The Legend Thief Cover!

I'm momentarily emerging from my writing marathon to give a quick update. The Legend Thief is now moving into its third and hopefully last draft. The release date is moving from September 18, 2012 to December 4, 2012. S&S is moving it closer to Christmas to tap into some promotions they want to run, and not because I am pushing my deadlines. At least, that's what they're telling me. :)

In the meantime, here's the cover!

John Rocco did an amazing job! If you ask me, he really should've won the Caldecott for Blackout.

I'll post more soon...

Final Artwork for the Book Jacket

Another quick post. I just got the final artwork for the book jacket for Return to Exile, and I wanted to share. The jacket was designed by Laurent Linn at Simon & Schuster, who did a tremendous job. John Rocco did the cover art and over forty internal illustrations.

Jacket Design for Return to Exile

John Rocco is best know for doing the cover art for:

• Percy Jackson and the Olympians
• The Lightning Thief
• The Sea of Monsters
• The Titan's Curse
• The Battle of the Labrynth
• The Last Olympian
• The Heroes of Olympus
• The Lost Hero
• The Son of Neptune
• The Kane Chronicles
• The Red Pyramid
• The Throne of Fire

Pretty much, everything Rick Riordan has written except for 39 Clues. If you're interested, you can see these covers on Rick Riordan's site.

John has also written and done illustrations for:

• Blackout
• Moonpowder
• Wolf! Wolf!
• Fu Finds the Way
• The Flint Heart (by Katherine Paterson and John Paterson)

You can see more of John's stuff on his blog or on his website.

Okay. This post wasn't as quick as I thought it would be. Back to writing...

Book Cover and Summary

Here's the cover to my book. You can also see it here on the Simon & Schuster website.

Another first: I actually have a working summary of the book.

ONE BOY. UNTOLD ENEMIES. A WHOLE WORLD TO SAVE. TIME IS RUNNING OUT.

Eleven years ago, a shattered band of ancient hunters captured an unimaginable evil and Phineas T. Pimiscule rescued his nephew, Sky, from the wreckage of that great battle. For eleven years, Sky Weathers has studied traps, puzzles, science, and the secret lore of the Hunters of Legend, believing it all a game. For eleven years, Sky and his family have hidden from dark enemies while, unbeknownst to Sky, his uncle Phineas sacrificed everything to protect them. For eleven years, Sky Weathers has known nothing of that day. But on the eve of Sky's twelfth birthday and his family's long-awaited return to Exile, everything changes. Phineas has disappeared, and Sky finds himself forced to confront the mysterious secrets he's denied for so long: why did his family leave Exile on that day so long ago? What, exactly, has Phineas been preparing him for? And, the biggest mystery of all, who is Sky really and why does everyone want to kill him?!