mary e. pearson

It's pub day! 

Can I be an honorary Aussie for a day and shout Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! Oi! Oi! Oi!

The absolutely awesome Allen & Unwin, who were a delight to work with, publish the Australian version of The Adoration of Jenna Fox today!


I love what they did with the cover.  And one of the very cool squee factor details is the spine:



I love the blue eye! Can you imagine if several were on a shelf and you see all these brilliant blue eyes looking out at you?

Now if I could just go to Australia one of these days and see it on a shelf there myself!  Well, I can dream.

And as long as I am indulging in squee . . .

The Adoration of Jenna Fox was named to the Amazing Audiobooks 2009 list!  This was my first audio book and I was thrilled that someone else loved the audio as much as I did.  You know, there is always that bias factor.

And speaking of audio, I guess I can finally announce that my newest book has sold audio rights at auction to Brillance Audio!  It is not like it was a secret.  It was announced on Publishers Marketplace back in December, but it was announced with my working title and not the final one.  So I wanted to wait to share the news until I had the real title, which is . . . drumroll . . . THE MILES BETWEEN.  It took a while to find just the right title for this book because it is, well . . . hard to nail down.  It is a combination of serious, quirky, and fun.  I think this title is perfect.

Last but not least, one reason I am even resurfacing is because, yes, I have somewhat tamed the wisps of this new work in progress--or at least made enough sense of them that they have now earned a "file name" on the computer  and I am off and running.  Well, maybe taking baby steps is a better description.  But sheesh, it feels so good to be working on something new.  Yay!

It is amazing how much stuff can pile up in my office and I can still work. Besides my desk, I have an all too convenient bed/couch within easy piling distance too. Yesterday, for the most part, I got all the piles under control (yeah, that will last for 5 minutes.) In the pre ALA rush, this was added to the piles:



It is the audio for The Adoration of Jenna Fox. A couple of weeks after the book came out, I got my author copies of the audio that came out at the same time. I was so excited. I've never had an audio book before and I thought it was pretty cool looking. Unfortunately, because I had so many things going on at that time, including not even being home, I didn't have time to listen to it!

Finally, right before I left for ALA, I did! I have to admit, I was a little nervous. (well, a lot nervous.) What if I hated it? What if the reader didn't sound like Jenna at all? Or even a teenager?

Happily, I was wrong on all counts. I loved it! The actress who read it, coincidently is named Jenna. What are the chances?! Her full name is Jenna Lamia and she did an outstanding job, giving each character their own unique voice, and Jenna did sound like I had imagined she might sound. I think what I liked especially, were her pauses. Her timing was so right. Like she really was thinking like Jenna.

Another find: A few weeks ago I had turned the house upside down looking for a top of mine. I finally concluded I must have left it in a hotel during my travels. It is a simple sleeveless top, black, no big deal, but I loved it so I was a little bummed.

This morning I found it!--not in my piles--but in my husband's closet! Last time I put his shirts away, I think I slipped mine right in too. Unless he borrowed it, that is. (kidding, honey, kidding) It's not even his size.