographer, or finding models and taking the pictures myself. I searched online for ages, and the picture I ended up using was one I had chosen for my trailer and had never even considered for the cover. Then one day, I was going through my images, and it just clicked into place. It was perfect. I made a mock-up, was very happy with it, asked friends on Facebook for input, and ended up with about half a dozen different versions using the same picture, based on the suggestions of my friends and fellow writers. This is the one I’m happiest with, and I hope you all like it, too.

*drum roll please.....*

Click image for full-size view

What do you guys think? *holds breath in anticipation*

I added the book to GoodReads yesterday, and now I’m just waiting for my author profile to be confirmed. Once that’s all set up, I’ll post the link and hopefully some of you will be interested and will add it to your ‘to read’ lists. :-) Here’s the synopsis:

A year after graduating from high school, nineteen-year-old Emma Ward feels lost. She has spent most of her life trying to please her frigid, miserable mother - studying hard, getting good grades, avoiding the whole teenage rebellion thing - and now she feels she has no identity beyond that. Because she spent so many years working hard and planning every moment of her life, she doesn't have any friends, has never had a boyfriend, and basically doesn't know who she is or what she really wants from life. Working two part-time jobs to save money for college hasn't helped her make decisions about her future, so she decides it's time for a change. She leaves home to live with her free-spirited, slightly eccentric Aunt Daisy in a small town that makes Emma feel like she's stepped back in time.

When Emma meets Nicholas Shaw, everything changes. He's unlike anyone she's ever met before, the kind of man she didn't even know existed in the 21st century. Carefree and spirited like Daisy, Nicholas teaches Emma to appreciate life, the beauty around her, and to just let go and live. Between Daisy and Nicholas, Emma feels like she belongs somewhere for the first time in her life, and realizes that you don't always need a plan - sometimes life steers you where you're meant to be.

Life is wonderful, an endless string of blue sky days, until Nicholas is diagnosed with cancer, and life changes once again for Emma in ways she never thought possible. Now it's time for her to help Nicholas the way he's helped her. Emma will have to use her new-found strength, and discover along the way if love really is enough to get you through.

I’m still in the (excruciatingly slow) process of doing final revisions with my editor, and I’m hoping to have the final product out to reviewers by November or December so they have a month or two to read and review it before it comes out in January. If you’d be interested in reviewing it (most likely in PDF form until I can get it in all digital forms, and eventually in paperback), please contact me at irishstar_83(at)hotmail(dot)com – I’ve got a list started with the wonderful people who have either volunteered to review it, or who I’ve asked, and I’d love to add your name to that list!

I also started working on the trailer last night, and I’m done except for the music and a few minor tweaks, so keep an eye out next week for the trailer reveal, as well as teasers and excerpts from Blue Sky Days.