Look at this beautiful book!
It is Subterranean Press’ limited 10th anniversary edition of Kelly Link’s collection Stranger Things Happen, which I had the absolute delight of illustrating. And it really is a beautiful book, beautiful mustard-coloured cloth (mustard? goldenrod? schoolbus yellow? I don’t know, but I like mustard), and the lovely satiny wraparound colour, and ostrich-skin textured endpapers. If this is what ebooks force hard copy books to look like, then bring on the revolution.
The only cover specification I received was a request that it contain a nod to the original Shelley Jackson illustration:
Since I had recently been researching 60s fashion and pattern illustrations for Delia Sherman’s The Freedom Maze, I already had images on my mind for “The Girl Detective” – old Nancy Drew books, and specifically the endpapers:
Here are my initial thumbnail sketches for the cover, and for the last story in the collection.
After that I ran around the house taking reference photos (if you share a house with me, the chances are you’ll end up in an illustration). The torch is a pepper mill (with, oddly, a built-in light), which is more torch-shaped than our actual torches.
The internal illustrations were pen and ink only. The cover I drew in pen and ink, scanned, cleaned up, added a single flat layer of yellow, and a background texture scanned from an old book. Every story in the collection gets an element (or a share in an element) on the cover, but my favourite part is the peacock’s tail.
Here are some more glimpses inside from Small Beer Press, and here are some lovely words on the book from the LA Times.
The limited edition is available from Subterranean.
Kathleen Jennings 
I’ve known about this for a long time, but I am still just SO excited for you. Kelly could not have chosen a better illustrator for this special event. And the results are beautiful!
Thank you!!
What a beautiful book! And thanks for taking us through the process too. Long live ‘real’ books : )
Indeed! Story is story, but there is such a thing as a beautiful object.
the cover looks great. I haven’t read much Kelly Link, but I’ve loved what I have. I meet her at a writers’ week and she was super encouraging and lovely. :)
She is!
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About a year ago I heard a brief review of this book which sung its praises in such a way that I just had to have it. I was hoping to just stumble across it in a bookstore but it was nowhere to be found. When I got the Subterranean Press email showing your illustrated version I ordered it immediately.
I can attest to the fact that it really is a gorgeous book. Gorgeous!!! From the texture of the dust jacket and the pages to the way it feels in hand to the wonderful illustrations throughout it is a beautiful book. I can only imagine that you were beaming when you got your hands on it because it really shines. Congratulations and thank you for all the effort you put into making this such a wonderful edition of the book.
Thank you, and you’re welcome, and I’m so glad you like it!