Here is a step by step explanation of how the cover was created. It follows the five production meetings that took place in January and February, 1999.

Step one:

Armed with a bound copy of the manuscript and a few photos of Bergen County to get him in the mood, the artist put together a few sketches for the first production meeting. The notebook leaf on which Elhamy sketched his ideas for that meeting is sadly lost to history. Suffice to say, only one survived--the one based on the concept of newsprint paper dolls.

Step two:

The earliest extent design. The blue background was to have a textured look, giving the feel of newspaper photos. The picture above the text lines on the back cover was to supposed to be a high res photo designed to set off the rougher, textured photos. Results of the second meeting: photos were selected for the textured background; the paper dolls were deemed to look too much like ghosts and not enough like newsprint paper dolls; it was agreed to lose the caps and the block look for the title graphic; and it was agreed to add "The" to the title and change the ampersand to "and." This last provoked an intense debate as to whether or not Mr. Shakespeare might, in his haste to write 36 plays in one lifetime, have actually used an ampersand when he wrote out his famous line.

Step three:

Fortified with photos and a jpg of a Colt .357 magnum, the cover is beginning to take shape. The paper dolls are still ghosts, and are now gray, because the first attempt at reproducing newsprint failed. So did the textured background idea, so it was replaced with the photo idea. The top photo on the back cover is of the Haworth duck pond, the bottom of the culvert beneath the Parkway. Results of the third meeting: another attempt should be made on the newsprint, and it was decided to do a mock up of the Bergen Evening Star for this purpose; change the paper dolls; change the title graphic; change the bottom photo on the back cover, since the book takes place in early spring, not summer; use the chain link fence idea somehow.

Step four:

[cover graphics 3 and 4,

before and after meeting]

Ah ha! Now we're cooking with gas! Newsprint in place, great title graphic, and that chain link fence!!! Now we're getting excited. Results of the fourth meeting: change the shape of the paper dolls (this was actually done during the meeting), tilt the gun so that it knocks over the "C" (also done during the meeting); switch the writing on the spine so that it faces left; add the back cover copy; find a photo to replace the culvert photo.

Step five (final version):

The only noteworthy change is the addition of the Tudor house photo. It didn't work on the bottom, so it was switched to the top, and the geese photo put at the bottom, which worked out well, as the geese now wandered onto the spine.

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