THE COUNTDOWN

(Image by Robbert van der Steeg)

This is that crazy, mind-melt time we have heard so much about from other authors – the days that lead up to release of your first book. Time is glacial, sometimes ecstatic and other times cruel, but always punishingly slow. Yet part of us wishes we could have more time; time to get the word out and to amplify our signal even more.

A small part, really. Most parts of us just want to get the book out there NOW.

But as we slither closer to the starting line (we would say finish, but getting the book out is just the beginning), it has been hugely gratifying to share some of the concept art that went into the making of the book. Check out the ongoing series of art posts on Twitter and Facebook leading up to the book release on April 15th.

(Art by Jon Foster)

There have also been some pretty crazy fantastic reviews, like this one from Booklist. This bit pretty much floored us:

“The imaginative world, whirlwind adventure, tense emotional stakes, and some well-placed laughs put this first in a planned series in the same stack as Harry Potter and Percy Jackson.”

And this one from School Library Journal:

“The authors have created an imaginative and profound world. The descriptions of the Mekhans are so original and detailed, readers might think these creatures actually exist… A fine addition to any middle grade collection.”

And on top of it all, we got the very exciting news that we will appearing on a panel at Wondercon with none other than the inimitable Peter Straub.

All in all, its been a pretty wild time as we reflect on a project that started with the seed of an idea over breakfast back in 2006. Since then it has slowly evolved into something that has fully dominated our lives for the past three years. And pretty soon, it will be out in the world.

Still hard to wrap our little minds around…