A Very Special WHAT I DIDN'T SAY Project

About a month ago, my husband and I were on the ferry, headed home.  We were talking about my book, WHAT I DIDN'T SAY.  I don't remember exactly what we were talking about at that point, but my husband said something along the lines of "What if we did a new cover for it and sold it exclusively on the island?"


I thought "What a great idea!  Hey, what if we got some island kids to model for it?"

Hubby said "What if we made all the proceeds from the sale of that edition go to a scholarship fund for Orcas teens?"

Thus the WHAT I DIDN'T SAY: ORCAS ISLAND EXCLUSIVE EDITION was born.

If you'll remember, Orcas Island is where the book takes place.  It's a huge part of the book because it is such a unique place to live.  Orcas is one of the thousands of islands off the coast of Washington, and one of four that gets ferry service.  It's about an hour long ferry ride from the mainland, aka America, to Orcas.

It's also where I live.

So, I grabbed my camera one day, put my kids in the car, and we started driving around and snapping pictures from different places in the book.  And then the next day my good friend and photographer/author came over from our neighboring island of San Juan, and we went out with two very special people.

Our family has known Roo for a few years.  I won't go too deep into it all, but I'll tell you this: Roo is an amazing guy and very much like Jake.  When we came up with this idea I knew there was no one else I wanted to be the model for Jake.  Roo was it.

Finding someone for Samantha was harder.  I don't know many of the high school girls here and I couldn't think of someone who would fit the look and feel of Sam.  So we asked Roo if he knew someone who might word.  He suggested Carra.  And Carra is perfect for Sam.

We got some amazing pictures.  They're adorable, and they fit SO well.  We had a really great, very awkward (making two people snuggle up, hold hands, stare into each others eyes...), time.

I've put together two video's for you.  The first is all the location/scenery pictures from around the island.  There are two important shots that are missing, you will notice.  The bridge, from the lake scene.  It's quite a walk out to the bridge, and like I said, I had my little kids with me when I went out for pics.  So that didn't happen.  The other is the site of Jake's accident.  I kept thinking of going out there, because there is an actual place in my head where it happens.  But every time I thought of going out, I got these tight knots in my stomach.  I just couldn't do it emotionally.  So you'll have to just use your imagination.

The second video is the amazing shots we got with Roo and Carra as Jake and Sam.  I love them.  I hope you do too.

Now, on to this edition that we made.  It has pictures throughout it.  So when I'm talking about a specific place on the island, there's probably a picture of it, right there in the middle of the page.  And here is the cover for it (the normal edition of the book will still have the old cover, this is the cover for only this edition):

 

And here is the full spread:

And like I said, all the money made from the sale of this edition will go to a scholarship fund for teens on Orcas.  Those of you who have already read the book will understand why this is so special to me.  I don't want to be giving things away, but think of Sam.  And everything these two went through toward the end of the book.

So, if you want to support the scholarship and if you're dying to have such an exclusive edition of the book, you CAN get a copy.  Like I said, it is sold EXCLUSIVELY on Orcas, but if that trip is out of the question ;) you can call the bookstore here on the island and they will ship signed copies.  

Darvill's Bookstore

(360)376-2135

Thank you so much for your support of this book.  It is one that is so close to my heart and I am honored that it means so much to others too.