This may look like just a slightly washed out, grainy cell phone photo, but it's more than that - much, much more.

This is the first time I've seen a galley of my debut novel, Listen!

The official pub date is October but seeing this makes that down-the-road date feel oh, so much closer. Yahoo! Zowie, baby. It's real.

It's really, really, real. And when I get my own copy of a galley in my hot little hands, you better believe I'll be posting a clearer version. Artist extraordinaire, Michael Morgenstern, who also did the fabulous cover for Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak, deserves to have his work showcased in something other than a slightly washed out, grainy cell phone photo.

To see more of Michael Morgenstren's work in all its glory go - here: http://www.mmorgenstern.com/

But for right now, I'm going to sit with the cell phone photo and bask a little. I'm feeling a little Golem-y about it. It's my new "precious".

Wow, look how easy it is for me to be creepy! Now that's talent.