Cover Reveal: SUNDAY RAIN
I met Rosie Pova through Julie Hedlund’s 12x12 challenge, and I’m delighted to host the cover reveal for her latest book SUNDAY RAIN illustrated by Amariah Rauscher and published by Latana Publishing.
From the jacket flap: Elliott has just moved into a new house. He spends his days with his fictional friends, immersed in a book. When an inviting Sunday rain gathers the local kids to play in the puddles, Elliott longs to join in, but he's too shy to go outside. Soon, Elliott discovers that new friendships are like a new book―you just have to plunge into the adventure.
Before we dive into the reveal, a few quick questions from author, Rosie Pova!
What inspired you to write this story
The story has a bit of an unusual birth.
I've been a member of 12x12 for a few years now and back in 2016 there was a webinar with an editor from a small house. Afterwards, we had a special opportunity to submit to him, and not one, but two stories. For one of the story submission opportunities, he gave us a specific prompt — a title. The second opportunity could be any story. But that publisher was so very particular on the kind of manuscripts they acquired that the editor kept listing all the things the story cannot be — pretty much anything you can think of, hehe. So that eliminated my existing body of work.
He tried to describe what they were looking for, but it sounded pretty vague. One of the things I remember him saying about the type of stories they liked was 'a moment in time.'
I interpreted that as a slice of life story and started brainstorming. The vision of rain and kids playing in puddles came to me. I knew I wanted to use lyrical language and onomatopoeia so the story would almost read like a free verse poem. It was one of the easiest, fastest drafts I've ever written. I felt really good about it!
Then, I submitted it to said editor and got a rejection. But I was glad I had written that story. I believed in it and was sure it would find a home eventually.
For the next couple of years, it went in the drawer though because I had signed with my second agent at the time and we were working on other stories. Then the agent and I parted ways.
In the summer of 2018, I had sent Sunday Rain to a few publishers who were open to unsolicited submissions. One of them was Lantana Publishing. Their guidelines stated that they would only reply if interested, within six weeks.
I was quite organized with my submissions log and kept it updated and handy. When the deadline for a reply had long passed, I scratched off Lantana from my list and marked is as N/A, my code for "no answer."
A few days later, I saw an email from them and I thought to myself, "Okay, I figured it's a rejection already, there's no need to spell it out for me; I get it, it's been more than six weeks." Probably rolled my eyes, too, haha.
But I read the email, and to my surprise, the editor was asking if the manuscript was still available. Yes, it was available! That was a happy day!
You have a few books out. Was there anything about making this book that was unexpected or different?
Yes. As I mentioned above, this book found a home pretty fast in terms of number of submissions it took to get to an acquisition. That was new to me. Previously, it had taken me 13 years to find my first yes from a publisher.
In addition, it was also one of the few manuscripts that barely went through any revisions after the first draft. What was different and unexpected, too, came from the fact that the publisher was in the UK and so they asked me to remove or replace the few words that had a different spelling in British English vs.American English. It had never occurred to me before to avoid using those differently spelled words so that the book would have a more universal fit across the English language market. Luckily, there were maybe only a couple of those words in the story. So "the kids in the neighborhood" became "the kids from his street," and "Mom" became "Mama."
What part of the creation process is the most fun for you?
I learned to love revisions over the many years that I've been working seriously toward a writing career, and I have to say that's my favorite part of the creation process now. When I have a first draft to work with, knowing what I want to accomplish with it, and trusting the process. It is such a thrill every time I figure out the structure for each story or find the exact words it needs... If I manage to declutter the text so that the story's heart can breathe and shine or distill the emotion I'm going for until it's powerful enough to grab me, it's a triumph. (You can tell I didn't revise this paragraph all that much.☺) But yes, I literally act like a giddy little kid when any of those things happen with my manuscripts.
What part is the most difficult?
The ending. Some endings download to me readily, but most of the time I have to dig deep. I often struggle to figure out how to make my ending the strongest it can be, surprising yet satisfying and meaningful. For me, the ending is the most vulnerable to the "so what?" test and that test must not be failed in kidlit! BUT, I've also been surprised to find out that less is more (I do have a tendency to over-complicate), and that sometimes, the most simple, subtle ending works best.
You open with a little boy reading a book about a princess. It's a minor detail, but I love how it normalizes boys reading books with girl main characters. Did you always plan to have this story within a story? Also did any of these story details change along the way?
I am so glad you're asking me this, Hannah! And you've actually just made me look at it from a different side―I'm discovering a new layer behind it. The credit goes to my brilliant editor, I must admit. I am so grateful to her for suggesting that change! In my original story, the boy was reading a book about a prince. (I should've known better!) But the reason the editor proposed the change was to insert more girl power. The prince in the story within the story was fighting a dragon and my editor's thought was, why can't a princess be saving the kingdom? I went, duh?! Of course! So I gladly made that change. And so now the boy reading a book with a girl main character comes as a delightful bonus!
Another brilliant idea that my editor suggested came, again, as a single word change, but it made a life and death difference in the story! Quite literally, you'll see when you read the book. But I won't give that away―I'm sure the readers will guess what it was when they read the book. I'll give you a hint―it's on spread fifteen.
Amariah Rauscher's watercolor illustrations are a wonderful match for this story about a rainy day. When did you first see illustrations for this book and what was that experience like for you?
Amariah's illustrations are so sweet and adorable! I first saw the illustrations in the finished PDF of the book. But my editor asked for my feedback and I had a few notes and suggestions for changes, especially for the cover. I guess that prompted a discussion with the marketing team and the publisher decided to completely redesign the cover and some of the internal spreads. As a result, the release date was pushed back a season. But I am very happy with the changes and absolutely love what the whole team has done for the book. I'm excited for everyone to see Amariah's art inside the book, too!
Thanks so much for the interview! By the way, Rosie is generously offering THREE prizes for readers. Each prize includes a charm bracelet or necklace, book marks, a card, and a button. SO COOL!
Simply comment below with one of your favorite rainy day activity for a chance to win. If you share this post on social media, tell us where you shared (Facebook, Twitter, etc) for another chance to win.
The random winners will be drawn Saturday, February 29th! Happy leap year! U.S. entries only, please.
Now without additional delay, the cover of SUNDAY RAIN!
Sunday Rain is available from:
Remember to comment below for your chance to win one of these prize packs!
