Funny things happen over the course of a novel’s gestation, especially if you’re a writer like me who has a very free-range, organic approach to the whole business. Sometimes it’s only obvious quite far down the line that the book you thought you were writing isn’t actually what’s coming out of your pen. Keyboard. Whatever.

I had a moment of clarity during the final edit before I submitted Songs of the Earth for publication. I realised that a significant character arc didn’t belong there, it actually belonged in the next book. I removed it, and the rest of the script pinged into shape, tighter and better balanced than it had been before.

Something similar occurred during the protracted revisions of Book 2 of The Wild Hunt, and I realised that the reason I was struggling to make part of it fit was because it, too, belonged in the next book.

Now I’m a pretty good multi-tasker, but let me tell you, it’s not easy writing two books in a big fat fantasy series at once – especially if you don’t realise that’s what you’re doing. Kudos to anyone who can manage it, but it nearly turned me into a wreck. It also didn’t help matters that I’d been a bit poorly for quite a lot of the time.

Anyway, the upshot of the matter is that I’ve had to make a change or two, starting with the title. Trinity Moon is no more. All hail Trinity Rising, coming to a bookshop near you in the middle of July. Click the picture to embiggen.

This has had a knock-on effect on Book 3, because all that material that I didn’t know was missing now needs to be accommodated. I’m dealing with that now, and by crikey it’s shaping up well, even if I do say so myself.

Or, something gorgeous this way comes, in the shape of my author’s copies of Les Chants de la Terre, from my French publisher Bragelonne.

I don’t know if you can make it out in the picture, but the title is embossed, with a touch of electric-blue foil on the twiddly bits. That electric-blue foil continues inside, onto the binding of the book itself, echoing the eagle motif and the curlicues from the UK trade paperback. It’s one of the loveliest hardbacks I think I’ve ever seen.

Messieurs de Bragelonne, merci beaucoup. Je pense que je pourrais être dans l’amour.

Yesterday, my author’s copies of the Polish edition of Songs of the Earth arrived, courtesy of my publisher over there, Amber.

I am running out of space for all these books – if the Health & Safety Executive saw the size of the pile in my office, I think they’d shut me down.

I apologise for the not-very-good photo – my tame photographer a.k.a my husband Rob was out. At work. I mean, how dare he?

So yes, that is my foot in the bottom right hand corner, and yes, I am wearing stripy socks. I *like* stripy socks.

I don’t think I will ever get over that feeling of utter childlike delight when a parcel arrives from my publisher containing copies of my books. There is jumping up and down like a little girl, and there is grinning, and there is The Squee.

I make no apology for it: the day I become blasé about these things, the day being a writer stops being the most insane amount of fun I can have without the aid of a bucket of chocolate custard, you have my permission to shoot me.

Today’s parcel contained my author’s copies of the Spanish edition of Songs of the Earth: Bajo la Hiedra, or Under the Ivy, as they chose to title it.

Really attractive glossy cover, gold embossed – and it has flaps front and back like a hardback. Never seen that before.

Hats off to Minotauro; they’ve made me fall in love with the book all over again.

It’s been a busy week here at Cooper Towers.

A few days ago, the UPS man brought me a parcel all the way from New York – ARCs of the Tor release of Songs of the Earth, which is due out in February 2012.

If you are desperate to get your hands on a copy (which you are, aren’t you?) you will no doubt be pleased to hear that the hardcover is available to pre-order now on Amazon.com. You lucky, lucky people.

And as if that wasn’t enough awesome . . .

Yesterday, our postie-in-a-van brought me another parcel, this time from la belle France: an ARC of Les Chants de la Terre, Tome 1 de La Chasse Sauvage (bet you can’t work out what that means) which Bragelonne will be releasing into the wild on 18 November 2011.

Look closely, and you can even see what the French cover will look like.

I’m not sure that my schoolgirl French, largely unused these past twenty seven-anna-bit years, is up to the task of translating what the lovely Stéphane Marsan of Bragelonne has written on the back,  but I think I can manage Ce livre est un enchantement.

Cor.

Or maybe that should read: c’est formidable!

The postie brought me a parcel just now – my author’s copies of the Dutch edition of Songs of the Earth, Het Lied van der Aarde.

Doesn’t it look fantastic? The colours are much more muted and subtle than the early snapshots of the cover art led me to expect – so atmospheric, especially with the brass-bound look around the edges.

Flicking through, I discovered that there’s also a lovely script style drop cap on each chapter, which just makes the page, in my opinion. Mynx have done a super job; I couldn’t be more pleased.

The Spanish edition should be up next – I can’t wait!

With less than two weeks to go to the official publication date for Songs of the Earth, my author’s copies arrived today. Needless to say, that was the end of any meaningful work for the day – I was far too busy admiring them, and if you look down there a bit I’m sure you will understand why.

Feast your eyes, friends. Tuck a napkin into their collar and gorge them on the subtly matte hardback, and the gold-foil-embossed, spot-varnished fabulosity of the trade paperback:

Click on the picture for an even bigger helping – but don’t forget to leave room for the waffair theen meent.

And the covers just keep on coming . . . this time from my German publisher, Heyne. Wow.

When I was down in London for the Book Fair last month, Sacha told me I could expect to see the cover art for the German edition within a couple of weeks, and very atmospheric it is too.

I love the subtle detailing. The desaturated palette makes a striking contrast to the rich colour of the other covers for Songs of the Earth, but no less effective.

As usual, click to enlarge. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a higher-resolution image in due course.

It’s amazing what you find when you’re poking around your website stats on  a rainy Saturday evening when there’s nothing on the TV.

Flicking through the “Referrers” list, which shows me where people have come from when they land on my site, I found a site I recognised: Meulenhoff Boekerij, parent of my Dutch publisher Mynx, which led me to the cover of the Dutch edition of Songs of the Earth, a.k.a Het Lied van der Aarde. Heel mooi!

Click to make it (not very much) bigger – hopefully I’ll get a higher-resolution version in due course.

It’s been a long road to get here. Two different artists, neither quite capturing what the publishers were looking for, designers being admitted to hospital – you couldn’t make it up.

But here it is, as close to final as I’ve got. There’s still a teensy bit of smoothing-out and finessing to do, but imagine, if you will, matte gold foil on the title, and a spot-UV treatment on the twiddly bits to make them shine in the light, and you have it.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the UK cover for Songs of the Earth:

Ain’t it pretty? You can click on it to make it bigger. Go on, you know you want to.