Oh my god. Leah sent over the cover art and, as you can see, it is fantastic. I am so excited and so relieved.

A little history. For the past fifteen years, I have been making a living as a website/graphic designer and illustrator. I have even designed some book covers for old man: The Author, my arm, an oak tree and ENGLAND. When people heard my novel was being published, an early question was ‘are you going to do the cover?’. I am the prime candidate for being an author who is a pain in the arse about her cover.

Well, I didn’t design it, and I was glad not to. I didn’t even have one word of input into it – although Headline are clear that they won’t send a novel out with a cover that the author isn’t entirely delighted with.

I was glad because I was far too close to the text to be able to design a cover. I was also very excited at another designer working with mood boards and brainstorming to come up with something. But I was nervous about my reaction to whatever was produced. I really don’t want to be that pain in the arse author. But a good cover, with strong typography, is important to me.

Of course, it is important to Headline, too. They want something that expresses, and, most importantly, sells the book. And this is what their fantastic designer, David Wardle has done. Agent Simon, to whom Leah sent the cover at the same time, emailed me almost instantly:

“I am sitting in Dublin airport and my instant response (out loud) was Oooooooooh!. I love it and also I now have 4 seats to myself. “